Fail-Safe

Pros: Use of black and white film is starkly effective. Watch for Larry Hagman's performance.
Cons: Several over-the-top performances by various actors that is just too contrived.

Every now and then a film comes along that is horrifying, not because of any sort of monster or critter lurking in the shadows, but rather that the possibility of it happening is all too real. Such is the case with the 1960's film, Fail-Safe. ...

Pros: Gripping story, excellent performances from cast, great directing from Lumet
Cons: Too stark and depressing for some viewers, dated, claustrophobic at times

Imagine, if you will, that you are Col. Jack Grady, USAF, the commanding officer of a squadron of "Vindicator" bombers on routine patrol somewhere over Alaska. It's the mid-1960s, the Soviet Union still exists, and the Cold War is still being waged. ...

Pros: It's urgent, intense, important, relatable, honest, clever, well-acted, well-photographed, non-propagandistic, and chilling.
Cons: The first minute is dumb? More notably, nuclear terror ain't what it used to be.

I was born in 1973, with the last cohort of Americans to really feel the Cold War, and to know how chilling it could get; the last cohort to automatically be grateful for the jury-rigged semi-competence and chintzy special effects of Osama bin Laden and ...

Pros: The story,directing, the cast and their performances.
Cons: Take a Prozac...

President, Who gives the order to shoot down our bombers? General, You do… Mr. President… Directed by Sidney Lumet (The Morning After) Henry Fonda as The President Walter Matthau as Professor Groeteschele Larry ...

Pros: Most people see the "Pros" as "Cons." It was more real than was realized.
Cons: Its very integrity made it unacceptable to the general public.

If you've already seen this movie, the title will make sense to you. If you haven't, it will when you do finally see it. If you haven't yet seen it, my strong personal recommendation is not to see it when you're feeling depressed.

This,...

Pros: excellent acting, chilling story
Cons: lighting

Last night, I was pleased to watch my favorite actor (George Clooney) produce and star in a live TV broadcast of "Fail Safe".

This was the first live broadcast for CBS since Playhouse 90 went off the air in 1960.

Named...

Pros: cast, story
Cons: direction, script, sets

Fail-Safe is a remarkably grim and pessimistic film about the possibility of nuclear war. It had the misfortune of being released shortly after Dr. Strangelove, the superlative Kubrick black comedy that unintentionally served as a parody...

Pros: Nail-biting prophecies
Cons: It's real.

No movie more clearly illustrates the impending destruction of mankind at his own hand as the 1965 classic Fail Safe.

Starring Henry Fonda as the President of the United States, this vehicle of our doomsday prophecy renders the...

Pros: Incredible storyline, strong acting
Cons: taped live

When I first heard that CBS was going to produce a live TV movie, I watched for the same reason many people watched: To see if they would screw up. I had a faint glimmer of hope when George Clooney almost broke up laughing at one point, but from...

Pros: They did it live and in black and white! It gives it more weight.
Cons: If you hate black and white... well you will get over it.

I taped it and I am glad I did. I do not remember seeing the original version of this film so I cannot compare the new version to the
original. But I am a history major. So I can say that it accurately
depicts many different cold war...

Pros: relevant, solid plot
Cons: a bit dated still

My father told me that he was in high school when Fail Safe came out, and they held a special assembly for the whole school to watch it. Back in '64, this film was very relevant to the current events. There were bombers in the air, and there was...