Rating: 
Summary: Cold war turns red hot!
Review: A fault in a multi-million dollar nuclear bomber spirals the crew and the world into this tense and exiting cold war thriller. You may have heard the storyline before (Dr. Strangelove) but this film is deeper, darker and deadly serious!Henry Fonda provides a superb performance in this powerful drama which keeps you on the edge of your seat to the very last image on the screen. The tension unfolds minute by minute following the ill-fated crew from the beginning of their routine flight to their terror-filled battle through Soviet airspace towards their target - Moscow! Will they succeed, will they be recalled, will they be shot down? Superb acting and skillful writing combine to produce one of the best (anti) cold war films of our time. Special effects are minimal (compared to todays epics) and the sets are confined mostly to the NORAD Air Force control bunker and the bomber cockpit but never has a film been so effective in its powerful portrayal of tension, suspense, and fear as the President of the United States, the US Air Force and the Russians struggle to try to stop the rogue bomber from starting a nuclear holocaust. Striking black and white photography enhances the film rather than detracts from the experience. Don't miss it!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, chilling "what-if" Cold War film.
Review: When machines break down and accidentally unleash the nuclear genie out of the bottle, it's up to the President(brilliantly played by Henry Fonda) and his top military and government officials to prevent all-out war. Tensions heighten when military men like Colonel Cascio(Fritz Weaver) crack under the strain; a civilian "hawk" (Walter Matthau) argues for total committment while a military pacifist General(Dan O'Herlihy) adamantly insists that unleashing the H-Bomb would spell the end of the world. When it becomes clear the B-58 Vindicator Bombers mistakenly sent against Moscow will reach their target, the President must make the gravest sacrifice to prevent Armageddon. Lumet's directing and the all-star cast bring to life a nightmare situation that almost happened a number of times in real life. Well worth your viewing!
Rating:
Summary: Fail-Safe timeless
Review: Propaganda writes: "This film is interesting only in the fact that it is an odd relic of anti-Cold War propaganda; a pacifist film touting a suicidal philosophy of disarmament. Its particularly ironic that the smugness of the film's creators is now quite laughable in the hindsight of history. Despite all the dire predictions this film makes, thirty years later the U.S. would ultimately win the Cold War against the Soviet Union... and without a nuclear shot being fired in anger." Respectfully, I disagree. The film does not tout disarmament. The theme of the film, which runs throughout, is that the machines 'are too fast', the military systems have the great potential to fail, and that our mutual distrust of what we don't understand (our enemies) which lead us to create situations of conflict with each other, which end in needless, tragic, destruction. This is a theme that runs throughout the events of history, that is what makes Fail-Safe timeless.
Rating:
Summary: Cold-War Thriller
Review: Preceded and overshadowed by the film "Dr. Strangelove," "Failsafe" provides a serious version of a nuclear weapons crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union. The plot in "Failsafe" is remarkably similar to it's cold-war satire counterpart with the portrayal of the National Command Authority having to prevent full scale nuclear war after one its bomber squadrons accidentally receives the "Go" code to strike Moscow. A computer communication malfunction at the US Air Force's Strategic Air Command is the culprit, and within minutes, the President dispatches fighters to shoot down the bombers after his service chiefs recommend the course of action. The fighters are unsuccessful and the President begins working with the Soviet Premier to prevent the bombers from reaching their target. Under the President's orders, SAC is on line with the Soviet High Command to help intercept the bombers. After one of his Air Force generals predicts the likelihood of a bomber getting through, the President seeks a solution to prevent nuclear retaliation, which provides a shocking ending to the story. Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" pulls no punches in its humor and portrayal of high-ranking government officials, its comedic treatment leaves viewers with the feeling that such a scenario would never come to life. "Failsafe" on the other hand projects a chilling atmosphere as the leaders and staffs of two major powers come to grips with the crisis, and overcome their cold-war rivalries to solve the problem. The story is portrayed in four places; the President's bunker, the Pentagon's operations center, the SAC headquarters, and the cockpit of the flight commander leading his bombers into Russia. The big star in this feature is Henry Fonda as the President; his performance is so convincing that he probably could have run for office. Other standouts are Walter Matthau, the civilian advisor who is the "Devil's Advocate" on the Pentagon staff, and Dan O'Herlihy as "Blacky," an insightful Air Force general and old friend of the President, who is eventually called upon to carry out the President's solution. The other significant player is Frank Overton as the SAC Commander, maintaining order in his headquarters while his air staff border on mutiny while assisting the Soviets in locating the bombers. There is Ed Binns as the bomber pilot, torn between his duties and doubts when the NCA and SAC attempt to recall him over open communication channels. Last but not least is Larry Hagman, who turns in a great performance as the President's translator. Included on the DVD is a bonus feature about the production of the movie, where the actors and writers discuss the movie's plot and it's similarity with "Dr. Strangelove" that resulted in a lawsuit. They also talk about having to bootleg footage for the aircraft depicted, because of lack of cooperation from the Air Force, resulting in most of the action represented on graphic display screens in the SAC headquarters and the Pentagon. Despite these constraints, they produced a movie that still puts viewers on the edge of their seats as time runs out with the bombers getting closer and closer to their target. The impact of the feature was enough to warrant a special message in the end credits to assure audiences that such an event could never occur.
