The ending of the Movie "Fail Safe" conversation between the US president and the USSR leader as they try to avoid an accidental nuclear war. Speaks to the cold war paranoia of the era.
The idea of having a high shrill buzz being the ambassador's phone melting from the nuclear fireball is dramatic genius. Nothing is seen yet everything is imagined.
there might actually be evidence to back this up but i'm not sure. during the atomic tests there was likely a lot of experiments on what would happen to communications. if anyone possibly knows more i'd love to know. i'll see if i can find something.
You're correct, James. I was 12 when they erected an air raid siren right outside our school. The first time they tested it, with the horn slowly turning and the rise and fall of the siren is something I'll never forget.
Forgive the cliche, my friends. But..." they don't make them like they used to". The ORIGINAL Fail Safe is, beyond question, one of the most intelligent and unsettling movies I have ever seen. Thank you Henry Fonda. Thank you Larry Hagman. Thank you all!!!
It's kind of appropriate that Larry Hagman is in this, as that underscores that there is no "genie" who could save us from a disaster with a motion of her head. We must fix the nuclear mess.
@@brianarbenz1329 in his autobiography Larry recalled that during the filming of Fail Safe Henry gave him tips about acting that "only a wise man could give"
@@hillsane9262 yes General Black committed suicide. The clip doesn't show the beginning of the movie where General Black commutes from NY city where his family lives to Washington via a small plane. He also killed his wife and two sons when he dropped the bombs.
If any of you lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 60s you knew you were scared to death. Most underrated and least recognized "super event" of modern time. I read that we were actually much closer to nuclear war than we thought.
I remember it well! I was 16 then & 18 when I saw this movie in the military, right after basic training! They showed both this & the similar "Dr. Strangelove" at the base theater! Chilling!
I was six years-old during that. I remember the TV graphics for some of the news bulletins. Also, my parents made sure that I watched President Kennedy's speech. I'm grateful to my parents for their keeping me involved. Two months earlier I also remember the wall-to-wall news coverage of the death of Marilyn Monroe. My grandmother and great grandmother were at our home and were discussing that major event with my mother all day; at least thats how my memory has it.
Stanley Kubrick had every intention of making Dr Strangelove a serious movie, but when this came out, he decided to make it the comedy classic that it is.
@@tomperkins5657 Yep. Nuclear War is a fascinating exciting topic and these are two of the best movies that discuss it. It's real world scifi unlike the fake scifi of all those zombie movies.
Larry Hagman's " Holy Mother of God " still sends chills up the spine. I was 12 during the October Missile Crisis of 1962. There was an underlying dread marking that era and it was so faithfully realized in this film. Whoo, boy!
I’m Canadian. My dad was in the Canadian Air Force during the October crisis. I remember him calling my mom at home and telling her they were in lock down and no one could leave the base. At that time we had nukes on some of Canada’s planes and were prepared to use them. It was really scary. Ironically my family had contact with President Kennedy when he was first elected. My grandfather was in the RCMP in Ottawa and was in charge of security when the president made his first official visit to a foreign country as the president. When it was over he gave my grandfather a medal with Kennedy’s head stamped on it along with a short handwritten note of thanks. My father donated them to the Mounties museum in Saskatchewan.
@@canislupis3129 and then there is a hypothesis the real reason JFK got killed was inventing the nuclear briefcase and making unauthorised nuclear launches all but technically impossible
"......What do WE SAY, to the Dead??!!" The first time I saw this movie, my Dad, who is a former submariner of ~40 yrs., was watching this movie...as I was under 10 yrs of age. The line above was what stuck to me and its aftermath. "What happen, Pop, where did those people go??" His reply, " They're gone, mijo." Didn't really understand it, until the movie played again a few years later, when I was in high school. What do We Say, to the dead...... haunting.
In 8th grade at Olympic Jr. High in Seattle, I had Mr. Don Powelson for English. He opened the world to us kids, and began the year by reading "Failsafe". When we finished the book, he showed us the movie. "Impactful" would be a massive understatement: all of us kids were gobsmacked by the ending, fleeting images of live-action suddenly frozen in mid-frame and then gone to dark, with the accompanying ominous shriek of the melting phone and the "Ole" of the crowds in the bullfighting arena. I got my BA in Russian all because of this movie.
The truly horrifying reality is that the film is more relevant now than in 1964. The nuclear weapons of the major powers are presently being incorporated into A.I. defense systems. Several nations are actively designing AUTONOMOUS NUCLEAR ATTACK SUBMARINES that will have the ability to lay waste continents with no direct human control. It's only a matter of time before an accidental nuclear launch takes place which will trigger an all out conflagration. That's assuming our sociopathic elite don't trigger deliberate nuclear war first. Given that we are PRESENTLY engaged in the early stages of WW3 in Ukraine and the Middle East this is already a substantial risk. Either way it's coming. We're utterly screwed.
@@RyanSchweitzer77 Loved that movie. Watched it and thought immediately that Terminator had been pretty much ripped off right from it... Also noted the bionic noise from the Six Million Dollar man was "borrowed" from this movie too. :)
The stark realism of this film still haunts my dreams as the Matador who haunts Blackie or the siren of the melting phone. Of all the Cold War films including Seven Days In May, Dr. Strangelove, and The Bedford Incident, this was the most devastating.
Ever seen the British film, _Threads_ (1984)? It's available online. I don't know of a single person who has seen that film, and _not_ believed it to be easily the most utterly horrifying film they've ever seen. It seriously made _The Day After_ or any other nuclear Armageddon drama look like a damned Disney film. I'm not joking. Catch it on youtube -- if you can stomach watching the whole thing.
Both films make you think seriously about nuclear war. Strangelove does it through satire, which shows how unseriously the military industrial complex takes war and the slaughter of millions. Fair Safe gives you the hard truth.
Great Movie. What balls on Henry Fonda's character. I have always thought that every President should watch this movie and pray to God he/she learns from it.
I was 14 in 1964. I can’t explain the anxiety we grew up with wondering when the bombs would fly. We had constant drills in school. Air raid warnings. No joke
Now the kids have anxiety about a shooter coming to their school,we did something to alleviate the nuclear threat when are we going to do something about this threat? What can we tell future children?
Even to this day Sidney Lumet stands as a genius in film making. Even when he died in 2011, He had directed great films until the age of 83 (Before the devil Knows You're Dead 2007). My favorites are Fail Safe, 12 Angry Men.& Network.
My favorites Network Fail Safe Twelve Angry Men Dog Day Afternoon and Running On Empty. He never won an Academy Award for his work. However about 2 or 3 years before he died they gave him an honorary award for his work. It had taken that long for the Hollywood community to honor him.
I was seven years old and living in Los Angeles during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I wasn't so much frightened by what was going on around me, instead I found it all quite fascinating. But years later when I watched this movie it was what frightened me. Even now it's the spookiest flick ever made
I was born the year this movie was made and it is intense and under appreciated. Unbelievable cast and Lumet is such a fine director. But for me, On The Beach (book and original movie) blew me away in my youth. It might be the alternative sequel to Failsafe if cooler heads had not prevailed. It is so matter of fact and chilling. The final shot of Gregory Peck looking up at the sun one last time before he scuttles his sub is haunting.
