The Andromeda Strain

Plot synopsis:
After a U.S. government satellite crashes near the town of Piedmont, New Mexico, almost all of the town's inhabitants die instantly. Suspecting that the satellite brought back an alien germ, the military activates an elite scientific team it had previously assembled for just this type of emergency.
Dr. Jeremy Stone, the team leader, and Dr. Mark Hall, the team surgeon, are dropped in Piedmont by helicopter, where they search the town for the project "Scoop" satellite in space-suit-type protective uniforms. In a primitive medical office, they find the town's doctor had opened the satellite out of curiosity. Stone and Hall retrieve the Scoop and find two survivors in the town — a sixty-two-year-old town drunk and a six-month-old infant.
The entire team of four core research scientists, including Dr. Charles Dutton and Dr. Ruth Leavitt, are summoned from their academic and research appointments to arrive at a massive, secret, high-tech underground laboratory in Nevada, named Wildfire, where they undergo a full day of decontamination procedures, descending through several disinfection levels of the lab.
After searching with a powerful electron microscope, the team discovers the microscopic life form responsible for the deaths. The greenish, throbbing, new life form is assigned the code name Andromeda. Andromeda kills organisms almost instantly and appears to be highly virulent. While most of the team studies the organism in an attempt to figure out how it works, the team's doctor, Dr. Mark Hall, tries to find a cure by figuring out why the old man and the baby survived.
Meanwhile Dr. Stone, the creator of the Wildfire Lab, is accused by Dutton and Leavitt of designing Wildfire for purposes of biowarfare research. In another development, unknown to other members of the team, Ruth Leavitt's research on the germ is impaired by her epilepsy, which is set off by flashing, red computer lights in the facility.
Just as Hall comes up with the answer (Andromeda can survive only within a narrow PH Blood range), Andromeda mutates into a form that degrades synthetic rubber and plastics and thus escapes the containment room adjacent to where Dr. Dutton is doing his research work. Once all the lab's seals start decaying from the Andromeda germ's escape, this triggers an automatic self-destruct mechanism designed to set off a nuclear explosion beneath the Wildfire complex, intended to incinerate all infectious agents before they can reach the open environment above.
Hall rescues Leavitt from an epilepsy attack set off by Wildfire's alarm system. Meanwhile, the team members studying Andromeda have learned that the alien microbes, having evolved in the harsh environment of outer space, would thrive on the energy of a nuclear explosion and would consequently be able to mutate into a supercolony of the germ, an action which could wipe out all life on Earth.
Having been entrusted with the only key that can shut down the self-destruct sequence before the five-minute countdown is up, Dr. Hall races against the clock and the lab's automated defenses to reach a substation before it is too late. Hall endures an attack by automated lasers as he crawls through the lab's central core, until at last he finds a working substation and disables the nuclear bomb with his key.
Eventually, the scientists realize that the latest mutation of Andromeda that is now being carried by weather in the Earth's atmosphere, will be destroyed by alkalinity when rain carries it into the Pacific Ocean.

Tags: good versus evil, murder, flashback

Review:
(And even so, A&E managed to stuff in almost 80 minutes of commercials in the two night run.) Ridiculous plot lines that go nowhere (the Geraldo-style reporter, "vent-mining"), unnecessary time-waster shots of animals eating each other (all just to establish the infection vector of a rat dropped onto a group of National Guardsmen) family squabbles that go nowhere...
did we forget to explain what that had to do with the story?)"Pass the thumb"Andromeda racing across the countryside turning everything yellow.Dime-store CGI (we're talking "Sci-Fi Channel Original" quality) used even in scenes where the real thing would have been easier and more effective: flame throwers, dried blood sifting from a cut, the inexplicable falling debris in the core.Is the action dragging?
Michael Crichton wrote the original novel of "The Andromeda Strain", and the 1971 movie remembered so fondly by many was a quite faithful adaptation.
You've heard of Michael Crichton because he has written lots of exciting and interesting science fiction, much of which has been turned into movies (of varying quality.) This adaptation was written by Robert Schenkkan.
At the very least they should produce original stories, instead of mucking up remakes of perfectly good predecessors.I'll never get those four hours back, but you still have a chance to miss this movie.
bad special effects (the wave of virus washing across the land) and worse plot.Its rubbish compared to the original, which gave you a little tingle down your spine as you watched it...
