For as much as I didn't like Dr. Strangelove, I loved this serious version of the same topic. A bomber group gets mixed up signals and begins an attack on Russia. President, Henry Fonda, has to attempt to thwart his own soldiers from setting off a nuclear bomb over Moscow.
First, we're twisted with serious "get them before they get us" rhetoric from Walter Matthau as a military consultant. Once the emergency starts, he urges the president and military to devastate the enemy while they're trying to figure out what's happening.
Strangely, the military personnel urge caution and cooperation. One general wonders aloud about the need for live bombs and the safety of systems set up to prevent errors.
Look for a very young Larry Hagman has the Russian translator helping the president and Dom DeLuise as a computer tech. All these comedic icons in serious rules, just shows the huge talent they can bring to great projects like this.
Though the nuclear threat no longer lingers in the same way, your pulse will race. The way the filmmaters foreshadow climatctic events, the sight of Henry Fonda shouldering the fate of the world from a desolate bunker setting and the tension created from acting proowess instead of wiz bang special effects all consipre to set us on the edge of our seat.
I sometimes overlook the special features, but have a look at these. It talks about how it compares to Dr. Strangelove and how George Clooney loved this screenplay so much he remade it in 2000.
Run don't walk to the library for this fantastic film. Look in Bandon for the DVD and Coquille has a copy of the VHS.
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058083/
Head to Amazon to buy this amazing film: Fail-safe (Special Edition)
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