| Director | Sidney Lumet |
|---|---|
| Box office | $1.8 million |
United States Air Force Brigadier General Warren Black flies to Washington, D.C. to attend a Pentagon conference led by Dr. Groeteschele, a political advisor renowned for his expertise on nuclear strategy and fervent anti-communism. At a dinner party the previous evening, he dismissed the fears that a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union would destroy the human race. To him, nuclear war, like any other, must have a victor and a vanquished, and the millions who might die in one are the price to be paid to end the threat of communism.
USAF early warning radar detects an unidentified aircraft over Hudson Bay, a potential circumpolar Soviet preemptive strike, prompting a scramble of USAF strategic nuclear bombers. After heightened tensions at Strategic Air Command—interceptions happen half a dozen times a month—the intruder is confirmed as an off-course civilian airliner. However, a computer short causes a single USAF bomber flight, Group 6, to receive apparently valid orders for a nuclear attack on Moscow. Colonel Jack Grady, its commander, obeys them, and six advanced "Vindicator" bombers take off over the Arctic toward Moscow. Attempts to rescind the order fail due to stringent U.S. safeguards against a fraudulent recall, compounded by a better than expected Soviet ability to jam U.S. radio communications.
The President of the United States personally attempts to have the bombers recalled, to no avail, then orders them shot down. While Groeteschele lobbies for a full-scale U.S. strike to opportunistically piggyback on the serendipity of an accidental attack, the military—including General Black, a college friend of the President—warns the President that "the Soviets will retaliate with everything they have, just as we would, and did after Pearl Harbor, if we compound things in any way". USAF fighter jets scramble to intercept Group 6, but are unable to catch up with the Mach II Vindicators before they run out of fuel and crash into the Arctic.
Communications are opened with the Soviet Premier. With U.S. help, the Soviets harmlessly trigger the Vindicators' defense missiles. The President struggles to find a solution that will avert a nuclear holocaust, and dispatches General Black on a secret mission to New York City. Meanwhile, the Soviets shoot down most of Group 6, but ignore SAC General Bogan's pleas to focus only on Grady's command aircraft, allowing it to evade their defenses.
Drawing on the Bible, the President proposes an "eye for an eye" to the Soviet Premier: sacrificing New York City to prevent a retaliatory attack. Wistfully, he inquires if the gesture alone is enough to spare millions of lives; the Premier responds by asking him what he would do if he were in his place. As Grady nears Moscow, the Soviets cease their jamming and American radio contact resumes. Grady's wife begs him to stop, but he ignores the pleas, fearing it is a Soviet ruse. To maximize bomb damage, he tells his crew they will go in low, even though they will die in the explosion; no-one resists.
Per his prearrangement with the Soviet Premier, the President remains in contact with the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union until his telephone melts, confirming the worst. He then orders General Black to go through with his secret mission: destroying New York City. Despite Black's family and the First Lady being present in New York City at the time, Black obeys, dropping the atomic bomb before committing suicide by lethal injection.
As an evacuation of New York City was determined to only cause more harm than good, the residents are left completely oblivious to their fate. Glimpses of New Yorkers in everyday life are shown before the atomic bomb detonates, incinerating the city and its inhabitants.