Andromeda Strain

The Andromeda Strain shows how a hard-science plot can be made exciting. True, the technology is a little dated, but it only adds to the realism. I'm sure this film won't appeal to the same people who will flock to rainless action flicks like this summer's Wild Wild West, but if you have a brain and your willing to use it, this film is great entertainment.

Oh, and just to correct the previous poster, Andromeda did come out on laserdisc and that transfer was gorgeous.


A Real Science Fiction Flick   November 27, 2001
Steve Quiett (El Cajon, CA USA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

This movie remains one of my all time favorite sci-fi flicks. Why? Simple, it's scientifically accurate. Most of the films described as "sci-fi" are light on the "science" and heavy on the "fiction". They seem to almost always rely on some scientific breakthrough to conveniently sidestep those pesky laws of physics that get in the way of a good story. Not so with "Andromeda Strain". It features a believable plot, real laboratory instruments (being used correctly...wonder of Hollywood wonders) and scientists who, while dedicated, are also flawed in one way or the other making them human and believable. This is one of only a handful of films that I regard as truly qualified to wear the label "science fiction".


Chilling Premise, but Downhill From There.   October 5, 2003
mirasreviews (McLean, VA USA)
7 out of 14 found this review helpful

The year is 1971. A satellite has fallen to Earth and landed in Piedmont, New Mexico, population 68. The military has dispatched two men to retrieve it, but upon arriving in Piedmont, they discover the town littered with corpses. The men only have time to briefly contact their superiors before succumbing themselves. The military quickly realizes that the satellite, Scoop 7, which was intended to collect samples of microscopic extraterrestrial life, has brought back something very dangerous indeed. Emergency protocols are implemented and four top biologists from around the nation are called upon to investigate the threat. The leader of the team is nobel laureate Dr. Jeremy Stone (Arthur Hill). His colleagues are Dr. Ruth Leavitt (Kate Reid), Dr. Charles Dutton (David Wayne), and Dr. Mark Hall (James Olson), a surgeon and the only MD on the team. Drs. Stone and Hall first must go to Piedmont to retrieve the satellite. Once there, they find two persons still living, a baby who cries constantly and an old drunkard. They proceed to a top secret underground compound code named "Wildfire". Here, they must identify the contagion and find a method of containing it before the catastrophe spreads beyond the little town of Piedmont.

"The Andromeda Strain" is based on Michael Crichton's novel of the same name. The story's premise, a lethal extraterrestrial microbe on the loose, certainly presents opportunity for an entertaining, suspenseful sci-fi thriller. And the film does have its moments. But I found "The Andromeda Strain" overwhelmed with credibility problems and suffering from some basic storytelling mistakes.

The film is poorly structured. The movie spends too much time demonstrating the features and protocols of the Wildfire compound, none of which have any relevance to the story with the exception of Wildfire's self-destruct mechanism. I felt like someone was trying to sell me the place. I also found the film's conclusion to be very unsatisfying. The plot essentially resolves itself by means of a deus ex machina.

An awful lot of "The Andromeda Strain" just doesn't make any sense. Science fiction doesn't have to entirely make sense, but I've always felt that it should be consistent within the parameters of the world the author has created. Part of the problem is that the movie takes place in 1971, contemporary to its production. If a story takes place on the other side of the galaxy or in the distant future, it is easier to write off nonsensical plot elements as artistic license. But "The Andromeda Strain" sets out to be believable. The filmmaker's go so far as to claim that the events are real at the film's start. So they should have given more attention to the film's credibility. I won't list all of film's breakdowns in logic. But here are a few. You will undoubtedly find more: Where would a satellite come by an extraterrestrial microorganism? Satellites don't actually go anywhere; they just orbit. Why do the scientists go through those time-consuming decontamination protocols? Any containment measures which protect the scientists from the organism will obviously also protect the organism from them. How could the organism's rate of replication and mutation spontaneously and exponentially increase? If the organism had behaved like that all along, the crisis would have been averted before it had begun.

It's possible that I would have been more tolerant of "The Andromeda Strain"'s faults if I had seen the film in the early 1970's. Audiences were probably impressed by the film's high-tech gadgetry at the time. But many other movies from the 1970's have stood the test of time. I think that "The Andromeda Strain" is more useful as an example of cinematic technique and popular culture from its time than it is a good or entertaining film.


Massively underrated   March 28, 2000
punkviper (Pittsburgh, PA USA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I originally saw this on television a while back, and was riveted to the screen like few other times I can remember. This is a film that doesn't worry about excess dialogue, flashy effects, top-notch acting, or hip coolness. It's all about atmosphere. And to those who say it's too long, I say "all the longer to keep you wondering what will happen next." It's a great movie to think along with, and explore possibilities as the characters do. It's a very stark film, in that, as I said previously, most peripheral matters aren't dealt with. It's just totally focused on what happened, how it happened, and how to deal with what happened. Some adaptations of books attempt to cram in too much dialog and scenery in order to make up for the lost written detail, but this one is just like viewing a window on the world. What you get out of it is all up to you. I still can't believe how gripping and suspenseful this film is.


Velvet star in a wheel of fortune   July 3, 2000
Mr. A. Pomeroy (Wiltshire, England)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

'The Andromeda Strain' is an extremely good post-'2001', pre-'Star Wars' 70's science fiction film. You know - it has edgy, electronic music, a measured pace, an ambiguous ending, split-screen effects and a healthy disrespect for authority. It predates the Jaws-era 'nature vs man' genre by a good few years, too. Also, uniquely for a Hollywood film, it features lots of anonymous actors who look like normal people, as well as, amazingly, a middle-aged woman. This lends the film a certain authenticity - our heroes appear to be regular scientists, and the environment they find themselves in, whilst dated, seems genuine. The film proceeds with both scientific accuracy and a lack of sensationalism, although there are a couple of striking sequences. The opening shots, in which pressure-suited scientists wander around a literal ghost town, is striking, and the finale, in which one of our heroes becomes a virus in the body of a giant computer, is striking, although very dated. This film features some archaic, charming computer graphics, too - as well as Douglas Trumball's patented '2001-style' animated CGI displays. And for DVD? A box. And a trailer. Hmm.