American Experience - Reagan

American Experience - Reagan

American Experience - Reagan
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DVD Cover Information

Actor: David Ogden Stiers, Helen Caldicott, James Baker III, Nancy Davis, Robert Dallek
Producer: Adriana Bosch
Writer: Adriana Bosch
Producer: Austin Hoyt
Writer: Austin Hoyt
Producer: Bob M. McCausland
Producer: Chas Norton
Producer: Josh Clark
Producer: Larry LeCain
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 263 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: PBS Home Video

Movie Reviews of American Experience - Reagan

Movie Review: Reluctantly admits the wisdom of Reagan
Summary: 2 Stars

I almost didn't make it through this presention. It got bogged down too much in the protest lines and slow economy that were present in the ealry part of Reagan's administration. During one part of the film, the narrator states " some Americans disagreed with the President's policies"...and as this is being said, it's showing protestors dressed in devil costumes and others wearing skull masks marching in the streets. Excuse me, some Americans ?!! I'm not saying that these marching malcontents weren't Americans, but they certainly aren't normal, common sense kind of people. More like dope-smoking anarchists.

This scene drags out for some time with melancholy music. Other parts of the film show extended scenes of Americans in umemployment lines or many liberal politicians decrying Reagan's policies toward the Soviets. I don't mind some mention of this, but these scenes are much too extended and as we now know.....history has proved these politicians and protestors manifestly wrong.

As George Washington said ' lay your shoulders to the main points and the minutia will follow".....well, all of these protestors and whining politicians ended up being the 'minutia' of history. The main points? Reagan's tax cuts and his policy of peace through strength in dealing with the Soviet empire. Alas, to the film's credit, the success of these policies is eventually explained, documented and admitted to.

The U.S. economy's 'fever broke' so to speak once the effects of Reagan's economic policies kicked in. The result; an unprecedented economic boom resulting in robust employment, economic growth and more tax revenue to the government. The beneficial results of these policies exist to this day. The film does bemoan that spending wasn't curbed much, but that was the fault of the democrat-controlled congress who wouldn't cut unnecessary social programs. The military buildup was necessary to defeat the threat of nuclear holocaust by the Soviets.

As mentioned above, the film chronicles the fact that Reagan's foreign policy was heavily responsible for the USA winning the cold war and the dissolution of communist Russia.

In summary, PBS, known for their leftest viewpoints are dragged kicking and screaming into admitting that Reagan's economic stance grew the economy out of the Carter recession. The film also begrudgingly shows the success of this President's strategy in dealing with the USSR. The facts of history wouldn't allow for it to be rewritten, even by PBS. For facts are, after all, stubborn things.

Summary of American Experience - Reagan

One of the most popular presidents ever, Ronald Wilson Reagan served two terms in office and left with his reputation intact as a charismatic, charming leader who managed to avoid many of the major pitfalls of the leaders before him. A one-time actor, he became a passionate ideologue who preached a simple gospel of optimism, lower taxes, less government and anti-communism. Often underestimated, his success in office surprised many of his greatest detractors.
Both loved and reviled, Ronald "Dutch" Reagan rose out of the political ashes of Watergate to become one of the most popular presidents in American history. Whether you like it or not, he will be remembered along with Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy as one of the most influential and charismatic political figures of the 20th century. This epic four-and-a-half-hour documentary shows why, and it benefits greatly from the fact that many of the participants in the documented events are still alive. Tape 1 chronicles his troubled childhood with an alcoholic father, his years as a lifeguard, his eventual stardom in Hollywood, his governorship of California, and his election to the presidency in 1980. Tape 2 picks up shortly after the assassination attempt and takes off as it explains his policy toward the "evil empire." Surprising to some will be the news that privately Reagan abhorred nuclear weapons and feared Armageddon, but he firmly believed that the United States could only negotiate from a position of strength (during his administration Pentagon spending reached $34 million an hour). Long but never boring, this film is a tribute to a man infinitely more complex than the jellybean-eating figurehead many like to portray him as. Included are interviews with Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Nancy Reagan, and those wacky Reagan kids. --Kristian St. Clair

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