Fail Safe (1964) - full transcript

¡Olé!

¡Olé!

Warren?

You'll wake yourself up.

Mmm. Get your breakfast.

No time. The meeting starts at 10:00.

Don't worry about it.
They always have coffee there.

You're going to fly down?

I'll check out one of the trainers.
That way, I can get back when I want.

What are you up to today?

Shopping. Got to get clothes for the boys.



They grow so fast.

Need any money? I cashed a check.

I had the dream again.

Always ends at the same place.
I guess that's just as well.

Sometime I'm going to see that matador,
find out who he is.

And when I do, that's it.
That's the end of me.

Don't talk like that.
Now, it's only a dream.

Maybe I ought to resign.

What good would that do?

It'd make the dream go away.
I'm sure of that. They're connected.

Katie, the dream and...

what I'm doing.

Sometimes I feel the only way
I can make it disappear

is to give it all up, to resign.



But you can't resign.
You can't give up your whole life.

You're my life too.

You and the boys.

Maybe I have to choose.

Or maybe it's too late.

Oh, Warren, don't go. Skip the meeting.

Tell them my wife insists
I go shopping with her.

I'll skip the shopping.

We can have lunch together.
We haven't done that in months.

A little French restaurant with wine.

This one's special.
The new secretary's going to be there.

They're even holding it in the war room
to show how up-to-date we are.

You could do with a day off.

In the middle of the week? That's immoral.

We can go out for dinner.
I'll be back by then.

If I can get a sitter.

You got me, you can get anything.

I don't know what I'd do without you.

You wouldn't do very well.

There's no chance of that, is there?

None at all.

Two hours ago,
you said 100 million dead.

Now you say 60 million.

I say 60 million is perhaps
the highest price

we should be prepared to pay in a war.

Well, what's the difference between
60 million dead and 100 million?

- Forty million.
- Some difference.

Are you prepared to say the saving
of 40 million lives is of no importance?

You miss the point, Professor.

The saving of those 60 million lives
is what's important.

Face facts, Mr. Foster.
We're talking about war.

I say every war,
including thermonuclear war,

must have a winner and a loser.
Which would you rather be?

In a nuclear war, everyone loses.

War isn't what it used to be.

It's still the resolution
of economic and political conflict.

Well, what kind of resolution
with 100 million dead?

- It doesn't have to be 100 million.
- Even 60.

The same as a thousand years ago, sir,

when you also had wars
that wiped out whole peoples.

The point is still who wins and who loses —
the survival of a culture.

A culture?

With most of its people dead,
the rest dying,

the food poisoned,
the air unfit to breathe...

You call that a culture?

Yes, I do, Mr. Foster.

I am not a poet.

I'm a political scientist who would rather
have an American culture survive

than a Russian one.

But what would it be like?
I mean, really like.

Who would survive?

Who would survive?

That's an interesting question.

I would predict...

convicts and file clerks.

And the worst convicts —
those deep down in solitary confinement.

And the most ordinary file clerks,

probably for large insurance companies,

because they would be
in fireproofed rooms,

protected by tons of the best insulator
in the world: paper.

And imagine what will happen.

The small group of vicious criminals
will fight the army of file clerks

for the remaining means of life.

The convicts will know violence,

but the file clerks
will know organization.

Who do you think will win?

It's all hypothesis, of course,
but fun to play around with.

And time to go home.
I didn't mean to hold court so long.

I don't usually come to a supper party
and talk right through to breakfast.

Nonsense, Professor. We were fascinated.
Hope we didn't keep you from your work.

Not at all. I've got a ten o'clock meeting
at the Pentagon.

Plenty of time to get home and change.

You must come again,
Professor Groeteschele,

with your wife this time.

I'd be delighted.

Thanks again.

I'm Ilsa Wolfe.
We were introduced before dinner.

I'd like you to take me home.

You'll have to give me directions.

Just stay on this road.

You could joke about the convicts
and file clerks

because you know there won't be
any survivors, will there?

Not many.

None. None at all.

That's the beauty of it.

I've heard nuclear war
called a lot of things, Miss Wolfe —

never beautiful.

People are afraid to call it that,
but that's what they feel.

The beauty of death?

Don't patronize me.

What else but that are you selling,
Professor?

And we all know we're going to die.

But you make a game out of it,

a marvelous game
that includes the whole world.

You make it seem possible.

It is possible. Even probable.

You make death an entertainment...

something that can be played
in a living room.

As good a place as any.

No. No, there's an even better place.

Turn in there.

This where you live?

Don't joke.

Why not? I'm the joker.

I make death into a game
for people like you to get excited about.

I watched you tonight.

You'd love making it possible,
wouldn't you?

You'd love pressing that button.

What a thrill that would be.

Knowing you have to die, to have the power
to take everyone else with you,

the mob of them,
with their plans, their little hopes,

born to be murdered
and turning away from it,

closing their eyes to it.

And you could be the one to make it true,
do it to them.

But you're afraid, so you look
for the thrill someplace else.

And who better
than a man who isn't afraid?

I'm not your kind.

- Airman.
- Sir?

General Bogan should be on his way in.
Tell him I checked out the new computer.

I'll be back on duty before he leaves
to check it out again with him.

- Yes, sir.
- I'll be in my quarters if he wants me.

- Yes, sir. Oh, sir.
- Yes?

There's a telephone message for you.

They want you to call right back.
Said it was urgent.

Line, please.

Hello.

Yes, I got the message.
Why do you think I'm calling?

Well, where did he get the money?

No, no, no. I'll come myself.

I'm going into town, Airman.

That's the address.

I'll be there about half an hour,
then I'm coming back to the base.

Yes, sir.

Better button up
before the general gets here.

Yes, sir.

General Bogan's office. Airman Slote.

No, sir, General, he's just left.

Damn it, I need him.
Where did he sign out to?

Conklin, you know where that is?

Yes, sir. It's on the way to the base.

Well, get on over there.

I'll pick him up myself, Airman.
Thank you.

This is the house, General.

You sure this is it? You sure there's not
another street by this name?

Oh, no, sir.
I've lived in Omaha all my life.

I know this city like the back of my hand.

Don't bother getting out.

...spending the money
I send you on this!

Give me that!

Raise your hand
against my mother once more —

Just a drop. Who the hell are you?

Yeah?

I'm General Bogan.
I'm looking for Colonel Cascio.

- He gave this address.
- Oh, sure, now, General.

- Let the gentleman in, Luke.
- Honored to have you.

Son always speaks well of you.

Sorry to bother you, Colonel.

We have some unexpected VIPs
we have to show around.

Yes, sir. I'll be right along.

Why don't you come in, General?

Thank you, I...

I just take a drop now and then.

The boy here,
he gets a little excited, and...

I'm ready, sir.

Damned snot-nosed kid.

It's that Congressman Raskob,

the one who's been
nosing around the bases.

Washington wants us
to put his mind at ease.

He's on one of those committees.

Yes, sir.

Gordon Knapp will also be there

to look over some of that equipment
his company makes.

He'll be on our side.

Anyone looks cross-eyed at his stuff,
he goes up like a rocket.

Yes, sir.

Time was when I'd say
"goes up like a balloon."

Times change.

Yes, sir.

Ploiesti — that was the rough one.

We lost half our group.

Regensburg was the worst one for us.

I never flew the B-17.

Only 24s.

Good airplane, the 24.

Least you knew you were flying
the airplane, not the other way around,

like with these things.

Well, you still have to fly
the Vindicator, Grady.

We're the last of the lot, Flynn.
Don't kid yourself about that.

The next airplanes, they won't need men.

You'll be too old, anyway.

After us, the machines.
We're halfway there already.

Look at those kids.

Remember the crews you had on the 24s?

Jews, Italians, all kinds.
You could tell them apart.

They were people.

