Fail-Safe

Name: Fail-Safe
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: September 15, 1964
Duration: 112 min
Rating: 75
Cast: Dan O'Herlihy, Edward Binns, Frank Overton, Fritz Weaver, Henry Fonda

1964

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Ratings

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7.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Ratings

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Fail Safe

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Movie Details & Credits

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: September 15, 1964 | Approved

Starring: Dan O'Herlihy, Edward Binns, Frank Overton, Fritz Weaver, Henry Fonda, Larry Hagman, Russell Collins, Russell Hardie, Walter Matthau, William Hansen

Summary: American planes are sent to deliver a nuclear attack on Moscow, but it's a mistake due to an electrical malfunction. Can all-out war be averted?

Director: Sidney Lumet

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller

Rating: Approved

Runtime: 112 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Bosley Crowther

It packs a melodramatic wallop that will rattle a lot of chattering teeth. Read full review

Empire Kim Newman

Still an impressive and disturbing brink-of-doom thriller. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

While this is a wonderful showcase for some fine acting--notably by Fonda--it is not great filmmaking, and one may be left wishing for the biting, off-the-wall satire of Dr. Strangelove. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Fail Safe is a tense and suspenseful piece of filmmaking dealing with the frightening implications of accidental nuclear warfare. It faithfully translates on the screen the power and seething drama of the Eugene Burdick-Harvey Wheeler book. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Eclipsed by its contemporary, Dr Strangelove, Fail Safe eschews the former's black humour and opts for a deadly serious mix of cold-war melodrama and rampant psychosis. Read full review

Ari N. Schulman

As brilliant and grotesquely funny as Dr. Strangelove is, the neglected Fail-Safe is the more mature and damning take on the nuclear enterprise. It feels like it could have really happened, and it’s terrifying as a result. Read full review

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User Reviews

Ben_Films

Mar 12, 2022

Great film but Dr. Strangelove is better. But anyways ewrgtertyuj7tre3rgthyujdrtyuhjgerfthyujgtrdfrthyuj gthyjugtredfr juyhgtredfrg htgrf hy hy hy yh yh h y hy hy y y hy hy hy h h h h hh h h h h h h h h h h h h h h

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Kai82

Jan 28, 2020

A cold war movie about losing control of your own defence mechanisms and the dangers of nuclear war. The Cuban missile crisis was solved just 2 years earlier. If you don't know it was the closest thing to the end of humanity that ever happened. A nuclear war was almost started. The movie isA cold war movie about losing control of your own defence mechanisms and the dangers of nuclear war. The Cuban missile crisis was solved just 2 years earlier. If you don't know it was the closest thing to the end of humanity that ever happened. A nuclear war was almost started. The movie is about a small computer error that triggers the alarms of the US military. Bombers armed with nuclear weapons are send automatically to “Fail Safe” positions for a worst case scenario. Because of a chain of unlucky events a squadron of bombers start their attack procedure with Moscow as main target. The rest of the movie is about stopping their own bombers and avoiding the resulting nuclear holocaust. This is the strength of the movie. It is a so realistic and dreadful scenario. They created a monster that they cant stop. The movie is carried by a cast of truly remarkable actors. You have Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Larry Hagman, Dab O’Herlihy and many more. Each actor nails their role in this dreadful situation. They also filmed the movie in black and white. It gave an even better impression. Lastly there is the ending I wont spoil but will say that is one of the most impressing endings in movie history. They absolutely know what they were doing. Overall it should be a well recognized classic but it is nearly forgotten. This is a shame. It is one of the most emotional and alarming movies I have seen. Bonus knowledge: A similar thing happened in real life. Everyone who reads this let me introduce to the man that saved all our life's: Stanislav Jewgrafowitsch Petrow. On 26 September 1983 he was the commanding officer at an early warning center. When the computers recognized nuclear missiles were started by the USA, he calmly deduced that this was a false alarm and prevented a retaliation. He is a hero that would not be praised enough during lifetimes (and don't wanted to be praised as hero because he did his duty / the things everyone had done). Like I said a true modest hero.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Jan 26, 2022

An exceptional thriller about the paranoia and fears of a possible nuclear war after the Cuban missile crisis.

Fail Safe is inspired by a book with the same title, that was sued by Stanley Kubrick for being too similar to the book on which Dr. Strangelove was based. Dr. Strangelove wasAn exceptional thriller about the paranoia and fears of a possible nuclear war after the Cuban missile crisis.

Fail Safe is inspired by a book with the same title, that was sued by Stanley Kubrick for being too similar to the book on which Dr. Strangelove was based.
Dr. Strangelove was actually released nine months earlier.

Dr. Strangelove is a masterpiece, but it's a black comedy, this is a true thriller about that subject.
And although cold war films may sound and seem too tired nowadays, they were certainly good and relevant at the time, and this one is proof of it.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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