Fail-Safe

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Isaiah Y Cold War classic by Sidney Lumet featuring a great performance by Henry Fonda Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/27/25 Full Review Kevin L Excellent work by the great Sidney Lumet and writers Bernstein, Wheeler, and Burdick. The idea here is man trusting the ultimate security of the world to machines created by and managed by humans. Technology can perform such remarkable actions, with accuracy and reliability hard to us to match. But what if it still fails? What if a coil burns out, a code has an error, or security protocol cannot correct a mistake that puts millions of innocent civilians at risk? Add into that equation the battle between reasonable, compassionate humans and the brutal, calculating ones who only see opportunity and paranoid betrayal? The pacing and tone are excellent. Lumet keeps the tension high as the drama plays out in a quickly paced ensemble performance. Matthau is great as an egghead civilian 'political scientist' who has never had to face the horrific realities of warfare but plays with human life like it's all some cynical game. He gets called on it in my favorite line from the film- "You learned so well that now there's no difference between you and what you want to kill." Fonda makes a great president. Hagman gives one of his best performances. And Dom DeLuise is a non-comedic role. 4 stars Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/26/25 Full Review Matthew P Realistic brink-of-doom political thriller that superbly ratchets the tension of its horrifying scenario to breaking point... A must-see classic. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/04/25 Full Review Martijn t It's Dr. Strangelove, also from 1964, but playing it straight. According to Wikipedia there first was a 1958 novel called Red Alert on which Dr. Strangelove was based, and then a 1962 novel called Fail-Safe, which Lumet adapted, but which turned out to have plagiarized Red Alert. As part of the out of court settlement of the copyright case, Kubrick got to release his movie first, which initially doomed Lumet's effort. It's still a good film though. A bit stagey, just like 12 Angry Men, but also with the same kind of furious earnestness (looking for words here), which makes it a lot scarier than Dr. Strangelove. Again Henry Fonda is the moral center of it all. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/30/24 Full Review RICHARD S Without reiterating, this is a well done film whose ending is not entirely expected. Fonda's superb acting skills are fully displayed here and, if no other reason, makes the film worth watching. And, Robertson has never been better! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/24/24 Full Review Daphne C This movie will sit with you. It grabs, holds and squeezes. Excellent film for those with interests in suspense, military, and history films. As well as psychological drama. An excellent historical and eerily relevant today. The geopolitics are different today, in some ways, but really the same. Commensurate response to attacks apply to the current escalation in Ukraine-Russia. I don’t normally watch movies this old for a lot of reasons. I do recommend this one. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/24/24 Full Review Read all reviews

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