If you have deja vu watching this, know that it is a re-upload. I had a copyright dispute that I couldn’t clear up through the normal TH-cam arbitration, so I “remastered” the video.
I love, love, love, this movie. It's probably the 20th Robert Wise movie I watched, and I just love the way he does genre fiction. Wise never gets the cred that "auteur" directors like Hitchcock and Kubrick received, but it's not clear that he cared. He was too busy pumping out quality movie after quality movie. There's still a few Wise films I haven't seen, "Blood on the Moon" and "Executive Suite" are the main ones. The Haunting is the "2001: a Space Odyssey" of cerebral, scary "haunted house" movies. I'll restrain myself from going on, but to my mind, if you multiply directorial ability by box office success, Robert Wise is one of those low key winners. To his death he never was anything other (in interviews, anyway) anything other than the boy from Winchester, Indiana, who went to Hollywood and made good. My favorite two pieces of wisdom from Robert Wise are, if you're the director, strive to be the most prepared of all the personnel on the set, so you don't waste their time, and, secondly, if you're making science fiction, ground the story in a situation that's just as real and believable as possible. Out of the dozens of films he made, I've yet to see the one that he failed his own ideals on. Just an amazing, "dependable" (as Wikipedia says) Hollywood director. P. S. Since I was always in church when Star Trek was re-run on WAVE-3 in Louisville, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) was the first Star Trek story that I got to see uninterrupted (on the big screen, age 10), and although I like the other Star Trek movies, I might be one of the few people who considers "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" to be my favorite Star Trek film: it's through that movie and that story that I learned who Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, and the rest, really were. Yes, I know it's slow and cerebral. That's absolutely fine by me. Oh, also, William Shatner had problems with Wise, but in interviews, he said what he learned from Wise was, never leave the set, even when you're on break. Stay there and contribute to the energy, and stay "dialed in" to the movie you're making.
@@AlanCanon2222 I recommend the book Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures. It covers his whole filmography pretty well. www.amazon.com/Robert-Wise-Motion-Pictures-Revised/dp/1629335363
I was very surprised at how good this movie was when I saw it, especially given how little I had heard about it. Easily overlooked but a true classic. One of the truest hard sci-fi movies ever made.
Yes. I was two when it hit theaters, it was only later in life that I saw it. True nuts and bolts Arthur C. Clarke level fiction, under the hand of a truly humanist director. Great ensemble cast, premise, and storytelling.
Great video. First saw this on a military base when it was released and the audience thought it was dead on. It's still one of the smartest portrayals of science and scientists on film. No flash, just the grinding work of doing the data and trying to figure out whose intrepretation of it might be right with the ticking clock bearing down on them every second. I really think this film is not only one of Wise's best, but the high point of all four actors' careers. Shame it isn't more widely shown or known, but the prestidigous Criterion Channel streaming service usually runs it once a year for a month as a geek audience favorite.
There are three scenes I always dread coming upon in movies: The desert crossing in Lawrence of Arabia. The space walk in 2001. And trying to escape the core while that damn interminable alarm is going off in this film.
Robert Wise only made a few epic films (The Sand Pebbles, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Sound of Music), but Andromeda Strain's gotta count as a low key one of them. Because if the scientists at Wildfire don't figure out the problem, there's no more humanity to have epics about.
I saw this in the 1970s when it first came out and subsequently bought the book. It is one of my favorite movies. Many people will not enjoy it because it is very "antiseptic" (as the critics said) and not full of action. It followed the scientists through their body cleaning process. Admittedly, the plot doesn't concentrate completely on that and events move along while the scicentists get ready to study Andromeda. It might not show up on TV very often also because of the onscreen apparent deaths of animals. But you can contrast that to remake (not as good as the original) where there is a cgi gruesume death of people. That also makes me think of the times we have seen characters die onscreen without a concern at all--the death of the man in the first Harry Potter movie and the Romulan senators in the last ST:TNG movie. It is a tense movie though and we are basically following these people as they know that each minute is another minute giving Andromeda an opportunity to kill lots of people and cause massive panic. It shows the scientific method and also the degree that people don't know or can't think of everything. They push to sterilize the infection site and the..oops, maybe we should do that. Things also get screwed up because of small piece of paper too! Levitt is a nice character. I would also include David Wayne's Dr. Dutton. His interaction with Levitt is fun. He tells her he would like to move to Alaska and she says "You, a Sourdough?" and he replies "the sourerest". One thing that shows in is the use of a lightpen in scenes between Hall and nurse Anson. That was something pushed by IBM as an option, but it never really caught on and was eclipsed by the creation of the mouse and the software to support that as an input device.