It's only thanks to Soviet Commander Vasili Arkhipov that it didn't go to hell. Soviet submarine B-59 was attacked by U.S. Navy depth charges. The CO of the boat wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo, which would have annihilated a lot of our ships. The XO concurred, which is all that is required. However, Arkhipov was the "Commodore of the Flotilla" and on the same boat. He said no, thus depriving them of unanimity. If it had happened, we would probably have launched everything...
Still don't understand why the pilot didn't turn around once he heard his wife on the radio. The president, his commanding officer, his wife... how much convincing does one man need?!!
I was a GI Brat, living on Otis AFB, MA, at the time of The Cuban Missile Crisis. I saw the photos, and was told by a ranking on-base general to turn towards the bright light.The base flew picket planes, since all this radar stuff was not invented yet. So, we were a prime target. AND TO THINK, ONE OF BRIGHT MINDED SENATORS IN THE LAST THREE DAYS (12/10/21), HAD THE IDEA OF SPEAKING ABOUT A FIRST-STRIKE AGAINST RUSSIA!!!
FAIL SAFE and DR STRANGELOVE came out within a week of each other, FAIL SAFE coming in the second position. Audiences of the era preferred laughter to sitting in grim shock.
Or... ... audiences preferred Kubric's outstanding direction, and his film's excellent script and acting performances. Don't misunderstand. They're both fine films. And they're both *serious* films. But "Strangelove" is an inarguable classic, directed by an inarguable master of cinema, so it's hardly a surprise if it connected well with audiences. As it continues to do to this very day.
Having been a ballistic nuclear submarine, if I’d have seen this movie beforehand, I would have had a completely different experience after going thru many simulated missile launches. This movie made this old sailor cry knowing the possibility of this madness exists & especially with a Commander in Chief that’s completely incompetent? God Bless bless us all!
It kind of pisses me off that Dr Strangelove is so much more well known than this movie. I think this is one of the best, most gripping, most terrifying movies ever made
I believe this is my favorite movie. The way the tension builds up is incredible. The smaller characters are great. Grady's wife, she hammers you with her emotion. Her inability to convince her husband that it's a mistake is so intense. Dom Deloise having to give the info on blowing up the bombs heartbreaking. There's just so much in this movie. I saw it when I was 14 in 1968. I am now 68 and I appreciate it even more. It's an 11 out of 10 for me.
i remember this, i was 8 years old when the cuban missle crisis began. my dad came home from work, he was a navy veteran of ww2. he said man theirs going to be a war. VERY SCARY
This is a great film. It captures the madness of that time. I remember the duck and cover drills in the late 50's in my elementary school. The one thing I wished they had done is end the film with the high pitched tone that would have driven home the death of NYC. In the Cuba Missile Crisis there was a Soviet Nuclear Submarine off Cuba. The Captain decided not to launch his missiles. Another time the Russians got signals that appeared to show the launch of US missile toward Russia. The Russian general in charge held off retaliating. It was in fact a false alarm. I wonder if there are cool heads running things these days. I'm inclined to think not.
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I remember seeing this film when I was in high school. I saw it on a school night, which was unusual for me. What struck me was that there was no soundtrack whatsoever, or music of any kind. It added to the solemnity of the movie. You left the theater in a very somber mood.
Hell of a movie. Scared me as a kid (in the 60's), not because it was the Cold War and I was worried about control of nuclear weapons, but because the movie is just so damn dark and scary on many levels.
The one phrase by Mr. Buck, the Russian translator, still sends shivers up my spine - 'Holy Mother of God'. In the book that phrase is said by the Soviet Premier. In the movie, though, you don't know that. I still have the book, and I read it on occasion.
I have both the book, and the movie on DVD and I have the 1/72 scale model of the B58 bomber that was used to represent the Vindicator bombers in the movie. I have 1/72 scale models of the various interceptors shown in this movie. I also have the book and DVD of Dr. Strangelove. A number of years ago I calculated the 1/72 scale weights, sizes of areas of destruction and many other factors of the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima. even in 1/72 scale the damaged area is the size of a football field.
Well if you had done a tab of, say mescaline, there ain't no stopping the going, no matter the movie. That's what a friend told me. It was a different movie, too. So maybe you're right.
For anyone that hasn't read the book, read it. The movie followed the book quite closely in all the important details. You only miss a bit of character development.
The part I dig is the phone melting from the blast at 3:15 . My family watched this flick on TV in the 1960's and that scene scared my mom right out of the room. We had just got through the Cuban Missile Crises . The nifty 60's buck -o!
I was so confused by the dropping of the atomic bomb on downtown NYC. It had never even entered my mind that this would even be considered by our government as an equitable solution in this eventuality. I refused to believe its possibility, and wrestled with the dilemma for days afterwards. I still, on occasion, ponder the logic of this Solomon-like decision.
Think of our (US Government) response in terms of the time in which the book was written (early 1960's). If the option to drop a nuclear bomb on NY City after we accidently drop one on Moscow ISN'T exercised, what would you expect the Russian response to be? I'll tell you - all out nuclear WW III........
No it was an equitable solution created by a Hollywood writer, and not our Government. The two are different entities with different values. And yes, even today, even more so... Hollywood would consider you expandable, not worth savings.
While New York wasn’t a national capital like Moscow, it shared these things: Cultural center, comparable population, economic headquarters. In 1963, DC was simply a one horse town of federal government. That task could be duplicated anywhere. But there was no way to duplicate the influence of New York.
I read the book before the movie was released. I finished it in two readings. I could not put it down. I also read “Red Alert” the book that “Dr Strangelove” was based on. Right around that time (1964- I was 13) our city police cars changed their sirens. I was in bed one night and a police car turned on its new siren in the distance and I was sure I was hearing a nuclear air raid siren. Scared my pants off!
I watched this in the early 70s when I was about 13. It was on late night TV at the time. This was the most terrifying movie I ever saw then and since.
I love how they explain that there will be a “high shrill sound” from the phone melting, but there’s nothing that can prepare you for how freakish it actually sounds when it happens. It’s the sound of history suddenly taking a new, terrifying, dark path.
This video skipped the part where we realize that the President’s wife is in NYC that day and the part where Walter Matthau’s character talks about what happens once the bombs hit NYC. So this wasn’t the whole ending.
It was actually the Generals wife who was in NYC, The one who says "I'll be the one to fly the plane and drop the bombs" He kills himself once he drops the bombs.
If great Base stars of a conquering race attack earth we may need im. Fail safe we losing Earth instead of surrendering .. let the big birds fly . We thteaten to turn our planet into a moon. So they back off radiated it Earth would be uninhabitable for ahhh 500 earth years.. chalk one up for humans . End of the world shit. So they would have to make a deal with us ... hmmmmmm.
