Fail Safe

TV Movie
2000
Not Rated
1h 26m

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

6.7K

YOUR RATING

George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Hank Azaria, James Cromwell, Richard Dreyfuss, Sam Elliott, Brian Dennehy, Noah Wyle, John Diehl, Norman Lloyd, and Bill Smitrovich in Fail Safe (2000)

Play trailer1:21

1 Video

55 Photos

Political Thriller Drama Thriller

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

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

6.7K

YOUR RATING

Directors
- Stephen Frears
- Martin Pasetta
Writers
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 2 Primetime Emmys
- 3 wins & 11 nominations total

Trivia
The movie was performed on live television in black and white, and required two soundstages on the Warner Brothers studio lot. Harvey Keitel (Brigadier General Warren Black) had to run between the two stages for some of his scenes.

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.

Quotes
Col. Jack Grady, Command Pilot Group 6: [answering the phone] Tommy?
Tommy Grady, Col. Grady's Son: Dad! How long is this one gonna be?
Col. Jack Grady, Command Pilot Group 6: Shouldn't be too late.
Tommy Grady, Col. Grady's Son: Are you sure?
Col. Jack Grady, Command Pilot Group 6: I'm positive.
Tommy Grady, Col. Grady's Son: Only fools are positive.
Col. Jack Grady, Command Pilot Group 6: Are you sure?
Tommy Grady, Col. Grady's Son: I'm positive.

Connections
Featured in The 52nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2000)

User reviews95

Review

Featured review

Felt like the "old days"

I really looked forward to this live TV special and I was not disappointed. I also liked the black and white presentation. I remember quite well the live Playhouse 90s and Studio Ones of the fifties. When tape and film came along a lot of the edge was taken out. I hope that this starts a new trend. I would like to see one once a month. I would like to see how many new stars that rely on film and retakes to be good enough to be in a live show.