In the Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Word and Deed (2004) (V)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Directors:

Stephen K. Bannon
Tim Watkins (co-director)

Writers:

Stephen K. Bannon (writer)
Julia Jones (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Good versus evil in this epic tale which chronicles Ronald Reagan's crusade to destroy the most tyrannical and depraved political systems the world has ever known.

Plot Keywords:

Pro Republican

Cast

Irene Ziegler

...

Narrator

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for disturbing images of violence.

Runtime:

USA:110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Certification:

USA:PG-13

Company:

Bannon Films

Redressing the Balance

This documentary covers a lot of old ground. Some may think that it is unnecessary for a rehash of old ground but I don't. This film is obviously an attempt by the right wing of politics to answer the conservative bashing of Michael Moore style docs that have become increasingly popular in recent times.

This film is based on a book but comprehensively covers Reagan's rise to power and his development of views on communism. We see how he came to see it as the greatest threat to freedom in the world and how he stood up to the Soviet Union in a deeply courageous way. Whatever your views on Reagan's politics this is a very interesting topic to examine.

In terms of film making this documentary does fall short in a few ways. One gets the impression that the maker had limited access to interviews and footage as a lot is told by narration and only a few people (i think 4) are interviewed for the documentary. In some ways it is not as slick as we have come to expect from recent documentaries and comes across more like a history channel biography but nonetheless I would recommend this film to anyone wanting to know more about Reagan's contribution to the cold war.