These kids, you open them up,
you'll find they run on transistors.

No, they're good kids, I tell you.

Sure, sure. You know they're good
at their jobs, but you don't know them.

How can you?

We get a different crew
every time we go up.

That's policy, Grady.

Eliminates the personal factor.

Everything's more complicated now.

Reaction time's faster.

You can't depend on people the same way.

Who do you depend on?

All right, gentlemen. The sky awaits.

You know something, Billy?

I like the personal factor.

Those are Vindicator bombers of
the Strategic Air Command on routine patrol.

Each one of those planes carries
four Bloodhound air-to-air missiles

armed with nuclear warheads.

Those are for use against
attacking enemy fighter planes.

In addition, each plane carries two
20-megaton hydrogen bombs,

designed to detonate over enemy targets.

At any given moment, night or day,
flights of those airplanes are in the air

in case of any surprise attack
on our bases.

You can see some of the other groups —

- Who controls them?
- We do.

This is the nerve center, Mr. Raskob,
this room.

All these machines you see

are constantly receiving information
from all over the world.

And above it.

Mr. Knapp's company did the electronic
work on the Argos satellite.

Would you like to see
what it's photographing right now?

Colonel.

The picture you're about to see,
Mr. Raskob,

is being taken now by a camera
300 miles in the sky

traveling at 20,000 miles an hour.

Can you give us
tighter scale on this, General?

Colonel.

Those are the rocket sites
from 300 miles up.

I'm impressed.

We'll get it sharper than that
before long.

Be able to see the people,
not just the machines.

We'll show you the hair on their head,
Mr. Raskob.

I suppose they're doing the same to us.

You can see for yourself.

Colonel, let's take a look at the Russian
submarines in the Pacific.

Here's the western coast
of the United States,

Hawaiian Islands,
and those are Russian subs.

That close?

Yes, that's about 50 miles
off San Francisco, I'd say.

International waters. Nothing we can do
except keep an eye on it.

Well, that's too damn close.
What's it doing there?

Scanning us, the way we do them.

Is it armed?

We have instruments so good, Mr. Raskob,

they can tell the difference
between a whale breaking wind

and that sub blowing its tanks.

No argument, General.

I'm sure we've got the best
that money can buy.

We're very proud
of what we do here, sir.

- You ought to be, Colonel.
- The money's well spent, Mr. Raskob.

I don't doubt it for a minute.
You don't have to snow me, General.

My committee doesn't deal
with appropriations.

Only with how the appropriations
are spent.

Well, you see it all around you.

Pretty impressive, isn't it?

I'll tell you the truth.
These machines scare the hell out of me.

I don't like the idea that every time
I take off my hat,

some thing up there knows
I'm losing my hair.

I want to be damn sure that thing
doesn't get any ideas of its own.

I see what you mean,

but that's a chance you take
with these systems.

Who says we have to take that chance?

Who voted who the power
to do it this particular way?

I'm the only one around here got elected
by anybody. Nobody gave me that power.

It's in the nature of technology.
Machines are developed to meet situations.

Then they take over.
They start creating situations.

Not necessarily.

There's always a chance.
You said so yourself.

We have checks on everything, Mr. Raskob.

- Checks and counterchecks.
- Yeah, but who checks the checker?

Where's the end of the line, General?
Who's got the responsibility?

- The president.
- No one.

He can't know everything that's going on,
now can he?

It's too complicated.

And if you want to know,
that's what really bothers me.

And the only thing everyone can agree on
is that no one's responsible.

Something wrong, General?

UFO sighted near Hudson's Bay, sir.

What you're seeing, gentlemen,

is an unidentified flying object
picked up by our radar.

Until we get positive identification,
we regard it as hostile.

What do you do about it?

We've gone to Condition Blue,
which is our lowest form of readiness.

At the same time,
we've informed those Vindicator bombers

that you saw in the air before.

They will now start to fly
toward their fail-safe points.

Fail-safe?

Fixed points in the sky
on the perimeter of the Soviet Union,

which are changed from day to day.

Those planes will fly to those points
and orbit

until they get a positive order to go in.

And if they don't get that order?

They return to their normal patrols.

In short, Mr. Raskob, we can't go to war
except on an express order.

How do they get that order, by radio?

Yes, and through a box we call
the fail-safe box aboard each plane,

which can only be activated
at the express order of the president.

Oh, he has to tell them?

Not directly, no.
His voice can be imitated, you know.

He just gives the order,
and the rest is done electronically.

No one can interfere
with the fail-safe box, Mr. Raskob.

No one.

All those new blips you see

are fighter planes
going after the unidentified object.

Colonel Cascio, tight scale, please.

You seem pretty cool about this,
General, Does it happen often?

About six times a month.

Probably an airliner off course.

And if it isn't?

Well, then it's something else.

Well, that means it's at 30,000 feet
going at 525 miles an hour

on a compass heading of one-nine-six.

Headed right for Detroit.

Seven minutes to fail-safe.

Oh, normal procedure, Mr. Raskob.

We start an automatic countdown
at this point.

It's very unlikely the bombers
will even reach their fail-safe points.

I'd say it happens about one time in 20.

We usually identify the disturbance
well before that.

Six minutes to fail-safe.

What have you got there, Blackie,
another UFO?

For a dollar — commercial plane
or a flock of birds?

Plane, off course.

You ought to give me odds.

I, uh, read your memo
on counterforce credibility.

I don't think Groeteschele's
going to discuss that today.

You mean you think I should lay off?

Why open a can of peas?

We've got to discuss it
one of these days, Stark.

This whole policy of overkill —

it makes no sense piling up bombs
when we already have the capacity —

Okay, Blackie, just not today?

- Good morning, Mr. Secretary.
- Morning, Mr. Secretary.

- Won't you sit over there?
- Thank you.

- Morning, Mr. Secretary.
- Good morning, gentlemen.

- Everyone here, General Stark?
- Yes, sir.

All right, Professor Groeteschele.

I see we have an alert
to supplement our discussion.

Unfortunately, we settled the question
of accidental war last week,

so we can't make use of it today.

Today, the subject is limited war.

It is not theoretical.

On it depends the kind of weapons we use,
where we locate them, how we use them.

In short, our entire military posture.

So, is limited war possible?

Can we confine the exchange of nuclear
weapons to military targets alone,

or must war lead inevitably
to the destruction of cities?

- It must.
- Why?

Well, the object of war is to inflict
maximum damage on the enemy.

Destroy his ability to resist.

In the last war, both sides
could have used bacterial warfare.

They didn't.

- It wouldn't have been decisive.
- Can you be sure?

Maybe people still couldn't get used
to the idea of killing civilians.

I suggest you take that up
with the civilians

of London, Hamburg, Dresden, or Tokyo

killed by the thousands in bombing raids.

I omit Hiroshima and Nagasaki

since those actions belong more properly
to World War Ill than World War Il.

I still don't see how
we could restrict a war.

We could come to a mutual agreement
with the Russians,

uh, to strike only at missile bases.

What if the missile bases
were near the cities?

They would have an incentive
to move them elsewhere.

They might take such an offer
as a sign of weakness on our part.

- Could be worth a try.
- They've got as much to lose as we have.

We're talking about the wrong subject.

We've got to stop war, not limit it.

That is not up to us, General Black.

We're the ones who know most about it.

You're a soldier, Blackie.
You carry out policy.

You don't make it.

Don't kid yourself, Stark.

The way we say a war can be fought
is making policy.

If we say we can fight a limited war
with nuclear weapons,

all we do is let everyone off the hook.

It's what they want to hear.

We can just keep on doing what we're doing
and nobody really gets hurt.

You can't fight a limited war
and you know it.

On my part, I'm not so sure.

There's no such thing
as a limited war anymore.

Not with hydrogen bombs, there isn't.