@@williamdolyniuk7804 Have you seen MARS ATTACKS! ? Alien technology is likely so far ahead of ours it wouldn't matter how many nukes we produce at the expense of being unable to feed the people of our world; we're very much an immature species governed by our obsessions for NFL football and a steady diet of ridiculous reality shows. Honestly, superior lifeforms would probably just look at us and move on to the next planet, thinking us not worth the effort...
If you don't think it can happen today, you're fooling yourself. Mutually-assured destruction, MAD for short, is just as real now as it was in 1964. And there are several more players in the game. I was around in 1962, in Wichita, where McConnell AFB and the airplane industry made it a prime target as Kennedy and the Russians played brinksmanship. The news director at one of the radio stations I visited told me they were prepared to implement Conelrad at any moment, shutting down and directing listeners to 640 or 1240. We now know we came within minutes of oblivion.
I spent almost three years in a Minuteman Missile silo in the mid 2000's. Nations that pose an existential threat to America in the nuclear arena are in reality just saber rattling. Paper tigers like Russia and China certainly have the goods. But their delivery systems however range from problematic to piss poor. Russia can still reach out and touch us. Except their guidance systems are so unsophisticated that long range assets tasked on say NYC could end up in Scranton, PA . China's medium range tactical assets are somewhat reliable but those can't make it over the pole or across the Pacific. SO I'm not saying don't worry....but I wouldn't worry TOO much.
I only have one last order. Nobody is to have anything to do with dropping the bombs. I will fly the plane and release the bombs. The final act is mine. He doesn't want them to bear the burden.
Me three. I have never forgotten it. I sometimes wonder why my parents took me (as a 10 yr old) to a theater to see this when it first came out. Scared the crap out of me.
@@jeffb1886 Jeff, I truly believe that most theater goers had not foreseen that final scene of inhumanity, and therefore were incapable of shielding more vulnerable family members, like yourself, from experiencing it. Most of us never fully recovered from the nightmarish gut punch that was rendered.
Brilliantly acted and very dramatic. Still watch it today. Truly terrifying is the only way to describe it. The book is even better,as it gives better backstory to each character
I was almost 8 at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Then and now my great memory was all the fear in the adults. On my little side street, adults who never spoke to me before all of sudden were very concerned about how I was. In my school we didn't go under desks but out into the halls where, with our backs to the wall, we put our heads between our legs. The school was only a few miles from a Nike missile base so our actions would have been pointless. To Fail Safe and Dr. Strangelove I'd add On the Beach and The Bedford Incident. The Walter Matthau character was an anomaly then, I wonder if he would be today.
On the Beach is such a masterpiece. So tragic and poignant, with the transition of Waltzing Matilda from a raucous bar tune to a mournful requiem of what once was. Beautiful movie.
A reply to a reply - Its obvious to me the world is out of control. Madmen have the masses mesmerized. Societies continue to make the same mistakes. There's a more frightening movie than Fail Safe. Its The Bedford Incident. In our current geo political world thats going to happen in some form.
One of the best dramatic movie I have ever seen. Many years ago I watched it on some italian commercial network, several times. Great Sidney Lumet and cast.
I read in the recent Military History magazine that WWI happened because both sides didn't understand the strength of their weaponry. Both France and Germany were using artillery that was 20 times as powerful as the kind used in the Franco-Prussian war. Then they didn't realize how powerful their machine guns were. Both sides had no choice but to hunker down in the trenches. The USA and the USSR learned their lesson by this time. They knew their weapons were too powerful, and that they would both be anihlilated in a direct war.
I was 16 when this film came out and it certainly spoiled my evening. I also remember the 4 minute warning counters that were placed in prominent buildings around the U.K. . I found one in a distillery clicking away . When I think about it this was a perfect place you could get pissed in the four minutes before the bombs went off
I think I read the book for high school which would be about 1973, my freshman year here in Cincinnati. And it was very vivid. I can't remember when I saw the movie but it's intense. It didn't get the accolades that Dr strange love God because they both came out at the same time. But this was very well done. And George Clooney did an outstanding job of that live broadcast of failsafe.
In many ways Fail Safe is the Deep Impact of its era. Ernest and thoughtful. Dr Strangelove is more the Armageddon, played more for laughs. Unlike Dee Impact and Armageddon though neither Fail Safe or Dr Strangelove have a happy ending.
Between this film and Dr. Strangelove, a powerful movement swept the globe, and it made both sides keenly aware of the price to be paid for mutually assured destruction. I pray to God we never get that close again.
I remember watching this as a kid in Brooklyn. Our apartment building had the Fallout Shelter sign on it and we practiced 'duck and cover' drills at P.S. 92. Horrors!
I lived in Puerto Rico during the Cuban Missile Crisis when my father was stationed at Ramey AFB. I saw influx of aircraft and U2’s flying in if they had to forcibly stop the Soviet ships. Later, I’d show this movie to my high school JROTC class to demonstrate the paranoia the Cold War infused on both the Allied and Iron Curtain people, with the purpose of showing these future leaders the consequences of nuclear war. Hopefully, our leaders today will have history to show them what can happen if a crisis like this rises its ugly head again.
The Russian language has entirely different origins and is a difficult language to accurately translate into English. In a real situation the president would likely have at least two translators with him so as to obtain the most precise translation possible.
Hagman was terrific in this and he must have been intimidated to play opposite Fonda, which might have helped him draw inspiration for his in-over-his-head translator characterisation.
I lived through those times. I understand the concept of the movie that the President "had" to avoid all out nuclear war by destroying New York City...making them the sacrificial lambs. Do I believe that scenario would really happen....No. They're trying to capture the insanity of the policy of mutually assured destruction during the Cold War. Nevertheless...I think this movie is insane, as well.
@@davidastle9472 I am assuming the British let the Germans destroy Coventry b/c they knew it was going to happen....instead of defending it and let the Germans figure out the code was broken? The British didn't destroy Coventry like the President destroyed NYC in this movie, correct?
So mutually assured destruction is insane? It worked. Obviously. We are still here. You don't get that? You toss around the word ''insane'' carelessly. You offer no proof of actual insanity on the part of the leaders of either side. It's 2021 and we are still here. No nuclear war. I can only guess that you know something I don't. Do share. I want you give me a viable alternative since you think you can do better. Spare me the hippie shit it won't work. Spare me the ''peace on earth'' and John Lennon's ''Imagine''. Won't work. I want an answer at the college level as to what strategy you think would have worked better.
@@MegaMkmiller I have no problem answering anybody about anything. But in your case, I would suggest you have a good bowel movement and take your meds.
As a black comedy, Strangelove is outstanding. As a serious warning of what could go wrong, Failsafe is brilliant. Fonda and Hagman really build up the tension towards the sickening conclusion.
