The True Story Behind The Brink of War
Jeff Daniels and Jared Harris star as Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in a historical drama about the 1986 Reykjavik Summit
The Reykjavik Summit, held in October 1986 between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, is often overlooked in American history. However, it marked a crucial step towards ending the Cold War. The summit came after an unexpected invitation from Gorbachev, which the Reagan administration did not label as a summit, preferring to call it a meeting.
The primary goal of the summit was to discuss arms control between the two nations, with the hope of ending a threat of nuclear war that loomed over both countries and the world. Over three days, Reagan and Gorbachev engaged in intense debates to bring peace and an end to the Cold War. The film The Brink of War, directed by Michael Russell Gunn, highlights this significant event.
Jeff Daniels stars as Reagan, Jared Harris as Gorbachev, and J.K. Simmons as Secretary of State George Shultz. Gunn became fascinated with the Reykjavik Summit after meeting George Shultz, who shared his memories of the event. Shultz recounted how he stood outside the meeting room as Gorbachev and Reagan entered, witnessing the two leaders holding nuclear footballs, each capable of launching nuclear weapons.
Gunn was struck by the immense power these leaders held, and he wanted to capture this reality on film. The film features almost verbatim conversations from the summit, based on declassified transcripts and supplemented with additional context from books like Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan by Edmund Morris and Gorbachev by William Taubman.
Despite their efforts, Reagan and Gorbachev were unable to agree on a deal that would eliminate all nuclear missiles. Their main point of contention was Gorbachev's demand that Reagan abandon the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as "Star Wars," a proposed missile defense system. Gorbachev believed that the SDI undermined the talks, and the mood shifted to disappointment. The summit was an intense and tense 30-hour ordeal, with moments of hope and excitement, but ultimately, it ended without a breakthrough.
Written by urgent.news from Time's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