Rating:
Summary: Nail-bitting nuclear nightmare with a shocking end
Review: It's strange how two movies covering the same subject are released months apart in the same year. Especially how one of the two films are successful at the box office. The other, not so successful. That is the case of two films being released by Columbia Pictures in 1964, when the United States Of America was still recovering from the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War was still at an all time high. The two films were none other than Stanley Kubrick's Cold War satire Dr. Starngelove (made entirely in England) and Sidney Lumet's classic anti-war picture Fail-Safe. While the late Kubrick's picture dealt with the madness of nuclear war on the black comedy level, Fail-Safe approached the subject from a much more serious perspective. The results led to the movie going public being scared out of their wits, for fear of something like this actually happening. Kubrick's film dealt with man going mad and declaring war. Lumet's film dealt with the machines breaking down and leading the human race on the road to global annihilation. Or to be more precise, it shows us what the consequences are when humanity puts too much trust in the machine and its systems. There is always a margin for error when man and machine are moving too fast and become dependent on one another. Fail-Safe begins in Omaha, Nebraska with a US Congressman being given a tour of the Startegic Air Command's control facility by the commanding officer. What seems to be a minor electronic malfunction occurs during an alert when SAC bombers are flying at their fail-safe points. From there, the situation rapidly worsens and bombers are given an order to fly to their targets in the Union of the Soviet Socialistic Republic. The President and the Omaha staff try desperately to recall the planes and it looks for a while like they have succeeded. They then notice that one group of planes, Group Six, is still flying toward Russia. The group is unable to receive the recall code because the Russians are experimenting with new radio jamming proceedures. The supporting fighter planes are returning to their base in Alaska when they are informed of the dilemma with Group Six. They are ordered to turn around and try to intercept the group wing and shoot them down if necessary. Everyone involved knows that this is a desperate measure because the fighters are low on fuel. They fall into the Arctic Ocean before even getting close to Group Six. The President and the people at NORAD eventually help the Russians to try to stop Group Six. What follows is a shocking end that will bring back memories of September 11th, 2001 AD. One wishes that the city of Los Angeles was the victim instead of....well, you'll just have to watch the movie to find out. With its multi-dimensional screenplay (based precisely on the original 1962 novel) and solid acting from the astounding cast (Henry Fonda, Larry Hagman, Fritz Weaver, Frank Overton, Dom DeLuise, Walter Matthau, Dan O'Herlihy, Sorrell Brooks, Edward Binns, and Dana Elcar), Fail-Safe still brings the message across after forty years. Not only does it reflect the political and social issues of the time, it still states that sometimes our weapons can grow faster than our wisdom. The Cold War maybe over, but the human race still face the possibility of a nuclear war with the likes of the entire Middle East and North Korea. Fail-Safe is still a gripping reminder that something tragic as this could still happen. It will also make you stop and think.
