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22 January 2010. Even in black and white, this edgy, raw and gripping nuclear apocalyptic thriller retains is powerful and emotional message even after 46 years. Even though some of the equipment is dated in this movie, the serious and almost seemingly electronic starkness is able to project a impressive, compelling impression of sophistication that maintains a level of captivating images that breath intelligence and innovation of government operations even years ago. The acting and substance of this thriller contains a constant level of tension, off-balance conflict that hits home even today. While almost deviating, particularly in the beginning to the dated acting dramatics of the 60s, this movie successful keeps its attention on seemingly realistic and heightened elements of military and political strategy, operations and equipment, tactics that all fit well together making the entire movie a unified and seamless experience in accidental tragedy. 9/10.

This cold war era classic certainly made you think if it's storyline was possible. The plausibility of the solution to avert an all-out retaliatory nuclear war that the American and Soviet leaders decide on in the film is still debated but this film captures the essence of the cold war paranoia in this film directed by Sidney Lumet. This was Lumet's seventh film of his career and he was known for his dramas that were screen stage plays with 12 Angry Men, Long Days Journey Into Night and The Pawnbroker. Henry Fonda heads up an excellent cast including Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Larry Hagman, Dan O'Herlihy, Ed Binns and Frank Overton. In 1958 author Peter George wrote the novel Red Alert and would go on to win an out of court settlement over the authors of Fail Safe, Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, on plagiarism charges. Interestingly the dramatic novel Red Alert would serve as the basic premise for this dramatic film and in the dark comedy Dr. Strangelove which were both released in the same year by the same studio. Good tension and drama from this script by Walter Bernstein. Weather it could or couldn't have happened as it did in this story it's still a compelling film 42 years later. I would give it an 8.5 out of 10.

I'm a child of the 1970s, but this movie still scared me. You didn't have to grow up during the 50s or 60s to appreciate this. Anways in the 1980s, when Reagan was in office, nuclear war seemed a very real prospect. This movie is deadly serious, NO humor at all, and lit very sparsely. The battles between Russian and US planes seen as blips on a huge screen, is just as scary as if we had seen it realistically. Frightening, harrowing...hard to believe this film still has that effect now. Well worth watching but it's very very grim. Also, Fonda is superb as the President.

I mentioned in another comment about a series of movies made during the mid-1960's, that I call 'political noir'.

These films are easy to spot, in that there were made in B&W, dealt with a American institutional crisis and seemed to always feature Henry Fonda somewhere in the cast.

On all three counts, this film fits that criteria.

Because this film came out around the time of "Dr Strangelove", it was somewhat overshadowed, and because of the nearly identical plots, there was even talk of plagiarism, even though this film was based on a novel by two Washington-based journalists with a remarkable insight of the workings of government and was directed by Sidney Lument, one of the cinema's great directors.

Also, unlike "Dr Strangelove", which seemed to receive major studio backing, money and the freedom offered by being produced in Great Britain where this satire was more appreciated, "Fail-Safe" was independently produced in New York on a limited budget, without official backing by the Defense Department, which explains all of the flaws complained of by many viewers and posters on this site.

Yet in spite of these limitations, Lument pulls off a major coup by presenting us with an authentic piece of Armeggeddon.

In a real-time view, we watch as a million-to-one technical fault 'orders' a wing of American bombers to attack Soviet Russia, and the Defense Department and the President are helpless in trying to stop it.

We are also witness to how our military operates, trying to plan military policy, and debating theory and possible results.

Such things are sensible and harmless as far as these things go, until 'the day comes' when reality displaces theory.

Walter Matthau, who is more well-known for his comic talents ("The Odd Couple", "Grumpy Old Men"), than being an accomplished dramatic actor, is shown at the height of his powers as Prof. Groteschelle; a defense policy wonk, whose obsession with defense preparedness and Marxist theory reaches the point of detachment from human emotion, as he blindly recommends that no action be taken and the bombers be allowed to complete their mission, resulting in 'final victory' over Communism.

This is in direct contradiction to General Black, a compassionate Air Force officer who is also an intellectual, who desperately urges that every means be made to stop the bombers before it is too late.

However, it turns out to be too late, at least on the American side.

We watch how technology becomes a hindrance, as much as the distrust between the two superpowers seems to be, as the President and the Soviet Premier desperately try to seek a solution to this disaster.

The tragedy about this is that someone thought they should remake this in 2000, which in a way is flattering but certainly could not come close to the original work.

But, this only proves that the subject of 'accidental war' is still a concern.

However, how can one do better than Henry Fonda ???