My take is that "Fail Safe" and "Dr. Strangelove" are both flawed masterpieces. And, oddly enough, they are both flawed for the same reason: they emphasized style over substance. "Fail Safe" has that annoying hyperrealism that a lot of movies in the Post-War period had. "Dr. Strangelove," whatever message it had falls through the cracks between General Ripper ranting about fluoridization, General Turgidson acting like a buffoon, and Major Kong... being Major Kong.
I saw this film first run at the New Ames Theater in Ames, Iowa in 1964 when I was 17. It was an incredibly powerful film for the time considering in the past several years we had the Cuban Missile Crisis, the construction of the Berlin War by the Russians, and the Vietnam War looming over the horizon.
One of the best movies ever filmed. If only this movie had made it to theaters before Dr. Strangelove with Peter Sellers, it would have had a much more devastating effect on the movie goers of that time.
I cannot imagine any American President in the last thirty years behaving the way Henry Fonda is acting. Especially the current one. Scared me 40 years ago, especially the sound of the phone melting. Stayed in my mind since then. Elections matter.
I remember the Cuban missile crisis.. We were outside playing when a B-52 came right over our house flying lower than any any plane we had ever seen here in Connecticut. My dad was out with us and the first thing he said was that it was flying south toward Cuba . He then made us all go in and he flicked on the news.. Talk about scared! I was 8 years old and thought the world was ending..
I've watched this film many times and also the TV version. Only this time did it strike me as an allegory on the frailty of mankind. We make a grave error if we believe the leaders of nations are in some way superior to the average person when they are equally as frail as all of us. Henry Fonda as the President, at first, seemed to me to be a very moral man who had to make a choice of sacrifice to prevent a nuclear war but was the intentional murder of 10 million Americans to make amends for the accidental destruction of Moscow, which, by the way, he did all he could to prevent truly a moral choice? This time, as the film ended, I no longer saw any heroes, only monsters and victims.
Great movie, as was Dr. Strangelove. However one plot device used for dramatic effect was inaccurate. The US military did not have a recall code. Once the go code was received the planes were to turn off their radios and observe radio silence.
The idea of having a high shrill buzz being the ambassador's phone melting from the nuclear fireball is dramatic genius. Nothing is seen yet everything is imagined.
there might actually be evidence to back this up but i'm not sure. during the atomic tests there was likely a lot of experiments on what would happen to communications. if anyone possibly knows more i'd love to know. i'll see if i can find something.
You're correct, James. I was 12 when they erected an air raid siren right outside our school. The first time they tested it, with the horn slowly turning and the rise and fall of the siren is something I'll never forget.
Hell if I was the ambassador my reply to the President - What ? Stay in--- in Moscow ?
No special effects, no CGI, just pure intense thrilling drama. They don't know to make movies like this anymore.
@@lawrencet83 they can made this kind movie, but it is very rare
Fail Safe was and remains the most terrifying movie of my life, without exception.
I find Failsafe overly melodramatic. For me, On The Beach is the best film about nuclear war.
See _Threads_.
But Fail Safe hits the tense button without *any* soundtrack music.
@@bcask61 Or Testament.
Best cold war film "The Bedford incident".
Forgive the cliche, my friends. But..." they don't make them like they used to". The ORIGINAL Fail Safe is, beyond question, one of the most intelligent and unsettling movies I have ever seen. Thank you Henry Fonda. Thank you Larry Hagman. Thank you all!!!
It's kind of appropriate that Larry Hagman is in this, as that underscores that there is no "genie" who could save us from a disaster with a motion of her head. We must fix the nuclear mess.
@@brianarbenz1329 in his autobiography Larry recalled that during the filming of Fail Safe Henry gave him tips about acting that "only a wise man could give"
Fritz weaver seems to always play a neurotic character like he in creep show movie but a great actor as well.
@@josephcontreras8930 Did the pilot that dropped the bomb commit suicide?
Was it the weight of killing millions of people?
@@hillsane9262 yes General Black committed suicide. The clip doesn't show the beginning of the movie where General Black commutes from NY city where his family lives to Washington via a small plane. He also killed his wife and two sons when he dropped the bombs.
If any of you lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 60s you knew you were scared to death. Most underrated and least recognized "super event" of modern time. I read that we were actually much closer to nuclear war than we thought.
I remember it well! I was 16 then & 18 when I saw this movie
in the military, right after basic training! They showed both
this & the similar "Dr. Strangelove" at the base theater! Chilling!
I was seven years old, and living on a SAC base. I remember the events quite well.
We also came close in 1983 with Able Archer.
I was six years-old during that. I remember the TV graphics for some of the news bulletins. Also, my parents made sure that I watched President Kennedy's speech. I'm grateful to my parents for their keeping me involved. Two months earlier I also remember the wall-to-wall news coverage of the death of Marilyn Monroe. My grandmother and great grandmother were at our home and were discussing that major event with my mother all day; at least thats how my memory has it.
@@fourthhorseman4531 What was Able Archer?
I've always been amused how Fail Safe and Dr. Strangelove are so similar, yet completely different. I love both films and there's room for both.
Stanley Kubrick had every intention of making Dr Strangelove a serious movie, but when this came out, he decided to make it the comedy classic that it is.
both based on the same book
@@McNabbulous i thought they were shot at the same time
"Love"?
@@tomperkins5657 Yep. Nuclear War is a fascinating exciting topic and these are two of the best movies that discuss it. It's real world scifi unlike the fake scifi of all those zombie movies.
I was so stunned by the ending that I just sat for a few minutes and thought about the consequences of something like that actually happening.
Larry Hagman's " Holy Mother of God " still sends chills up the spine. I was 12 during the October Missile Crisis of 1962. There was an underlying dread marking that era and it was so faithfully realized in this film. Whoo, boy!
The person he was playing must have been Catholic because that is the only Christian denomination that gives Mary that title.
Damn good thing it was NYC and not DALLAS
I was 10 then, 12 when I saw this film.
I’m Canadian. My dad was in the Canadian Air Force during the October crisis. I remember him calling my mom at home and telling her they were in lock down and no one could leave the base. At that time we had nukes on some of Canada’s planes and were prepared to use them. It was really scary. Ironically my family had contact with President Kennedy when he was first elected. My grandfather was in the RCMP in Ottawa and was in charge of security when the president made his first official visit to a foreign country as the president. When it was over he gave my grandfather a medal with Kennedy’s head stamped on it along with a short handwritten note of thanks. My father donated them to the Mounties museum in Saskatchewan.
@@canislupis3129 and then there is a hypothesis the real reason JFK got killed was inventing the nuclear briefcase and making unauthorised nuclear launches all but technically impossible
"......What do WE SAY, to the Dead??!!"
The first time I saw this movie, my Dad, who is a former submariner of ~40 yrs., was watching this movie...as I was under 10 yrs of age.
The line above was what stuck to me and its aftermath.
"What happen, Pop, where did those people go??" His reply, " They're gone, mijo." Didn't really understand it, until the movie played again a few years later, when I was in high school.
What do We Say, to the dead...... haunting.
Yes that quote still hangs with me today.