Rating:
Summary: Cold-War Thriller
Review: Preceded and overshadowed by the film "Dr. Strangelove," "Failsafe" provides a serious version of a nuclear weapons crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union. The plot in "Failsafe" is remarkably similar to it's cold-war satire counterpart with the portrayal of the National Command Authority having to prevent full scale nuclear war after one its bomber squadrons accidentally receives the "Go" code to strike Moscow. A computer communication malfunction at the US Air Force's Strategic Air Command is the culprit, and within minutes, the President dispatches fighters to shoot down the bombers after his service chiefs recommend the course of action. The fighters are unsuccessful and the President begins working with the Soviet Premier to prevent the bombers from reaching their target. Under the President's orders, SAC is on line with the Soviet High Command to help intercept the bombers. After one of his Air Force generals predicts the likelihood of a bomber getting through, the President seeks a solution to prevent nuclear retaliation, which provides a shocking ending to the story. Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" pulls no punches in its humor and portrayal of high-ranking government officials, its comedic treatment leaves viewers with the feeling that such a scenario would never come to life. "Failsafe" on the other hand projects a chilling atmosphere as the leaders and staffs of two major powers come to grips with the crisis, and overcome their cold-war rivalries to solve the problem. The story is portrayed in four places; the President's bunker, the Pentagon's operations center, the SAC headquarters, and the cockpit of the flight commander leading his bombers into Russia. The big star in this feature is Henry Fonda as the President; his performance is so convincing that he probably could have run for office. Other standouts are Walter Matthau, the civilian advisor who is the "Devil's Advocate" on the Pentagon staff, and Dan O'Herlihy as "Blacky," an insightful Air Force general and old friend of the President, who is eventually called upon to carry out the President's solution. The other significant player is Frank Overton as the SAC Commander, maintaining order in his headquarters while his air staff border on mutiny while assisting the Soviets in locating the bombers. There is Ed Binns as the bomber pilot, torn between his duties and doubts when the NCA and SAC attempt to recall him over open communication channels. Last but not least is Larry Hagman, who turns in a great performance as the President's translator. Included on the DVD is a bonus feature about the production of the movie, where the actors and writers discuss the movie's plot and it's similarity with "Dr. Strangelove" that resulted in a lawsuit. They also talk about having to bootleg footage for the aircraft depicted, because of lack of cooperation from the Air Force, resulting in most of the action represented on graphic display screens in the SAC headquarters and the Pentagon. Despite these constraints, they produced a movie that still puts viewers on the edge of their seats as time runs out with the bombers getting closer and closer to their target. The impact of the feature was enough to warrant a special message in the end credits to assure audiences that such an event could never occur.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly serious and thought-provoking
Review: The main theme of this film is that, with all of the tensions and pressures of the Cold War, and the rapid advancements in weapon development, things could go very wrong, very fast, and become unstoppable. When a drill becomes a false alarm that gets misread by some as a true Soviet nuclear attack against the U.S., American bombs destroy Moscow in "retaliation" and "counter-strike". The President and the Soviet leader try to find a way to prevent full-scale nuclear war, despite decades of mutual distrust. A radical solution is eventually found. I was born in 1960 and, while that was after the McCarthy era, I grew up with the idea that Soviet Russia might attack at any time. This drama accurately depicts the fear, tension, and suspcion that permeated that time. It is harsh but well-done.
Rating:
Summary: Fail-Safe timeless
Review: Propaganda writes: "This film is interesting only in the fact that it is an odd relic of anti-Cold War propaganda; a pacifist film touting a suicidal philosophy of disarmament. Its particularly ironic that the smugness of the film's creators is now quite laughable in the hindsight of history. Despite all the dire predictions this film makes, thirty years later the U.S. would ultimately win the Cold War against the Soviet Union... and without a nuclear shot being fired in anger." Respectfully, I disagree. The film does not tout disarmament. The theme of the film, which runs throughout, is that the machines 'are too fast', the military systems have the great potential to fail, and that our mutual distrust of what we don't understand (our enemies) which lead us to create situations of conflict with each other, which end in needless, tragic, destruction. This is a theme that runs throughout the events of history, that is what makes Fail-Safe timeless.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good for the period
Review: Very good at keeping your attention. Interesting to see so many great actors in one movie and still young. An excellent flix.
Rating:
Summary: We needed this film
Review: I wasn't even born when this film came out. I believe FAIL-SAFE is one of the most important films of it's time. And, all too real for it's day. With the Cuban Missile Crisis and nuclear tension at an all-time high, we needed this film to remind us that we cannot depend on machines to protect us. They may, in fact, be the enemy. Because the ending was so dark and unimaginable for it's time, i'm sure it made people think twice about engaging in nuclear war, contrary to one reviewer's opinion. Eventually, with a better understanding of each other, along with an instinctual desire to survive, a peaceful resolution between the United States and the Soviet Union was made. I give films like this the due credit for helping us to see the alternative to tolerance. Now, I only wish George II could see the light...before he does us all in.
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