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Fail Safe

Fail Safe

Drama · Thriller · TV Movie · 2000

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

Movie details

Fail Safe

2000 Drama · Thriller · TV Movie 1h 26m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

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

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Fail Safe?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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WarGames

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Stephen Frears

Written by

Walter Bernstein

Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite

Self - Host

Richard Dreyfuss

Richard Dreyfuss

President

Noah Wyle

Noah Wyle

Buck

Brian Dennehy

Brian Dennehy

Gen. Bogan

Sam Elliott

Sam Elliott

Congressman Raskob

James Cromwell

James Cromwell

Gordon Knapp

John Diehl

John Diehl

Col. Cascio

Court is in session

Put Fail Safe on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.