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Thursday, Dec 25
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Format: DVD October 31, 2000
Description
A U.S. plane loaded with hydrogen bombs is flying towards Moscow and because of technical difficulties, is impossible to recall. Starring Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau. Directed by Sidney Lumet.
Genre: Thriller
Format: Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, NTSC, Black & White
Contributor: Max E. Youngstein, Sidney Lumet, Dan O'Herlihy, Larry Hagman, Columbia Pictures; Max E. Youngstein Ent. Inc, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Edward Binns, Henry Fonda See more
Language: English
Runtime: 1 hour and 52 minutes
Aspect Ratio : 1.851
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions : 0.6 x 5.3 x 7.5 inches; 2.72 ounces
Item model number : 5424
Director : Sidney Lumet
Media Format : Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, NTSC, Black & White
Run time : 1 hour and 52 minutes
Release date : October 31, 2000
Actors : Henry Fonda, Dan O'Herlihy, Walter Matthau, Edward Binns, Fritz Weaver
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Top Amazon Reviews
As does his big-screen debut, "12 Angry Men" (1957), Sidney Lumet's "Fail-Safe" continues to speak volumes today -- a half-century after its release. As in 1957, Lumet's use of relatively spartan sets and modest effects work to this film's advantage (as does the total absence of music); combined with Gerald Hirschfeld's stark B & W cinematography and dramatic camera work - and Ralph Rosenblum's adroit editing - the often claustrophobic tension is synergistically heightened. Minor technical flaws (as in the brief stock footage) can be overlooked, as they do not compromise the storyline. Lumet employed two fine actors from his 1957 film, Henry Fonda & Edward Binns, in a superb ensemble cast. Fonda's portrayal is the very model for what many expect an American president to be; his distinctive voice, mannerisms and cool decisive nature define the character. Dan O'Herlihey imbues Gen. Black with the knowing resignation of one trapped in a dilemma with no solution, who must play out his part to the inevitable conclusion. Successful on stage & television, this was Fritz Weaver's big-screen debut. He lends great pathos to his portrayal of Col. Cascio; inner demons are kept bottled-up until the breaking point - when they erupt at a critical moment of the crisis. Known best for comedy, Walter Matthau proves his dramatic abilities as Prof. Groeteschele, loosely based on Herman Kahn, a founder of the New York Hudson Institute (with a sprinkling of Edward Teller thrown in). (After obtaining a M. Sc. degree from Caltech, Kahn was recruited by the RAND Corporation. It was there that he published his seminal treatise, "On Thermonuclear War" (giving a nod to "On War," by Carl von Clausewitz). This was the genesis of the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction ('MAD').) Giving perhaps the finest performance of his too-short career, Frank Overton as Gen. Bogan instills in his character wisdom, humanity and quiet dignity (as in the role of Sheriff Heck Tate in "To Kill A Mockingbird," 1962). Rather than an autocratic or callous commanding officer, Bogan displays understanding and compassion. In a late scene, realizing his mistake and that it means the No. 1 plane carrying the bombs will almost certainly reach its target of Moscow, Marshall Nevsky, with whom General Bogan has been speaking over their "hot line," collapses and is replaced by General Koniev. After a brief exchange with Koniev about a last-chance possibility of stopping the plane, Bogan says, "You speak English very well, General." Koniev: "I was liaison to your headquarters in London, during the war." Bogan: "I was stationed right outside of London." Koniev: "Yes, I know; at the Eighth Air Force." Bogan: "Did you like London?" Koniev: "Very much." Bogan: "So did I." Koniev: "The great cities are those where one can walk; I would walk all the time in London. Wherever you turn, there's history." General Bogan is handed a SAC dossier on General Koniev and leafs through it; seeing Koniev's photograph he asks, "General, are you in Moscow now?" Koniev: "No; I was ordered to leave." Finding a photograph of the general with his wife and children, Bogan starts to ask whether his family is safe - but stops himself before any words are spoken, instead saying simply, "It's a hard day." Koniev: "Yes, a hard day." (Pause) "Goodbye, my friend." "Goodbye MY friend," replies Bogan with the resignation and sorrowfulness of one bidding farewell to a lifelong friend. More even than an object lesson in how adults handle a crisis of cataclysmic proportion, "Fail-Safe" is a still-relevant cautionary tale about misplaced faith in sophisticated technology and the possible ramifications therefrom (as in "Colossus - The Forbin Project," 1970), perfectly enunciated in this exchange: KNAPP: "The more complex an electronic system gets, the more accident-prone it is. Sooner or later, it breaks down... A transistor blows, a condenser burns out. Sometimes they just get tired, like people..." GROETESCHELE: "But Mr. Knapp overlooks one thing. The machines are supervised by humans. Even if the machine fails, the human being can always correct the mistake." KNAPP: "I wish you were