Best movies like Fail Safe
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Cold War tensions climb to a fever pitch when a U.S. bomber is accidentally ordered to drop a nuclear warhead on Moscow.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, captivating, suspenseful, political, psychological, apocalyptic, realistic, political thriller, disaster movie
Best tv shows and movies like Fail Safe (2000):
Similar in 88%
War Book (2014)
Plot Summary:
In a contemporary Commons briefing room, a government minister and several aids enact the ‘war book’ exercise: a protocol written in the 1950s which is periodically played out to test post-nuclear scenarios. Low-budget but high-concept, War Book is a terse drama of interpersonal politics with rat-a-tat-tat dialogue and sharp performances. (12 Angry Men, Sleuth and The Deal all feel like reference points.) Created by some of the UK’s most promising talents in down time between other projects, director/producer Tom Harper (Scouting Book for Boys, Woman in Black 2), screenwriter Jack Thorne (Skins, Scouting Book) and producer Lauren Dark bring together a top notch cast (including Sophie Okonedo, Ben Chaplin and Kerry Fox). Cold war anxiety is given contemporary relevance in this exploration of government arrogance and lack of accountability, and the terrifying fragility of world order when faced with the abyss of mutual destruction.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 703
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, thought provoking, bleak, suspenseful, realistic, apocalyptic, minimal cast
Similar in 81%
Allegiance (2012)
Plot Summary:
After being granted a questionable transfer that will keep him stateside as his National Guard unit deploys for Iraq, Lieutenant Danny Sefton becomes embroiled in a last minute AWOL attempt by one of his soldiers — forcing him to choose between his loyalties to the fleeing soldier, his unit and his fiancé.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 634
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, independent film
Similar in 85%
Supervolcano (2005)
Plot Summary:
Yellowstone is a park, but it's also the deadliest volcano on Earth. Beneath it, a sleeping 'dragon' is stirring. When an earthquake opens a crack for magma to seep through, other warning signs of an eruption start popping up, but they are ignored or dismissed as 'minor'. But when they learn an eruption will happen, panic breaks out through people of the USA and the world.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, Italy, Germany, Japan, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, educational, disturbing, apocalyptic, mockbuster, disaster movie
Similar in 87%
On the Beach (2000)
Plot Summary:
The world has finally managed to blow itself up and only Australia has been spared from nuclear destruction and a gigantic wave of radiation is floating in on the breezes. One American sub located in the Pacific has survived and is met with disdain by the Australians. The calculations of Australia's most renowned scientist says the country is doomed. However, one of his rivals says that he is wrong. He believes that a 1000 people can be relocated to the northern hemisphere, where his assumptions indicate the radiation levels may be lower. The American Captain is asked to take a mission to the north to determine which scientist is right.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 195 min
Plot tags: tense, apocalyptic, serious, suspense, exciting, gloomy, psychotronic, disaster movie
Similar in 75%
Special Bulletin (1983)
Plot Summary:
A TV reporter and cameraman are taken hostage on a tugboat while covering a workers strike. The demands of the hostage-takers are to collect all the nuclear detonators in the Charleston, SC area so they may be detonated at sea. They threaten to detonate a nuclear device of their own of their demand isnt met.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: bad ending, psychological, rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 86%
World War III (1982)
Plot Summary:
Soviet paratroopers drop into Alaska to sabotage the oil pipeline in retaliation against a United States grain embargo. A skirmish occurs at a pumping station, lightly defended by Col. Jake Caffey and a National Guard reckon unit. A stalemate ensues while the possibility of World War III hangs in the balance. The danger escalates as the Russian leaders and the American President play a cat-and-mouse game.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 774
Genere: Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 200 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, epic, serious, realistic, suspenseful, political thriller, tragic ending
Similar in 87%
Countdown to Looking Glass (1984)
Plot Summary:
A fictional confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Persian Gulf. The narrative of the film details the events that lead up to the initial exchange of nuclear weapons from the perspective of an on-going news broadcast.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 694
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: apocalyptic, tragic ending, mockumentary, disaster movie
Similar in 76%
Dirty War (2004)
Plot Summary:
After years of meticulous planning, a terrorist operation is reaching its final stages. The authorities have received no intelligence; they are in a race against time but don't yet know it. As the operation unfolds, we see the working lives of men and women directly affected by terrorism. Among them: a firemen worried about the increasingly dangerous conditions he and his men are expected to work under; the head of the anti-terrorist branch whose responsibility it is to protect London and a female Muslim detective brought into Scotland Yard to investigate another suspected terrorist cell. But it is too late to stop the attack.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Thriller, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, detective, bleak, realistic
Similar in 81%
What Still Remains (2018)
Plot Summary:
After the loss of her family, a young woman struggles to survive in a world long-since destroyed by disease; but when a lonely traveler offers her a place in his community, she must decide if the promise of a better life is worth the risk of trusting him.