Once those bombs start to drop,
you won't be able to limit a damn thing.

Are you advocating disarmament,
General Black?

I don't know.

Well, it's the logic of your position.

A peculiar reversal.
The press would be interested.

The military man who is the dove
and the civilian who is the hawk.

We're going too fast.

- Things are getting out of hand.
- Can you be more specific, General?

- We're trying to make war more efficient.
- That's our job.

And we're succeeding.

We now have the capacity to blow up
the whole world several times over.

Which does not mean we must do it.

We won't be able to stop from doing it.
That's the logic of your position.

We're setting up a war machine

that acts faster than the ability of men
to control it.

We're putting men into situations that are
getting too tough for men to handle.

Then we must toughen the men.

Suppose they launch a first strike
against us?

Then we retaliate...

and we're all finished.

Well, would you prefer
that only we were finished?

We have to prepare.

We're preparing.

We've got to slow down.

I disagree. We have got to speed up.

Naturally, that means taking risks,

but our intention is always
to minimize those risks.

Of course, we can only control
our own actions.

Our concept of limited war
is based on an equal rationality

on the part of the Russians.

It also presupposes there will be
no accidents on either side.

But suppose, for an example,

that unidentified flying object
was one of their 50-megaton missiles

that had gotten loose by mistake?

What could be done?

How could they prove
it was really an accident?

Would it make any difference
if they could?

Even if we believed them, should we still
think in terms of limiting our response,

or should we hit them back
with everything we have?

It's gone, General. What happened to it?

Colonel Cascio,
let's go to Condition Yellow.

It's dropped below the level at which
our radar can pick it up. That's all.

- You went to the next state of readiness.
- That's SOP, Mr. Knapp.

It could be a commercial plane
about to crash.

Or an enemy plane
taking evasive action.

Naturally, we prepare for the worst.

Two minutes to fail-safe.

What are those planes following
the bombers, General?

Fighter support. Part of Condition Yellow.

From now on, with tanker refueling,

they'll follow the bombers
as far as they go.

- What comes after Condition Yellow?
- Green.

- And then?
- Red, but we've never gone to Red yet.

Red means war, doesn't it?

- Not an air breather?
- What does that mean?

Jet planes suck air through their engines.

Our warning system can pick up
the turbulence this creates.

Could be a commercial plane
that's lost power.

No turbulence would be created.

Could be a rocket.

Off course?

Maybe on.

One minute to fail-safe.

It could be a Russian rocket coming in low
where our radar can't pick it up.

- Could it be that?
- It could be anything.

How do you find out?

- Our fighters are tracking it.
- Can't wait too long.

... 14, 13, 12, 1 1,

ten, nine, eight, seven, six,

five, four, three, two, one.

All groups at fail-safe point.

Right on the dot. That's flying.

- Colonel Cascio.
- Yes, sir?

- Go to Condition Green.
- Yes, sir.

Tell the planes to keep orbiting until
we get positive identification of the UFO.

They do that anyway.
That's their orders.

- Tell them again.
- Yes, sir.

- I'll have to ask you gentlemen to leave.
- Sorry.

- That is an order, Mr. Raskob.
- You've got the wrong customer, General.

The way I see it, we could be at war
in just about two minutes.

You can't get me back to my family,
so I'm staying and see what happens.

There's no place for you here.

Those bombs go off,
there's no place for me anywhere.

You want me out of here,
you'd better call those MPs.

I think it's coming up again.

- We can't wait any longer, sir.
- Give me tight scale.

...acknowledge at the count of five.

One, two, three, four, five.

That's it.

That's it, gentlemen.

Sorry we alarmed you.

Contact all the planes and have them
resume their normal patrols.

Yes, sir.

- Colonel Grady.
- Yes, what is it, Thomas?

What's the longest you've ever stayed
at these fail-safe points?

The longest I ever stayed
was three minutes,

but I can tell you,
it seems like three years.

- This your first time?
- Yes, sir.

- Nervous?
- No, sir.

It's only natural, you know.

I was just calculating fuel, sir.

How is the group holding formation,
Sullivan?

They're right in orbit, sir.

Even number six is tucked in.

Old Flynn.

Half man, half bird.

Well, thank you very much, General.
I must say it was quite interesting.

- What's that, Colonel?
- I'm checking, sir.

Okay here.

Send in a K-13.

Something blew in the fault indicator.
We're replacing the whole unit.

The fault indicator is our master control.

Tells us if something goes wrong
in any of these other components.

- Did something go wrong?
- No sign of it.

We'll know as soon
as they replace the unit.

Sir, the fail-safe box.

There must be some mistake. Check Omaha.

Can't get through. Interference.

What do you mean?
What kind of interference?

I don't know.
It's a kind I've never heard before.

Well, try another band. Try all of them.

Can't get through, Colonel.

They must be trying to keep us
from getting our go signal.

Well, they're too late for that.

Request permission to authenticate
on secondary channel.

Permission granted.

Order confirmed.
Request permission to verify, sir.

Permission granted.

Code sequence correct for today, sir.
Signal is go.

We will now both open
our operational orders.

Ready for approach
and penetration order, sir.

You say these alerts happen
half a dozen times a month?

Oh, about that. Not usually so dramatic.

We rarely get to the fail-safe point.

I'd be a nervous wreck.

So would I
if I had to make a speech in Congress.

- Oh, yeah?
- General Bogan.

That blip up there at ten o'clock...

it's headed into Russia.

That is why some people advocate
a return to manned bombers

for a first-rate retaliation,
rather than missiles.

They are slower and therefore give
more time for evaluation and analysis.

The rockets have the defects
of their virtues. They are too quick.

They allow too little time for thought.

Now, I find this point of view
old-fashioned.

By the very nature of modern warfare —

Put that on the polar projection.

- Colonel Cascio, get me the president.
- Yes, sir.

I'm Buck, the translator.
They sent for me.

May I see your identification, sir?

Your pocket says you have a small scar
on your left wrist. May I see it, please?

Oh, yeah. A dog bit me when I was a kid.

Yes, sir.

Hello, Buck. How's your Russian today?

Fine, sir.

I guess.

Good. We may need it.

Hang on, Jennie. It's a long way down.

Tell Joe nothing leaks to the newspapers.
Nothing. Not yet, anyway.

Call the vice president.
Tell him what's up. He'll know what to do.

On second thought,
we'd better tell the press something.

Have Joe tell them it's urgent,
but not a bone-breaker so far.

And off the record. No leaks.

Any leaks on this, the guy and his paper
are dead now and forever.

- You got that?
- I'll tell Joe in just those words.

Who's at the Pentagon briefing today?
I want them in on this.

Mmm, secretary of defense,
chiefs of staff,

that Professor Groeteschele they like
so much. He's giving the lecture.

Is Blackie there?

- There's a General Black.
- That's Blackie. I'm glad he's there.

We went to college together.

He's got a brain and says what he thinks.
That's all for now. Get to work.

Tell them to turn up the air conditioning.
It's hot as hell down here.

We're far enough down. Maybe it is hell.

- You know what's happened, Buck?
- No, sir.

One of our Vindicator groups got
a wrong signal. Took off to bomb Moscow.

We've got to stop it.

Easier said than done.

But we've got a little time.
Not much, but a little. So relax.

Easier said than done, sir.

If things get really hot, I might have
to use the direct phone to the Kremlin.

That's where you'll come in.

But let's hope we don't get that far.

I hope not, sir.

- General Bogan from Omaha, sir.
- Put him on.

Group 6 is now about 200 miles
past fail-safe, Mr. President.

We still can't make contact.

- Do you know what went wrong?
- No, sir, we do not.

Why can't you raise them by radio?

We don't know for sure, sir.

We've tried all frequencies.
We just can't make contact.

- Why?
- I don't know.