Saw this in the 70's as a kid. Scared the crap out of me. Gave me my initial understanding of the cold war.
I have seen this movie many times over the years and the end still gives me chills....
It gets the tears welling in my eyes.
In 8th grade at Olympic Jr. High in Seattle, I had Mr. Don Powelson for English. He opened the world to us kids, and began the year by reading "Failsafe". When we finished the book, he showed us the movie. "Impactful" would be a massive understatement: all of us kids were gobsmacked by the ending, fleeting images of live-action suddenly frozen in mid-frame and then gone to dark, with the accompanying ominous shriek of the melting phone and the "Ole" of the crowds in the bullfighting arena. I got my BA in Russian all because of this movie.
The truly horrifying reality is that the film is more relevant now than in 1964. The nuclear weapons of the major powers are presently being incorporated into A.I. defense systems. Several nations are actively designing AUTONOMOUS NUCLEAR ATTACK SUBMARINES that will have the ability to lay waste continents with no direct human control. It's only a matter of time before an accidental nuclear launch takes place which will trigger an all out conflagration. That's assuming our sociopathic elite don't trigger deliberate nuclear war first. Given that we are PRESENTLY engaged in the early stages of WW3 in Ukraine and the Middle East this is already a substantial risk. Either way it's coming. We're utterly screwed.
@@Boudica234Yes indeed, a Skynet or moreso a Colossus (as in the computer in "Colossus: The Forbin Project") in real life.
@@RyanSchweitzer77 Loved that movie. Watched it and thought immediately that Terminator had been pretty much ripped off right from it... Also noted the bionic noise from the Six Million Dollar man was "borrowed" from this movie too. :)
Brilliant film, with outstanding acting
I absolutely agree.
GOD! How I pray everyday that these tremble weapons are NEVER used. How I pray for it.
The stark realism of this film still haunts my dreams as the Matador who haunts Blackie or the siren of the melting phone. Of all the Cold War films including Seven Days In May, Dr. Strangelove, and The Bedford Incident, this was the most devastating.
The Bedford Incident is a fantastic film.
@@gnipacave if he fires one I’ll fire one!
Ever seen the British film, _Threads_ (1984)? It's available online.
I don't know of a single person who has seen that film, and _not_ believed it to be easily the most utterly horrifying film they've ever seen. It seriously made _The Day After_ or any other nuclear Armageddon drama look like a damned Disney film. I'm not joking. Catch it on youtube -- if you can stomach watching the whole thing.
@@byhiscall2969 It is truly terrifying and affecting! Thanks for the reminder!!!
@@byhiscall2969 "Threads" is the most horrifiying film I've seen about nuclear war in the last 50 years.
My dad required us - his kids - to watch this film on VHS at home. Yeah... pretty damned stunning. If you have a heart, it hurts after seeing it.
Dr. Strangelove played it for a laugh. This film gets me thinking more. Henry Fonda locks it in.
Dr. Strangelove played it for what it was, the sheer stupidity of conflict.
@@bbhrdzaz I gladly recognize Kubrick's genius. My point still stands.
A laugh but not a joke.
Henry Fonda was an excellent actor and so is his daughter Jane!!
Both films make you think seriously about nuclear war. Strangelove does it through satire, which shows how unseriously the military industrial complex takes war and the slaughter of millions. Fair Safe gives you the hard truth.
Great Movie. What balls on Henry Fonda's character. I have always thought that every President should watch this movie and pray to God he/she learns from it.
Movie would have given 45 ideas...😕
@@georgejuniorleedom4476 If he had an idea it would die of loneliness.
Mark Griffith - What will they learn? How you can kill your own countrymen?
@@Woozler554 It should teach them how not to kill their countrymen.
I was 14 in 1964. I can’t explain the anxiety we grew up with wondering when the bombs would fly. We had constant drills in school. Air raid warnings. No joke
And yet today we are closer to losing our democracy due to home grown terrorists
Now the kids have anxiety about a shooter coming to their school,we did something to alleviate the nuclear threat when are we going to do something about this threat?
What can we tell future children?
@@mgman6000have you paid attention to what is happening in Ukraine, it hasn't gone away.
We even had a nuclear drill when I was in school in the US during the Kosovo conflict in the 90s.
Even to this day Sidney Lumet stands as a genius in film making. Even when he died in 2011, He had directed great films until the age of 83 (Before the devil Knows You're Dead 2007). My favorites are Fail Safe, 12 Angry Men.& Network.
Also, The Verdict
Also Dog Day Afternoon and the three he did starring Sean Connery. Lumet was a giant.
I hadn't realized he also did Twelve Angry Men. That was another intense movie...
Strange that you should leave out what may be his most significant and towering work of genius: "The Pawnbroker."
My favorites Network Fail Safe Twelve Angry Men Dog Day Afternoon and Running On Empty. He never won an Academy Award for his work. However about 2 or 3 years before he died they gave him an honorary award for his work. It had taken that long for the Hollywood community to honor him.
Amazing film and shows just how close we could be to nuclear war without anyone really knowing. Very underrated film.
I was seven years old and living in Los Angeles during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I wasn't so much frightened by what was going on around me, instead I found it all quite fascinating. But years later when I watched this movie it was what frightened me. Even now it's the spookiest flick ever made
I was born the year this movie was made and it is intense and under appreciated. Unbelievable cast and Lumet is such a fine director. But for me, On The Beach (book and original movie) blew me away in my youth. It might be the alternative sequel to Failsafe if cooler heads had not prevailed. It is so matter of fact and chilling. The final shot of Gregory Peck looking up at the sun one last time before he scuttles his sub is haunting.
It's only thanks to Soviet Commander Vasili Arkhipov that it didn't go to hell. Soviet submarine B-59 was attacked by U.S. Navy depth charges. The CO of the boat wanted to launch a nuclear torpedo, which would have annihilated a lot of our ships. The XO concurred, which is all that is required. However, Arkhipov was the "Commodore of the Flotilla" and on the same boat. He said no, thus depriving them of unanimity. If it had happened, we would probably have launched everything...
@@LanternOfLiberty that’s because vasili knew from k19 what nuclear radiation can do.
Still don't understand why the pilot didn't turn around once he heard his wife on the radio. The president, his commanding officer, his wife... how much convincing does one man need?!!
One of the greatest ending scenes in the history of cinema.
I was a GI Brat, living on Otis AFB, MA, at the time of The Cuban Missile Crisis. I saw the photos, and was told by a ranking on-base general to turn towards the bright light.The base flew picket planes, since all this radar stuff was not invented yet. So, we were a prime target.
AND TO THINK, ONE OF BRIGHT MINDED SENATORS IN THE LAST THREE DAYS (12/10/21), HAD THE IDEA OF SPEAKING ABOUT A FIRST-STRIKE AGAINST RUSSIA!!!
The Russian stuff is faster, more accurate and more reliable than the stuff in 1962.
They're drinking or smoking some good stuff in Washington DC.
