Because of a technical defect an American bomber team mistakenly orders the destruction of Moscow. The President of the United States has but little time to prevent an atomic catastrophe from occurring.
Henry Fonda Walter Matthau Fritz Weaver Larry Hagman Frank Overton Edward Binns Dan O'Herlihy William Hansen Russell Hardie Janet Ward Dom DeLuise Russell Collins Sorrell Booke Nancy Berg John Connell Frank Simpson Hildy Parks Dana Elcar Louise Larabee Stewart Germain Geri Miller Charles Tyner Frieda Altman Will Wright
Punto límite, Контролна зала, Limite de Segurança, Fejl-sikker, Pommin varjossa, Synagermos thanatou, Bombabiztos, A prova di errore, Michi he no hikou, Czerwona linia, Sistem de siguranta infailibil, Selhání vyloučeno, Missão-Suicida, Point Limite, Angriffsziel Moskau, Point limite, Система безопасности, אסון בלתי נמנע, 奇幻核子战, Mutlak Savaş, 未知への飛行/フェイル・セイフ, Защитна система, 핵전략 사령부, Límite de seguridad, Punt límit, Bombsäkert
USA
New York Film Festival
USANR
Italy
Germany16
JapanPG12
France
France
France
Netherlands
France
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Netherlands
USA
89
Posits that no matter the competency of the people in charge - the system in place can and will falter, and humans will succumb to their own creation. A tense, tightly-knotted procedural.
I hadn't seen this film since watching it with my father as a kid. It was one of his favorites, along with films like Paths of Glory and The Pawnbroker, and he always liked to talk about the frightening plausibility of such a scenario. I loved it at the time, but I would grow up to assume that Fail Safe was cursed to be the square sibling to the sharper, more audacious Dr. Strangelove, which came out the same year from the same studio. So imagine my surprise, revisiting the film for the first time, and discovering that it's absolutely chilling and as audacious in its own way as Strangelove. Watching this worst-case-scenario unfold is so shocking and upsetting, as…
I hadn’t seen Fail Safe in decades, and didn’t remember much of it other than Henry Fonda and the brilliant final scene. It was only in the last year that I came to realize it was Sidney Lumet. Over the years I’ve loved many Lumet films, including Network, Dog Day Afternoon, 12 Angry Men, The Verdict, and Death Trap without realizing they were his. I think this may be because his trademark is subtle. It isn’t stylistic, it’s all about the characters. All of his characters are fully drawn, and completely believable. Even those as out there as Howard Beale. Beyond the script, Lumet seems to have that magic that can draw the best performances out of his actors.
I…
Quite possibly the most tense film I’ve ever seen? Like 12 Angry men, a marvel of editing as much as anything else. Easily the bleakest ending of anything I’ve seen this year.
"We're setting up a war machine that acts faster than the ability of men to control it."
Adapted by blacklisted screenwriter Walter Bernstein from the 1962 best-selling novel by political scientists Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, Sidney Lumet's Fail Safe recounts an intense period of agonized troubleshooting as members of top U.S. brass attempt to a) recall or destroy a group of bombers led by Colonel Grady (Edward Binns) that has been inadvertently instructed to attack Moscow with nuclear weapons or b) limit the catastrophic aftermath if this is not possible.
The action on the ground plays out remotely from three primary locations that contain their own micro-conflicts. The erroneous mission is first discovered at Strategic Air Command headquarters in…
One of the most terrifying movies I’ve ever seen. An honest to god horror movie. Pardon the language, but Jesus Fucking Christ.
Of course, I have zero authority to speak on this film’s level of accuracy or realism regarding military protocol, safe guards, or the chilling domino effect that unfolds. I don’t know if what happens here could’ve actually happened. What I do know is that there are around 12,000+ nuclear warheads in the world today, about 90% owned by either the United States or Russia.
This film is beyond unsettling. Our worst nightmare, brought to life in real time. That nuclear anxiety, which had so strongly permeated the collective consciousness in the 50s and 60s at the height of…
Action! - Lumet/Pollack: The Fight of the Century
When I initially watched this movie, I didn't feel very moved by it, which was a shame given how well it's been received. And, as you can see, I was finally able to appreciate this film more. Feeling the strain as these people, propelled by an evil spirit of revenge, placed everyone's life in peril and are threatening to start the third world war. Those last moments with Grady had me on the edge of my seat. Lumet takes extensive use of his expertise as a director of numerous theatrical works, adding simple but effective cinematic elements through the blocking in the president and translator's chamber or the fast zoom in at crucial points that heighten the sense of horror and anguish.
All in all, stunningly shot and superbly acted, this is a terrifying satire that everyone should see.
TODAY SCHEDULE
Fail Safe
The Hill
Jeremiah Johnson
Downton Abbey: A New Era
Really loved this. Cold War thriller that imagines a scenario where the fail safe mechanisms of nuclear warfare breakdown and the worst case scenarios play out and no one has any power to stop it. It’s a tense thriller where the tension has been ramped up by its minimalist production and score. Though a product of its time, it’s hard not to see how fail safe could speak into the present, particularly the use of artificial intelligence. The prescient fear of the consequence of relegating world altering decisions and safeguards to artificial mechanisms, while we sit on the sidelines watching our own doom play out on computer monitors, powerless to alter our trajectory. Dark stuff and a fantastically dark ending. Released in the same year as Dr. Strangelove, this is a fantastic companion piece from the brilliant Sidney Lumet. Highly recommend.
Degrees of Kevin Bacon: 1
1. Walter Matthau and Kevin Bacon in J.F.K.
I love stripped-down, dialogue-driven and close-quarter dramas like this, where in the hands of a true master - such as Lumet - the uncinematic becomes cinematic. Telephone exchanges becomes the most tense scenes you'll see. The stark b&w cinematography, claustrophobic close-ups, the use of silence - all magnificent. It stars two of my favorite actors in Fonda and Matthau and my word do they act the shit out of this one. The suspense and emotions builds and builds and the scenario keeps getting more terrifying. Final minutes are haunting beyond words. True shame that the release of Dr. Strangelove completely overshadowed this, they're both magnificent.
Failsafe came out the same year as Dr strangelove and is similar but in its story and acting this film goes more for a serious angle in iys plot about the threat of nuclear war. The film takes place mostly in about three rooms with characters talking over the phone but the acting, direction and lighting all add an urgency, atmosphere and claustrophobic to the film making for a scary tense experience. The theme as well of trying to stop something that can't be stopped makes for a unnerving time.
Among Sidney Lumet's many fantastic films, which cover an array of genres, many refer back to his directorial debut 12 Angry Men. We get a film that utilizes its relatively small space and lets all these talented performers go to their full potential while their actions and dialogue help build up the suspense, anxiety, and tension, making the film a masterclass in acting.
Although this film isn't as brilliant as his first, you can see the director flexing many of his old muscles and bringing style, and actually using the set to add to the psychological aspect of his film. There is an excellent example of this in the very minimalistic set with two guys in a white room and…
