Product Details

• Actors: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Dan O'Herlihy, Frank Overton
• Directors: Sidney Lumet
• Writers: Eugene Burdick, Harvey Wheeler, Peter George, Walter Bernstein
• Producers: Charles H. Maguire, Max E. Youngstein
• Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: June 4, 1996
• Run Time: 112 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (122 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303686745
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #157,315 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

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

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cold-War Thriller, February 9, 2001

By 

D. Blackdeer (Kansas) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fail-safe (Special Edition) (DVD)

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.

51 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great movie from a great book, November 19, 2000

By 

Eric V. Moye (New York, by way of Dallas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fail Safe [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TERRIFYING IN 1964, TERRIFYING TODAY, July 6, 2006

By 

A. G. HORNE (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fail-safe (Special Edition) (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.