FAIL SAFE and DR STRANGELOVE came out within a week of each other, FAIL SAFE coming in the second position. Audiences of the era preferred laughter to sitting in grim shock.
I saw both pictures then while in the military & felt Fail
Well you know sometimes it's better to laugh than cry in certain situations
@@patwiggins6969 , true. Quite true.
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"
Or...
... audiences preferred Kubric's outstanding direction, and his film's excellent script and acting performances.
Don't misunderstand. They're both fine films. And they're both *serious* films. But "Strangelove" is an inarguable classic, directed by an inarguable master of cinema, so it's hardly a surprise if it connected well with audiences. As it continues to do to this very day.
One of the greatest, most powerful and most terrifying films ever made. Perhaps the most terrifying
Having been a ballistic nuclear submarine, if I’d have seen this movie beforehand, I would have had a completely different experience after going thru many simulated missile launches. This movie made this old sailor cry knowing the possibility of this madness exists & especially with a Commander in Chief that’s completely incompetent? God Bless bless us all!
Biden has the nuclear football. Let that sink in....
OH, you must mean Trump. Yes, very dangerous and incompetent man.
Thank you for your service.
I still get goosebumps and tear up when I see this film. Chilling.
It kind of pisses me off that Dr Strangelove is so much more well known than this movie. I think this is one of the best, most gripping, most terrifying movies ever made
You have to understand that Dr.Strangelove gets the message through in a different way.They are both effective in their own distinct way!
Being released at similar times didn’t help
because dr strangelove is more funny, especially when the guy ride the nuke
@@vkobevk obviously this entire movie is dead serious
I loved Strangelove. Helped me to stop worrying and love the bomb.
I believe this is my favorite movie. The way the tension builds up is incredible.
The smaller characters are great. Grady's wife, she hammers you with her emotion. Her inability to convince her husband that it's a mistake is so intense.
Dom Deloise having to give the info on blowing up the bombs heartbreaking.
There's just so much in this movie.
I saw it when I was 14 in 1968. I am now 68 and I appreciate it even more.
It's an 11 out of 10 for me.
The tension build up in The Day After is amazing, too!
i remember this, i was 8 years old when the cuban missle crisis began. my dad came home from work, he was a navy veteran of ww2. he said man theirs going to be a war. VERY SCARY
This is a great film. It captures the madness of that time. I remember the duck and cover drills in the late 50's in my elementary school. The one thing I wished they had done is end the film with the high pitched tone that would have driven home the death of NYC.
In the Cuba Missile Crisis there was a Soviet Nuclear Submarine off Cuba. The Captain decided not to launch his missiles. Another time the Russians got signals that appeared to show the launch of US missile toward Russia. The Russian general in charge held off retaliating. It was in fact a false alarm. I wonder if there are cool heads running things these days. I'm inclined to think not.
Yes it still a strong possibility....
Nothing has changed except the voice of social control,
currently batflu, climate etc
And that time a simulation test exercise got loaded into US defence systems on a day they weren’t running any tests or exercises.
@@ryancoulter4797 sounds like sabotage. ???? Hmmm.
During these turbulent times climate covid varients house prices rent food inflation . And a feeling of hopeless CAPITALISM FEED .S off WAR .........BUT EVER SINCE WE BECAME POWERFULL ENOUGH TO DESTROY HUMAN KIND .WELL 111 WORLD WAR UNTINKABLE OR MADNESS BUT I OLD so i dont care plus where do we go from here . ???????? It is to late .. or book of revelations occuring . ,As i type text or amuse myself 👽👽👽👽👽👽👽.......... this is the end .....
I remember seeing this film when I was in high school. I saw it on a school night, which was unusual for me. What struck me was that there was no soundtrack whatsoever, or music of any kind. It added to the solemnity of the movie. You left the theater in a very somber mood.
That was the case with The China Syndrome.
Hell of a movie. Scared me as a kid (in the 60's), not because it was the Cold War and I was worried about control of nuclear weapons, but because the movie is just so damn dark and scary on many levels.
"we let our machines get out of hand" -- hopefully not a prescient statement.
A great movie. So plausible. A war that lasts only a few hours, but kills millions. One of Hank’s best roles.
Yes this one is one of his best.
It wasn't a war. It was a miscalculation that killed millions of people on both sides of the I.
The one phrase by Mr. Buck, the Russian translator, still sends shivers up my spine - 'Holy Mother of God'. In the book that phrase is said by the Soviet Premier. In the movie, though, you don't know that. I still have the book, and I read it on occasion.
I was lucky to find a (1962) paperback copy of that book at the public library. I finished off in less than three hours. One hell of a great novel.
I have both the book, and the movie on DVD and I have the 1/72 scale model of the B58 bomber that was used to represent the Vindicator bombers in the movie. I have 1/72 scale models of the various interceptors shown in this movie. I also have the book and DVD of Dr. Strangelove.
A number of years ago I calculated the 1/72 scale weights, sizes of areas of destruction and many other factors of the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima. even in 1/72 scale the damaged area is the size of a football field.
There is not one spot in this movie for anyone to get popcorn or a piss .
Well if you had done a tab of, say mescaline, there ain't no stopping the going, no matter the movie.
That's what a friend told me. It was a different movie, too. So maybe you're right.
For anyone that hasn't seen this movie, see it.
For anyone that hasn't read the book, read it. The movie followed the book quite closely in all the important details. You only miss a bit of character development.
that shrill sound when Moscow is destroyed is totally chilling
A great classic, top notch talent with no frills special effects, but leaves you holding your breath.
This and the end of "Threads" are dark af.
The part I dig is the phone melting from the blast at 3:15 . My family watched this flick on TV in the 1960's and that scene scared my mom right out of the room. We had just got through the Cuban Missile Crises . The nifty 60's buck -o!
Stunning, terrifying ending. Criminally underrated movie.
Jesus, that squeal through the phone gave me chills.
“Mein Fuhrer, I CAN WALK!!”
I was so confused by the dropping of the atomic bomb on downtown NYC. It had never even entered my mind that this would even be considered by our government as an equitable solution in this eventuality. I refused to believe its possibility, and wrestled with the dilemma for days afterwards. I still, on occasion, ponder the logic of this Solomon-like decision.
there is no logic to it, just grim a need to equal the balance some how.
What would Soviets have done if it hadn't been done? A war exterminating a sizeable percentage of the world's population?
Think of our (US Government) response in terms of the time in which the book was written (early 1960's). If the option to drop a nuclear bomb on NY City after we accidently drop one on Moscow ISN'T exercised, what would you expect the Russian response to be? I'll tell you - all out nuclear WW III........
No it was an equitable solution created by a Hollywood writer, and not our Government. The two are different entities with different values. And yes, even today, even more so... Hollywood would consider you expandable, not worth savings.
While New York wasn’t a national capital like Moscow, it shared these things: Cultural center, comparable population, economic headquarters.
In 1963, DC was simply a one horse town of federal government. That task could be duplicated anywhere. But there was no way to duplicate the influence of New York.
