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| Failsafe(1964); Discuss the film here. | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 16 2006, 01:06 PM (553 Views) | |
| packmule | Apr 16 2006, 01:06 PM Post #1 |
Site founder - Searching for Cropsy
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The Cold War was certainly a dominant theme of the 1960's, the world over, and especially here in the United States. One of the great films to capture the essence of the "Cold War" is Failsafe, released in 1964. The story: an Air Force bomber squadron carrying strategic nuclear weapons begins, due to an electronic malfunction, a sortie to Moscow to drop it's payload, the pilots following SOP(Standard Operating Procedure) after the technical malfunction. As the military authorities, including the President Of The United States himself(played effectively by screen giant Henry Fonda), scramble to find a way to call off their attack, tensions mount, not only between the US and Soviet authorities, but among the US Command center staff as well. After the US President fails to convince the bombers to call off their attack he orders the jets shot down-some are, by American fighters, others by the Russians after they have entered Soviet airspace. Unfortunately, one plane gets through, on a course straight to Moscow, to drop it's weapons, that will completely annihilate the Soviet metropolis, killing millions of people...(no spoilers). Observations; a grim, gritty, and at once fascinating and gripping movie, filmed in black and white, and aided by some tremendous acting performances, including Walter Matthau as the political scientist, Henry Fonda as the President Of The United States, and a young Larry Hagman as the American President's Russian translator. One of the best dramas I have ever seen. This movie is available on DVD. It also appears on TCM(Turner CLassic Movies) from time to time. If you are a fan of military- themed suspense and drama and have not seen this one, I highly recommend it as a rental or purchase. Post your opinions and takes of this movie here. All replies welcome. :) |
 Packmule's Pen Latitude Zero(1969) The Relic(1997) | |
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| KaijuFanatic | Apr 16 2006, 10:54 PM Post #2 |
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I think Fail-Safe is an outstanding film with a cast that handles the story in a most realistic fashion. Henry Fonda blows me away as the U.S. President with a decision that nobody should ever have to make. It's a gripping, edge-of-your-seat drama that is definitely worth a rental or even a blind buy, if you enjoy gritty dramas. |
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| packmule | Apr 17 2006, 01:06 AM Post #3 |
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Site founder - Searching for Cropsy
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One of my own great(and still unsolved) screen mysteries is the dream that the Air Force General has at the beginning of the movie...about the matador in the bullfighting ring, the bull nearby. I have never fully undertood it's meaning in context to this film overall...opinion on this? |
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| KaijuFanatic | Apr 17 2006, 12:56 PM Post #4 |
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One of the odd parts of the film for me, as well. Been a while since I've sat and watched the film, I'll pop it in, this afternoon and see if I can understand that a bit. |
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| packmule | Apr 17 2006, 07:15 PM Post #5 |
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Site founder - Searching for Cropsy
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At the beginning of the film the Air Force general(later called on by his friend, and the President of the U.S., to fly the sortie over NYC as part of the President's "solution" to prevent WWIII) has a strange dream involving a matador and a bull in a bullfighting ring... crazy |
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| packmule | Oct 15 2006, 10:39 PM Post #6 |
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Site founder - Searching for Cropsy
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I watched Failsafe(1964) again to day on Turner Classic Movies. I hadn't planned on seeing it again, but this movie has that kind of power, at least on me. I still cannot, after considerable rumination, figure out what Air Force General Black's dream meant, in relation to the film, or his role, particularly at the end, when he is asked by the President to fly the sortie over NYC. This movie is, IMO, one of the best suspense-thrillers I have ever seen. Watching actors like Henry Fonda(as The President), Dan O'Herlihy(as General Black), Larry Hagman(as the Russian translator "Buck"), and Walter Matthau as Groetschele, the political scientist(and civilian advisor to the Pentagon), was like watching artists at work. thumbs up |
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| KaijuFanatic | Oct 16 2006, 08:05 AM Post #7 |
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I know how you feel, Lee. I don't care if I come across this film in the beginning, middle or near the end, I'll always stop and watch it. You're correct, the cast is absolutely wonderful and the entire film is definitely one to seek out and watch, if you've never seen it before. |
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| packmule | Oct 17 2006, 02:33 AM Post #8 |
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Site founder - Searching for Cropsy
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Image: poster art for Failsafe(1964). Another movie, released to cinema only a few months before, and similarly themed: Dr. Strangelove, directed by Stanley Kubrick. |
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| KaijuFanatic | Oct 17 2006, 12:37 PM Post #9 |
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Wasn't, Dr Strangelove a bigger boxoffice success than, Fail Safe? I thought I recenly read that and was a bit surprised by that info. |
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| packmule | Oct 17 2006, 04:15 PM Post #10 |
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I'm not sure how either of these 1964 films did at the box office.  The narrator at TCM(not Robert Osborne but the younger guy named "Ben") stated that "Dr. Strangelove" was a big hit with audiences, and that there was some ridicule heaped on "Failsafe" because it came out so soon afterwards(about two months after "Dr. Strangelove"). That "ridicule" came from film critics and, according to "Ben", many people who went to see "Failsafe" in theaters. If memory serves me correct the producers of Dr. Strangelove sued those who made Failsafe because of how closely the latter paralled the former in plot. Some kind of copyright infringement issue. I know there was a lawsuit filed. I do not know the outcome of that lawsuit. eyebrow |
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| KaijuFanatic | Oct 18 2006, 03:15 PM Post #11 |
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Interesting info, Lee, thanks very much, I may do some digging, myself and see if I can find any more info. |
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| packmule | Oct 18 2006, 07:17 PM Post #12 |
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Site founder - Searching for Cropsy
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Image: the official opening credits/logo for the 1964 film Failsafe. The logo is black and white, like the film. I believe the B&W "texture" of this movie lends to the film's seriousness, and ever-increasing sense of dread as the movie nears it's climax. |
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| m78 | May 2 2007, 12:31 PM Post #13 |
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The result of the lawsuit was that Dr Strangelove came out before failsafe and was given more of a publicity push by the studio. Kubrick actually initially intended to make Strangelove a dramatic feature, but migrated towards black humour after he found out failsafe was also in production, utilizing a dramatic theme. |
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| packmule | May 5 2007, 03:22 PM Post #14 |
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Thanks for the info m78. I came across this thread topic that allows users to debate which film they think is better: Dr. Strangelove Vs Failsafe I cannot compare the two as yet because I have not seen Dr. Strangelove, something I should do as I have heard it is a very good film. |
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| KaijuFanatic | Jul 14 2007, 07:40 AM Post #15 |
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Lee, have you or anyone else seen the remake that was done for TV? It stars George Clooney and several other Hollywood names.....I guess somehow, this slipped under my radar and I saw the DVD at K-Mart on Wednesday night. According to the back of the DVD, it was approached as a play, which I guess rhis is how it was originally done in the early 60s, before the feature film was made and this Clooney version was also filmed in B&W. I'm wondering if this is something to check out. eh? |
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