It will have you sitting on the brink of eternity!
Because of a technical defect an American bomber team mistakenly orders the destruction of Moscow. The President of the United States has but little time to prevent an atomic catastrophe from occurring.
Fail Safe (1964) is a thriller, drama and war film directed by Sidney Lumet, released on October 7, 1964 with a runtime of 1h 52m. It stars Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver and Larry Hagman. Viewers rate it 7.8 out of 10 across 495 ratings.
Watch the official trailer for Fail Safe before you stream it.
Official trailers, teasers, clips and featurettes for Fail Safe.
Trailer
Trailer
Featurette
Henry Fonda
as The President
Walter Matthau
as Prof. Groeteschele
Fritz Weaver
as Col. Cascio
Larry Hagman
as Buck
Frank Overton
as Gen. Bogan
Edward Binns
as Col. Jack Grady
Dan O'Herlihy
as Brig. Gen. Warren A. Black
William Hansen
as Defense Secretary Swenson
Russell Hardie
as Gen. Stark
Janet Ward
as Helen Grady
Dom DeLuise
as TSgt. Collins
Russell Collins
as Knapp
Directed by Sidney Lumet, written by Walter Bernstein, Harvey Wheeler and Eugene Burdick, produced by Charles H. Maguire and Max E. Youngstein.
Average viewer score of 7.8/10 from 495 ratings.
**Fail Safe (1964)** _Directed by Sidney Lumet_ Sidney Lumet's Fail Safe is one of the first Hollywood films to seriously propose that nuclear Armageddon could be brought about by system error. A technical malfunction sends American bombers to Moscow with orders to attack, and the President (Henry Fonda) must work desperately to stop catastrophe before it's too late. Based on a novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey…
Reviewed on April 25, 2026
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Fail Safe (1964) is available to stream on Howdy Amazon Channel, and to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. Streaming availability is checked against JustWatch data and can change by region.
The main cast of Fail Safe (1964) includes Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Larry Hagman and Frank Overton. The film was directed by Sidney Lumet. You can see the full cast and crew list, with character names, further up this page.
Fail Safe was released on October 7, 1964 and runs for 1h 52m.
Fail Safe (1964) holds an average rating of 7.8 out of 10 from 495 viewer votes, and is a good pick if you enjoy thriller, drama and war films. Read the viewer reviews on this page to decide for yourself.
Yes. The official Fail Safe trailer is embedded in the trailer section of this page and plays instantly, no download or sign-up required.
