FAIL SAFE (1964)
FAIL SAFE (1964)
Movie Summary
Fail Safe 1964 depicts an accidental nuclear war, that all is caused from a technical failure. As this movie is set in the Cold War era, tensions were high between the U.S and Russia, leading to fallback plans being made, such as the fail safe program. This program was intended to send bomber planes to areas of interest, in this movie specifically Moscow Russia, if the U.S was under attack. After an unidentified aircraft was headed towards U.S tettitory, fighter group 6 was deployed to strike Russia in retaliation. When the U.S determined this was a civilian flight that was off course, they were unable to recall their fighters, evolving into a high stakes conflict between the U.S and Russia, as they were unable to stop the bomber plans from attacking.
Director's Intent
In Sidney Lumet's 1964 film Fail Safe, the director's intent regarding computing was to issue a warning about the dangers of over-reliance on technology, particularly in the high-stakes context of nuclear warfare. Lumet's main message was to demonstrate the potential for disastrous consequences when human control is ceded to automated systems. The film explores the reality that even with checks and balances, the complexity and infallibility attributed to computers could lead to an irreversible and devastating outcome.
Lumet's intent was not to demonize technology itself, but to caution against the removal of human responsibility and moral judgment from automated systems. The film suggests that in the pursuit of technological efficiency and a swift response to a perceived threat, humanity had created a system that could operate beyond its control, with devastating consequences. Through Fail Safe, Lumet argues for the essential role of human oversight and the profound dangers of placing too much faith in machines.
Ethical Analyses
Throughout the website, there are a few ethical analyses which focus on the Kantian ethical philosophy and the Act Utilitarian ethical philosophy. The reason we selected these two in particular, is because Fail Safe demonstrates an interested tug-of-war between the two ideologies.
Kantianism, a deontological theory, says that the morality of an action is based on adherence to a universal rule, regardless of the consequences. The automated fail-safe systems embody this, as even following a technological error, the systems still authenticate an erroneous attack code. The machines can do nothing but follow pre-programmed instructions. In contrast, Act Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory, which judges if an action as right by determining if produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
A good example of this conflict is the film's climax. The President's decision to sacrifice an American city to prevent a full-scale nuclear war is a devastating application of Act Utilitarianism. He makes a horrifying calculation to choose the option that, while tragic, results in the least catastrophic outcome for humanity as a whole, perfectly illustrating the human-led effort to minimize harm.