X
- 1964
- Approved
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 52 m
- 1964
- Approved
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 52 m
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?
Directed By: Sidney Lumet
Written By: Walter Bernstein, Eugene Burdick, Harvey Wheeler, Peter George
- 1964
- Approved
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 52 m
- 1964
- Approved
- Columbia Pictures
- 1 h 52 m
Fail-Safe
75
7.0
Where to Watch
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?
Directed By: Sidney Lumet
Written By: Walter Bernstein, Eugene Burdick, Harvey Wheeler, Peter George
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 6 Critic Reviews
75
100% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 6 Critic Reviews
75
100% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It packs a melodramatic wallop that will rattle a lot of chattering teeth.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 User Ratings
7.0
71% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
14% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
14% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 User Ratings
7.0
71% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
14% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
14% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
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.
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.
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.
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.