Nobody should bother with the TV movie remake. It was woke and stupid. As soon as they involved time travel I turned it off. Interesting thing about the light pen in the original. The prop they made wasn't real because it actually projected light out it's end. That's not how light pens work, but nobody knew that. Even today most people don't know that!
As I recall, the computer at Wildfire identified the pH sensitivity of Andromeda early on. It wasn’t recognized by Dr. Levitt, who was monitoring the computerized testing of pH at that time, because of the red flashing monitor screen which flagged a negative growth result, and triggered her to have a partial seizure and not recall that result.
And consider how brilliant that 'oversight' was attributed to her epilepsy which is foreshadowed early when they enter the building where Dutton has to give the password phrases to enter, she plays off her epilepsy at seeing the flashing red light as 'reminding her of her years in a bordello'.
When I saw the movie in the theater, the scene when they put the sample in an electron microscope and pumped it down to the working vacuum, it sounded like a turkey gobble. The audience laughed. My wife turned to me and asked if that was what it really sounded like. Yep it does
Repeating myself here, since the takedown of the original video review: I was 14 when I first saw this, and was incensed at the changes. A female scientist? Lasers instead of curare-tipped darts? No explanation of the "bottom level air is evacuated 30 seconds before the nuke goes?" To be fair to me, that was the first adaptation I ever saw of something I'd read. Now, of course, I realize that it stayed much closer to the book than the usual adaptation does.
This is an excellent review. I saw The Andromeda Strain as a young teen and then borrowed the novel from the library. I was enthralled by both. To this day I tend to watch a film before reading any novel which it might be based. I saw the film only for the second time last year. It was just as enjoyable fifty years later. The Andromeda Strain was and remains an excellent film.
@igorschmidlapp6987 You are right. 2001 was advertised after the initial disappointing release as an acid trip. 😊😵💫 The film does make far more sense after reading the book, though the two differ in some ways. Today, 2001 A Space Odyssey is a personal favourite, even without acid. 🫨
I first saw The Andromeda Strain when I was a teenager (rented it on VHS) and just absolutely loved it. It led me to Crichton's novel which I read, and subsequently read the rest of them (at least the ones available up till that point). I've watched the film several times since then and it still stands up for me as one of my favourites. I think part of it is that documentary style realism that appeals to me. I get what you're saying about the ending, but it has never bothered me (next time I watch it, it probably will now hahaha thanks dude...just joking). Great review; keep up the good work!
Watching this right now!!!! Ur review is so engrossing and really well done, thank you!! I've subscribed, liked, etc. Great film that I've seen before!!
Speaking as a 62 year old who has suffered from photosensitive epilepsy since age 12 this movie, one of the very few in my memory, had a massive impact in the portrayal, very realistically done, of someone who experiences seizures. Also the knee-jerk reaction of onlookers. By the way, flashing red lights are only type of cause. All that aside, I always enjoy watching this movie precisely because of its documentary style and there are some very memorable scenes: the cutting of a cadaver who bleeds crystals, a pilot whose breathing hoses start to fragment and the awful portrayal of the experimental subjects expiring after exposure to the strain (so glad to hear how that was really done!). This is a movie that, once seen, you don't forget in a hurry.
I saw this movie on TV when I was just 10 years old, butt my father is a medical doctor. He was amazed of the accuracy of the science portrayed on this film.
One of my all time favorite SciFi Classics. The best part is the final action sequence, escaping from the underground Bio-weapons Facility. The security systems used lasers to zap escaping lab animals, but this time it is a human trying to escape. It overshadows all the biology and alien virus theme that runs through most of the film. Demon Seed with Julie Christie, Cough Cough.Proteus AI = Alexa Today
Demon Seed is another movie that's completely ridiculous if you really think about it, but there's no kind of dread like 70s science fiction movie dread.
This is my favourite in the "hard" Sci-fi category. I thought the documentary presentation, casting and script were excellent here. Your criticism of the failure to detect the pH weakness I saw as a strength in the story as it was missed due to Levit's epileptic seizure, thus highlighting the human fallibility in the process. An excellent film! The same can not be said for the remake. I watched it once, which I consider too many times for my liking.
There is also a gigantic plot hole in this that nearly no one sees. I mentioned it in another thread a few years ago and people were pretty angry I had nearly ruined the movie for them so I won't mention it again. This is one of my favorite movies of all time regardless, I don't think they need to change anything at all. Brilliant story and brilliant film making. Movies are meant to transport us into another world for a couple hours with a compelling story and this one does A++.
"I never liked red lights. Reminds me of my years in a bordello."....LOL. A classic line that sneaked right by many people. This is a great, and underrated movie, which is one of very few that have ever been made that paid a full measure of respect to the scientific method and treats its audience like intelligent, reasoning human beings.
