Review of Fail Safe (2000) by Sam T — 07 Jun 2008

For the skill with which this performance was done (I saw it back when it was broadcast live on CBS), 5 stars. It was ambitious, it was daring, it was Clooney wanting to pay homage to a movie he considered one of the best.

For the actual movie, 3 stars...I'm not sure that trying to remake a very chilling look at the terrifying prospect of an [accidental] rogue nuclear action during the Cold War's coldest months (by 1964, the US had already dealt with 'The Red Menace' in numerous forms: on the battlefield in Korea, the Soviet's h-bomb test 9 months after our own, the death of Stalin, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the assassination of JFK) is really necessary.

The original Fail-safe stood perfectly well on its own...modern star power only detracts from the feel of things.