I was thoroughly in suspense throughout this magnificent film. I almost felt as if I was watching World War III unfurl like the Gulf War did on CNN, it was that convincing. Fonda as the President and Matthau as the Professor, in truly memorable performances, are superb in their roles and indeed the entire cast is strongly competent. Besides the unforgettable ending, by way of the President's unthinkable concession, are the arguments and attitudes of the Professor and Colonel Cascio. At the time it must have been very tempting to many hawks in Cold War administrations to end the deadlock whenever a seemingly decisive opening presented itself. I strongly recommend this film for its believablity and realism and even the final credits! 10/10.

When people talk about a 1964 cold war movie, they're usually referring to Dr. Strangelove. Meanwhile, this intense, nerve-wracking, cleverly written masterpiece has remained largely under-appreciated.

One way to create a powerful drama is to make it feel as real as possible to the audience, and Fail-Safe succeeds marvelously at it. The order of the day on this film shoot must have been 'stark realism'. This agenda manifests itself most effectively in the vivid dream sequence that opens the film, but also in the terse intertitles indicating time and place, in the very contrasty (yes, I made that word up) black-and-white cinematography, in the absence of any musical scoring, and in the solid, unfussy performances by the actors (Henry Fonda and Larry Hagman deserve special mention). Oh yeah, and it's really suspenseful. The devastating ending gave me shivers.

Kudos to director Sidney Lumet, for his uncompromising and artistically daring vision.

I have watched "Fail-Safe" more than once and consider it to be a classic film which shows the anxiety and fear which we faced with the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. The cast is top notch, Dan O'Herlihy, Henr Fonda, Frank Overton, Walter Matthau, and all the other fine performers. In comparison to "Dr. Strangelove, which I have also seen repeatedly, I must say that the main reason for my enjoyment of that dark comedy is the performance of Peter Sellers, as the Nazi scientist who is still devoted to the fuhrer; while in "Fail-Safe" I am involved throughout the film. It resembles a documentary and, interestingly, in some ways reflects Stanley Kubrick's tone in the "Paths of Glory", which I consider to be his greatest film.

Sidney Lumet direction is superb, maybe even excelling his direction in "Twelve Angry Men". I consider "Fail-Safe" as a thoughtful anti-war film in the company of "All Quiet on the Western Front and "The Paths of Glory". I recommend this fine film .

See "Fail- Safe."

I couldn't sleep without the light on after I saw this fantastically fabricated film. When a machine malfunctions and signals a U.S bomber to drop atomic missiles over Moscow, the Soviet Premier and the U.S President struggle to save the world from nuclear holocaust. The last three minutes are among the most powerful I've seen in a movie.

Interesting that both Failsafe and Dr. Strangelove both came out in 1964 the year that Barry Goldwater and his candidacy brought up the nuclear issue. After seeing both those films together with the flip comments Goldwater made about nuclear war, he was never to be anything other than a Senator from Arizona.

Everyone remembers Stanley Kubrick's black comedy Dr. Strangelove about a nuclear exchange. Failsafe which is as serious as a crutch is less remembered. Still viewed today it still has an important message, maybe more important now than when it was a bi-polar world. At least everyone then seemed to be on one side or the other.

My favorite performer in this film is Frank Overton who worked mostly in television. On the big screen he's probably best known as the small town sheriff in To Kill A Mockingbird. Though he did a lot of television work until he died in 1967, Failsafe turned out to be his last big screen performance. Overton does a great job as the general in charge of the Strategic Air Command in Omaha who is very reluctantly trying to help the Russians shoot down SAC bombers who've had one squad of them accidentally given the go ahead for nuclear war.

Henry Fonda is the beleaguered president of the United States who is issuing commands from a deep underground bunker beneath the White House with only Russian interpreter Larry Hagman there. The whole claustrophobic atmosphere adds to the desperation of Fonda's performance. By the way note the large closeups of Fonda as he's trying to order the SAC bombers back from their mission.

You might also note in a tiny role at the SAC command center Dom DeLuise in a very serious role as a sergeant. This may be the only time DeLuise ever had a serious part.

At the Pentagon is Defense Department consultant Walter Matthau also in a serious role as a Herman Kahn type, looking to 'win' a nuclear exchange. He's one frightening fellow.

The world is no longer bi-polar, but the lessons of Failsafe have yet to be learned.

The ultimate moral dilemma confronts the President of the United States when everything goes wrong with the strategic offensive power of a US Air Force bomber squadron, leaving viewers shaken at the end of a superior Cold war drama highlighted by its extraordinary claustrophobia.

