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Fail Safe
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786303686745
Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
ISBN: 6303686745
Label: Sony Pictures
Languages: English (Original Language), Analog
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Release Date: June 04, 1996
Running Time: 111 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: October 07, 1964
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Editorial Review:
It's Dr. Strangelove, but without the laughs. Fail Safe, made within a year of Strangelove and at the height of cold war atomic anxiety, posits a similar nightmare scenario. A U.S. bomber is accidentally ordered toward Moscow, ready to drop its load. The U.S. president (Henry Fonda) and various military and congressional leaders must then scramble to deal with the disaster. The built-in suspense is well maintained by director Sidney Lumet, working from a script by former blacklisted writer Walter Bernstein. The solemn, serious approach doesn't begin to touch the brilliance of Strangelove's inspired take on the nuclear nightmare, but Fail Safe is absorbing and well acted (a memorable role for Walter Matthau, for instance). The movie enters unexpected territory in its final minutes; conditioned for feel-good endings, viewers are still genuinely shocked by the plot turns in the final reels. The climax comes as a sobering slap in the face, intriguingly staged by Lumet. Now that the cold war has passed on into history, Fail Safe stands as--thank goodness--an interesting period piece. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Fail Safe
Good movie. could possibly happen in the real world. A good visit to the war room. I enjoyed the scene when the general (Blackie) was getting up from bed and talking to his wife. I remember him sitting by the side of the bed and saying something like; "is it possible that our dreams are really what we live and what we think we live are only dreams." I don't remember the exact quote, however, if anyone knows exactly, I sure would like to know. I'v seen this movie more then ten times and I still ... Read More
Rating:  - We have nothing to fear
But perhaps the machines we have built to protect us.
"Fail Safe" was filmed in 1964 at the height of the Cold War nuclear anxiety. The premise is that our US technology mistakenly labeled a troubled passenger aircraft as an incoming Soviet bomb and scrambled our own Air Force fighters against Moscow. President (Henry Fonda) and the Soviet Premier must work together to try and diffuse the situation and ultimately to solve the problems our failed 'fail safe' system created.
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Rating: - FEEL SAFE ?
A "cold war' chiller that still maintains one's attention today after 44 years.While a brilliant, but truly eerie professor (Matthau) is holding center stage at a symposium, pontificating on the number of "acceptable losses" in a nuclear war, a computer malfunction sends an American bomber streaking towards Moscow. As scientists scurry to contact the jet,Fonda, doing a superb job as American President,effectively uses the "hot line",trying to buy time and to allay the fears ... Read More
Rating: - A Great, Great movie
Fail-safe happens to be one of the few books I've read. A great book and a fine theatrical adaptation. I feel that Larry Hagman and Henry Fonda gave some of the best performances of their carrers. Very true to the book, in my opinion. I would watch it, commercials and all, each time it would come on broadcast TV and finally checked to see if it was on DVD. An exciting cold war thriller. I highly recommend this DVD.
Rating: - Exercise in Tension.
Fail-Safe (Sidney Lumet, 1964)
That Sidney Lumet has traditionally been one of America's finest directors almost goes without saying; this is the man who directed 12 Angry Men, Long Day's Journey into Night, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, and Equus, among many, many others. Fail-Safe came relatively early in his career; while he had done a good deal of television work, it was only his sixth big-screen feature. It takes the tension of 12 Angry Men and ramps it up another couple of notches. ... Read More
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