Movies like Fail-Safe
The best movies like Fail-Safe are Fail Safe (2000), Panic in Year Zero! (1962) and Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977). If Fail-Safe hooked you with its thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Fail-Safe
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)7.5/10 from 680 votes
- NewestUNABOMBER (2026)Released 2026
Fail Safe (2000)
Cold War tensions climb to a fever pitch when a U.S. bomber is accidentally ordered to drop a nuclear warhead on Moscow.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPanic in Year Zero! (1962)
While on a fishing trip, Harry Baldwin and his family hear an explosion and realize that Los Angeles has been leveled by a nuclear attack. Looters and killers are everywhere. Escaping to the hills with his family, he sets about the business of surviving in a world where, he knows, the old ideals of humanity will be the first casualties.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTwilight's Last Gleaming (1977)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Peacemaker (1997)
When a train carrying atomic warheads mysteriously crashes in the former Soviet Union, a nuclear specialist discovers the accident is really part of a plot to cover up the theft of the weapons. Assigned to help her recover the missing bombs is a crack Special Forces Colonel.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMiracle Mile (1989)
After 30 years of searching, Harry has finally met the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, before they even have a chance to go on their first date, Harry intercepts some chilling news: WWIII has begun and nuclear missiles will destroy Los Angeles in less than an hour!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTelefon (1977)
Nicolai Dalchimski, a mad KGB agent steals a notebook full of names of "sleeping" undercover KGB agents sent to the U.S. in the 1950's. These agents got their assignments under hypnosis, so they can't remember their missions until they're told a line of a Robert Frost poem. Dalchimski flees to the U.S. and starts phoning these agents who perform sabotage acts against military targets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Specialist (1994)
May Munro is a woman obsessed with getting revenge on the people who murdered her parents when she was still a girl. She hires Ray Quick, a retired explosives expert, to kill her parents' killers. When Ned Trent, embittered ex-partner of Quick's, is assigned to protect one of Quick's potential victims, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUNABOMBER (2026)
Follow Ted Kaczynski's transformation from Harvard prodigy into the infamous Unabomber. Subjected to controversial psychological experiments by Professor Henry Murray, Kaczynski's troubled past resurfaces decades later when his manhunt, led by FBI agent Joanne Miller, brings to light the chilling consequences of ambition and isolation.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeven Days in May (1964)
A U.S. Marine Corps colonel alerts the president of a planned military coup against him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRight at Your Door (2006)
A dirty bomb goes off in Los Angeles, jamming freeways and spreading a toxic cloud.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisAirport (1970)
An airport manager tries to keep his terminals open during a snowstorm, while a suicide bomber plots to blow up a Boeing 707 airliner in flight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAngels & Demons (2009)
Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is recruited by the Vatican to investigate the apparent return of the Illuminati – a secret, underground organization – after four cardinals are kidnapped on the night of the papal conclave.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChief of Station (2024)
After learning that the death of his wife was not an accident, a former CIA Station Chief is forced back into the espionage underworld, teaming up with an adversary to unravel a conspiracy that challenges everything he thought he knew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlack Widow (1987)
Federal agent Alexandra Barnes believes that Catherine Petersen is a serial killer who marries rich men and then murders them for their money. But since Catherine is seemingly a master of disguise and has multiple identities, Alexandra can't prove anything with conventional detective work. With no other option, she goes undercover, pursuing the same man as Catherine, and hoping that Catherine will slip up and reveal her true identity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUnthinkable (2010)
The government gets wind of a plot to destroy America involving a trio of nuclear weapons for which the whereabouts are unknown. It's up to a seasoned interrogator and an FBI agent to find out exactly where the nukes are.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Sum of All Fears (2002)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBunker (2023)
Trapped in a bunker during World War I, a group of soldiers are faced with an ungodly presence that slowly turns them against each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Good Neighbor (2022)
A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSniper: The Last Stand (2025)
To stop an arms dealer from unleashing a deadly superweapon, Ace sniper Brandon Beckett and Agent Zero are deployed to Costa Verde to lead a group of elite soldiers against an unrelenting militia. Taking an untested sniper under his wing, Beckett faces his newest challenge: giving orders instead of receiving them. With both time and ammo running low in a race to save humanity, the team must overcome all odds just to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInsurgent (2015)
Beatrice Prior must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
Now confined to a mental hospital, young Kirsty insists her supposedly dead father is actually stuck in Hell following his wife’s betrayal. Few believe the young woman’s lurid stories aside from the thrill-seeking Dr. Channard. Kirsty is undeterred and, with the help of a fellow patient, heads to Hell for a rescue.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBuffalo Soldiers (2002)
A criminal subculture operates among U.S. soldiers stationed in West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin wall.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Weekend Away (2022)
When her best friend vanishes during a girls' trip to Croatia, Beth races to figure out what happened. But each clue yields another unsettling deception.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAssault on Precinct 13 (2005)
On New Year's Eve, inside a police station that's about to be closed for good, officer Jake Roenick must cobble together a force made up cops and criminals to save themselves from a mob looking to kill mobster Marion Bishop.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDisclosure (1994)
A computer specialist is sued for sexual harassment by a former lover turned boss who initiated the act forcefully, which threatens both his career and his personal life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Eye (2008)
Violinist Sydney Wells was accidentally blinded by her sister Helen when she was five years old. She submits to a cornea transplantation, and while recovering from the operation, she realizes that she is seeing dead people.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
SnoozefestMovies like thisSmilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
Smilla Jaspersen attempts to understand the death of a small boy who falls from the roof of her apartment building. Suspecting wrongdoing, Smilla uncovers a trail of clues leading towards a secretive corporation that has made several mysterious expeditions to Greenland.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers while the authorities question about the method of their escape.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlindness (2008)
When a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBurn Out (2018)
Tony, a promising young motorcycle racer, is forced to do perilous drug runs to save the mother of his child from a dangerous mobster.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Fail-Safe?
The closest matches to Fail-Safe are Fail Safe (2000), Panic in Year Zero! (1962) and Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Fail-Safe?
Start with Fail Safe (2000), the closest match to Fail-Safe.
What is the highest-rated movie like Fail-Safe?
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), rated 7.5/10 by 680 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Fail-Safe?
UNABOMBER (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Fail-Safe?
Yes: Fail Safe (2000), Panic in Year Zero! (1962) and Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977).
How are movies similar to Fail-Safe chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Fail-Safe, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.