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Fail-Safe

1964

Sidney Lumet

Dan O'Herlihy, Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver ...

7.6

3,134

Mystery. Thriller. Drama. War A technical malfunction in the Pentagon's strategic control system causes an erroneous order to be sent to a B-58 squadron on a routine training mission instructing the bombers to fly beyond their fail safe distance. At this point the flight crew are trained to cease communications and prepare to fulfill their objective by bombing Moscow. As the planes near their target, the crisis deepens and together the Americans and Soviets decide on a final, desperate solution. [+]

	Author	Review
United Kingdom	Kim Newman Screendaily	"Still an impressive and disturbing brink-of-doom thriller."	POS
United States	Bosley Crowther The New York Times	"It packs a melodramatic wallop that will rattle a lot of chattering teeth"	POS
United States	Slate	"As brilliant and grotesquely funny as Dr. Strangelove is, the neglected Fail-Safe is the more mature and damning take on the nuclear enterprise"	POS
United Kingdom	Time Out	"A deadly serious mix of cold-war melodrama and rampant psychosis"	POS
United States	Variety Staff Variety	"Fail Safe is a tense and suspenseful piece of filmmaking dealing with the frightening implications of accidental nuclear warfare"	POS

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