Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Fail:Safe (Special Edition)
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

Fail:Safe (Special Edition)

Henry Fonda (Actor), Walter Matthau (Actor), Sidney Lumet (Director) | Format: DVD
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items

Product Details

Product Description

Amazon.com Essential Video

It's Dr. Strangelove, but without the laughs. Fail Safe, made within a year of Strangelove and at the height of cold war atomic anxiety, posits a similar nightmare scenario. A U.S. bomber is accidentally ordered toward Moscow, ready to drop its load. The U.S. president (Henry Fonda) and various military and congressional leaders must then scramble to deal with the disaster. The built-in suspense is well maintained by director Sidney Lumet, working from a script by former blacklisted writer Walter Bernstein. The solemn, serious approach doesn't begin to touch the brilliance of Strangelove's inspired take on the nuclear nightmare, but Fail Safe is absorbing and well acted (a memorable role for Walter Matthau, for instance). The movie enters unexpected territory in its final minutes; conditioned for feel-good endings, viewers are still genuinely shocked by the plot turns in the final reels. The climax comes as a sobering slap in the face, intriguingly staged by Lumet. Now that the cold war has passed on into history, Fail Safe stands as--thank goodness--an interesting period piece. --Robert Horton

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

 

Customer Reviews

29 Reviews
5 star:
 (19)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most helpful customer reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fail-Safe timeless, Mar 29 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Fail:Safe (Special Edition) (DVD)
Propaganda writes: "This film is interesting only in the fact that it is an odd relic of anti-Cold War propaganda; a pacifist film touting a suicidal philosophy of disarmament. Its particularly ironic that the smugness of the film's creators is now quite laughable in the hindsight of history. Despite all the dire predictions this film makes, thirty years later the U.S. would ultimately win the Cold War against the Soviet Union... and without a nuclear shot being fired in anger."

Respectfully, I disagree. The film does not tout disarmament. The theme of the film, which runs throughout, is that the machines 'are too fast', the military systems have the great potential to fail, and that our mutual distrust of what we don't understand (our enemies) which lead us to create situations of conflict with each other, which end in needless, tragic, destruction. This is a theme that runs throughout the events of history, that is what makes Fail-Safe timeless.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Technology exceeds our grasp, July 4 2006
By 
bernie "webviator" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Fail:Safe (Special Edition) (DVD)
We are at the height of the cold war. We use assured mutual destruction to keep the commies at bay. The main defense is the use of strategic bombers to deliver nuclear weapons. In the event of a perceived thereat we send the bombers to points called Fail-Safe. From there if the thereat is determined to be real the president gives the go signal in a coded message. At a further point there is no recall.

What if the recall signal was jammed?

We are now faced with many questions that move from the theoretical.

Is it a trick?

Will the Ruskies believe it is an accident?

Should we take the first strike initiative?

Is mutual destruction assured?

In today's world it is easy and common place to imagine some artificial intelligence that we have ceded authority to taking over for malevolent or even levolent purposes. We have every type of movie from "2001" (1968) with the HAL 9000 to "The Forbin project" (1970) with Colossus.

This film however is a lot spookier because it is played out with what looks like could be a real scenario. It also looks like it could have been a play as the action is mostly dialog that takes place in two rooms and the interior of a strategic bomber. It has a claustrophobic feel with the black and white with odd placed lighting.

There are many fine actors in this film. One surprisingly strong performance was by Larry Hagman as Buck the interpreter for the President. The survival of the world hinged on his facial expressions as he had to interpret not just the words but the attitude of the Soviet Premier.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!!, July 1 2004
By 
RICK AND OLLY "RICK AND OLLY" (ROWVILLE VICTORIA AUSTRALIA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fail:Safe (Special Edition) (DVD)
I've seen this movie at least 10 times, always on late night TV, and it still gets me every time. Right up until the last minute your'e hoping that all will turn out well, but of course it doesn't. It's curtains for 1964 New York, with it's World's Fair, Ed Sullivan, the Peppermint Lounge and My Fair Lady. Previously Moscow of course meets a simular horrible fate. But what a fantastic movie, full of drama and suspense. I'll never forget the reaction when the first plane is shot down, and the man who reminds them "That wer'e not at a football match" There are so many powerful scenes throughout the movie, too many to list here. It deserved a lot better recognition that what it got at the time. See it!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
› Go to Amazon.com to see all 126 reviews  4.7 out of 5 stars 
 
 		 Most recent customer reviews











Only search this product's reviews


Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject















i.e., each DVD must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?