I read the book before the movie was released. I finished it in two readings. I could not put it down. I also read “Red Alert” the book that “Dr Strangelove” was based on. Right around that time (1964- I was 13) our city police cars changed their sirens. I was in bed one night and a police car turned on its new siren in the distance and I was sure I was hearing a nuclear air raid siren. Scared my pants off!
I bet it did!
3:49 is one of the most riveting moments in cinema history.
Oh yes!
This is the most frightening movie about nuclear war, ever.
So is the UK nuclear war film "Threads"
The sound design is amazing
I watched this in the early 70s when I was about 13. It was on late night TV at the time. This was the most terrifying movie I ever saw then and since.
I was 11 when this was released and our school had so many nuclear bomb drills. This film had the ring of truth kids today just couldn’t understand.
More than 50 yrs,still chilling.
I love how they explain that there will be a “high shrill sound” from the phone melting, but there’s nothing that can prepare you for how freakish it actually sounds when it happens. It’s the sound of history suddenly taking a new, terrifying, dark path.
Tears to my eyes still after 50 years
This video skipped the part where we realize that the President’s wife is in NYC that day and the part where Walter Matthau’s character talks about what happens once the bombs hit NYC. So this wasn’t the whole ending.
It was actually the Generals wife who was in NYC, The one who says "I'll be the one to fly the plane and drop the bombs" He kills himself once he drops the bombs.
You’re right. A few scenes are cut out here.
@@prax456 Correct. Fonda asks Gen Black if Catherine and the kids are in the city. I may asking a lot of you.
@@prax456 The President's wife was also there.
You read the book?
And all these years later, just to be safe, we continue making more and more nukes capable of reaching their targets quicker and quicker...
If great Base stars of a conquering race attack earth we may need im. Fail safe we losing Earth instead of surrendering .. let the big birds fly . We thteaten to turn our planet into a moon. So they back off radiated it Earth would be uninhabitable for ahhh 500 earth years.. chalk one up for humans . End of the world shit. So they would have to make a deal with us ... hmmmmmm.
@@williamdolyniuk7804 Have you seen MARS ATTACKS! ? Alien technology is likely so far ahead of ours it wouldn't matter how many nukes we produce at the expense of being unable to feed the people of our world; we're very much an immature species governed by our obsessions for NFL football and a steady diet of ridiculous reality shows. Honestly, superior lifeforms would probably just look at us and move on to the next planet, thinking us not worth the effort...
Both this version, and the later one with George Clooney are both great. Really thought provoking, make you really think about what if......
If you don't think it can happen today, you're fooling yourself. Mutually-assured destruction, MAD for short, is just as real now as it was in 1964. And there are several more players in the game. I was around in 1962, in Wichita, where McConnell AFB and the airplane industry made it a prime target as Kennedy and the Russians played brinksmanship. The news director at one of the radio stations I visited told me they were prepared to implement Conelrad at any moment, shutting down and directing listeners to 640 or 1240. We now know we came within minutes of oblivion.
I spent almost three years in a Minuteman Missile silo in the mid 2000's. Nations that pose an existential threat to America in the nuclear arena are in reality just saber rattling. Paper tigers like Russia and China certainly have the goods. But their delivery systems however range from problematic to piss poor. Russia can still reach out and touch us. Except their guidance systems are so unsophisticated that long range assets tasked on say NYC could end up in Scranton, PA . China's medium range tactical assets are somewhat reliable but those can't make it over the pole or across the Pacific. SO I'm not saying don't worry....but I wouldn't worry TOO much.
We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when,
"I will see you again, but not yet. Not yet." Juba to the fallen Maximus at the end of "Gladiator".
And yet… we still haven’t learned a damn thing.
I believe in a strong Military defense of our Country, but I definitely draw the line at Nuclear Weaponry!
@@ronaldshank7589 The problem arises when someone else redraws the lines.
Yet here we are, 75 years after Hiroshima & Nagasaki, and not a single bomb has ever been dropped in war.
@@Caseytify exactly. Never understood what people are talking about we never learned
I only have one last order. Nobody is to have anything to do with dropping the bombs. I will fly the plane and release the bombs. The final act is mine.
He doesn't want them to bear the burden.
Absolutely terrifying movie.
I sat in the theater paralyzed for a full 15 minutes after the final frame flickered across the screen.
Me too...I will never forget it,
Me three. I have never forgotten it. I sometimes wonder why my parents took me (as a 10 yr old) to a theater to see this when it first came out. Scared the crap out of me.
@@jeffb1886 Jeff, I truly believe that most theater goers had not foreseen that final scene of inhumanity, and therefore were incapable of shielding more vulnerable family members, like yourself, from experiencing it. Most of us never fully recovered from the nightmarish gut punch that was rendered.
@@georgeralph8031 Was there music in the credits in the theater version? 15 minutes in theater paralyzed would be wild.
Two 20 megaton bombs?? Jesus! Just one or two megatons would flatten Moscow.
No joke! They would make a crater about 25miles wide!
Yeah probably should have been kilotons
Brilliantly acted and very dramatic. Still watch it today. Truly terrifying is the only way to describe it. The book is even better,as it gives better backstory to each character
This should have been a wake up call to abolish nuclear weapons, but of course that won't happen.
You got that right
Just read about this on TV Tropes and surprised my Dad never told me about this one.
Just wow
I was almost 8 at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Then and now my great memory was all the fear in the adults. On my little side street, adults who never spoke to me before all of sudden were very concerned about how I was. In my school we didn't go under desks but out into the halls where, with our backs to the wall, we put our heads between our legs. The school was only a few miles from a Nike missile base so our actions would have been pointless. To Fail Safe and Dr. Strangelove I'd add On the Beach and The Bedford Incident. The Walter Matthau character was an anomaly then, I wonder if he would be today.
On the Beach is such a masterpiece. So tragic and poignant, with the transition of Waltzing Matilda from a raucous bar tune to a mournful requiem of what once was. Beautiful movie.
A Masterwork. Screen best work by Henry Fonda and Larry Hagman.
You have great taste in great movies. Fail Safe is a masterpiece! ' Our machines have gotten out of hand '.
A reply to a reply - Its obvious to me the world is out of control. Madmen have the masses mesmerized. Societies continue to make the same mistakes. There's a more frightening movie than Fail Safe. Its The Bedford Incident. In our current geo political world thats going to happen in some form.
The Bedford Incident is just as shockingly mind piercing! And most importantly close to happening today! Just add the Chinese!
One of the best dramatic movie I have ever seen. Many years ago I watched it on some italian commercial network, several times. Great Sidney Lumet and cast.
I read in the recent Military History magazine that WWI happened because both sides didn't understand the strength of their weaponry. Both France and Germany were using artillery that was 20 times as powerful as the kind used in the Franco-Prussian war. Then they didn't realize how powerful their machine guns were. Both sides had no choice but to hunker down in the trenches. The USA and the USSR learned their lesson by this time. They knew their weapons were too powerful, and that they would both be anihlilated in a direct war.
