Fail-Safe Blu-ray - Henry Fonda

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Sidney Lumet
USA 1964

This unnerving procedural thriller painstakingly details an all-too-plausible nightmare scenario in which a mechanical failure jams the United States military’s chain of command and sends the country hurtling toward nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Working from a contemporary best seller, screenwriter Walter Bernstein and director Sidney Lumet wrench harrowing suspense from the doomsday fears of the Cold War era, making the most of a modest budget and limited sets to create an atmosphere of clammy claustrophobia and astronomically high stakes. Starring Henry Fonda as a coolheaded U.S. president and Walter Matthau as a trigger-happy political theorist, Fail Safe is a long-underappreciated alarm bell of a film, sounding an urgent warning about the deadly logic of mutually assured destruction.

***

Based on the novel "Fail-Safe" by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, Sidney Lumet directed this shocking masterpiece of cold-war realism.

Due to astronomically rare and unfortunate computer error, a flight of Strategic Air Command (SAC) bombers originating in Alaska carry 2 nuclear warheads past what is known as the 'fail-safe' point. With Russian military jamming their communication they cannot be recalled. They are headed toward Moscow to drop their bombs and complete their mission. The options of stopping them are both limited and extremely time sensitive.

Henry Fonda portrays the President of the United States in a role he wears like a tailor made suit. Attempts to abort the mission fail and the President is left with no more options... aside from the unthinkable. Communicating with the aptly crippled Secretary of Defense, various military personnel, visiting political scientist Groeteschele (Walter Matthau) and the Russian Premier (through his his translator 'Buck' played by Larry Hagman) a most impossible, totally unacceptable decision is absolutely believably concluded. Stunning is an understatement. This is without question in my mind, the best Cold-war film ever made. The performances are outstanding, the messages are both subtle and coldly obvious with a conclusion as eviscerating as any.

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 7th, 1964 - USA

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Columbia Tri-Star (SE) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. ViaVision - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray

Box Cover			Coming to Blu-ray in the UK by Criterion on February 3rd, 2010: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Columbia Tri-Star - Region 1 - NTSC	ViaVision- Region FREE - Blu-ray	Criterion - spine #1011 - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:52:00	1:52:09.264	1:52:22.527
Video	1.80:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.5 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/ss	1.78:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 20,716,272,071 bytes Feature: 19,987,519,488 bytes Video Bitrate: 21.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 43,665,342,819 bytes Feature: 33,935,290,368 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.85 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate ViaVision Blu-ray:
Bitrate Criterion Blu-ray:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	Dolby Digital Audio English 448 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps	LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English, Spanish, French, Korean, Portuguese, Thai, None	None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Columbia/Tristar Studios Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterbox 1.81:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by director Sidney Lumet • Theatrical trailer • Exclusive Featurette: "'Fail Safe' Revisited" (16:01) • Talent Files (Sidney Lumet, Walter Matthau, Henry Fonda and Larry Hagman) DVD Release Date: October 31, 2000 Keep Case Chapters: 28	Release Information: Studio: ViaVision Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 20,716,272,071 bytes Feature: 19,987,519,488 bytes Video Bitrate: 21.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Commentary by director Sidney Lumet • "Fail Safe' Revisited" (16:03) • Trailer (2:55) Blu-ray Release Date: September 16th, 2016 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters: 10	Release Information: Studio: Criterion 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 43,665,342,819 bytes Feature: 33,935,290,368 bytes Video Bitrate: 35.85 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio commentary from 2000 featuring director Sidney Lumet • New interview with film critic J. Hoberman on 1960s nuclear paranoia and Cold War films (19:30) • “Fail Safe” Revisited, a short documentary from 2000 including interviews with Lumet, screenwriter Walter Bernstein, and actor Dan O’Herlihy (16:01) • PLUS: An essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri Blu-ray Release Date: January 28th, 2019 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 19

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were obtained directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray (December 2019): Firstly, this remains one of my favorite films off all time... and I am so thankful that Criterion have done it up right from a new 4K digital restoration. The dual-layered 1.85:1 transfer with a max'ed out bitrate significantly advances upon the ViaVision - notably in terms of detail (see pigeons in the final matched capture), contrast and beautifully textured grain. The image quality is... perfect. Wow.

NOTE: We have added 34 more large resolution Blu-ray captures for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE.

Audio is also a huge advancement with an uncompressed linear PCM mono track, in the original English language. It provides, predictably flat, but carrying depth for the plane effects and warning sirens. The film has no score. Criterion add optional English (SDH) subtitles (see sample below) to their Region 'A' + 'B' (depending on your locations of purchase) Blu-ray disc.

For supplements, Criterion include the Lumet commentary and Jeffrey Schwarz's 1/4 hour Fail-Safe Revisited featurette with Lumet, George Clooney, Walter Bernstein etc. New is a fabulous 20-minute interview with film critic J. Hoberman on 1960s nuclear paranoia and Cold War films. Criterion also include a liner notes booklet with an essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri.

So, while my dream would be more extras, but seeing this film in such a stellar 1080P transfer, just floors me. It doesn't come out till 2020 or it would be on my top 10 for 2019. I am obsessed with Fail-Safe. Our highest recommendation!

***

ADDITION: ViaVision - Region FREE - Blu-ray (October 2018): This looks like an Australian release ('Madman' on the back of the box.) It's an obvious step up in video image quality from the 2000 DVD. This is a single-layered 1080P 1080P transfer - adept but not max'ed out with a modest bitrate. Contrast looks strong in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. I'm sure it could improve in appearance with a dual-layered rendering but as it stands it looks quite pleasing in-motion compared to the darker, softer SD. Could it simply be a bump? It's possible, I suppose...

Unfortunately the same lossy Dolby audio remains. No difference that I could hear in the audio transfer. The original English is clear. There is are no subtitles and the ViaVision Blu-ray disc is Region FREE.

Supplements repeat the wonderful Lumet commentary, the 1/4 hour Fail-Safe Revisited featurette and the trailer - all found on the DVD. No new extras.

I love this film and would have obviously preferred a Criterion, Arrow or Indicator-like Blu-ray package for the film. Not in the cards... yet. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and its 1080P appearance. If you have not seen this - you must - and this seems the best home theatre presentation at present.

***

ON THE DVD: Don't bother with those silly comments made on Amazon about this release... it is a fantastic SE DVD. Anamorphic, film grain, sharp, great contrast with a relatively loose mono soundtrack. There are some dust and damage marks, but they do not influence the film enjoyment. I am convinced that this film will never look better on DVD. The Extras - a commentary and short featurette - both just wonderful. This is one of my most cherished DVDs.

Gary Tooze

Columbia Tri-Star - Region 1 - NTSC

ViaVision - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Criterion - Region 'A' / 'B' - Blu-ray