right. The fact is the machines work so fast, they are so intricate, the mistakes they make are so subtle that very often a human being can't know if a machine is lying or telling the truth." Of course, the obvious comparison will be made to Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" (1964), based on the novel "Red Alert," by Peter George (originally published in the UK as "Two Hours to Doom" under the pseudonym of Peter Bryant). It was not a comedy (nor was it nearly as well-written as the Burdick-Wheeler novel); Kubrick and George turned it into the black comedy classic it became. With Kubrick having substantially more clout than Lumet at that time, George suing Burdick and Wheeler for plagiarism and Columbia Pictures releasing both films, though "Fail-Safe" was 'in the can' first, it was held back - and the movie-going public got to yuck-it-up over the prospect of thermonuclear annihilation. After all, Stanley Kramer's stunning film "On the Beach" (1959) had not yet faded from the public's mind, the Cold War had recently heated to a boil with the Cuban Missile Crisis - and President Kennedy had just been assassinated. People needed to laugh, if even at a black comedy. In large part as a result, "Fail-Safe" was not a box-office success; posterity has treated it quite differently. Niels Bohr's famous quip, "There are things that are so serious that you can only joke about them," notwithstanding, an earnest discussion on trying to avert the total annihilation of the planet is deadly serious - and on every level, "Fail-Safe" remains an outstanding, riveting and truly harrowing film, all too relevant even today - for there is no highly-complex technology that is truly "Fail-Safe."
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Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2014 by AJ Averett
Fantastic movie. One of my favorites of all time!
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2024 by Patrick Gregg
Possibly the most important movie you'll ever watch. No "happy endings" here, just a good hard dose of reality. I think EVERY living, breathing Human Being on the planet should watch this movie. And if you are a leader of a country, be it President, Prime Minister, King, or whatever you call yourself, you should be REQUIRED to watch this move, before you are allowed to take office. At the front of that line, certainly that young North Korean "Boy-President". Maybe Dennis Rodman could talk some sense to him? This is a movie that might even make the most devout war-monger shut the "F" up! And for you "New Age" parents who want to shield your child from "bad things", you need to sit your child down at the earliest age possible and watch this WITH them (and then, of course, have a discussion with them). I saw this movie first when I was only 10 and even at that age, it made me THINK. This is a safe way to show your kid the "bad" in the world, and what can happen if things get out of hand. If you don't want to impart a dose of reality to them now, don't worry; the World-at-large will do it FOR you, and in a much less polite manner. Everyone's NOT always a "winner" in this world; to teach your kids otherwise is living in "Candyland". But hey, you New Age parent out there, your kid is gonna "get" that when they get their first REJECTION letter from that college they wanted. And sometimes we're ALL losers, as in the case of War, ESPECIALLY Nuclear War. Nobody is doing anyone a favor by "shielding" them from the bad side of Life; you're only depriving them of the TOOLS to know how to deal with it, when you can no longer keep them "safe", and they are confronted with REALITY. I'm one of the most positive people you'll ever meet (I really am), but you don't necessarily get that way by ignoring "the Dark side". In fact, you're more able to deal with the negative aspects in this world if you ADMIT they're there, and RECOGNIZE the fact that ignoring them does NOT make them go away. Otherwise, you just set yourself up to someday be blindsided. It's your choice. Buy this movie. Stream this movie. But if you're still with me and still reading this, you owe it to yourself to WATCH this movie, and turn EVERYONE you know onto this movie. This is based on the same book as the movie "Dr. Strangelove", which dealt with the subject matter in a humorous way. And it's good for satire. But Fail Safe is the REALITY, with all the humor and satire stripped away. Not so pretty, huh? And though it was made in 1964, it's just as topical now as it was then. EVERYONE on Planet Earth who's under the age of 70 has lived under this cloud of sudden death, their entire life, whether they choose to acknowledge it or not. That includes YOU. So please watch this movie. I'm not saying you'll necessarily feel "better", but strangely, I'm not saying you WON'T. You'll certainly come away with a deeper appreciation of Life, and how quickly it can all be taken away, without your control or say-so, by people you don't even know. Or sometimes, maybe by people you DO know... So if you think you CAN handle the TRUTH, I encourage you and your entire family to watch "Fail Safe". Then go watch "50 Shades of Gray"; I'm certainly not telling you to quit watching "important" movies! :-/ ?
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Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2015 by larry the reviewer