Fail-Safe

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

Realistic brink-of-doom political thriller that superbly ratchets the tension of its horrifying scenario to breaking point... A must-see classic.

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.

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!

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.

A somber Strangelove? No dice, lady.

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.)

It isn't perfect but it is an All Time Classic. There is no music in this and at first this has a very dry feel but it gets intense on the backs of a riveting story, excellent acting, and makes up for the slow/dry 30 minute start. This definitely could've benefitted from a surreal soundtrack especially in the first 30 minutes and it could just not rely on it afterwards. The pacing still is incredible despite a solid but slow start. The key is once Henry Fonda shows up this gets way more focused, the acting gets more intense, and the editing while very good overall gets insanely good. The cinematography is really good also with the black and white really matching the camerawork of the Manchurian Candidate. This also has one of Lument's trademarks of most of the movie takes place in 3 claustrophobic rooms. The grainy look of this gives it a found footage ascetic similar to Godzilla and works really well. The only issue is really when the stock footage is used and jet fighter shots kind of feel out of place. This is a film that doesn't have lots of action and most of the time we see triangle blips on a screen moving at 1 mile an hour. But it becomes riveting and is a testament to Lument's direction. It does a great job of not relying on any explosions, dogfights, or big screen spectacles. This is a bit jumpy at first on top of being dry and slow at first but the underlying commentary and gut wrenching choices make you think throughout and is so powerful especially with the end. This is something everyone should see once.

Tense dialog! War drama by Sidney Lumet. Superb performance. This was released almost the same time as Dr. Strangelove. This one is serious direction.

This one goes in the "heavily exceeded expectations" category as I had never even heard of this film until I started tackling Sidney Lumet's filmography. Fail Safe utilizes a minimalistic approach to create a tightly plotted, cold war thriller that had me fully engrossed and on the edge of my seat for most of the duration. Fonda was the MVP for me, cemented in that impressive final scene, but Hagman offered excellent support. Walter Matthau is a personal favorite of mine and I enjoyed seeing him in a more serious role. I really dug the conclusion as well, surprising me while at the same time making the film far more impactful. Edit: It is interesting to read about the problems that came about for this film as a result of the similarities to Dr. Strangelove