We had a flash on the board
before it happened,

and the fault indicator blew out
at the same time.

The Russians may be jamming
their reception

with some new device
we know nothing about.

Why would they do that? Is it customary?

No, sir. But it's possible.

In other words,
it's possible the fail-safe mechanism

might be giving them a go signal

at the same time they can't reach you
for positive confirmation.

It's possible. It's not probable, but —

Is it possible?

Yes, sir.

All right.
Now, if we do regain radio contact,

will the bombers respond
to an order to return?

If we can reach them
within the next five minutes.

After that, their orders are to disregard
any verbal command.

If I talk to them? Even from me?

Your voice can be imitated by the enemy.

Our men have been drilled in that.

Once they're beyond a certain point,

they're not to trust
any verbal transmission.

What's our next step then, General,
if we follow standard procedure?

We already have fighter planes in the air.

The next step would be to order
the fighters after the bombers

to raise them visually
and divert them from their course.

What if the bombers don't respond?
Then what?

The fighters would be ordered
to shoot them down.

Who gives that order?

You do, sir.

Thank you, General. I'll be back to you.

Get me Mr. Swenson in the Pentagon.

Swenson here.

Mr. Secretary, I have a decision to make.

It's my decision and I'll make it,

but I want the advice of you
and your people, and I need it fast.

The president says he may have to order
our fighters to shoot down Group 6.

He wants our opinion.

I oppose it, sir,
on the grounds that it's premature.

Our planes have not yet reached
Soviet territory.

They're still hundreds of miles away.

We've got to do it, and fast.
Now, before it's too late.

It might be too late, anyway.

Those fighters swung away from the bombers
when they got the all clear.

They've been flying
in opposite directions.

- But they're faster than the Vindicators.
- Not that much faster.

I'm not sure they can catch up in time.

They can go to afterburners.
That'll increase their speed.

And use up their fuel?
They'll never be able to get back.

- They'll go down in the ocean.
- We've got to try it.

Suppose they do catch up.
Why do they have to attack?

Can't they signal?

Our men have been trained
to expect anything from the enemy,

even sending up his own fighter planes
disguised as ours.

They're good men. We've seen to that.

If their orders are attack, the only way
you're gonna stop them is to shoot them down.

We've got no alternative.

This minute, the Russians are watching their
boards, trying to figure out what we're up to.

If we can't convince them it's an accident
we're trying to correct by any means,

we're going to have something on our hands
that nobody bargained for

and only a lunatic wants.

Mr. President, it is our opinion
that the fighters should be ordered in.

Thank you.

General Bogan, please.

Yes, Mr. President?

The fighters are to overtake
the Vindicators

and, if necessary, shoot them down.

Sir, it will be necessary.

I know that, General. Order them in.

Colonel, order the fighters
to attack Group 6.

They haven't a prayer
of catching them, sir.

That is an order, Colonel.

That's the Arctic Ocean
they'll go down in, General.

They'll freeze to death
before they get their chutes off.

Colonel, get on the horn
and give that order.

Every second you wait
takes them farther away.

We're killing them, General,
when they haven't got a chance.

This is Fighter Direction.

We are in voice communication
with Tangle-Able-One.

You can talk to them on Channel 7,
single sideband.

Do I tell them in code or in the clear?

In the clear.

Tangle-Able-One,
this is Colonel Cascio at Ultimate One.

This is Tangle-Able-One.
I read you five by five.

Group 6 has flown through
the fail-safe point

and is on an attack course towards Moscow.

It is a mistake. Repeat, it is a mistake.

Go to afterburners
and overtake and attack Group 6.

Roger. Go to afterburners
and overtake and attack Group 6.

You all hear that order?

Overtake the Vindicators?
Who are they kidding?

All we got
is a 50-mile-an-hour edge on them,

and they're halfway to Moscow already.

You heard the man.
We go to afterburners.

And use what
to run this airplane — spit?

By the time we run out of gas,
they'll only be a thousand miles away.

Man, that's organization.

Cut the chatter.
We're wasting time.

On the mark, go to afterburners.

Five, four, three, two, one. Mark.

Should I alert air-sea rescue, sir?

No. No point.

Bring up the fighters on the board
in tight scale.

Yes, sir.

Beautiful.

Fighters on their way, sir.

Thank you.

Buck, let's hope this all blows over
in the next few minutes.

But if it doesn't, we're going to get
to know each other very well.

I want you to listen
to every conversation I have.

Try to get to know how I think.

- It might come in handy.
- Yes, sir.

How did General Bogan sound to you?

Sir?

Did he sound worried, confident, scared?

Well, not scared.
A little worried, I guess.

Bogan's an old-time flier, but he's
not afraid of all this new equipment.

If he's worried, I'm worried.

Do you know Mr. Swenson,
the secretary of defense?

I've read about him, sir.

You won't be able to tell much
from his voice. He's hard as a rock.

But we listen to him, Buck.

He gives advice, we take it.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

Put the War Conference Room
at the Pentagon

and General Bogan in Omaha
on a conference line with me.

Yes, sir.

Ready, sir.

Mr. Swenson.

Yes, Mr. President?

If our fighters have to shoot down
the Vindicators, the worst is over...

for us, anyway.

I want your people now to consider
what we do if they can't shoot them down.

I'm putting you on the intercom

so everything you say
can be heard here and in Omaha.

General Bogan has Mr. Knapp
of Amalgamated Electronics

and Congressman Raskob with him.

They have my permission to listen in
and say anything they want.

Right, sir.

Gentlemen, we've got four questions
to answer in not a hell of a lot of time.

First, what happened?

Second, what do we do about it?

Third, what are the Russians
going to think of all this?

And fourth, what are they going
to do about it?

Please keep the discussion
to those points.

Mechanical failure, that's what happened.

A double mechanical failure?
Do you know the odds against that, sir?

- Maybe someone went berserk.
- It doesn't matter.

Something failed — a man, a machine.
It was bound to happen, and it did.

Maybe we'll never know why or what.

It doesn't matter now.

- Mr. Secretary.
- Yes, General Bogan?

Mr. Knapp here knows as much
about electronic gear as anyone.

He'd like to say something.

The more complex
an electronic system gets,

the more accident-prone it is.

- Sooner or later, it breaks down.
- What breaks down?

A transistor blows,
a condenser burns out...

Sometimes they just get tired,
like people.

Uh, Mr. Knapp overlooks one factor.

The machines are supervised by humans.

Even if the machine fails, the human being
can always correct the mistake.

I wish you were right.

The fact is, the machines work so fast,

they are so intricate,

the mistakes they make are so subtle,

that very often a human being
just can't know

whether a machine is lying
or telling the truth.

Or maybe this time
there wasn't any failure.

Maybe the Russians have come up with a way
to mask the real position of Group 6.

Maybe Group 6 is flying back to the States
right this minute.

Then what's on the board, Northern Lights?

Maybe a group of Soviet planes up there
for just that reason —

to convince us we've accidentally
launched a bomber group against them.

- For what purpose?
- As an excuse to retaliate.

If they wanted to do that, they wouldn't
need an excuse. They'd simply attack.

This way, they've made us
commit a group of fighter planes,

our first line of defense.

And made us kill our own men.

I disagree with Colonel Cascio's analysis.

I think we have to assume that
it is our accident and not their plan.

I go along with you, General.
Yes, Saunders?

Report on what the Russians
have in the air, sir.

- Seven bomber groups.
- Is that unusual?

No, that's normal for them, about like us.

What kind of course are they on?

Normal patrol patterns
inside their own borders.

They do have a large number of fighters
in the air, sir. Abnormally large.

Almost half their fighter strength.

They're having the same problem
with Group 6 that we had with the UFO.

They don't know what it is,
why it's there, or who it belongs to.

My guess is that they know
all about Group 6.

They saw it fly to the fail-safe point.

