The Peacemaker (1997) - Quotes

Capturing Global Attention Through Action

Taglines: How do you get the world's attention?

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Nuclear Device Accountability in 1997

Taglines: In the fall of 1997, every nuclear device in the world will be accounted for... Except one.

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A Statement of Reality

Taglines: This is not a test.

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The Burden of Loss and Responsibility

Gavrich: [wounded in a New York church to Thomas & Julia] Who decided for my wife... my child, murdered? And for what? For what? For breathing? For smiling? And now, I'm left. Who decides for me?

Julia: Mr Gavrich, what is it that you want?

Gavrich: I want it as it was...what it used to be

Thomas: Sir, it's not our war.

Gavrich: [glares at him; raises his gun to his head...] It is now!

Julia: [...and fires] No-!

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Tension Between Thomas and Kodoroff Emerges

Thomas: [to a mortally wounded Kodoroff] Where are they going Aleksandr?

Kodoroff: [defiant to the end] Fuck You!

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Confrontation Over Past Actions and Consequences

Kodoroff: Tom, you still selling stolen cars on the black market?

Thomas: Hey, Alec, you watched CNN during Desert Storm. You remember the pictures of the nose cone GBU missiles slamming into those trucks? You remember that picture? How it kept getting closer and bigger on the screen? You just about see the faces of those drivers, and then zap. The picture went dead. We didn't get to see what happened next. Well guess what, Alec? You will, you son of a bitch.

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Motivations Behind Violence and Power Dynamics

Thomas: Doctor, you can run your charts and your theories all you want. In the field, this is how it works: the good guys, that's us. We chase the bad guys. And they don't wear black hats. They are, however, all alike: they demanded power and respect, and they're willing to pay top dollar to get it. And that is our highly motivated buyer.

Julia: [enquiring] What about other motivations?

Thomas: [abrupt] Not important to me.

Julia: [direct] Whether it's important to you or not. There are people out there who don't care about money, who don't give a damn about respect. People who believe the killing of innocent men and women is justified. For them, it is about rage, frustration, hatred... they feel pain and they're determined to share it with the world.

Thomas: [sounding bored] Okay, that does me no good. Now, let's deal with the facts at hand. 23 hours ago, General Alexander Kodoroff stole 10 nuclear warheads.

Julia: [forcefully] He's just a delivery boy. I'm not afraid of the man who wants 10 nuclear weapons, Colonel. I'm terrified of the man who only wants one.

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Questioning Trust Among Friends

Julia: So, do you think he set us up?

Thomas: Who?

Julia: Your friend.

Thomas: No.

Julia: How can you be so sure?

Thomas: Because he's my friend.

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The Consequences of Global Education in Terrorism

Ken: Colonel, the guy you bagged is Dr. Amir Teraki, Pakistani. PhD in Astrophysics, educated at Harvard.

Thomas: That's right, people. We educated half the world's terrorists.

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Contradictions in Saving the World

Thomas: I'd like to know something. You moved from Lawrence Livermore to the White House. So, first you build the bombs to blow up the entire world, and now you want to save it. Make up your mind: which is it going to be?

Julia: Well, I believe this week we're saving it.

Conflict Over Military Authorization and Impulse Control

Julia: You will not take action without authorization.

Thomas: What do you think I am? Some gung-ho, stupid son of a bitch?

Julia: No, I don't think you're stupid. I think you're a talented solider with sloppy impulse control. And I don't want you provoking an international incident because of a personal agenda.

Thomas: My personal agenda is my business. Now, you're not in Washington anymore. You are in the real world. And in the real world there are nuclear arms heading for Iran. So whether you agree with me or not, get me authorized!

Military Liaison Introduced Over Coffee

Julia: Where the hell is my military liason?

Thomas: Colonel Thomas Devoe reporting as ordered, ma'am. I'm sorry about in there. Sometimes, my enthusiasm gets the better of me.

Julia: No problem. Would you like some coffee?

Thomas: I'd love some.

Julia: It's over there.

Call for Understanding and Self-Determination

Gavrich: [recording a message to the world prior to detonating his nuke; makes the sign of the cross] I'm a Serb! I'm a Croat! I'm a Muslim! You will look at what I have done and say, Of course - why not - they are all animals. They have slaughtered each other for centuries. But the truth is, I'm not a monster. I'm a human man - I'm just like you, whether you like it or not. For years, we have tried to live together, until a war was waged on us, on all of us: a war waged by our own leaders. And who supplied the Serb cluster bombs, the Croatian tanks, the Muslim artillery shells that killed our sons and daughters? It was the governments of the West who drew the boundaries of our countries - sometimes in ink, sometimes in blood - the blood of our people. And now you dispatch your peacekeepers to write our destiny again. We can never accept this peace that leaves us with nothing but pain, pain the peacemakers must be made to feel. Their wives, their children, their houses and churches. So now you know, now you must understand. Leave us to find our own destiny. May God have mercy on us all.