The Stabilizer (ID 1986)

 

Arizal: The Stabilizer (ID 1986). Peter O'Brian, "the Rambo of Indonesia" as Peter Goldson The Stabilizer.

The Stabilizer kostaja

Country and year: Indonesia 1986

Producer(s): Dhamoo Punjabi, Gobind Punjabi, Raam Punjabi

Director: Arizal

Writer: Deddy Armand, John Rust

Cinematographer: Bambang Trimakno - Academy

Music: Wayne O. Holmes, Elliot Solomon

Cast: Peter O’Brian (Peter Goldson, The Stabilizer), Dana Christina (Christina Provost), Craig Gavin (Greg Rainmaker), Gillie Beanz (Sylvia Nash), Harry Capri / Harry Capry (Captain Johnny), Mark Sungkar (Victor), Yenny Farida / Yenny Faridna (Nora)

Duration: 87 min

Language: Tagalog, English

Subtitles: No subtitles

Format: DCP

Night Visions (NV) Maximum Halloween 3025

Closing Film event with prizes hosted by Mikko Aromaa. The prizes were given to the audience.

English version viewed at Kinopalatsi 5, Helsinki, 23 Nov 2025

According to the IMDb, this film's Indonesian name is Segi Tima Emas, but Segi Tima Emas has also been registered as a film of its own from the same year.

NV 2025: "Useimmiten terveen järjen rajoja koetteleviin audiovisuaalisiin erikoisuuksiin fokusoivalla festivaalin päätöselokuvapaikalla tarjoillaan nyt harvinaista toimintamannaa Indonesiasta.

The Stabilizer täräyttää katsojalta luulot pois jo ensi sekunneilla, kun motocross-pyörä syöksyy ikkunasta sisään. Seuraavan puolentoista tunnin aikana paukutetaan, tykitetään ja rynkytetään niin herkeämättä, että viimeisetkin unihiekan murut karisevat myös koko yön leffamaratonista nauttineiden silmäkulmista.

Pääroolin vetää Jakartan-lomamatkaltaan toimintatähdeksi rekrytoitu uusiseelantilainen, runsashiuksinen äidinkielenopettaja Peter O’Brian. Hän on erikoisagentti Peter ”The Stabilizer” Goldson, joka laskeutuu Indonesiaan piikkikenkäisen huumeparonin Graig Rainmakerin (Craig Gavin) jäljillä.

Miehen mielessä on henkilökohtainen kosto, mutta suunnitelmat mutkistuvat Huumetunnistimeksi nimetyn mystisen aparaatin ja sen keksijän kadotessa. Herrasmies kun on, Goldson ojentaa piukeaan t-paitaan verhotun auttavan kätensä hävinneen tiedemiehen taistelulajitaitoiselle tyttärelle (Dana Christina, The Warrior). Ilmassa väreilee myös aavistus romantiikkaa, lähinnä Hard Ticket to Hawaiin hienovaraisessa tyylirekisterissä.

Pyörryttävän vinhaliikkeinen ja runsaskäänteinen jäljitysoperaatio paljastaa ainakin sen, että kaakkoisaasialaisen stunt-miehen henki on ollut halpa vielä 1980-luvulla. Toimintatemput ovat Hollywood-kaliiberia, aina tuolilla selkään paiskomisista liekinheitinpyrotekniikkaan ja tietenkin takaa-ajoihin, joissa moottoriajoneuvot heittävät voltteja pitkin Indonesian maanteitä." NV 2025

NV 2025 quotation mix:

”A film which, put simply, has everything”

– Chris Purdie / Mondo Exploito

”There’s certainly never a dull moment here”

– Jim McLennan / Film Blitz

”Indonesian director Arizal gives the world a defining over-the-top action film”

– Todd Stadtman / Teleport City

”After his fiancé is brutally murdered, Peter Goldson aka The Stabilizer goes on a rampage of violent vengeance. Hot on the trail of a drug-smuggling killer, The Stabilizer (complete with his signature curly mullet and mesh muscle shirts) travels to Indonesia, where the only way to fight is to fight dirty. Watch out for the motorcycle head-butt! Don’t miss the Mr. T lookalike boss! Directed by infamous Indonesian trash-action warlock Arizal and starring Peter O’Brian, the ”Indonesian Rambo,” The Stabilizer is a non-stop sensory overload that gives Samurai Cop a run for its money.”

– American Genre Film Archive - NV 2025 quotation mix

AA: Arizal's The Stabilizer was the closing film for all and especially for those who joined the all night marathon of the Night Visions festival.

It is a furious crime, chase, revenge and action film. The story about drug-smuggling in Indonesia is merely an excuse for non stop jaw-dropping stunt action, pyrotechnics and fight choreography.

Actors are wooden, the dialogue monotonously post-synchronized into English, and psychology is missing. Performances border on puppet animation.

The female characters appear at first sight as prize women and token women. Sexual harassment and worse is a key subject. The females surprise us by growing into agency and turn out to be superb karate masters and stunt motorcyclists able to beat the badmen. Is the ample nudity a case of exploitation or liberation? Maybe a bit of both.

The film is primitive and infantile, and that is a clue to this kind of film's origins in early cinema. We have seen an approach like this since Georges Méliès and his Voyage à travers l'impossible (FR 1904). A delight in the absurd, the cinema of attractions, and mind-boggling surprises.

There is a refreshing local flavour, from the lush presence of nature to the "attractions inside the attractions": at a local carneval we meet a lizard-eating performer as well as a fakir rolling almost naked on glass shards.

High voltage energy powers the movie, climaxing in Greg Rainmaker's final escape in a helicopter. The Stabilizer jumps from his speeding motorcycle to grab the landing skids. When pushed down by Rainmaker, the Stabilizer opens machine gun fire, causing the helicopter to crash and falling himself safely into the ocean.

The most impressive feature is the fight choreography. Abandoning plausibility, it grows into a fantastic action ballet. The all-out demolition derbies on Indonesian highways look genuinely dangerous. Female heroes excel equally with males.

The visual quality is merely serviceable, perhaps from 16 mm origins, and the definition is on the soft side.