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Special Features
- Exclusive Featurette: "'Fail Safe' Revisited"
- Talent Files (Sidney Lumet, Walter Matthau, Henry Fonda and Larry Hagman)
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
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
Product Description
Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau. The United States government panics when a computer error sends American bombers to nuke Moscow. 1964/b&w/111 min/NR/widescreen.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
57 of 58 people found the following review helpful
By D. Blackdeer
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
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 its satrical cold-war counterpart with 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.
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.
57 of 61 people found the following review helpful
By Eric V. Moye
Format:VHS Tape|Amazon Verified Purchase
Most books, even the great ones, unfortunately do not translate well onto the big screen. Fail Safe is a happy exception to the rule.
The story is now two generations old. Mechanical error sends six bombers towards the Soviet Union (remember them? they used to be our one mortal national enemy). The President and the government try all they can to recall them, to no avail.
Emotions understandibly run high. Men get stretched to the breaking point, and some snap. The President makes a terrible sacrifice, to convince the Russians that it WAS an accident. The price of this ticket it incredibly high.
Forget about the comparisons with Dr. Strangelove (which is a great movie in its own right). They belong together only by their contrasting styles.
This movie is chilling in Black & White. You will never think of J.R. Ewing again the same way, after seeing Larry Hagman in the role as the President's translator.
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By A. G. HORNE
Format:DVD
I've seen this film several times, and it NEVER ceases to scare me... it concentrates on the true power technology holds in the world, and the devastating results that can occur when technological problems arise. An error in our defense system sends an erroneous message to fighter pilots patrolling our airspace, who obey it and head off to bomb Moscow! The situation is handled, if not resolved, with a truly horrifying result.
No shortage of GREAT acting here... Henry Fonda as The President... Larry Hagman as the translator who helps during phone conversations between The President and his Russian counterpart. And Walter Matthau as a Civilian Advisor. As always Matthau is brilliant, as are all the actors. Dom DeLuise appears as one of the techs at the US Air Defense HQ; this is the only "serious" role I've seen DeLuise play.
This film goes further than the mere "technology runs wild" theme; it brings up the frightening questions, "What's REALLY going on up there (or ANYwhere)?" and "What can REALLY happen??"
I recommend this film one-hundred-per-cent.
No shortage of GREAT acting here... Henry Fonda as The President... Larry Hagman as the translator who helps during phone conversations between The President and his Russian counterpart. And Walter Matthau as a Civilian Advisor. As always Matthau is brilliant, as are all the actors. Dom DeLuise appears as one of the techs at the US Air Defense HQ; this is the only "serious" role I've seen DeLuise play.
This film goes further than the mere "technology runs wild" theme; it brings up the frightening questions, "What's REALLY going on up there (or ANYwhere)?" and "What can REALLY happen??"
I recommend this film one-hundred-per-cent.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great
One of the first great apocalyptic end of the world movies. Great cast, Great story, Henry Fonda and Larry Hagman. Their scenes together are classic
Published 13 days ago by Mark M. Hargus
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fond of Fonda Flicks
I just think Henry Fonda (and Walter Matthau) are great actors and I like wartime themes. Great actors usually make great movies, yes?
Published 2 months ago by manta
4.0 out of 5 stars
Underrated Classic
It's slow paced (as far as action goes), but a really compelling story that addresses the 1950's fear of nuclear war head on.
Published 4 months ago by ANTHONY L. ROBERSON
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great movie
I appreciated the opportunity to purchase a quality repro of this great movie.The message depicted in this story could have been a reality as the cold war was in full swing albeit... Read more
Published 4 months ago by noel j sinclair
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Warning About Nuclear Politics
Fail-Safe, 1964 film
It begins with a man leaving his wife in the early morning, he dresses in his military uniform. Read more
It begins with a man leaving his wife in the early morning, he dresses in his military uniform. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Acute Observer
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best ever
Tense, believable, well acted tale of the Cold War and failure of a highly complicated computerized system. Henry Fonda's great.
Published 4 months ago by Bonnie
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bad copy, Great movie !!
Remembered this movie from childhood, wanted to see it again uncut & crisp.looking .
movie started out . Read more
movie started out . Read more
Published 4 months ago by michael l wolford
4.0 out of 5 stars
failsafe
a highly suspenseful movie. one of the greatest ant war thriller ever it stars henry fonda walter matthau dan o herlihy and larry hagman with fritz weaver. Read more
Published 4 months ago by dale l naylor
5.0 out of 5 stars
super
great actors one of my favorites the quality is super i have watched it many times i will buy more movies
Published 5 months ago by william trivisonno
4.0 out of 5 stars
Really good movie
If you we a teenager when this movie cam out it scared the heck out of you. People at this time were buying bomb shelters due to the problems going on. Read more
Published 5 months ago by D. Seller