I always wondered what exactly she did at the bordello? Probably what we think even though she does not fit the prototype of that-kind-of-woman. (Raquel would have.) Maybe she was a nurse who checked the workers.
I'd say the movie is more relevant today than ever with the recent Covid scare. Where it emanated from, its objective, and how to coral and protect ourselves from it is still elusive for most of us. Natural strain mutation, accidental corrupted mutation, scientifically engineered new strain for medical progress or chemical warfare? And I think that's where the movie really hits home, in that as lethal as this organism is - it is also 'life beyond our planet and understanding'. Which is pretty exciting. But when it's risk factor is projected on bio-warfare maps and graphs - who is really deciding the objective of this new life form and its future on earth?
If memory serves did it not mutate and become some kind of plastic or rubber-eating virus that basically put an end to space exploration by getting into the atmosphere and surrounding the earth? If I am not mistaken I read the book after seeing the movie on the NBC Saturday Night Movies I found it in a used bookstore while on a lunch break from middle school I thought it was great Scifi.
I know what you mean about how certain things can ruin a movie. I rewatched the original Planet of the Apes yesterday and in the beginning there we a couple of nitpicking errors that it ruined the movie for me. Ha!!! One was Heston smoking a cigar in the space ship’s oxygen rich environment that’s puffing out smoke. Then when he is done with a puff he just laid it on the instrument console. Next he gives himself a hibernation injection when he’s done he just throws the use hypodermic and cotton ball in a drawer. Very professional on two counts. Ha!!!
Great Review thank you! I have always liked this movie , the episode Home Soil from Star Trek TNG always reminds me of it. I also enjoyed the 2008 Miniseries of Andromeda Strain worth a look. (:
This is the most essential science fiction movie ever made. It's literally about a fictional scientific event, and follows a group of scientists that deal with the fictional event by means of science. I love it.
They did well with the Dr. Ruth Leavitt character. Chosing an actress who wasn't glamorous was a smart move, from a story standpoint. It may have hurt them at the box office though.
The OG "Andromeda Strain" is in my library with "Colossus: The Forbin Project", and all the other movies you list. I grew up on that stuff ... The Andromeda Strain reboot A&E mini-series in 2008 truly sucked...
And still one of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies since I saw it in the theater in 1971! And I totally agree with everything you said about Kate Reid's performance!!!
After seeing this film a few times over many years, I got ahold of a hardcover copy of the novel. The film seems to plod along --- (uhhh. no, in fact it DOES plod along with nearly criminal slowness) --- but the book is an absolute breeze, wonderful to read.
It's one of the very few science fiction films which is explicitly about science; well-reasoned and executed, it's a great movie. Chrichton was a master at writing stories where something goes wrong, but unfortunately there's some bits across his work that don't quite gell -- I can imagine a failure in Wildfire's communications systems; I cannot imagine people being unaware of the communications breakdown. You'd almost certainly insist on routine "Nothing to report" heartbeat messages both ways. The bit about Andromeda evolving into something less lethal is solid science, and is common across pandemics. Andromeda seems to have done it very quickly. I do king of wince hearing about the use of carbon dioxide. Nitrogen would have been much more humane.
I was 13 when the Andromeda Strain Movie came out. What made it so fascinating and frightening to me was just a few years earlier we had the 1st Moon landing and there was the isolation of this Apollo crew, just incase of a non-terrestrial bug coming back to earth. Now couple this with a horrifying event that took place a year earlier not far from my home town - Salt Lake City, Utah; a massive amount of sheep had died, most likely caused by a errant poison gas accident in Skull valley, Utah - which was not far from the Dugway Proving Grounds. An area which had open air testing of VX nerve gas. The idea that a space bug being handled - mishandled by the Government seemed highly possible.
Excellent movie, right up to the ending which, yes, is a bit of a cop out of the "with a single bound he was free" variety. Apart from anything else, how could they assume that the strain would not mutate again, into a more harmful form? And how could anyone predict the knock-on effects of an alien organism being introduced into the Earth's ecosystem? But that niggle aside, overall excellent movie.
@@TheUnapologeticGeek You should. There's TH-cam videos of Eric Braeden ("Forbin") talking about his long career, and he says "Colossus" really advanced it. He was reluctant to do it at first because Uni wanted him to change his real name, Hans Guidgast, to something more American; but he thought the script was intriguing and eventually did. He says over the years, he's run into a lot of genre directors, including James Cameron, who are huge fans of the movie and even like quoting the last line of the movie, "Never..." to him. In an age where more and more technology, including cars and home security systems, are connected and vulnerable to the Internet, the movie is still surprisingly relevant and less far-fetched than it used to be. Uni kept the rights and has long been interested in remaking the film, but I doubt they'll ever find a better Forbin than Braeden. (Or Paul Frees as Colossus' voice, for that matter.)
