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Ronald Reagan A Legacy Remembered
New Video // Unrated // March 25, 2003
List Price: $24.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
THE PROGRAM
They called him "The Great Communicator", but as we find out in the History Channel's Ronald Reagan: A Legacy Remembered, the former President was also a quiet and somewhat reclusive man – so much that even his children and his wife never really got to see the total human being that he was.
A Legacy Remembered begins with a lot of comments from Reagan's three children – daughter Patti and sons Michael and Ron, Jr., and for a brief moment it seems like the program is going to turn into one of those "daddy never loved me" sensationalistic biographies – but fortunately these aren't the only three interviewed (by CNN's Frank Sesno) to tell Reagan's story, so once we move into his political career, we start to get a better view of the kind of person he really was.
The 91-minute program does a fairly good job of telling President Reagan's story, although it does tend to gloss over the more questionable periods of his life in office – particularly the Iran/Contra Scandal, which was big news at the time, but probably only takes up five minutes of this production. Of course, all the memorable bits of Reagan's life are here – from his "I'm paying for this microphone" debate, to his election as President, to his assassination attempt just six weeks later, to his recovery and remaining years in office.
Of particular interest to both the casual viewer and the student of history will be Reagan's relationship with then-Premier of the Soviet Union, Mikel Gorbachev, and the relationship these two men built from their successful meeting in Geneva, their not so successful one in Iceland, to Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" speech in Berlin, and finally a treaty between the two nations.
While Reagan had his detractors during his presidency and probably even to this day, I suppose – it will be hard for even the staunchest Democrats to keep a dry eye while watching the last fifteen minutes of this program, which deals with Reagan's contraction of Alzheimer's disease. Included here are stories from friends, portions of Reagan's last public speech in 1994, and a letter he wrote shortly thereafter to the American public dated November 5th, 1994.
THE DVD
Video:
The video here is presented in full-screen and there's nothing particularly remarkable about it. Watching the DVD, it occurred to me that I couldn't really notice the difference between the quality of the disc and a well-made VHS or even a show on cable. Granted, this isn't the kind of DVD that would warrant a good transfer, so I suppose that is why the one we get here is so average.
Audio:
Like the video, the audio is also quite average – and actually falls a bit south of average. We are treated to a 2.0 Dolby track here, and about all I can say about it was that it was clear and serviceable for this type of presentation.
Extras:
If I do have a big complaint about the DVD, it's in the features department – since obviously so much is available for bonus material, and we get so little here. What we do get is a really nice 45-minute Ronald Reagan A&E Biography that originally ran on the cable channel and is hosted by Jack Perkins. There's also a Ronald Reagan Family Tree page which isn't a bonus as much as it is a blatant plug for Genealogy.com.
So while the A&E bio is a nice addition, how about some video of the complete speeches or debates that we got glimpses of in the main presentation? How about complete videos of Reagan's inaugural addresses? His "Tear Down This Wall" Speech? His Farewell Address to the nation? How about a photo gallery? Text of his November 1994 letter to the country? All of these would have been nice additions, but there is little in the way of supplemental material here for the true student of history.
THE BOTTOM LINE
While Ronald Reagan: A Legacy Remembered might be a good addition to the shelf of a teacher of history or those who are particular fans of the 40th President of the United States, for the casual viewer this is worthy of a rental and only if you are interested in the history of the man.
A lot more about the life of Ronald Reagan can be found in other materials – most notably those found in your local library. But this is a good introduction to the man, particularly for those who are too young to remember the impact that he had as President, or perhaps to remind those who have forgotten what it was like to have a decent, God-fearing man occupy the highest office in the land.
They called him "The Great Communicator", but as we find out in the History Channel's Ronald Reagan: A Legacy Remembered, the former President was also a quiet and somewhat reclusive man – so much that even his children and his wife never really got to see the total human being that he was.
A Legacy Remembered begins with a lot of comments from Reagan's three children – daughter Patti and sons Michael and Ron, Jr., and for a brief moment it seems like the program is going to turn into one of those "daddy never loved me" sensationalistic biographies – but fortunately these aren't the only three interviewed (by CNN's Frank Sesno) to tell Reagan's story, so once we move into his political career, we start to get a better view of the kind of person he really was.
The 91-minute program does a fairly good job of telling President Reagan's story, although it does tend to gloss over the more questionable periods of his life in office – particularly the Iran/Contra Scandal, which was big news at the time, but probably only takes up five minutes of this production. Of course, all the memorable bits of Reagan's life are here – from his "I'm paying for this microphone" debate, to his election as President, to his assassination attempt just six weeks later, to his recovery and remaining years in office.
Of particular interest to both the casual viewer and the student of history will be Reagan's relationship with then-Premier of the Soviet Union, Mikel Gorbachev, and the relationship these two men built from their successful meeting in Geneva, their not so successful one in Iceland, to Reagan's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" speech in Berlin, and finally a treaty between the two nations.
While Reagan had his detractors during his presidency and probably even to this day, I suppose – it will be hard for even the staunchest Democrats to keep a dry eye while watching the last fifteen minutes of this program, which deals with Reagan's contraction of Alzheimer's disease. Included here are stories from friends, portions of Reagan's last public speech in 1994, and a letter he wrote shortly thereafter to the American public dated November 5th, 1994.
THE DVD
Video:
The video here is presented in full-screen and there's nothing particularly remarkable about it. Watching the DVD, it occurred to me that I couldn't really notice the difference between the quality of the disc and a well-made VHS or even a show on cable. Granted, this isn't the kind of DVD that would warrant a good transfer, so I suppose that is why the one we get here is so average.
Audio:
Like the video, the audio is also quite average – and actually falls a bit south of average. We are treated to a 2.0 Dolby track here, and about all I can say about it was that it was clear and serviceable for this type of presentation.
Extras:
If I do have a big complaint about the DVD, it's in the features department – since obviously so much is available for bonus material, and we get so little here. What we do get is a really nice 45-minute Ronald Reagan A&E Biography that originally ran on the cable channel and is hosted by Jack Perkins. There's also a Ronald Reagan Family Tree page which isn't a bonus as much as it is a blatant plug for Genealogy.com.
So while the A&E bio is a nice addition, how about some video of the complete speeches or debates that we got glimpses of in the main presentation? How about complete videos of Reagan's inaugural addresses? His "Tear Down This Wall" Speech? His Farewell Address to the nation? How about a photo gallery? Text of his November 1994 letter to the country? All of these would have been nice additions, but there is little in the way of supplemental material here for the true student of history.
THE BOTTOM LINE
While Ronald Reagan: A Legacy Remembered might be a good addition to the shelf of a teacher of history or those who are particular fans of the 40th President of the United States, for the casual viewer this is worthy of a rental and only if you are interested in the history of the man.
A lot more about the life of Ronald Reagan can be found in other materials – most notably those found in your local library. But this is a good introduction to the man, particularly for those who are too young to remember the impact that he had as President, or perhaps to remind those who have forgotten what it was like to have a decent, God-fearing man occupy the highest office in the land.
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