They've seen that happen plenty of times.
They know the procedure.

So far, no sweat.

And when they saw it fly past...

They sent up their fighter planes
just in case.

I don't think they'll take any action
unless their border is crossed.

Agreed.

That puts it up to the fighters.

In my opinion,
they will take no action at all.

They're not going
to just sit there, Professor.

I think if our bombers get through,
the Russians will surrender.

Who's this professor, Mr. Secretary?
What's he doing there?

Professor Groeteschele is a civilian
adviser to the Pentagon, General.

Will you explain your statement,
Professor?

The Russian aim is to dominate the world.

They think that Communism
must succeed eventually

if the Soviet Union
is left reasonably intact.

They know that a war would leave
the Soviet Union utterly destroyed.

Therefore, they would surrender.

But suppose they feel they can
knock us off first?

They know we might have a doomsday system,

missiles that will go into action days,
even weeks, after a war is over,

and destroy an enemy even after that enemy
has already destroyed us.

Maybe they think even capitalists
aren't that insane,

to want to kill after they themselves
have been killed.

These are Marxist fanatics,
not normal people.

They do not reason the way you reason,
General Black.

They are not motivated by human emotions
such as rage and pity.

They are calculating machines.

They will look at the balance sheet
and they will see they cannot win.

Then you suggest doing what?

- Nothing.
- Nothing?

The Russians will surrender and the threat
of Communism will be over forever.

That's a lot of hogwash.
Don't kid yourself.

There'll be Russian generals
who'll react just as I would.

The best defense is a good offense.

They see trouble coming up,
take my word, they'll attack.

They won't give a damn what Marx said.

Mr. Secretary,

I am convinced that the moment the
Russians know bombs will fall on Moscow,

they will surrender.

They know that whatever they do then,
they cannot escape destruction.

Don't you see, sir? This is our chance.

We never would have made
the first move deliberately.

But Group 6 has made it for us
by accident,

and we must take advantage of it.

History demands it.

We must advise the president
not to recall those planes.

They're flaming out.

He's firing anyway.

No chance.

There goes number two.

Mr. President,
the fighters have not succeeded.

They've gone down into the sea.

What are the chances of our bombers
getting through to Moscow?

We've made the calculations
a hundred times —

what they have in the way of defenses,
what our planes are capable of doing.

The Vindicators fly so fast,

the Russians won't be able to use
all their defensive apparatus.

One or two of the bombers
will get through.

Thank you.

Buck, I'm going to talk
to the Soviet premier now.

You'll translate what he says to me.

He'll have his own translator
telling him what I say.

- But I want something more from you.
- Yes, sir. Whatever I can do.

I think the premier will be saying
what he means. He usually does.

But sometimes there's more
in a man's voice than in his words.

There are words in one language that
don't carry the same weight in another.

- Do you follow me?
- Why, I think so, sir.

It's very important
the premier and I understand each other.

I don't have to tell you how important.

So I want to know
not only what he's saying,

but what you think he's feeling.

Any inflection of his voice, any tone,

any emotion that adds to his words,

I want you to let me know.

Yes, sir. I'll do my best.

I know you will, Buck.
It's all any of us can do.

Now, don't be afraid
to say what you think.

Don't be afraid
all this is too big for you, Buck.

It's big all right, but it still depends
on what each of us does.

History lesson number one.

I'll talk to Moscow now.

It's the premier, sir.

Mr. Chairman, this is
the president of the United States.

Do you hear me clearly?

Fine, Mr. President. How are you?

Mr. Chairman, I am calling you
on a matter of great urgency.

I hope it turns out to be a small matter,

but it's the first time it's happened,
and if it's misunderstood, it could be —

Does it have to do with the aircraft
we have detected flying towards Russia?

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

I suppose it's another of your off-course
reconnaissance flights.

Mr. President, we have warned you
again and again

that this constant flying
of armed aircraft —

- This is a mistake. A serious mistake.
- ...over Soviet territory cannot —

I say it's a mistake.

Very well, tell me. Tell me the mistake.

A group of our bombers, each loaded
with two 20-megaton bombs

is flying towards your country.

We shall watch with great interest
while you recall them.

So far, we have been unable
to recall them.

Uh, are the planes being flown
by crazy men?

We're not sure.
It might be a mechanical failure.

All I can tell you
is that it's an accident.

It's not an attempt to provoke war.
It's not part of a general attack.

How do I know you do not have
hundreds of other planes...

coming in so low
our radar cannot pick them up?

Because I hope to prove to you
that it's an accident,

that we take full responsibility,

that we're doing everything we can
to correct it.

Go on.

You must have seen that we sent fighter
planes to shoot down the bombers.

American fighters to shoot down
American bombers?

That is correct.

- And you gave that order?
- I did.

How do I know the planes
were not simply diving to a low altitude

to escape our radar?

On our plotting board,

the action could only be interpreted
as planes out of control.

You have the same equipment we do.
What did it tell you?

It did not tell us what is in your mind,
Mr. President.

I'm telling you that.

And you ask me to believe you?

You must believe me.

You ask for belief at a curious time.

If we don't trust each other now,
Mr. Chairman,

there may not be another time.

We saw your planes fall into the sea.

I wanted only to hear your explanation...

and whether it was done at your own order.

It is a hard thing to order men
to their death, is it not?

It is.

Someone's trying to persuade him
it's a trick.

They want him to strike back at once.

Soviet airspace has still
not been violated, Mr. President.

But if it is, we will be forced
to shoot down your bombers,

and then we will come to full alert
with all our missiles and planes.

I understand that.

I hope you're able
to shoot down our bombers.

But I urge you not to take any steps
that cannot be recalled.

You know we must protect ourselves.

You also know that if you launch missiles,
we must do the same.

If that happens,
there'll be very little left of the world.

I understand.
Is there anything more you wish to say?

If I may make a suggestion...

I will arrange to open the conference line
between our headquarters in Omaha

and your similar officials
in the Soviet Union.

We will do all we can to help you.

We do not need your help. We are perfectly
capable of defending our country.

As you wish. But I must tell you
what my people tell me.

No matter what you do,

at least one of the planes
will get through to the target.

What is the target?

Moscow.

I'll call you back when I see
what our fighters do.

How's the formation holding, Sullivan?

Everyone in line, sir.

- How far from the border?
- Two minutes.

We'd better start spreading out.

Number six plane in the lead.

- Flynn?
- Right here, Colonel.

- Go to work.
- Roger.

Project the Soviet fighter planes.

Give me tight scale on the Russian border.

That does it.

They've crossed the border.

Well, Buck, we're into Soviet territory.

A technical state of war now exists.

Give me Enemy Defense Performance.

This is Enemy Defense
Performance Desk, General Bogan.

How do you read the situation?

Our number six plane, carrying defensive
equipment and masking devices,

has moved into the lead.

All those new little blips you see
are decoys that it's dropped.

Have the Russian fighters
launched any missiles yet?

Not yet. You'll see their missiles
on your scope as tiny dots

that appear suddenly and then disappear.

Ah, there go some of them now.

You can see they're confused
by the decoys.

They're still not grouping
where the real planes are.

Can you wipe the decoys off the screen,
so that we see just their planes and ours?

There you are, General.

They're still going after the decoys.
Our boys aren't making it easy for them.

Good.

They've picked up one of our planes now.

Get them. Get them.

Knock that off!

This isn't some damn football game.
Remember that.

That plane's in trouble.

It looks like the Soviets
have a very slow missile

with a much longer range
than we thought they had.

The slowness of speed made our missile
calculate they must be drones or decoys,

so it ignored them
and went after the fighters.

We can compensate for that.
The adjustment is minor.

The premier is on the line, sir.

Yes, Mr. Chairman?

We have only
a little time left, Mr. President.

His voice is different, sir. Uh...

