Fail Safe

Fail Safe
by Stephen Frears

Fail Safe

List Price: ~~$19.98~~
Category: DVD
See more DVD details

Buy Fail Safe at Amazon.com

(Click here)

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD details

Actor: Brian Dennehy, Noah Wyle, Richard Dreyfuss, Sam Elliott, Walter Cronkite
Director: Stephen Frears
Brand: CLOONEY,GEORGE
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 84 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-06-05
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:

Oscar? winner George Clooney (Syriana, Ocean's Thirteen) and Emmy nominated Noah Wyle ("ER," "Librarian: Quest for the Spear") head an all-star cast in this tense and powerful Cold War thriller performed live on network TV (CBS). An electrical malfunction prevents the Pentagon from stopping a pilot (Clooney) whose jet has been mistakenly ordered to drop nuclear bombs on Russia. Facing world nuclea

DVD Reviews of Fail Safe

DVD Review: George Clooney's live TV remake of an original Cold war masterpiece
Summary: 3 Stars

George Clooney produced and directed this remake of the 1964 chiller "Fail-Safe" for live TV on CBS in 2000. The occasion was special insofar as there hadn't been a live dramatic production on any network in some years. Clooney played one of the leading characters and Richard Dreyfuss played the president, subbing for the monumental Henry Fonda who did so well in the 1964 version.

If you've never seen "Fail-Safe", it's a Cold war hydrogen bomb nightmare from a book of the same name. An electronic communications system goes awry and sends a nuclear-armed bomber crew at its "fail safe" point on the perimeter of the USSR into the nation with instructions to bomb Moscow. The drama revolves around efforts to recall the bomber and, when that cannot be done, the negotiations that go on with the Soviet Union on what retribution will be taken at home to avoid nuclear war if the bomber fulfills its mission.

The original film was 100 minutes of sheer tension and fright. It arrived on the big screen almost simultaneously with another Cold war nuclear nightmare, "Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" -- Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Special Edition) -- Stanley Kubrick's very similar black comedy. The two films have become blood brothers as the first Cold war era movies about nuclear destruction; both were dreamed up moments after the 1962 Cuban missile criis occurred, the moment in the 20th century when superpowers USA and USSR came the closest to nuclear war, and released months apart in 1964.

Unfortunately, Clooney's remake is a tame and limp retelling of both the book and its foil, the 1964 movie. None of the actors in the remake are as good or believeable as those in the 1964 cast that featured Fonda, Walter Matthau, Frank Overton, Fritz Weaver and Larry Hagman, who grew to fame as J.R. Ewing in television's "Dallas." The aura of tension, fear, foreboding and inevitability that permeates the 1964 original is missing in the remake. Also, true to the foibles of live television (I watched this when it aired in 2000), the production started 7 minutes late and ended 11 minutes early, forcing CBS and the film's producers to scramble to fill time on the little screen.

If you have no exposure to the movie, my recommendation is to skip this version of "Fail Safe" and watch the 1964 film instead Fail-safe (Special Edition). The older one is a classic while the newer one is a lukewarm piece of television milquetoast. I give George Clooney marks for trying to reinvent a masterpiece in modern garb. Unfortunately, it doesn't carry the weight or authenticity of the original, a common problem of remakes.

DVD Review: Can you appreciate live? That is the question
Summary: 5 Stars

Recreates the look and feel of live B&W television, back in the day, beautifully. As if there was a extra high quality episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents produced live in 1960. But in fact, it actually is live television. Which made it all the more impressive and interesting to me. I watched it live years ago and enjoyed it even more this time, without all the commercials. The atmosphere has a certain tension which I found to be fascinating. Bare in mind that this is nothing like a movie. It's like a stage play, but spread out over a large television studio with several separate sets. Nobody gets 19 takes to get it down perfectly. The overall effect will appeal to serious drama fans in particular I think. I can't stop myself from giving it one extra star for sheer originality. Fine performances, dialog, and pace. A unique and entertaining film. I don't know of anything else remotely like it.

DVD Review: a flash from the past
Summary: 3 Stars

Machines fail: a computer system is at fault
for a cold war era near WWII incident.
The acting here is first rate: it is the script from the book that is dated.
My biggest fault of the movie is the rationality of the leaders
and generals.
The problems of nuclear over-kill and the possibility of not only massive radio active contamination, but a nuclear winter leaving the end result of such a war as a dead planet Earth has to be passed on to the next generation, but in the past rationality in the leadership has been the exception and not the rule. After 8 years of Bush we are glad he was never given this option?
Banning all nuclear weapons research in the USA certainly hasn't done any good: it has let smaller countries catch up and be less afraid of the bomb.
I liked the movie, but think a more modern approach
would have been more educational than a more than 20 year old plot.

