THE PEACEKEEPER (Frédéric Forestier, 1997)

[alex.sp89]

I wonder why this movie wasn't released on the US, German or UK Blu ray yet. Only in French as a double feature Blu Ray with Men of War. Nowhere to find a web 1080p on streaming platforms. Jox does France have a legal policy regarding French label Blu Ray it is almost impossible to get any french BDrips to compare the quality ? Any french caps a holic ? Someone told me that French BD of Men of War is the better that the german ones. The US BD is not in widescreen but in 1.78

[Jox]

[Jox]

Very rare Italian theatrical poster-size lobby cards

[alex.sp89]

At least to have the possibility to watch this movie in widescreen will be a big plus. If I recollect correctIy always saw it only in fullscreen. Taking in consideration it was one of the first NU IMAGE movie I think they don't give too much attention on it. It is only an exploitation movie - on raise of quick cash to develop the young company (reborn of Cannon in some way) having DOLPH LUNDGREN in the lead (as famous action actor who 's name can collect money quickly).
I was always wondering did they named this movie Peacekeeper (1997) after Paecemaker (1997) success earlier that year starring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman ?

lhz u can share ur impression of French BD of Peacekeeper (1997)

[lhz]

lhz u can share ur impression of French BD of Peacekeeper (1997)

I will. As soon as I re-watch it again to refresh my mind and confirm my original thoughts from a purely technical point of view (which was really positive).
The cherry on the cake was the completely unexpected exclusive interview of the director Frédéric Forestier which was really interesting to hear as we got a relatively thin amount of infos and anecdotes regarding this vehicle.

[lhz]

After watching again French Metropolitan's double-feature THE PEACEKEEPER / MOW edition yesterday night, it confirmed all my memories from the release time.
The source material is in perfect condition in opposition to the other vehicle present on the same disc. No imperfections, artifacts, dots or burning noticing during the whole viewing.
The overall HD quality transfer is good, could have been much better and I think if we could compare it, the overall bitrates could be much higher but hey I would never complain to get finally a satisfying edition of this movie available now. And let's not forget there is 2 films on the same disc, so it has been probably compressed for a space data sake.

From my personal point of view regarding the movie itself and knowing it is a commonly appreciated vehicle within the Dolph community it has never been my stuff (although I know there are strong positive points as the cast and so). During the dvd era I always fall asleep while watching it. Passed the car pursuit on the roof the movie is boring, often cheesy, it s basically Dolph running through corridors. Even Dolph seems bored to be there and his acting was a regression regarding the previous movies is starred in. Bringing THE PEACEKEEPER in HD helped me to enjoy it a bit more compare to the full screen French dubbed edition from back then

A special thumb up for the nice and exclusive interview of the director Frédéric Forestier and the good introduction from Jox
It is highly appreciable to witness how professional Metropolitan are about their releases and the care they have even for minor movies like this, knowing it would not reach high sell numbers.

[alex.sp89]

Thank u for your review. It is strange that nobody wanted to buy the HD remaster of Peacekeeper from Metropolitan and re-release in diff. parts of the world or streaming platforms. Only France have opportunity to watch it in good quality... Wiki says that budget was $16 mil. . I really doubt that ?! No more that 6-8 mil. Sweepers also listed $16-19 mil. a while ago ? For $15 mil. u could shoot a masterpiece back then. Unisol 2 The Return is also listed as $40 mill, JC recently confirmed that THE real budget was $18-20 mil. True or myth ?

[lhz]

Thank u for your review. It is strange that nobody wanted to buy the HD remaster of Peacekeeper from Metropolitan and re-release in diff. parts of the world or streaming platforms. Only France have opportunity to watch it in good quality...

My pleasure
Yes it is weird that France is still the only one getting the HD transfer. Especially with the germans who tends to release this type of minor title with limited edition and so.

Wiki says that budget was $16 mil. . I really doubt that ?! No more that 6-8 mil. Sweepers also listed $16-19 mil. a while ago ? For $15 mil. u could shoot a masterpiece back then.

Regarding THE PEACEKEEPER budget, if I am referring correctly to what our admin said in the extras from the Metropolitan edition, it is 10 millions $ budget overall, 6 millions after the actors being paid.

For SWEEPERS, I don't have a clue.

[Jox]

The HD remaster was supervised by Nu Image / Millennium, and then sold to France and the territories that show the film in HD digital streaming / VOD... If Metropolitan did have these double-program editions they were trying out, they wouldn't have released THE PEACEKEEPER on Blu-ray. But it happened that THE PEACEKEEPER was deemed the more commercial title (more than SWEEPERS, DETENTION, or THE LAST PATROL) they had to pair up with MEN OF WAR.

Budget on THE PEACEKEEPER was indeed of $10 million total, including $6 million to make the film ("below the line"). The rest, called "above the line", does not just include the actors fees, it also includes the various development costs including the script and its revisions, the producers and director's fees, and other misc pre-production costs.

(Then the high fall in budget and shooting time began with THE MINION.)

I was told that SWEEPERS had a $12 million budget (for 2-3 months of production), so we can assume it was $10 million as well.

P.S.
Don't trust Wiki, it's full of unverified facts and it's hard to make changes stick. I know it's the same with IMDB, but I had more hand making updates there.

[alex.sp89]

Thank u. Very stupid strategy of NU IMAGE. Instead of shooting Peacekeeper, MInion, Sweepers they could combine budgets and make one good movie for 20 millions getting a theatrical release. NI could make their True Lies (1994) with Patriot Games (1992) combined version worth of cult following. Personal I can see how Peacekeeper and Sweeper could work as one movie after some script re-writes... They choose to make profit from 3 movies with potential and none of them have a fan base today only because it doesn't have good budget and directors tried their best to pull a 95 minute movie. It is very noticeable today when u re-watch it...

[Jox]

First off THE MINION was not produced by Nu Image.

Secondly it's not that simple and easy, otherwise they would have done it. So you can call them stupid (or find more articulate adjectives to support your thought), and I'm not saying they're the brightest (far from it), but back then they made a profit on each film before they even shot them. (They must have made around $5-6 million from pre-sales on BOD, and they produced between $3-4 million.)

It doesn't matter whether the film has a fan base or not as long as they didn't lose money and made a profit.

Also, why do you think most of their films were low budgets? It's much less risky to make many small movies than investing all your money in just one big project that if you're not a seasoned studio, you will more likely fail. Nu Image was started in 1992 so it was still an emerging company, it was not well organised and they certainly didn't have what it takes to make anything big then (even for $20 million, which distributors and investors likely wouldn't have given them for one movie)... If it was so easy every company would make $100 million movies.

It's like what Menahem Golan once said: "I don't know how to make a movie with $30 million, I can make 30 movies maybe...?"

[Jox]

THE PEACEKEEPER Japanese theatrical chirashi (flyer)

[Jox]

Mentioned in a behind story on LE BOULET (DEAD WEIGHT, co-directed by Forestier) for French news channel BFMTV
https://www.bfmtv.com/people/cinema/le- ... 50213.html

[Jox]

Japanese press invite

[Jox]

Reunion with Montel Williams
https://www.instagram.com/stories/dolphlundgren/