Fail Safe (2000)

Cold War tensions climb to a fever pitch when a U.S. bomber is accidentally ordered to drop a nuclear warhead on Moscow.

Directors:

Stephen Frears, Martin Pasetta (as Martin A. Pasetta Jr.)

Writers:

Eugene Burdick (novel), Harvey Wheeler (novel)

Stars:

Walter Cronkite, Richard Dreyfuss, Noah Wyle

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Walter Cronkite	...	Himself - Host
Richard Dreyfuss	...	President
Noah Wyle	...	Buck
Brian Dennehy	...	Gen. Bogan
Sam Elliott	...	Congressman Raskob
James Cromwell	...	Gordon Knapp
John Diehl	...	Col. Cascio
Hank Azaria	...	Prof. Groeteschele
Norman Lloyd	...	Defense Secretary Swenson
Bill Smitrovich	...	Gen. Stark (as William Smitrovich)
Don Cheadle	...	Lt. Jimmy Pierce
George Clooney	...	Col. Jack Grady
Harvey Keitel	...	Brig. Gen. Warren Black
Doris Belack	...	Mrs. Johnson
Grant Heslov	...	Jimmy

Storyline

Cold War tensions climb to a fever pitch when a U.S. bomber is accidentally ordered to drop a nuclear warhead on Moscow.

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Plot Keywords:

cold war | political thriller | live broadcast | u.s. president | nuclear war | 

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Taglines:

The World on The Brink of Accidental War -- UNFOLDING LIVE!

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 April 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fail Safe

Filming Locations:

Stage 15, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Maysville Pictures, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Broadcast live on April 9, 2000.

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Goofs

When Buck begins translating, he begins speaking *immediately* upon hearing the Soviet premier speak, betraying the fact that he's just reciting lines in a script. A real translator would need to listen to most of the first sentence before speaking, especially with languages that place the verb at or near the end of the sentence, as most languages other than English do.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Brig. Gen. Warren Black: You've all been briefed on this mission, so there's nothing more to say. I have only one last order. No one else is to have anything to do with the release of the bombs. I repeat. I will fly the plane and launch the bombs. The ultimate act will be mine. Is that clear?
Co-pilot: On course, sir. Approaching the target.
Brig. Gen. Warren Black: We'll count down from 10. Give me the signal.
Co-pilot: We're on a heading of 6 degrees south. Winds northwest at 8 miles an hour. Altitude, 26,000 feet. Ground Zero, set at 1,000 feet. ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo (2007)

User Reviews

a good remake

one of the best TV films I have seen in recent years! However, I must say that I thought the original was a very good film indeed, so I might of been biased. The thing that I liked about the latest remake was that the producers decided that the TV broadcast was going to be just like the original and not brought up to date. This gave the film a claustrophobic feeling to it and made it more real. So many films today are just explosions and S.F.X. that the real stories are left behind. A well made movie, and a joy to see Richard Dreyfuss back to his top form.