This Sci-Fi yarn hits hard in the creepy beginning when an U.S. Army satellite , Scoop , falls to earth near Piedmont and population being destroyed , and in the hair-raising climax , as an extremely exciting ending , in fact , it is worthy of a typical action/thriller movie .
While basically a good idea since the story has needed updated treatment for twenty-five years, the end result of this production is a confusing, chaos laden hodge podge of interpersonal relationships that are not germane to the storyline as envisioned by Michael Chrichton, the original writer of the novel.
Fully two thirds of this production are unrelated to the original story line, being filler to occupy a four hour time slot.Characters have been dropped, added and modified.
Of particular note is a short flight scene with an F-16 that actually looked like an F-16 in flight.If viewers have not read the book or seen the 1972 film, they will probably find this enjoyable..
Fighting against time, they try to understand the reason why the old man and the baby survived and research an antidote to Andromeda, the ultimate biological weapon.I wrote the above summary  with the exceptions of the names of Dr. Stone's scientist's team  in my review of the original sci-fi classic of 1971.
I want movies to have good acting, plots filled with suspense instead of piles of bloody body parts, avoid bad PC-based government political commentary, and other technology eye candy "grab" devices.
Junk like this remake reminds us of how bad Hollywood and the entire TV and movie industry has gotten in recent days.
I wish an Andromeda Strain for bad movie remakes existed....
As a science-fiction thriller, Andromeda Strain could have benefited from the advances in our knowledge over the last 37 years since the original movie.
If only they had paid more attention to the spirit of Crichton's work, instead of cheap stylizing that buries the story.This junk resembles a 90-minute infomercial more than a sci-fi movie.
I can only imagine people who rated it higher have a) only seen 2 movies or b) are associated in some way with the production company or A&E and were appalled by the nearly uniform negative reaction of the earliest posts.All of its faults could have been forgiven had if been titled "Mutant Killer Virus Conspiracy Attack" rather than "The Andromeda Strain".
After he pees in it, he likes the flavor better, so he buys it." After almost forty years, you'd expect a remake of a movie to differ significantly from the original; the 2009 version of an Andromeda Strain screenplay would have been a great opportunity to update the plot with all that we now know about biology and how microbes adapt to the harsh environment of space.But there's also such a thing as editorial coffee, as Jubal Harshaw noted.
Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and screenwriter Robert Schenkkan should hang their heads in shame for this disgraceful series of mistakes masquerading as a remake.Any updates in a new Andromeda Strain screenplay should have been in the spirit of the original; more typical of Michael Crichton's solid grounding in the sciences and clear, critical reasoning.
Instead, the changes included a lot of additional material which doesn't help the story and certainly doesn't fit in the story.Writer Robert Schenkkan seems to have been working from the "Cliff's Notes" version of "Andromeda Strain," if there is such a thing, because he bobbles several technical points which Robert Wise had no problem at all "getting" in the film adaptation.
The left-wing political overlay adds nothing to the story, and the space this change takes up could better have been used to support other, more promising changes to bring the plot up to date - such as a more coherent and consistent portrayal of the effects of the Andromeda organism.
You could make a decision tree - "How should I change this story from the Wise adaptation and the Crichton novel?", pick the wrong choice on purpose every time, and come very close to what actually happens in this miniseries.
The rest of the cast doesn't really do much worth writing home about (not that they had a lot to work with in the script, I realize).If you missed the original showing and are thinking about buying the DVD version of this miniseries, do yourself a favor and either wait until A&E replays it or see it on Netflix before you buy.
Nothing like trying to break down barriers between different groups of people there.This movie was so god-awful bad that I'm thinking of suing Tivo for allowing my machine to actually record this.
(I am not a huge fan of the government, big business, and military, but this show propagandized them to the point that I was hoping I could become infected with Andromeda just to get away from the terrible writing).0 stars would be too nice for this movie..
I elected to devote three hours to watching this remake because I am a big fan of the original movie.
The writers left no stone unturned in thinking up new ways to show people dying in brutally vicious ways.The original movie did not have this same level of violence and insanity.
I wanted to give an overall view of the low quality of this movie, because I just don't understand why do they spend time and money on such bad remakes.