Filming of Fail-Safe coincided with filming of Dr. Strangelove, and Stanley Kubrick succeeded in getting his film done first. The earlier publicity for Strangelove hurt Fail-Safe's exposure, and this is doubly disappointing because Fail-Safe is in most ways a superior film, telling its story straight and highlighting superior performances by the entirety of the cast, from Henry Fonda, Frank Overton, Fritz Weaver, and Dan O'Herlihy to a stunningly strong performance by comedian Dom Deluise in a rare dramatic role.

What begins as a routine albiet annoying tour for a visiting Congressman of Strategic Air Command's headquarters in Omaha turns into the ulitmate nightmare. An unidentified aircraft is spotted on a course toward Detroit and airborne bombers are scrambled to fixed points orbiting Soviet Russia until the UFO can be identified. The scramble is routine but this particular one becomes more dramatic as identifying the UFO proves more troublesome than usual, but eventually all is cleared up.

But replacement of a faulty componant in SAC's mainframe briefly flashes the base's plotting board, and activates an attack signal in Bomber Group Six under the command of old-school Colonel Jack Grady (Edward Binns). Attempt to contact Omaha runs into unexpected and mysterious jamming, and the attack signal is verified - Moscow.

It is here that the real nightmare begins, and the President himself must summon Peter Buck (Larry Hagman) down to the underground command shelter in which lies the direct "hotline" oral communication hookup to Soviet Russia's ruling chairman himself. From here the President must coordinate with the Pentagon and SAC HQ to try and stop the bombers, despite endless jamming and the crew's own orders not to answer further contacts.

The actions to stop the bombers drive the drama and bring out the excellence of the cast. Frank Overton is the SAC commanding general whose faith in his systems is shaken by the accident. Fritz Weaver is his XO, driven by shame over his upbringing (shown when he gets into a fight with his alcoholic father before being summoned to SAC HQ) and more likely to crack under the strain. Dan O'Herlihy is a Brigadier General harboring endless doubt about the sagacity of the US strategic arsenal - "We've got to stop war, not limit it," he says, against the better judgement of his peers - who plays a pivotal role in the crisis' outcome.

But even with the excellence of these and others, it is Henry Fonda as the President and Larry Hagman who drive the drama in their hotline conversations with the Soviet chairman; the pivotal angle of these conversations is Peter Buck's whispered comments about the intangibles of the Russian leader's words and expression of them - when the Soviet claims no knowledge of jamming equipment, Buck expresses belief that the Russian is lying - and also his analysis of arguments among the Russian leader's own staff; as the conversations continue on Buck takes on more and more of the role of outright surrogate for the Soviet chairman.

The running battle to stop the bombers leaves the President with a decision that is the only hope, should the bombers succeed, to prevent Russia from a full-scale retaliatory attack that will incinerate the world; the President's decision is of course outrageously implausible in real life but nonetheless works in the context of the film, and leads to a delicious bit of irony at the very end that ties in a bizarre fixation with a matador.

Among the liberties the film takes to tell the story, aside from the hotline telephone (the actual hotline was a teletype transmitter, continuously updgraded over the years), are the types of bombers used and the speed and weapon capability of these craft. Such focus on hardware often hurts dramatic pull, but here it is kept to a minimum and only serves to help move the story along, a nice balance that exemplifies the strength of the story and the performances within.

In the Cold War, there is a malfunction in the electronic system in Omaha and an American bomber wrongly receives the order to attack Moscow. The base commander and the President of the United States unsuccessfully try to call off the instruction, but the Soviet defense jams the airplane radio. The bombers commander Colonel Jack Grady (Edward Binns) heads with five other airplanes to accomplish the suicide mission in Moscow. The American President orders to shoot the bombers down but the other airplanes do not succeed. He contacts the Soviet Chairman explaining that the attack is a mistake and offers an unthinkable sacrifice to avoid the Soviet counterattacking. Will the Soviet accept?

"Fail-Safe" is a tense and frightening 1964 film made in the climax of the Cold War. Fifty and something years later, the realistic story is dated and fortunately only fictional. But in those years, the plot is really scary. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Limite de Segurança" ("Safety Limit")

I just bought a copy of this movie after hemming and hawing for several years. I have both read the book and seen the film several times.

This is without a doubt one of the very best motion pictures ever made. The cast is exceptional and features actors that went on to be type cast as either comic or hack, Dom De-louis, Walter Matthau, Larry Hagman, in some unbelievably well done dramatic parts.

Along with Henry Fonda as the most realistic president ever put to film, The entire cast is magnificent.

Just as an aside try getting both this film and Kubricks Dr. Strangelove and watch the both. Fail Safe first the Strange Love and enjoy the juxtaposition. Basically the same story, but with a wildly divergent take on the situation.

Get some popcorn and enjoy.

Btw: 1. FAIL SAFE is a very intense film. watch it early in the evening.

