1011 Fail Safe

[FrauBlucher]

bluray.com

[WrathOfAguirre]

Perfect double feature with Dr. Strangelove.

Yeah, maybe, but certainly not in the order they were released (i.e. Strangelove should be second).


I watched this last night and quite enjoyed almost all of it. I loved the way it was shot, the tight spaces, the constant tension, the mostly sane and believable dialog. But I have to say, I'm in the camp of domino in that I simply cannot accept that...

Spoiler

any POTUS would ever make such a decision to sacrifice any U.S. city, let alone NYC. And, yes, the fact they made it such a difficult consideration for Fonda's POTUS to come to terms with shooting down the pilots earlier on.. Ehh, it didn't pass the sniff test of the world that was set up within the film. My wife and I literally looked at each other when he announced his decision and chuckled (and I even said aloud "what the fuck?").

While I felt that part was pretty unbelievable, I do think the film is prescient in light of the ongoing debate over AI. Couple that with the increasing decline of what is widely understood as post-WWII global stability--and how many more nukes there are now than there were in 1964 (not to mention more unfathomably destructive)--it's an anxious watch.