I was reluctant to watch this because I liked the original and I usually hate remakes, but at 2:00am on a Saturday night it seemed like a good idea.
The only thing that needs updating from the original movie is the technology, and the scientific analysis that could be performed because of it.
For anyone who never saw the original movie or read the book, please do so and you will find the real story very interesting and captivating.
Andromeda Strain 2008 is watchable, but the original is a far better interpretation of the novel and a much more entertaining movie.
It's usually a made-for-TV movie, and it's usually an "updated" remake of an older movie.The cast and story elements are painfully politically correct.The writers appear to labor under the mistaken assumption that the viewer really doesn't need to be told a coherent story as long as there are a few visual elements from the original and some handsome-looking people emoting at each other.
When the time comes for the big reveal (which I won't reveal here), instead of the insightful political message of the original, we get a sophomoric, pasted-on ending that doesn't relate to what's gone before and basically contains no message whatsoever, but does allow one last digital effect.It's not even bad enough to be good in a campy way.
This version is OK, but it took them four hours to laboriously tell a story that the original told better in half the time!
Put it this way, I wanted to watch it until the end but there just wasn't the sense of suspense that the original film delivered...yes I know that you shouldn't compare the two directly but it's difficult not too as it is a remake of the same story, times have changed and there were 3 hours to tell this version but it was still lacking, maybe it was too long?
The performances are OK, not that the acting was bad as the cast were just trying to do the best what they were working with which wasn't strong enough; the characters had plenty of time to try and establish themselves but the script just didn't seem allow for that whereas in the original film (the book is always a separate issue) though there was less time you feel as though you understand who the characters are even without verbose explanations?
Remakes are rarely even close to the originals in quality but this is so far at the opposite range quality it falls off the scale.As much as I was looking forward to a modernization to the book and the original film, I could not have been more disappointed.I am a huge fan of Chriton but the screen writing of this movie misses not only the atmosphere of the book but is detached entirely from the "Technology vs.
Come on, if it was good the first time why not honor that and just update the Tech not Rewrite most of the story.I know people are mad cause of the comments on the Political Correctness.
I agree, I'M SOOOO TIRED of Political Correctness where it has no place.In the end my brain hurts, a wonderful Sci-Fi story is reduced to a "lets leave out the science or thought" remake..
When I heard a remake of the Andromeda Strain was coming, I decided to relive some nostalgy and watched the original version.
The movie takes on the story of the original Andromeda Strain and takes it a notch farther.
We get to see a lot more action and damage this time.To mention some of the bad things in the movie are the horrible CGI effects (birds made with cgi, fire made with cgi, blood and gunshot wounds made in cgi).
I could imagine myself enjoying this a bit if I had never seen the original movie.All and all, the story is still there.
Nothing good from the novel was translated to this movie, just some parts of story, but not the "feeling".
I can understand making a four hour movie because there's a lot in the book you don't want to leave out, but why pad a straightforward story out with hackneyed drama?
In the 37 years that has elapsed since the 1971 screen adaptation of Michael Chrichton's novel The Andromeda Strain, movie technology has evolved to the point where the depiction of a grand scale biological plague is considered insignificant on the special effects scale, particularly so when juxtaposed alongside Chrichton's other cinematic constructs such as dinosaurs (Jurassic Park) and homicidal robots (Westworld  remake scheduled for release in 2009).
Unfortunately, after viewing Ridley and Tony Scott's updating, one could easily conclude that screen writing hasn't kept pace with that of 30 years ago.Created as a two-part miniseries for the American A&E network and directed by cinematographer-turned-director Mikael Salomon, The Andromeda Strain seeks to expand on 1971's two hour theatrical version directed by Robert Wise, however in doing so writer Robert Schenkkan reaches out to political intrigue for filler material with disastrous results.Telling the story of a mysterious all-killing biological agent that hitches a ride to Earth on a moribund orbiting satellite, Chrichton's story was a masterwork of nascent bio-terror along the lines of 1965's The Satan Bug. However whereas the 1971 original smartly confined its focus on the detective work undertaken by the scientists in an advanced underground lab, Schenkkan and Salomon seem to feel that the story couldn't be told without calling upon the superfluous padding of bogus, poorly realized political intrigue, with the end result being akin to someone deciding that a perfectly cut steak just wouldn't be complete without first being dunked in a bucket of manure.If you've seen any of the countless episodes of Stargate, or the various Star Treks, with their incessant lazy reliance on time travel as a cheap plot device, then you'll have an idea of the sort of "updating" that's gone on here.
