I started re-watching this 1964 made movie this morning while exercising, and found it holds up amazingly well. And it is even more scary than when I first saw it in 1965. I have no idea if an accidental initiation of nuclear warfare is more or less likely than in was 57 years ago, but I know that no system can be made absolutely foolproof. In 1965 I was a 22 year old single guy, getting ready for both marriage and entry onto active duty with the U.S. Army. I had little doubt in those days that war with the USSR was inevitable, but didn't lose much sleep over that thought. Now, as an old man, with five grown kids, and 12 precious grandkids, the thought of a nuclear exchange, accidental or deliberate really terrifies me. I still believe that our best protection is to have overwhelming military strength, i.e., mutual assured destruction of China, Russia, Iran and anyone else that even thinks that they can beat us, but have little faith that our current leadership is up to the task.
"Fail Safe"
- Thread starter vito
- Start date
GunnyGene
Hawkeye
Snake45 said:
Seconded!
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Our current administration couldn't run a one-pump gas station.
vito said:
I agree that MAD works against the big guys like Russia and China, but I really fear that any of the middle-east camel-jockey "countries" might not hesitate to nuke us since they seem to feel it's OK to die as long as they kill enough of us in the process.
GunnyGene
Hawkeye
That was a good film. Liked Dr. Strangelove better. :lol:
"We'll meet again" - Vera Lynn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4VlruVG81w
"We'll meet again" - Vera Lynn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4VlruVG81w
powder smoke
Hawkeye
My dad use to say, you should not worry about anything you have no control of!
That is what I'm going with. If the sh!t hits the fan I'll do my best! Always been a pretty decent shot! ps
That is what I'm going with. If the sh!t hits the fan I'll do my best! Always been a pretty decent shot! ps
OP
GunnyGene said:
Dr. Strangelove is a better film, and has a special place in my heart. It was the first date with the girl who became my wife, and we're still together 55 years later. Both films hold up very well. The age of the cars, and the big land line telephones betray the age of both films. But "Fail Safe", in my opinion, is the more frightening of the two due to its realism.
GunnyGene
Hawkeye
vito said:
Both are great nostalgia films for the good ol' days of the First Cold War. Since we seem to be entering a New Improved Cold War, what with all the angst about China and Russia, it's nice to recall those days.
I am a believer in this:powder smoke said:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
and Wisdom to know the difference.
It has worked well for me for many many years.
OP
I can't change who runs Congress or who sits in the Oval Office, but I can try to open the eyes and minds of the brain-dead Democrats who voted for Biden, and folks like him, almost solely based on their dislike of Trump and his "mean Tweets".
Igor
Single-Sixer
vito said:
Good luck with that................TDS is a very real affliction.
blackhawknj
Buckeye
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Watched Dr.Strangelove on video (!) years ago, found it didn't hold up well, a lot of the humor too broad. Watching the bomb run sequences, one of the crew men is James Earl Jones. Watching Fail Safe, the scenes where they are on the phone with the US ambassador and the bombs fall.....if that doesn't chill your spine.
Mein Fuhrer, I can walk...!
wheelgun1958
Hunter
"I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.”
Gen Jack D. Ripper
Gen Jack D. Ripper
wheelgun1958
Hunter
"Perhaps it might be better, Mr. President, if you were more concerned with the American People than with your image in the history books."
General "Buck" Turgidson
General "Buck" Turgidson
wheelgun1958
Hunter
When I was in high school many years ago, the American history and civics teachers would occasionally get their classes together and watch movies. Fail Safe, Dr Strangelove, Jeremiah Johnson, A Man Called Horse and others were shown. Great fun and the lights were dimmed with an abundance of girls. Never have teachers like that these days.
GunnyGene
Hawkeye
Are the drums of Gaugamela sounding yet again?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I05rrkffzdc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I05rrkffzdc
OP
For those of you who didn't notice, Dom Deluise is in this movie in a small role as a repair technician. Not a comedic role at all.
This reads pretty much like a political post, I wonder if it should be moved? As a long-time Independent, I have had little faith through the last 6 or so administrations that any of them could figure out how to run the one pump gas station. However, we seem to still be the leaders of the free world. My prayers are that we continue to hold that position. No matter who is currently in power, there seem to be many who jump on the bandwagon and criticize them before any of their policies have a chance to actually work. That's the major current difficulty of our democratic system - the temporary position of leadership and the frenetic NEED of the populace to see instant results.
OP
turd said:
I think you sell the People short, or you just want to ignore reality. Obama wasted trillions and our economy was moribund, and barely improving. Our international position was weak, with Obama apologizing to the entire world for the "evil" done by America (tell that to the families of G.I.'s buried all over the world who fought to free Europe and Asia). Trump came in and we did see almost immediate improvement in America, both economically and on the world stage. Now Biden has thrown those successes down the toilet in his all too typical "progressive" ineptness in every aspect of governing.
But what this has to do with "Fail Safe" as a frightening possible future eludes me.
blackhawknj
Buckeye
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Both movies are period pieces now, for those of us who were around then, and remember the Cold War, they both captured aspects of what was very real for us. The Cuban Missile Crisis, anyone ? The Berlin Wall.
Igor
Single-Sixer
blackhawknj said:
They were movies.......entertainment.
GunnyGene
Hawkeye
Igor said:
Yep. That's what was offered up by Hollywood before the Zombie Apocalypse made an appearance. :lol: Those along with a SciFi novel called "On the Beach", published in '57, and a movie by the same name in '59. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMzEWpKKOZs
My folks took me to see that at a drive-in when it was new. Of course I had no idea of what was going on so I ate my popcorn and drank my Nehi and fell asleep in the back seat. :lol:Danjet500 said:
OP
Some people in our country actually seem to worry about the possibility of a military led coup. But Obama’s efforts to ensure that “woke” progressives are in the senior leadership positions, a “Seven Days in May” type situation can never arise. generals that publicly state that they were prepared to warn our enemies about any military action that a non-progressive President might order, are no threat to the Left.
blackhawknj
Buckeye
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- 1,945
The people who make it to the top in today's military do so by making a career out of their own careers, they don't inspire that sort of "follow me/come what may/do or die" loyalty necessary. And the planning would be beyond them.