IMDB Rating: 4.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: captivating, suspenseful, apocalyptic, tense, intense, dystopian
Similar in 78%
The Fourth War (1990)
Plot Summary:
Cold War drama about two gung-ho border commanders (Roy Scheider, Jurgen Prochnow) who carry out their own private war against each other on the German - Czechoslovakia border.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: political, political thriller, grindhouse, independent film, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, exciting
Similar in 78%
The Secret Agent (1996)
Plot Summary:
London of the late 19th century is a haven for political exiles of all sorts - refugees, partisans, anarchists. Verloc has made his living spying for the Russian goverment, an agent provacateur of sorts, while simultaneously providing information to the London police, specifically Chief Inspector Heat. When the new Russian ambassador demands he prove his worth or lose his salary, Verloc sets off a tragic chain of events that involves his pretty young wife Winnie, her retarded brother Stevie, and a figure called the Professor, whose fascination with explosives and destruction makes him the person to call on when Verloc needs a bomb.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, harsh, realistic, suspenseful, tense, serious, political thriller, bleak, light, romantic
Similar in 90%
Deterrence (1999)
Plot Summary:
The President of the United States must deal with an international military crisis while confined to a Colorado diner during a freak snowstorm.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: tense, suspenseful, independent film, serious, realistic, disturbing, talky, political thriller, exciting, light
Similar in 86%
Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)
Plot Summary:
A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell, escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana and threatens to provoke World War 3 unless the President reveals details of a secret meeting held just after the start of the Vietnam War between Dell and the then President's most trusted advisors.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: West Germany, USA
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: neo noir, political, political thriller, tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 77%
The Enemy Within (1994)
Plot Summary:
Colonel Casey discovers what appears to be plans by General Lloyd to use fake military excercises to assist Jack Giddings in his plans to remove President Foster from office. Colonel Casey, and President Foster must find evidence that there is a coup planned and stop it, before it takes place. Unfortunately, there isn't much time.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, tense, realistic, political thriller
Similar in 89%
Farewell (2009)
Plot Summary:
Engaging, emotional and riveting, FAREWELL is an intricate and highly intelligent thriller pulled from the pages of history— about an ordinary man thrust into the biggest theft of Soviet information of the Cold War. Ronald Reagan called this piece of history - largely unknown until now - “one of the most important espionage cases of the 20th century.” FAREWELL begins in 1981, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A French businessman based in Moscow, Pierre Froment, (Guillaume Canet) makes an unlikely connection with Grigoriev (Emir Kusturica), a senior KGB officer disenchanted with what the Communist ideal has become under Brezhnev. Grigoriev begins passing Froment highly sensitive information about the Soviet spy network in the US.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful, political, sincere
Similar in 75%
Tornado Valley (2009)
Plot Summary:
Liz McAdams is haunted by the memories of a tornado that destroyed her home 25 years ago. Now a professional storm tracker, she and her family are in danger once again as another devastating twister rapidly gains momentum. Caught in the path of destruction, Liz and her estranged husband struggle to save those they love.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 551
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, captivating, psychological, suspense, realistic, disaster movie
Similar in 77%
By Dawn's Early Light (1990)
Plot Summary:
When a nuclear missile is launched by presumably Soviet forces toward Turkey, the beginning of the ultimate war to end all wars WW 3 is started. Powers Boothe, his girlfriend and copilot Rebecca DeMornay and their flight crew take off in a B 52 on what they believe is just another drill only to find out that this is the real deal.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, suspenseful, surprise ending, suspense, independent film, corny, disaster movie
Similar in 84%
Last Resort (2012)
Plot Summary:
Last Resort is an American military drama television series. When the crew of the U.S. Navy Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, the USS Colorado, pick up a U.S. Navy SEAL team off Pakistan's coast, the Colorado receives an order to launch nuclear ballistic missiles at Pakistan.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, exciting, cliffhanger, apocalyptic, anime, nautical
Similar in 77%
Right at Your Door (2006)
Plot Summary:
A dirty bomb goes off in Los Angeles, jamming freeways and spreading a toxic cloud.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, tense, rough, serious, apocalyptic, futuristic, twisted, surprise ending, independent film, scary
Similar in 89%
WarGames (1983)
Plot Summary:
High School student David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Defense Department's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions! Together with his girlfriend (Ally Sheedy) and a wizardly computer genius (John Wood), David must race against time to outwit his opponent...and prevent a nuclear Armageddon.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 109000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: clever, futuristic, tense, cyber, suspenseful, political, suspense, psychological, inspirational, philosophical
Similar in 88%
Fail-Safe (1964)
Plot Summary:
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. Director Sidney Lumet gives an atmospheric vision of the future with a Cold War backdrop.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: tense, political thriller, political, realistic, bleak, black and white, emotional, suspense, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
The Bedford Incident (1965)
Plot Summary:
Richard Widmark plays a hardened cold-war warrior and captain of the American destroyer USS Bedford. Sidney Poitier is a reporter given permission to interview the captain during a routine patrol. Poitier gets more than he bargained for when the Bedford discovers a Soviet sub in the depths and the captain begins a relentless pursuit, pushing his crew, and the on-screen tension, to breaking point in this chilling cold-war tale of cat and mouse.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, atmospheric, political, tense, suspense, realistic, intense, surprise ending, serious
Similar in 88%
Phantom (2013)
Plot Summary:
The haunted Captain of a Soviet submarine holds the fate of the world in his hands. Forced to leave his family behind, he is charged with leading a covert mission cloaked in mystery.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, serious, suspenseful, exciting, political thriller, realistic, psychotronic
Similar in 81%
Crimson Tide (1995)
Plot Summary:
On a US nuclear missile sub, a young first officer stages a mutiny to prevent his trigger happy captain from launching his missiles before confirming his orders to do so.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 121000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, realistic, intense, rough, serious, exciting, political, tense, action thriller
Similar in 82%
Enigma (1982)
Plot Summary:
Five highly-trained KGB agents are sent to the west to assassinate several Soviet dissidents. In order to stop the diabolical plot, an American agent must infiltrate Soviet intelligence and obtain information from a Russian computer.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, France
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, intense, serious, realistic, political, political thriller, independent film, exciting, romantic, atmospheric
Similar in 90%
Seven Days in May (1964)
Plot Summary:
A U.S. Army general alerts the president of a planned military coup against him.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: political thriller, tense, political, black and white, suspense, suspenseful, atmospheric, intense, serious, realistic
Similar in 88%
The Missiles of October (1974)
Plot Summary:
Based in part on Robert F. Kennedy's book, "Thirteen Days," this film profiles the Kennedy Administration's actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: political, tense, thought provoking, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 90%
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Plot Summary:
The Manchurian Candidate is a political thriller from American director John Frankenheimer. An American soldier is brainwashed into being a killer for the communist Russians during the Korean War.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: political thriller, black and white, psychological, political, tense, thought provoking, suspenseful, suspense, psychological thriller, captivating
Similar in 78%
The Sum of All Fears (2002)
Plot Summary:
When the president of Russia suddenly dies, a man whose politics are virtually unknown succeeds him. The change in political leaders sparks paranoia among American CIA officials, so CIA director Bill Cabot recruits a young analyst to supply insight and advice on the situation. Then the unthinkable happens: a nuclear bomb explodes in a U.S. city, and America is quick to blame the Russians.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 123000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA, Germany, Canada
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, suspense, exciting, political, tense, intense, political thriller, serious, rough, realistic
Similar in 75%
Thirteen Days (2000)
Plot Summary:
Dramatisation of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the nuclear standoff with the USSR sparked by the discovery by the Americans of missle bases established on the Soviet allied island of Cuba. Shown from the perspective of the US President, John F Kennedy, his staff and advisors.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: tense, political, suspenseful, thought provoking, disturbing, sincere, realistic, educational, witty, serious