Product Details

• Actors: Timothy Hutton, Clotilde Courau, Kevin Pollak, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Badja Djola
• Directors: Rod Lurie
• Producers: Deterrence
• Format: Import, PAL
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Dutch
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Videofilmexpress
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0018UY7Q4
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #610,275 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Netherlands released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Dutch ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: The world finds itself on the brink of nuclear disaster, with the balance point a small diner in Colorado, in the suspenseful political thriller Deterrence. In the year 2008, U.S. President Walter Emerson (Kevin Pollak), who recently took office after the death of the former chief executive, is campaigning for re-election. After winning the Colorado state primary, Emerson finds himself stranded in a roadside diner after a freak snowstorm. Traveling with Emerson are his chief of staff, Marshall Thompson (Timothy Hutton), national security advisor Gayle Redford (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and a network TV crew. While the president exchanges pleasantries with the diner's staff and customers, a new bulletin appears on TV: Udei Hussein, son of the late Saddam Hussein, has invaded Kuwait and butchered several hundred U.S. peace-keeping troops. Outraged, the president announces that if Hussein and his forces do not withdraw and officially surrender, he will begin dropping nuclear weapons on Baghdad. However, Iraq responds that if they are attacked, 23 cities in the United States and allied nations will be immediately destroyed in a counterattack. Emerson, his advisors, and the others trapped in the diner with them debate long and loud about what to do, and what the potential consequences could be. Deterrence was written and directed by former film critic Rod Lurie. ...Deterrence

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE BEST POLITICAL THRILLERS IN YEARS, August 15, 2001

By 

David A. Coughlin "surrealdave" (BROCKTON, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deterrence [VHS] (VHS Tape)

If you love political thrillers like 7 Days in May, Failsafe, The Bedford Incident, ect. then you will throughly enjoy Deterrence.Its basically set in a roadside diner where the dialogue and the suspense are the center of the movie, not special effects.It is very similar in that regard to 12 Angry Men.The movie begins with Kevin Pollack (a good character actor) as the new President of the United States, swinging through Colorado during the capaign primary there when he, his advisers, secret service detail ect. get holed up in a diner when a blizzard strikes..While there, he learns from CNN on the Tv there that the son of Saddam Hussein has overrun U.S. positions in the middle east and is going to again invade Kuwait and Saudi Arabia..Since its Saddam's son you know this is the future, 2008 but every other detail in the movie is strictly current era, i.e. no ray guns..Anyway, the President is stuck in this diner, and has to fight this crisis with only 4 secure cell phones at his disposal, repel massive Iraqi armored divisions while all the U.S. forces are tied down in Korea in a crisis there..This is the beginning of the movie and the brinksmanship between leaders, and countries which threatens global thermo-nuclear war.If you love political thrillers like the ones mentioned above then you will lovbe this film too..It was made by a first time director and graduate of West Point..It got overlooked at the theatre and on video by mainstream people.It has become an underground or cult classic with intelligent people who enjoy suspenseful thrillers that don't have to cost 200 million dollars to make..This movie is almost a throwback to the classic cold war thrillers of the 50's and 60's when good acting, writing, and directing was emphasized rather than big explosions.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fanciful plot developments but well done, September 10, 2000

By 

D. Thomas Longo Jr. (Delmar, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deterrence (DVD)

The Vice President has become President by appointment a la former President Ford. He has been President only four months, and is campaigning for election for the first time in his own right. In Colorado during primary season, a blizzard maroons him and his small entourage in a diner. Then, stuff hits the fan in another part of the world possibly presaging major nuclear calamity. How does he handle it?

That is the plot premise and the story unfolds well-acted and grippingly. It was like a book one can not put down. There are numerous byplays - the Secret Service and the people in the diner, the President and his staff, the Prez and foreign heavies, the press, and so forth. A low-budget affair, shot almost entirely in that diner and with nil whiz-bang special effects, writing and acting carry the day.

Yes, what happens in this tale stretches the imagination, and only for that reason do I give this film four stars vice five. Still, if you like stories which grab and hold you, this compact film is worth your time.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deterrence- best kept secret in Hollywood`, May 28, 2004

By 

"dorch22" (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deterrence (DVD)

this is a fantastick movie! I have referred a dozen or so family members, and each has confirmed the superiority of this film. Well-thought out and imaginative, one could only hope our intelligence services are half as creative and smart as the creator of this masterpiece.