It's too bad, because while their intentions of reintroducing a new generation to a classic story are noble, the real message that comes through from watching this update is that some things were done right the first time, and are best left alone..
I haven't seen the original Andromeda strain so I wouldn't know the similarities, but this series ends with a lot unanswered, some characters are just forgotten throughout the movie rendering the little characterization that was built useless...Personally, I enjoyed the series overall, it was easy to follow and the cliff hanger from episode 1 was brutal...I had to see the rest!
In 2008, The Scott brothers, along with the master of the mini-series, Mikael Salomon, decided to remake the 1969 debut novel and 1971 film, The Andromeda Strain, written by famed Jurassic Park author, Michael Crichton.
The original novel and movie were 4 stars, and so is the remake.
if you think you're getting an updated version of the original you will be wasting your time..
When I started watching this mini-series, I was expecting a cheesy looking, TV movie.
This movie may not have the huge explosions (there are minor explosions), the exceptional computer generated graphics (a little bit dodgy) and the first-rate acting (not bad - and you can play "which Sitcom is the actor from?"), but it has a interesting story that will keep you entertained.
If you like made-for-TV movies, and are not put off by a lower budget film and less than perfect acting, then this is a highly entertaining mini-series adaptation that is worth your time..
Still, for people who aren't familiar with the original movie or story as I was not then you will especially enjoy this as a new experience.
Combine political thriller with science fiction disease and it makes for a very entertaining film that isn't perfect but certainly counts as one of the better more entertaining TV Movies I have seen in quite some time.
The writers considered updating the story to appeal seriously dumbed down TV audience (through technical jargon and dialogue is much closer to novel than 1971 movie) Ridley/Tony Scott production shows itself here and there and Mikhael Solomon is not a bad director.
I think they were just added to extend the story) -Updating other WILDFIRE team members (an Asian , a black and another character as gay ) is interesting -As story progresses other elements from OTHER Michael Chricton novels emerge (objects passed wormholes and went back through time , spread of Andromeda looked like a nanobot outbreak ) -Unnecessary romance subplot should have been dropped -Unlike the novel a solution and cure was found too easily...So there are hits and misses in this new adaptation.
Although the science involved in the plot isn't anything too esoteric--any decent high school student should be able to grasp the way the Wild Fire team deals with the virus--and some cinematic liberties were taken for dramatic effect, the show maintains some level of realism and plausibility.I haven't read the book, nor seen the first movie, but after watching this adaptation, I certainly plan to do both.
While there were certain things that bugged me about the series, like the unnecessary religious undertones and sparse character development, the plot was fully engaging and the storyline was quite original, at least in my opinion.The Andromeda Strain is far from perfect; it's not a cinematic masterpiece by any means.
Like most mini series adaptations, Andromeda Strain lacks the artistry of the earlier film version.
And after watching the 2x2 hour miniseries I must say I thought it was a great movie.It has (several) good actors who do their parts right although the CGI "actor" could have been better.
You writers who thought the original was so good...need to rent it or break it out of your "top 50" cabinet and watch it.It was good but with todays advances it was boring from fx to story to acting.Hokey is the word that comes to mind.I liked this version, granted it there were holes (worm holes?).....but better than most TV movies in the FX genre..
but they would still need to get new actors to make some the characters more interesting (a good start would be to replace all the scientists).I'd say it's a respectable effort gone bad.
i was hoping this remake of the 1971 movie was more interesting.and it was,to a point.it's wasn't quite as slow.the general storyline id the same,but some of the particulars have changed a bit.the have expended some scenes and there's a whole new subplot that ties in nicely before the movie wraps up.it is long though,at just under three hours.it is a made for TV mini series and it definitely has that made for TV feel to it.the acting is actually pretty good,though.there are some pretty dodgy CG effects,though thankfully those are few and far between.the best thing about the movie is,it's split into two parts,part one on the first disc and part two on the second disc.for me,"The Andromeda Strain" is a 6/10.
And it's done to death in this remake, even though, in the original Andromeda Strain, it was done just right.