DVD Review: Fail Safe (2000) B&W
Summary: 5 Stars

Fail Safe (2000) B&W
A remake of the Fail Safe 1964 movie, the 2000 version is a great disappointment. No where near the intensity of the Fail Safe 1964 version.

DVD Review: Great Product
Summary: 5 Stars

Couldn't find this movie anywhere in Brazil... So... Had to get it from abroad. Definitely a must-have. And got here in awesome condition. Great.

Description of Fail Safe

Oscar?? winner George Clooney (Syriana, Ocean's Thirteen) and Emmy nominated Noah Wyle ("ER," "Librarian: Quest for the Spear") head an all-star cast in this tense and powerful Cold War thriller performed live on network TV (CBS). An electrical malfunction prevents the Pentagon from stopping a pilot (Clooney) whose jet has been mistakenly ordered to drop nuclear bombs on Russia. Facing world nuclear annihilation the American President (Richard Dreyfus) must choose between an all-out war or the planned nuclear bombing of New York City as compensation. Based on Sydney Lumet's classic 1964 "Playhouse 90" presentation from the novel by Harvey Wheeler and Eugene Burdick. Directed by Oscar-nominee Stephen Frears (The Queen, The Grifters, Dangerous Liaisons). All-star cast includes Richard Dreyfus, Noah Wyle, George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Harvey Keitel, James Cromwell, Hank Azaria, Sam Elliott.

Thrillers DVDs

DVD Video

Bestsellers in Thrillers DVDs

Angels & Demons (Two-Disc Extended Edition)
Son; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $20.29
Price in other shops: ~~$36.95~~

Ronin [Blu-ray]
DE NIRO,ROBERT; Release date: 2009-02-24; DVD
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: ~~$34.98~~

Quantum of Solace
TCFHE/MGM; Release date: 2009-03-24; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~

Live Free or Die Hard [Blu-ray]
WILLIS,BRUCE; Release date: 2007-11-20; DVD
Best price: $11.99
Price in other shops: ~~$34.99~~

The Boondock Saints [Blu-ray]
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-02-10; DVD
Best price: $12.25
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Two-Disc Edition + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]
Par; Release date: 2009-11-03; DVD
Best price: $18.69
Price in other shops: ~~$39.99~~

Angels & Demons [Blu-ray]
Son; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $17.99
Price in other shops: ~~$39.95~~

The Departed [Blu-ray]
DICAPRIO,LEONARDO; Release date: 2007-02-13; DVD
Best price: $13.13
Price in other shops: ~~$34.99~~

Angels & Demons (Single-Disc Theatrical Edition)
Son; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops: ~~$28.96~~

Quantum of Solace [Blu-ray]
20th Century; Release date: 2009-03-24; DVD
Best price: $14.96
Price in other shops: ~~$39.99~~

Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs

On the Beach
PECK,GREGORY; Release date: 2000-02-29; DVD
Best price: $8.61
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Advise and Consent
FONDA,HENRY; Release date: 2005-05-10; DVD
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Path to War
GAMBON,MICHAEL; Release date: 2003-03-25; DVD
Best price: $4.16
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~

The Day After
GUTTENBURG,STEVE; Release date: 2004-05-18; DVD
Best price: $2.27
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Seven Days in May
LANCASTER,BURT; Release date: 2000-05-16; DVD
Best price: $5.79
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

On the Beach Image

On the Beach
PLATINUM DISC LLC; Release date: 2005-03-01; DVD
Best price: $3.04
Price in other shops: ~~$6.99~~

The Missiles of October
MPI; Release date: 2001-06-26; DVD
Best price: $8.43
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

The Bedford Incident
WIDMARK,RICHARD; Release date: 2003-09-23; DVD
Best price: $10.88
Price in other shops: ~~$19.94~~

By Dawn's Early Light
HBO HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2004-06-01; DVD
Best price: $3.11
Price in other shops: ~~$5.98~~

Fail-safe (Special Edition)
FONDA,HENRY; Release date: 2000-10-31; DVD
Best price: $8.72
Price in other shops: ~~$14.94~~