President Ronald Reagan met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev five times in the late 1980s, beginning with their first meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, in November 1985. Their second meeting, held in Reykjavik, Iceland, marked a turning point where the two leaders began to build trust.

The 1986 Reykjavik summit is the focus of the new film "The Brink of War," starring Jeff Daniels as Reagan. The film, produced by Angel Studios, dramatizes the nuclear arms negotiations that nearly led to an agreement on reducing both strategic and intermediate-range weapons.

"For the first time on the highest level, we and the Soviets came close to an agreement on real reductions of both strategic and intermediate-range weapons," President Reagan said after the meeting in Iceland.

Director Michael Gunn said, "The reason I wanted to do it really, truly, was because I think these days we've gotten so good at yelling at one another that we are not talking anymore." He added that the story was striking because "these were two guys who had every reason to hate each other, had every reason to be enemies, and they sat down in a room together and tried to make a better world."

The film also features Jared Harris as Gorbachev and J.K. Simmons as Reagan's Secretary of State George Schultz, who provided behind-the-scenes details for the production.

Bret Baier, FOX News Channel's anchor and executive editor of Special Report, noted Reagan and Gorbachev's historic meetings and the significance of the Reykjavik summit in paving the way for the INF Treaty.

Sources