Search - Fail-Safe [Special Edition] on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Questionable for Children, Profanity Movie Release: 1964 DVD Release: 10/31/2000 Format: DVD - Black and White,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Dual Layered,Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Korean, Spanish, Thai SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 52 mins Studio: Columbia TriStar Members Wishing: 14 Genres: Thriller, Disaster Film, Political Thriller

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, All Movie Guide

Henry Fonda - President
Walter Matthau - Groeteschele
Frank Overton - Gen. Bogan
Edward Binns - Col. Grady
Dan O'Herlihy - Gen. Black
Fritz Weaver - Col. Cascio
Larry Hagman - Buck

For those that have never watched Fail Safe, Sidney Lumet's tense classic on the possibility of nuclear war, this DVD will more than address that omission. In all respects, Columbia/TriStar has done an exception job on this disc. For starters, the stark black-and-while photography, which is framed at 1.85:1 and is anamorphic, has never looked better. Moments of grain and scratches are kept to a minimum, and with the conscience use of specific lighting patterns, the contrast is certainly evident. The sound, using the films original mono track, is split over two channels, and comes across quiet effectively. Along with English, there are tracks in French and Spanish, as well as subtitles for those languages, plus Thai, Korean, Chinese, and Portuguese. As for the supplemental materials, this special edition contains a wonderful commentary from Lumet. His insight and opinions are concise, without ever being overbearing. Granted, there are a significant number of gaps (it must be assumed that he's as involved in watching the film as his audience is), but the comments that he makes are always relevant. In addition there is an all to short 16-minute featurette entitled "Fail-Safe Revisited," which includes interviews with Lumet, screenwriter Walter Bernstein, and actors Dan O'Herlihy and George Clooney, who was involved in a television remake. Finally, along with some talent files, are trailers for this film, plus The Caine Mutiny, Das Boot, and The Guns of Navarone. ~ Trent Fordham, All Movie Guide