Fail-Safe

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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 j f A somber Strangelove? No dice, lady. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/11/24 Full Review Bob W Dr. Strangelove without the laughs but with tons of suspense. A must for people who want to understand just how high the stakes were during the Cold War and how close we might have come to total annihilation. A masterpiece of suspense from the great Sidney Lumet and a crackerjack cast -- including Walter Matthau's uncharacteristic, shocking portrayal of a sociopathic doom-monger. (Doom is still possible but it's currently less likely to come over the world all at once, the way it once might have -- assuming Putin doesn't go nuts, anyway.) Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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