He's not angry. He's subdued.

How shall we use this time?

He sounds sorrowful, unhap — sad.

What luck are your fighters having?

Luck? No luck at all.

We have shot down
only one of your bombers.

Well, what about the other five?

Uh, maybe yes, maybe no.

Your masking devices are better
than we had thought.

Hundreds of targets have appeared
on the radar.

Perhaps they are decoys,
perhaps they are real bombers.

Many of my experts are convinced
that they are real.

They urge me to release
our own bombers at once.

Why don't you then?

- Good question.
- Why haven't you counterattacked?

I am gambling that you are sincere.

My generals are not so happy with me
about this,

as... as I'm sure your generals
are not so happy with you.

But there is time for common sense.

I must have proof, Mr. President.

Neither of us wants war,

but we must be convinced
that this is truly a mistake,

that your intentions are not hostile,
and that there is a chance for peace.

Mr. Chairman, let me ask you something.

Just before our planes took off
from their fail-safe point,

there was a white flash
on our plotting board.

We think this is connected
to some mechanical failure

that might have activated their go signal.

Could this have been caused
by your radio interference?

They're arguing with him again, sir.

They're telling him not to answer.
The information is too secret.

Was it your jamming that kept us
from getting through to our planes?

I do not know about this jamming.

I think he does.

We cannot be responsible
for your mechanical failures.

Is it possible? Could it have happened?

You asked for proof, Mr. Chairman.
This could be it.

Arguing back and forth.

Don't trust you...

Have to trust you...

It's a trick...

We are paying for our mutual suspicions,
Mr. Chairman. I realize that.

But the wall must be broken.
We have to break it down now.

We can't afford not to trust each other.

We jammed your radios
with a special device

even I did not know about.

I suppose I must be very proud
of our scientists.

It was more effective than anyone dreamed.

But why? Why this time?

We have computers like yours.

They computed that this time
your alert might be real.

On what grounds?

Probability. The law of averages.

They have their own logic.

It is not — It is not human,

but it is positive, so we listen.

Will you lift the jamming so I can talk
to the group commander?

- Will he return on your command?
- There's a chance.

I give that order.

General Bogan.

Yes, Mr. President?

Put me through to Group 6, fast.

Right away, sir.

- What's the group commander's name?
- Colonel Jack Grady, sir.

Does he have a wife?

I'll see, sir.

Turkey One, this is Ultimate One.
Can you hear me?

Turkey One, this is Ultimate One.
Can you hear me?

Yes, sir, he does.

Find her.
If I can't persuade him, maybe she can.

- Yes, sir.
- Turkey One, this is Ultimate One.

Can you hear me?

Turkey One, this is Ultimate One.
Can you hear me?

I have an important message.
Turkey One, can you hear me?

...me? Turkey One, can you hear me?

Turkey One, can you hear me?
This is Ultimate One. Can you hear me?

They've stopped jamming us.

This is Turkey One. Turkey One.
I am not authorized to receive messages.

Colonel Grady, this is the president
of the United States.

The mission you are flying has been
triggered by a mechanical failure.

It is a mistake.

I order you and the other planes
to return to your base at once.

Do you hear? At once.

Colonel Grady, I repeat,
this is the president.

I can no longer receive
tactical alterations by voice.

I know that, but —

What you're telling me
I've been specifically ordered not to do.

Damn it, Grady, this is the president!

He's still on, sir.

Mr. Chairman, I think it would be wise
for you to remove yourself from Moscow

so that you'll be out of danger.

That will allow us to continue negotiations
even if the worst happens.

I have made those arrangements.

That voice is tougher.

Unfortunately, we cannot remove Moscow.

It remains here, open to your bombs,
and when it is destroyed,

its people dead because there is no time
to evacuate them...

where shall we negotiate, Mr. President?

Shall I come to Geneva, hat in hand,
begging for peace?

I offered you help. You refused it.

I offer it again.
We will help you shoot down the planes.

Set up your conference line.

I'll come back on the phone
when I'm a safe distance from Moscow.

Will you activate the Ultimate One,
Red One touch phone, please?

Can we stop them, sir?

Fire. Fire... before he gets off
one of those slow ones.

Colonel, knock that off,
or I'll have you taken out of this room.

Two down, four to go.

- Excuse me, sir.
- Yes?

Every minute we wait works against us.

Now, Mr. Secretary. Now is when
we must send in the first strike.

We don't go in
for sneak attacks.

We had that done to us at Pearl Harbor.

And the Japanese were right to do it.

From their point of view,
we were their mortal enemy.

As long as we existed,
we were a deadly threat to them.

Their only mistake was that they failed
to finish us at the start.

They paid for that mistake at Hiroshima.

You're talking about
a different kind of war.

Exactly.
This time, we can finish what we start.

And if we act now, right now,
our casualties will be minimal.

Do you know what you're saying?

Do you believe that Communism
is not our mortal enemy?

You're justifying murder.

Yes. To keep from being murdered.

In the name of what? To preserve what?

Even if we do survive, what are we?
Better than what we say they are?

What gives us the right to live then?

What makes us worth surviving,
Groeteschele,

that we are ruthless enough
to strike first?

Yes!

Those who can survive
are the only ones worth surviving.

Fighting for your life
isn't the same as murder.

Where do you draw the line
once you know what the enemy is?

How long would the Nazis have kept it up

if every Jew they came after had met them
with a gun in his hand?

But I learned from them, General Black.
Oh, I learned.

You learned too well, Professor.

You learned so well that now
there's no difference between you

and what you want to kill.

Yes, Mr. President?

Contact our ambassador to Moscow...

also the Soviet delegate
to the United Nations.

Hook them onto my line.

When the Soviet premier comes back
on the phone, put us all on together.

Yes, Mr. President.

Is the touch phone open between Omaha
and the Soviet command headquarters?

- Yes, sir. All ready.
- Keep it open.

General Black.

Yes, Mr. President?

Blackie...

remember your Old Testament?

A little.

Remember the story
of the sacrifice of Abraham?

Old what's-his-name used to use it
in chapel at least twice a year.

I remember, sir.

Keep it in mind the next few hours.

Blackie, I need your help.

Get out to Andrews Field right away.

Orders will be waiting for you there.

Yes, sir.

Blackie, are Katherine and the kids
in New York?

Yes, sir.

I may be asking a great deal of you.

I'll do whatever you say.

Good luck, Blackie.

General Bogan.

Yes, Mr. President?

I've activated the touch phone between you
and the Soviet command.

- Will you test it, please?
- Yes, sir.

This is General Bogan
of Strategic Air Command, Omaha.

I am the translator for Marshal Nevsky.

Marshal Nevsky sends his greetings.

The same to him.

Our reception is five by five.
How do you read us?

We read you five by five.

One moment, please.

- Mr. President, we're through to them.
- Thank you, General.

Will you put me on your public address
system so everyone can hear what I say?

I want the Russians to be able
to hear as well.

Yes, sir.

Ready, sir.

Gentlemen, this is the president
of the United States.

Whatever orders I give
to American personnel...

are to be considered direct orders
from the commander in chief.

They are to be obeyed fully,
without reservation, and at once.

We must do everything we can to prevent
our planes from attacking Moscow.

The Soviet premier has behaved

as I believe I would
under similar conditions.

He has delayed retaliation.
I think he believes this is an accident.

But we must convince him
and his chief advisers that it is.

I therefore order every American

to cooperate fully with Soviet officers...

in shooting down our invading planes.

You are to give
whatever information they request.

Any hesitation,
any withholding of information...

can have the most tragic consequences.

I cannot emphasize this too strongly.

Are there any questions?

Gentlemen, I expect you
to conduct yourselves as patriots...

and I wish you success.

Do the missiles on these bombers

have both
infrared and radar-homing capabilities?