When I'm down or feeling blue I always put this film on to cheer me up. And if that doesn't work I put on Threads.
The Day After.
Try watching "Testament". Fun for the whole family.
@@davidsheets8932 You're not gonna think much of The Day After once you watch Threads.
3:48 - the most disturbing sound in all of cinema
I was 16 when this film came out and it certainly spoiled my evening. I also remember the 4 minute warning counters that were placed in prominent buildings around the U.K. . I found one in a distillery clicking away . When I think about it this was a perfect place you could get pissed in the four minutes before the bombs went off
Theres always an up side!
It's a shame they don't make movies like this anymore. Today people only seem to be interested in Spiderman movies.
I think I read the book for high school which would be about 1973, my freshman year here in Cincinnati. And it was very vivid. I can't remember when I saw the movie but it's intense. It didn't get the accolades that Dr strange love God because they both came out at the same time. But this was very well done. And George Clooney did an outstanding job of that live broadcast of failsafe.
In many ways Fail Safe is the Deep Impact of its era. Ernest and thoughtful. Dr Strangelove is more the Armageddon, played more for laughs. Unlike Dee Impact and Armageddon though neither Fail Safe or Dr Strangelove have a happy ending.
Nuclear war will never have a happy ending. Just an ending. Of everything.
Between this film and Dr. Strangelove, a powerful movement swept the globe, and it made both sides keenly aware of the price to be paid for mutually assured destruction. I pray to God we never get that close again.
we been closer in fact minutes closer.
We're there now.
“What we put between us we can remove.”
I remember watching this as a kid in Brooklyn. Our apartment building had the Fallout Shelter sign on it and we practiced 'duck and cover' drills at P.S. 92. Horrors!
🎶 We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when.🎶
I watched this 50 odd years ago. It was frustrating, chilling and edge of the seat stuff.
This movie should be required watching for every student on the planet when they hit 16.
I lived in Puerto Rico during the Cuban Missile Crisis when my father was stationed at Ramey AFB. I saw influx of aircraft and U2’s flying in if they had to forcibly stop the Soviet ships. Later, I’d show this movie to my high school JROTC class to demonstrate the paranoia the Cold War infused on both the Allied and Iron Curtain people, with the purpose of showing these future leaders the consequences of nuclear war. Hopefully, our leaders today will have history to show them what can happen if a crisis like this rises its ugly head again.
Our "leaders" today are incapable of behaving as honorably as the characters in the movie.
The Russian language has entirely different origins and is a difficult language to accurately translate into English. In a real situation the president would likely have at least two translators with him so as to obtain the most precise translation possible.
Hagman was terrific in this and he must have been intimidated to play opposite Fonda, which might have helped him draw inspiration for his in-over-his-head translator characterisation.
First saw that film when I was nine
I'm sixty now.
I have never forgotten that movie 💀😱👹
I lived through those times. I understand the concept of the movie that the President "had" to avoid all out nuclear war by destroying New York City...making them the sacrificial lambs. Do I believe that scenario would really happen....No. They're trying to capture the insanity of the policy of mutually assured destruction during the Cold War. Nevertheless...I think this movie is insane, as well.
Read up on the English city of Coventry during WW2. The English let it be destroyed to keep secret from the Germans that their code was broken.
@@davidastle9472 I can do that...but would you want to expand a little more. Coventry was destroyed by the British?
@@davidastle9472 I am assuming the British let the Germans destroy Coventry b/c they knew it was going to happen....instead of defending it and let the Germans figure out the code was broken? The British didn't destroy Coventry like the President destroyed NYC in this movie, correct?
So mutually assured destruction is insane? It worked. Obviously. We are still here. You don't get that? You toss around the word ''insane'' carelessly. You offer no proof of actual insanity on the part of the leaders of either side. It's 2021 and we are still here. No nuclear war. I can only guess that you know something I don't. Do share. I want you give me a viable alternative since you think you can do better. Spare me the hippie shit it won't work. Spare me the ''peace on earth'' and John Lennon's ''Imagine''. Won't work. I want an answer at the college level as to what strategy you think would have worked better.
@@MegaMkmiller I have no problem answering anybody about anything. But in your case, I would suggest you have a good bowel movement and take your meds.
Nothing brings goosebumps like the shriek of the ambassador's phone.
A great film, unfortunately overshadowed by Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove."
This is much better than Dr. Strangelove in my opinion.
@@edwardcumpstey9061 I agree.
As a black comedy, Strangelove is outstanding. As a serious warning of what could go wrong, Failsafe is brilliant. Fonda and Hagman really build up the tension towards the sickening conclusion.
True. Kubrick was brilliant in addressing a very serious subject with enough dark humor to make it palpable.
My take is that "Fail Safe" and "Dr. Strangelove" are both flawed masterpieces. And, oddly enough, they are both flawed for the same reason: they emphasized style over substance. "Fail Safe" has that annoying hyperrealism that a lot of movies in the Post-War period had. "Dr. Strangelove," whatever message it had falls through the cracks between General Ripper ranting about fluoridization, General Turgidson acting like a buffoon, and Major Kong... being Major Kong.
I saw this film first run at the New Ames Theater in Ames, Iowa in 1964 when I was 17. It was an incredibly powerful film for the time considering in the past several years we had the Cuban Missile Crisis, the construction of the Berlin War by the Russians, and the Vietnam War looming over the horizon.
One of the best movies ever filmed. If only this movie had made it to theaters before Dr. Strangelove with Peter Sellers, it would have had a much more devastating effect on the movie goers of that time.
The sound of the ambassador's phone melting lets you know that the ambassador is also melting..
I cannot imagine any American President in the last thirty years behaving the way Henry Fonda is acting. Especially the current one. Scared me 40 years ago, especially the sound of the phone melting. Stayed in my mind since then. Elections matter.
This was one hell of a movie.
I wish it were better remembered than it is.
I remember the Cuban missile crisis.. We were outside playing when a B-52 came right over our house flying lower than any any plane we had ever seen here in Connecticut. My dad was out with us and the first thing he said was that it was flying south toward Cuba . He then made us all go in and he flicked on the news.. Talk about scared! I was 8 years old and thought the world was ending..
Jet exhaust frying chickens in the barnyard!
I've watched this film many times and also the TV version. Only this time did it strike me as an allegory on the frailty of mankind. We make a grave error if we believe the leaders of nations are in some way superior to the average person when they are equally as frail as all of us. Henry Fonda as the President, at first, seemed to me to be a very moral man who had to make a choice of sacrifice to prevent a nuclear war but was the intentional murder of 10 million Americans to make amends for the accidental destruction of Moscow, which, by the way, he did all he could to prevent truly a moral choice? This time, as the film ended, I no longer saw any heroes, only monsters and victims.
Great movie, as was Dr. Strangelove. However one plot device used for dramatic effect was inaccurate. The US military did not have a recall code. Once the go code was received the planes were to turn off their radios and observe radio silence.
This is like one of the most uncanny endings of all time