Product Details

• Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Richard Crenna, Yannick Bisson, Colm Feore, Michael Murphy
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: October 29, 2002
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00006G8I1
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,324 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Day Reagan Was Shot" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

From Academy-Award® winning director and producer Oliver Stone comes this riveting true story...March 30, 1981. An insane and obsessive young man named John Hinckley Jr. attemps to kill U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition, Reagan's life hangs in the balance as two young surgeons battle to save him. But only those behind the scenes in the corridors of power know that this is more than a fight to save one man. With the Soviet Union poised to invade Poland and the possibility of a total nuclear war looming, someone must take control of the impending crisis. And as a bitter power struggle begins, the government of the most powerful nation on Earth is sliding into chaos..."The Day Reagan Was Shot" is based on an amazing true story of individual courage and the political intrigues and deceptions that brought a nation - and the world - to the brink of destruction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A superb but wildly inaccurate motion picture, November 28, 2003

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Day Reagan Was Shot (DVD)

The Day Reagan Was Shot is a gripping, impressive film, but it does a great disservice to the parties involved and to the American public by passing itself off as a true recounting of the awful events of that day. I went into this film somewhat on my guard, knowing that Oliver Stone has never failed to let actual facts get in the way of his historical dramas; I was also leery of the fact that Richard Dreyfuss, a terrific actor but also a well-known liberal, would be playing a primary role. I was ten years old on March 10, 1981, but it is a day I will never forget. I won't dare compare the Reagan assassination attempt with the public execution of President Kennedy, but it was a formative event in my young life. I loved Ronald Reagan, and due largely to him I had begun developing my own political views. The images of those few seconds outside the Hilton Hotel were forever burned into my brain. Seeing the President shoved into a limo and rushed to a hospital while three men lay grievously wounded on the sidewalk was unnerving to say the least, invoking a horror I could scarcely have imagined before that fateful day. Thus, the events presented here are important to me, and I really hoped they would have been presented truthfully - they were not.

It is important for viewers to know that this film deviates wildly from the truth in many important respects. Secretary of State Alexander Haig (played brilliantly by Richard Dreyfuss) is demonized most unfairly, the state of chaos existing that day is exaggerated, the potential of nuclear war against the Soviets during the crisis is far-fetched indeed, and the members of the President's Cabinet and senior level staff are oftentimes wrongly portrayed as buffoons. Not only is Haig presented as a man making a selfish power play, his actions are even referred to more than once as a coup d'etat. Oliver Stone's Haig stomps around barking commands, arguing and insulting his fellow Cabinet members to a ridiculous degree, actually slapping one of his most trusted aides, and usurping power in the midst of a government in crisis. Although his character is redeemed to a small degree later on in the film, Stone unloads all of his guns on Haig's character. It is true that a certain degree of chaos did exist in the wake of the attempt on Reagan's life, and we all know that Haig addressed the public and mistakenly listed secretary of state as next in line for the Presidency after the Vice President (who was in flight over Texas when the assassination attempt occurred). If you look at the history yourself, however (and we now have tapes of the discussions in the crisis center that day), you will find an imperfect yet noble Alexander Haig who took necessary action for the good of the country. When deputy press secretary Larry Speakes went on television and refused to answer a question as to who was currently running the government, Haig stepped in to quell public fears and reassure allies and Cold War enemies that there were indeed capable hands on the wheels of the American government. Besides his inaccurate interpretation of the 25th amendment, Haig has also been criticized for claiming that military alert status had not been raised at the time. In reality, he only learned that Defense Secretary Weinberger had indeed raised that status after he returned to the situation room following his statement to the press. In this movie, he gets that information beforehand and is thus portrayed as lying to the country and the world. This is just one of many facts that Oliver Stone gets wrong.

Oliver Stone makes a mockery of the President's advisors and Cabinet, characterizing them as squabbling children in the aftermath of the shooting. Certainly there was tension and frayed nerves in the crisis center, but Stone goes far beyond the pale in this movie. CIA Director William Casey is particularly targeted for ridicule as a deaf, unintelligible old man. What surprised me more than anything, though, was the inaccuracy of the actual assassination attempt scene. As soon as President Reagan exits the hotel, Hinckley is firing at him; there's no "Mr. President" call just before he steps into the limo, and the brave actions of Jerry Parr (who pushed the President into the limo) and Tim McCarthy (who jumped between the gunman and his target in truly heroic fashion, taking a bullet in his chest for the President) are not given the attention they deserve.

Thus, The Day Reagan Was Shot is poor, politically slanted history. As a motion picture, though, it works wonderfully. The scenes in the hospital are riveting and sometimes graphic, all of the actors and actresses give wonderful performances, and Richard Dreyfuss turns in a truly impressive performance. Thus, I have to balance both sides of the coin in terms of rating this film. It's a five-star movie, but its subversion of the facts and misrepresentation of history cry out for one star only. Thus, I am splitting the difference and giving it three stars. It's a great film, but please don't take Oliver Stone's version of history as the truth.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, scary and tense!, November 27, 2002

By 

D. D'Eugenio (Palm Beach, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Day Reagan Was Shot (DVD)

An Oliver Stone influenced film that documents the facts the American people didn't know. This film is based on the true behind the scene account of what happened during the hours leading to, and what transpired during and after the attempted assignation of former President Reagan. This film is tense. For those who live it, you might have suspected something; for those who only know this incident from history class, it's an eye opener. If you believe this story, it is a less than flattering account of Reagan's advisors during this crisis. It clearly shows a lack of control, an extremely loose organization filled with egos and politics and what might be the most terrifying, the non-existent communication between agencies (Homeland Security, humm) and the unreliable communication equipment they depended on. What transpired on that day and the days following were more than the world knew. Twenty one years later we now know? This film is worth your time to watch then judge for yourselves. If you're a fan of Richard Dreyfuss, his portrayal of Secretary of State Haig is brilliant. Other excellent performances were given by Richard Creena and Colm Feore.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Al Haig presented in a different light, November 13, 2005

By 

traderje "traderje" (Through the Window) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Day Reagan Was Shot (DVD)

Well, I thought Alexander Haig was vindicated somewhat by the film. It was the press of the day that portrayed him as a nut, but in this film there is some explanation, some background for his statements and actions that we never had. As the character states towards the end of the film, he played the good soldier and did not speak of the things that the film aledges went on that could have improved his public image.

Did it really take as long as it seems in the film for George Bush, Sr. to get back to town? I really don't remember, but that was weird. It wasn't so much that Al Haig was bullying to take over, but that the people who were supposed to step up to the plate were inexplicably NOT doing so at a time of crisis.

Also, what in the world was the deal with the guy who dressed up like a doctor and snuck right into Regan's room with no bother from security? The real doctor's caught him just in time. I don't recall that incident, but it sure makes fodder for some conspiracy theories.

A good film for a period of time that gets skipped by documentarians.