A number of our fighter planes
have been destroyed by a missile

that seems to home not on the infrared
source, but on the radar transmitter.

- Is it possible?
- Colonel Cascio will answer your question.

Answer the question, Colonel.

That is a direct order. An order.

Colonel!

Just a moment, please. Major Handel.

General Bogan.

Sergeant Collins! On the double!

You're backup man on fire control,
aren't you?

Yes, sir.

Do our Vindicator missiles have both
infrared and radar-seeking capacity?

Yes, sir.

Loud and clear!
They've got to know we're on the level.

It has both capacities, sir.

Can the radar-seeking mechanism
be overloaded

by increasing the strength of a signal?

Tell them!

Yes, sir...

it can be overloaded
by increasing the power output

and sliding through radar frequencies
as fast as possible.

What happens is the firing mechanism
reads the higher amperage

as proximity to the target
and detonates the warhead.

Thank you, General Bogan.
We will be back to you.

That's all, Sergeant.

What does it mean?

We've told them how to blow up
our air-to-air missiles.

And with them...

our planes.

They're picking us up.

Thomas, send out the code
for the alternate flight plan.

We're going down to the floor.

They're trying to avoid the fighters
by going too low for their radar.

I'm sorry, General.
I don't know what happened.

I just couldn't do it. It was, like,
I don't know, a fit or something —

Colonel, I...

Forget it.

Who could have expected this situation?

General — General, I —

I think this is all a trap.

They-They wanted this to happen.

We know they've been trying
to foul up our fail-safe signal.

I think that we should tell the president
it's a trap.

They're just using the time
to get their missiles ready

and fly their bombers into position.

We have no evidence of that.

They could be flying their bombers
in the grass.

They could have fired missiles already

and put them up in the orbit
of known satellites

where we couldn't detect them.

Remember, we computed that problem.

We decided satellites could be used
to mask missiles.

We've computed a lot of problems.

I'm not reporting anything
I don't know for sure.

I think we should recommend
a full-strength attack.

- That is not our decision. The Pentagon —
- They don't know what we know.

They're not soldiers anymore.
They're politicians.

They don't care what happens to us.

They make a mistake, that's politics.

They send out men to be killed, General,
for what?

To make some lousy deal? To sell us out?

Save the world. Save us.

Save our country... before they destroy it
with their stinking politics.

Order a first strike, General.

Put an end to it once and for all.
You have the power. You can do it.

Colonel!

You are talking treason.

Stop it now,
or I'll have you put under arrest.

- General Bogan, this is Marshal Nevsky.
- Yes, Marshal?

Can you give us the longitude and latitude
of the three planes left in the air?

We can do that,
but we can't give you their altitude.

The signals we're getting now
are too distorted.

Will you please give us the position
of the three planes?

We can fly fighters at various altitudes.

Can do.

Gentlemen, I am taking over command
of this post

at the specific order of the president
of the United States.

He has long been aware that General Bogan
is mentally unbalanced

and has warned me to observe him closely.

The negotiations which General Bogan
has been conducting with the enemy

are the acts of a lunatic.

By the direct authority of the president,

I now command you
to take all orders from —

Colonel. We got orders, Colonel.

You make a fuss, we'll kill you.

You're a traitor.
You're worse than anybody.

You wear the uniform.
You have men under your command.

You're in the field, but you want them
dead before they find you out.

You want me dead!

I saw it this morning when you found me
with those people.

I'm better than you are!

It's a mistake.

You're betraying us all.
You're making a mistake.

I'm better than you are. You're a traitor.

You're betraying us all.

- Marshal Nevsky.
- Here, sir.

I am now prepared to give you
the longitude and latitude of our bombers

in accordance with your request.

I was aware of your difficulty,
General Bogan.

We have had such problems ourselves.

I await your information.

Major Handel.

- General, you'd better have a doctor.
- They've got another one.

Well, sit down, anyway.
That was a bad knock.

Anyone could crack under this strain.

- If you ask me, he was a boy on the edge —
- He was a good soldier.

The Soviet premier
is coming back on the line, sir.

The ambassador and the Soviet delegate
are already on.

- Have they been told?
- Yes, sir. As you said.

Good.

Jay, where are you?

On the top floor of the embassy in Moscow,
Mr. President.

- Where are you, Mr. Lentov?
- I'm in the UN Building in New York.

I suppose there is a reason
for your ambassador

and Comrade Lentov to join us.

There is, Mr. Chairman.

Then let's get on with it.

His voice is firmer, sir.

Final, like he's made up his mind.

In a few minutes,
the bombs may be falling.

I have brought our forces
to a condition of full readiness.

Unless we can satisfy one another,
I must release those forces.

So what do you propose, Mr. President?

Do your people think there is still
a chance of bringing down the bombers?

There is always a chance...

but I am asking you, what if they cannot?

What will you do?
Have you made a decision?

Yes.

It's my decision,
and I take full responsibility.

Mr. Swenson, are you on the line?

Yes, Mr. President.

- General Bogan.
- Here, sir.

This is what will happen if even one
of the bombers gets through.

It will drop two 20-megaton bombs
on Moscow.

- Jay.
- Yes, Mr. President?

You might hear the sound of the engines
just before the bombs drop.

Maybe not. In any case, you'll hear
the defensive missiles going off.

Right after that, the bombs will explode.

I'm told that what we will hear
at this end will be a high, shrill sound.

That will be the ambassador's phone
melting from the heat of the fireball.

When we hear that sound...

the ambassador will be dead.

Do you understand, Mr. Ambassador,
you're to stay exactly where you are?

Yes, Mr. President.

He's got to attack.

Is this your proposal?

To sacrifice one American
for five million Russians?

- No, no, no!
- Is this what you mean?

Listen to me. Listen.

I've ordered a Vindicator bomber
into the air from Washington.

In a few minutes,
it will be flying over New York City.

It is carrying two 20-megaton bombs.

The moment I know
that Moscow's been hit...

I will order that plane to drop its bombs.

It will use the Empire State Building
for ground zero.

When we hear the shriek
of Mr. Lentov's phone melting...

we will know that he is gone...

and with him, New York.

Holy Mother of God.

No.

He can't do it.

What else can he do?

I don't know any other way, Mr. Chairman.

Unless... unless you feel
the offer itself is enough.

Showing our intentions.

Would you think it enough?

If Russian bombers were flying
against New York...

could you accept only my good intentions?

No.

I believe this was an accident.

But I also believe your action
is the only way out.

I ask you to believe
I wish it were not so.

Yes.

Well, we can still hope
I won't have to take that action.

How close to target?

Fourteen minutes, sir.

How many planes left?

Just us and number six.

Flynn.

Still here, Grady.

What's your condition?

Slight wing damage from ordinary flack.
That's all.

Speed down to 1, 350, drag even.

How many of your decoys do you have left?

How many do you need?

Well, I've got the bombs, you don't.

I want you to take
some of those fighters off my tail.

Will do.

- Billy.
- Yeah?

I depend on you.

General Bogan,
can you explain this maneuver?

One of your planes
has just appeared again.

It's standard procedure, Marshal Nevsky.

That's our number six plane,
the decoy plane.

It's just trying to draw your fighters away
from our other plane carrying the bombs.

I see.

It carries only defensive equipment.
You don't have to worry about it.

Thank you.
We shall try for a kill in any case.

You'll scatter your forces, Marshal.
You don't have time for that.

I tell you, it doesn't carry any bombs.
You don't have to worry about it.

You're letting our other plane
get through!

I told you!

There has been a...

Marshal Nevsky has collapsed.

It appears... Well, I don't know.

General Koniev is now in command.

Bogan, what's happened?

Marshal Nevsky sent his fighters
after a plane that carried no bombs.

That means our number one plane
will almost certainly get through.

The Marshal realized that.
It was too much for him.

