Fail Safe [Region 2] | ![Fail Safe [Region 2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517K993JASL._SL500_.jpg) | Director: Stephen Frears
Actors: Walter Cronkite, Richard Dreyfuss, Noah Wyle, Brian Dennehy, Sam Elliott
Category: DVD
Buy New: $25.95
as of 3/11/2010 07:25 EST details
New (2) Used (3) from $14.98
Seller: daaveedee
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 199211
Format: PAL
Languages: German (Original Language), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), German (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), English (Unknown), German (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Dutch (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), Norwegian (Subtitled), Danish (Subtitled), Finnish (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Hebrew (Subtitled), Polish (Subtitled), Greek (Subtitled), Czech (Subtitled), Turkish (Subtitled), Hungarian (Subtitled), Croatian (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Italian (Subtitled), German (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 86 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.6 x 0.6
MPN: 18653
UPC: 732195018651
EAN: 0732195018651
ASIN: B000056PKJ
Theatrical Release Date: April 9, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Germany released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), Czech ( Subtitles ), Danish ( Subtitles ), Dutch ( Subtitles ), English ( Subtitles ), Finnish ( Subtitles ), French ( Subtitles ), German ( Subtitles ), Greek ( Subtitles ), Hebrew ( Subtitles ), Hungarian ( Subtitles ), Icelandic ( Subtitles ), Italian ( Subtitles ), Norwegian ( Subtitles ), Polish ( Subtitles ), Portuguese ( Subtitles ), Spanish ( Subtitles ), Swedish ( Subtitles ), Turkish ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Cast/Crew Interview(s), Interactive Menu, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: A seemingly-minor electronic error sets the world on the verge of nuclear annihilation in this made-for-TV adaptation of the novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler (which was previously filmed in 1964). Due to the burn-out of a piece of circuitry, a computer orders a U.S. Air Force jet on a strategic bombing raid, destroying targets in Russia with nuclear weapons. As Generals Bogan (Brian Dennehy) and Black (Harvey Keitel) desperately search for a way to recall the planes once the mistake has been discovered, the bomber's commander, Col. Grady (George Clooney) sets out on his mission with grim determination, while the President (Richard Dreyfuss) and his translator (Noah Wyle) stay in contact with the Soviet premier, trying to convince him that this was all a terrible mistake. Fail Safe was first presented as a live television broadcast which aired on CBS on April 9, 2000. The supporting cast includes Hank Azaria, Don Cheadle, James Cromwell, and Sam Elliott. Star George Clooney spearheaded the unique project and served as executive producer. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Emmy Awards, Golden Globes,
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
 Fail Safe comment January 10, 2010
L. Allen
I do not concur with previous comments,i thought it was great.well worth the purchase and great cast.always enjoy Brian Dennehy and Richard Dreyfuss.everyone made it work.
George Clooney's live TV remake of an original Cold war masterpiece October 28, 2009
Larry VanDeSande (Mason, Michigan United States)
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.
 Can you appreciate live? That is the question September 14, 2009
LV (FRANKLIN, MA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
a flash from the past July 2, 2009
R. Bagula (Lakeside, Ca United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
Fail Safe (2000) B&W May 5, 2009
Thomas Carr (Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 14
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