Fail-Safe

UPC: 043396054240

Studio: Columbia TriStar

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Questionable for Children, Profanity]

Summary: Based on the novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, Fail-Safe is set for the most part at Strategic Air Command headquarters, where a misguided transmission sends a squadron of bombers hurtling towards Russia, fully prepared to drop their atomic weaponry on Moscow. Air Force commander Frank Overton desperately tries to establish radio contact with the bombers, but once the pilots have passed the "fail safe" point, they've been instructed to disregard any reversal of orders. Racing against time, US President Henry Fonda, through his interpreter (Larry Hagman), informs the Russian premiere of the impending nuclear disaster. Working in concert with SAC, the Russians send up interceptors to shoot down the American bombers, while some of the planes run out of fuel and crash. Unfortunately, one aircraft, piloted by Edward Binns, manages to escape destruction and continues on its fatal mission. Realizing that Moscow is doomed, the President must decide how to avert World War III. Featured in the cast of Fail Safe are Walter Matthau as a hawkish scientist, Fritz Weaver as a round-the-bend colonel, and Dom DeLuise (billed as "DeLouise") as a weeping sergeant. Fail-Safe is followed by a government-dictated disclaimer insisting that the events leading up to the nuclear disaster depicted in the film could not possibly happen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Thriller

Features: Digitally mastered audio and anamorphic video
Widescreen presentation
Audio: English [mono], French, Spanish
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai
Exclusive featurette: "Fail-Safe Revisited"
Director's commentary
Theatrical trailers
Talent files
Interactive menus
Production notes
Scene selections

Fail-Safe

Format: DVD

Release Date: 10/31/2000

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, 1 USA & territories, Canada

Runtime: 112 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish,Portuguese

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1
0. Scene Selections
1. Start [2:48]
2. "I had the dream again" [3:56]
3. Washington: 5:30 A.M. [13:02]
4. The nerve center [3:38]
5. Condition Blue [2:23]
6. Subject: Limited War [5:32]
7. Condition Yellow [1:58]
8. Condition Green [3:22]
9. "Signal is go" [5:29]
10. Easier said than done [2:23]
11. Mr. Swenson's advice [2:09]
12. "Shoot them down" [2:43]
13. U.S. accident or Russian plan? [1:46]
14. Flaming out [4:34]
15. Hot line to Moscow [3:24]
16. A technical state of war [6:55]
17. Time for common sense [1:39]
18. "Send in First Strike" [7:11]
19. The sacrifice of Abraham [2:41]
20. Sgt. Collins [3:58]
21. Talking treason [2:48]
22. The President's proposal [4:13]
23. Wrong decision [5:23]
24. Mrs. Grady [4:21]
25. A few rough calculations [3:53]
26. "We're to blame" [3:10]
27. High Shrill sound [1:47]
28. "The matador, me" [:58]

Michael Costello

Sidney Lumet's cold war thriller, adapted from the novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, is a reasonably tense and well-played cautionary tale on the threat of nuclear holocaust with echoes of the then-recent Cuban missile crisis. The plot, which bears such a striking resemblance to that of Dr. Strangelove that director Stanley Kubrick threatened the studio with a plagiarism suit, centers on a group of SAC bombers that receive a mistaken order to unload nuclear warheads on Moscow. Lumet's theater and live television experience dovetailed nicely with a script that called for SAC headquarters to become the sole locus for most of the film, creating an atmosphere of claustrophobic suspense. Most of the steps in this doomsday genre follow a familiar ritual, and there is little here that is new. Familiar as the material may be, Lumet evokes fine performances from an excellent cast, including Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, and Larry Hagman. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Dom DeLuise  Actor 
Nancy Berg Ilsa  Actor 
Walter Bernstein  Screenwriter 
Sidney Lumet  Director 
Sidney Lumet  Producer 
Max E. Youngstein  Producer 
Henry Fonda  Actor 
Walter Matthau  Actor 
Frank Overton  Actor 
Dan O'Herlihy  Actor 
Edward Binns  Actor 
Fritz Weaver  Actor 
Larry Hagman  Actor 
William Hansen  Actor 
Russell Hardie  Actor 
Russell Collins  Actor 
Sorrell Booke  Actor 
John P. Connell  Actor 
Frank Simpson  Actor 
Hildy Parks  Actor 
Janet Ward  Actor 
Dana Elcar  Actor 
Stuart Germain  Actor 
Louise Larabee  Actor 
Frieda Altman  Actor 

Country: USA