General Bogan, this is General Koniev.

Do you have the remaining plane
on your screen?

No, sir. We do not.

We cannot see it on radar and it is flying
so fast, our anti-aircraft is useless.

- I must assume the plane will get through.
- Yes.

I intend to focus
all our remaining rockets

on the estimated path of the plane

and fire them all off at once.

Our hope is to set up a thermonuclear
barrier that nothing can penetrate.

That might work. It's worth a chance.

You speak English very well, General.

I was liaison to your headquarters
in London during the war.

I was stationed right outside of London.

Yes, I know. With the 8th Air Force.

Did you like London?

Very much.

So did I.

The great cities are those
where one can walk.

I would walk all the time in London.

Wherever you turn, there's history.

General, are you in Moscow now?

No. I was ordered to leave.

Is your...

It's a hard day.

Yes, it's a hard day.

Goodbye, my friend.

Goodbye, my friend.

- Colonel Grady, sir.
- What is it, Thomas?

The infrared indicator
shows a large number

of ground-to-air rockets
ignited ahead of us.

They should show on the scope anytime now.

What do you know about those rockets?

They're no different from ours, sir.

Designed to home in on
heat-producing engines. Like an airplane.

They can't be aiming them at us.
We're too low. They'd blow themselves up.

What are they doing with them?

- General Bogan.
- Yes?

They found Mrs. Grady. She's standing by.

- Mr. President, we have Grady's wife.
- Can we get through to him?

If he follows procedure, he'll contact us
when he gets within range of the target.

Those are his orders,
so we know how to evaluate the strike.

- Well, he's been following orders so far.
- Yes, sir.

Keep your fingers crossed.

- Thomas.
- Yes, sir?

Would their rockets follow missiles too?

I don't see why not.
A missile produces heat.

I think I know what they're going to do.

Explode the rockets on top of us,
hope to knock us down with a blast.

They can do it too.

How many air-to-air missiles we got left?

- Two.
- Okay.

Now, the minute you see
those rockets ignite on the scope,

you fire our missiles and guide them
for maximum elevation straight up.

- Straight up?
- Yeah.

Maybe our rockets will follow
the missiles, explode too high to hurt us.

Yes, sir.

Colonel Grady, we're in range.
We have to report in.

Watch that scope.

Ultimate One, this is Turkey One.

Ultimate One, this is Turkey One.
Can you hear me?

Grady, this is General Bogan.
Keep receiving, no matter what you hear.

Do you understand? Keep receiving.

Jack. Jack, this is Helen.

Jack, it's Helen.
Do you recognize my voice?

It's not a trick. It's me.

Jack, you must turn back.

You mustn't drop those bombs.
Do you hear me?

Is it really your wife?

- They've started their rockets.
- You've got to believe me.

Fire one.

Jack, do you hear what I'm saying? Jack!

Fire two.

Keep them at least 2,500 feet
above the rockets.

- Yes, sir.
- Jack...

There's no war! We're fine.

You must turn back.

- They're at 18,000.
- Go, go!

- Nineteen.
- It's not a trick.

- 20,000 feet.
- The rockets are following them!

Give them as much boost as you can.
The higher the better.

- I've never lied to you, have I?
- Forty. 50,000.

I couldn't, no matter what anybody
did to me. I wouldn't.

- Please, you've got to believe me.
- Seventy. 80,000 feet.

- Ninety.
- Jack, there isn't any war.

- A hundred.
- They're slowing down.

- 130.
- We're all fine.

- 140.
- We'd better get some altitude.

- Jack, please answer me! Please!
- 160. 170,000.

Jack, do you... Answer me, please.

You can't trust it sir.
We gotta get out of here.

No!

Hang on.

Their rockets are catching up!

We're going to catch some of it,
so hold tight.

There they go!

Think we'll make it now.

How many minutes to Moscow?

Seven minutes, sir.

Look, we have our choice about
what altitude to drop the bombs from.

It's about the only choice we do have now.

The blast gave us enough radiation.

At best, we'd only last a couple of days.

So I'm taking her in low...

when we're over the target...

climbing to 5,000 feet.

The bombs are set to go at 5,000.

We'll go with them.

Okay?

What the hell, there's nothing
to go home to, anyway.

General Stark, are there any papers
or documents in New York

which are absolutely essential
to the running of the United States?

General Stark.

No, sir.

There are important documents,
but none of them absolutely essential.

Will there be any warning given?

A lot of lives could be saved
if people had a few minutes.

On this short notice, an alert to a big
city would do more harm than good.

All you'd produce is panic.

What about this?

Maybe... Maybe he doesn't know
his wife is there.

He knows.

Gentlemen, we are wasting time.

I've been making a few rough calculations

based on the effect of two 20-megaton
bombs dropped on New York City

in the middle of a normal workday.

I estimate the immediate dead
at about three million.

I include in this figure those buried
beneath the collapsed buildings.

Wouldn't make any difference,
Admiral Wilcox,

whether they reached a shelter or not.

They would die just the same.

Add another million or two
who'll die within about five weeks.

Our immediate problem
would be the joint one

of fire control and excavation.

Excavation, not of the dead —
the effort would be wasted there.

But even though there are no irreplaceable
government documents in the city,

many of our largest corporations
keep their records there.

It will be necessary to...

rescue as many of those records as we can.

Our economy depends on this.

Economy depends on this.

And the Lord said, gentlemen...

"He who is without sin,
let him cast the first stone."

Sir.

- May I have a drink, please?
- Oh.

How'd you ever get to be
a translator, Buck?

You don't seem the academic type.

I guess I've got this talent
for languages, sir.

I hear a language once,
I pick it right up.

I don't even know how.

When they found out about it
in the army...

You sound sorry they did.

No, no. It's a very interesting job.

I mean, sometimes.

Well, you did a good job today, Buck.

Thank you, sir.
All I did was repeat what he said.

You didn't freeze up.
Another man might have.

You're the one who didn't, sir.

I wonder what it's like out.
It looked like rain before.

The radio said it would clear
by the afternoon.

The premier, sir.

Yes, Mr. Chairman?

Mr. President...

I have ordered our long-range missiles
to stand down from their alert.

Only that part of our defense

that has a chance of shooting down
your bomber is still active.

We do not think we have much of a chance.

I know.

And yet this was nobody's fault.

I don't agree.

No human being did wrong.

No one is to be blamed.

We're to blame, both of us.

We let our machines get out of hand.

Still, it was an accident.

Two great cities may be destroyed,
millions of innocent people killed.

What do we say to them, Mr. Chairman?
"Accidents will happen"?

I won't accept that.

All I know is that as long
as we have weapons —

All I know is that men are responsible.

We're responsible for what happens to us.

Today we had a taste of the future.

Do we learn from it,
or do we go on the way we have?

What do we do, Mr. Chairman?

What do we say to the dead?

I think, if we are men...

we must say this will not happen again.

But do you think it possible...

with all that stands between us?

We put it there, Mr. Chairman,
and we're not helpless.

What we put between us, we can remove.

- Mr. President.
- Yes, Jay?

I can hear the sound of explosions
from the northeast.

The sky is very bright, all lit up —

Put me through to General Black.

Yes, Mr. President?

Blackie...

Yes, Mr. President?

Moscow's been destroyed.

Drop your bombs according to plan.

Yes, sir.

You've all been briefed
on the mission,

so there's nothing more to say.

I have only one last order.

Nobody else is to have anything to do
with the dropping of the bombs.

Repeat, I will fly the plane
and release the bombs.

The final act is mine.

On course, sir. Approaching target.

Countdown from ten.
Give me the signal.

- Now.
- Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six, five, four,

three, two, one.

Mark.

General Black!

Katie, the dream...

the dream...

the matador...

the matador...

the matador...

Me!

Me.

¡Olé!

¡Olé!