Barnes & Noble

One little glitch threatens the world with a thermonuclear nightmare in Sidney Lumet's definitive cold-war drama, Fail-Safe. The plot is clean and to the point: A few U.S. bombers are accidentally sent toward Moscow, and the powers that be, including the president (Henry Fonda), spend the next desperate hour or so trying to stop World War III. There are some top-notch war room scenes here, and plenty of philosophical debate about whether nuclear war is winnable, yet despite the sensational subject, Lumet directs with magnificent restraint: Fail-Safe is shot in stark black-and-white and has no musical score. Fonda is the soul of the film as he presides over the crisis from a small bunker below the White House; he gives a brilliantly low-key performance, projecting a kindly, wise, and almost eerie calm, while his unspoken fears are clearly visible in his eyes. The result is a somber, chilling cautionary tale that builds slowly but inexorably to a surprising -- and very disturbing -- climax. Gregory Baird

All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, Fail-Safe is set for the most part at Strategic Air Command headquarters, where a misguided transmission sends a squadron of bombers hurtling towards Russia, fully prepared to drop their atomic weaponry on Moscow. Air Force commander Frank Overton desperately tries to establish radio contact with the bombers, but once the pilots have passed the "fail safe" point, they've been instructed to disregard any reversal of orders. Racing against time, US President Henry Fonda, through his interpreter (Larry Hagman), informs the Russian premiere of the impending nuclear disaster. Working in concert with SAC, the Russians send up interceptors to shoot down the American bombers, while some of the planes run out of fuel and crash. Unfortunately, one aircraft, piloted by Edward Binns, manages to escape destruction and continues on its fatal mission. Realizing that Moscow is doomed, the President must decide how to avert World War III. Featured in the cast of Fail Safe are Walter Matthau as a hawkish scientist, Fritz Weaver as a round-the-bend colonel, and Dom DeLuise (billed as "DeLouise") as a weeping sergeant. Fail-Safe is followed by a government-dictated disclaimer insisting that the events leading up to the nuclear disaster depicted in the film could not possibly happen. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 043396054240
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: B&W, Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital, monaural
• Language: English, Français, Español
• Subtitles: English, Français, Español, Portugais, Korean, Thai
• Time: 1:52:00
• Sales Rank: 2,192

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