2. Dr Strangelove is a comic masterpiece but pails in comparison.

3. Read the book of FAIL SAFE as well. It will chill your soul.

I have been thinking a lot about this film lately. We laughed at "Dr. Strangelove" because it posits a craziness in our government and our military. This is a story of realistic possibilities. Our world is at the ready any day which requires a Commander in Chief with a cold hand an a level head. We are also hooked up to technology that didn't exist when this film was made. The term fail-safe is one that means there should never be a mistake made when it comes to nuclear weapons. If one is ever launched, it will be with forethought and deliberation. After seeing a recent feature on "60 Minutes" I'm not so sure that that deliberation will be an option. Human elements will be at the center of everything. In this film, the fail-safe system goes haywire and the U.S. is about to drop a nuclear device on Moscow. Of course, the first thing to do is to stop it. If that doesn't work, what can be done next. How much do egos play into things then? This is spellbinding and very real. It will keep you on the edge of your seat.

This movie deals in a gripping and real way with the implications of a run away arms race and two nations at the height of Cold War tensions. As a former Air Force NCO who served during the Reagan era (82-88) I must say that I clearly could identify with the Ed Binns and Frank Overton characters. Unless you have been there, it is hard to understand men that are duty bound to commit actions which any sane person would consider madness. It is true the effects might leave something to be desired, but they are not terrible and fit within the story quite well. Also, the lack of budget keeps the effects from overwhelming both the powerful story and the incredible acting of the principals. This movie should be required viewing for any school History class when covering the Cold War.

Just rented this recently and was blown away! Great movie from the 60's that is still thrilling today. All the actors are superb and the tension keeps building until the end. How did I miss this before? Henry Fonda is especially good as the president who is faced with a monumental and terrible decision. This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Emotional story with a chilling ending. An important message about humanity and the potential for self-destruction. Although more than 40 years old still relevant today. I hope the director received highest award for this film.

A masterpiece.

When you get around to watching this movie or maybe you want to see it again after a long absence, read up on the similarities and connections this film has with Dr. Strangelove. Both of these films were released the same year. It is just another thing that makes this film interesting for film history fans, plus it is a film, that is an amalgamate of 1960s cold war fears. For this purpose, it is best to save the Dr. Strangelove comparison for another day and just concentrate on Fail Safe (1964), itself and the story that unfolds. It is also good to remember, that this film is an independent production, picked up by and distributed by Columbia Pictures.

It is important to note the budget, because you see the low-budget production, that is utilized beautifully with stylized camerawork, lighting, editing and audio. All of these aspects make the film cool to see. The visuals maintain your interest, because of the direction of Sidney Lumet, who makes the environments seen chilly, boxed-in and closed-off. This film is based off of a 1962 novel of the same name and the plot rolls like a meticulously spliced together conversation. Of course, a very serious conversation about a nuclear attack, that was triggered by electronic accident. The budget is low, because of the way the plot moves along. All they needed for sets were a couple of offices, a mansion dining room and a SAC war room, so that helped the producers utilize the rest of the budget to make this film good. Another interior setting, is in the bomber cockpit, with Lumet using stock footage of jets in the air, with the image flipped into reverse mode, so that the shots look like a negative film process or a moving X-ray. The flip style makes those shots mix in better, with the over-all mood of lights, buttons, electronics, gadgets and typewriters, seen and heard throughout the film in the interior scenes. It is a smart way to hide the fact, that it is an independent film, by using clever locations or set pieces. Sidney Lumet puts together a nice production. An artistic lost gem of a film. It has a cool mixture of stock footage usage and newly produced scenes, made or the film.

The performance by the cast are stellar. They get a great assist from Lumet's tight close-ups on their stressed out faces. The film is, mostly, a conversation, if you don't count the outside shots of the jets. Henry Fonda plays the President of the United States and most of his scenes are him frantically on the phone, with the Kremlin, being assisted by his translator, Buck (future JR Ewing, Larry Hagman). The stress lines on his face, frame the fear in his eyes. A handful of other film greats are in the film, most notably Walter Matthau as Professor Groeteschele. His scenes just help make the film roll along even better. He also is in a scene, shot in a car, which makes that, six, interior/exterior settings in the film. He delivers a couple of interesting speeches at key moments in the film. Lumet gets out of his actors what he needs to, because the most prominent feeling throughout the film is, no one is having a good day. A feeling that goes all the way down to the dark corners, seen in the rooms to the White House war room, the shadows, that frame the fear in the actors' eyes or the dark cockpit, complete with blacked-out windows. It utilizes what is beautiful about black and white film, by using source material of a non-beautiful variety.

7.3 (C+ MyGrade) = 7 IMDB.