The end of the film is the 'happy ending' demanded by the times,with the strain apparently destroyed by the PH levels of the ocean (even though the strain has mutated beyond that stage by then). The book ends differently. That ALL of the intruding Andromeda Strain mutates at the same time, to break through the seals in the Wildfire installation, and then again to exist in Earth's high atmosphere in altered form, might be a clue to the Strain being something a little more than the simple 'virus' it appears. After all, when the green spots are studied, and the black rock their are coming from studied, one scientist gets the intuition that he's looking at a city and it's inhabitants. He dismissed the idea, even though the joke is made that the words 'take me to your leader' may come from a slide under a microscope. Essentially the mutations end in the book with what seems to be a quarantine of Earth. Depends on how you look at it, though.
I think your opinion of this film depends greatly upon when you saw it and how old you were at the time. I saw it on its release, in the theater, and I was 11. It was completely realistic and terrifying, very unlike many other science-fiction movies. I've lost track of how many times I've seen it. One of my favorites. I was going to mention, "Silent Running" but you already did. I also saw 2001 on its release and though being eight at the time I still remember the experience clearly. Further back, I saw, "Fantastic Voyage" on its release and remember that very clearly. But "The Andromeda Strain" left me reeling. It's a great film.
I watched this movie a couple of months ago. Its actually very good, the mysterious alien entity truly looked unstoppable and scary. Unfortunately it has a deus ex type shitty ending
This is one of my favourite science fiction films. Indeed probably the best work of Michael Crighton. I recently got hold of the original movie poster and just had it framed. By the way, the actor James Olson who played doctor Mark Hall died earlier this year at the age of 91. Great upload, thanks!
While accurate your use of the term science fiction to describe Michael Crichton's work would have gotten you sued if he was still alive. He loathed science fiction, the people who wrote it and the people who read it. He was known to pitch screaming and thrashing on the ground child-like tantrums when people used the words "science fiction" in his presence.
And I had one of the two environmental protection outfits that they wore in piedmont. And the movers that brought all our stuff from LA to Phoenix, it was gone…
The book this film is based on I read when I was in the US Navy. When I saw this film the theater was divided into different levels and the ushers wore white jump suits.
When I read the books eons ago. And I saw the warfare maps I was convinced that this was based on a real event. And the most scaring scene is still for me the 601 .
I have the oddest feeling I have seen this review before. I think I have started to lose my grip on reality, or I watch way too many reviews/retrospectives on youtube.
You're not crazy. This is a re-upload. I had a copyright dispute over a handful of footage in which Universal refused to acknowledge my fair use claim. So I replaced the footage, polished up the video's rougher edges, and voila.
Love it! High end slow burn sci-fi ahead of the game for its time. Interesting story & concepts, well acted. An enjoyable annual watch. Very good book. “Annihilation”, “The Arrival”, “Ex-Machina”, “The Endless” & “Interstellar” are also good slow burn sci-fi movies.
I take your points about some contrivances in the story (which were also in the novel). I'd argue that these are inevitable to 'spin a good yarn' in Hollywood. What I had a real problem with is the failure to have all the nuclear destruct stations operational. Exactly how long would it take to do this? In the novel it is worse. The Wildfire base blueprints were followed, construction was completed and only then did someone realise they were three de-activation stations short!!!!!
Possibly some were damaged in the original shipment and sense they were specialized equipment either they had to be fixed and returned or new ones made from scratch. No one and inventory.
Great movie. I was 11 or 12 when the movie came out. I loved the movie and read the book. It was the first “adult novel “ I ever read! Have watched the movie 20+ times and read the book a dozen times.
Just re-watched AS today. For the nth time. Much like you, I read it as a teen in the early 70s and LOVED it. Both book and film still hold up extremely well.
The Vincent Price movie served me as an introductory survey of Shakespeare when I was a boy. Seeing it many decades later was not as fun, but still fun.
It is very difficult to do 'hard' SF. The Andromeda Strain pulls it off better than any other SF film. If there are others, please enlighten me. One change between movie and book is that instead of using lasers to attack Dr. Hall, Crichton used numbing darts. Good change. The performances are wonderful. I love Arthur Hill. David Wayne showed his humanity. Kate Reid is fabulous. I still think Robert Redford in the Mark Hall role would have been an improvement, would have increased box office and not detract from the film.
As stated they didn't want A-Lost actors to distract you from believing the documentary feel of the story. I wish they did the same on Battlefield Earth.
My comment, part 2. "You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your two lips together and ... blow.". That is how you whistle all right, but everyone knows Lauren Bacall wasn't talking about whistling. And there's the immediate follow up to TTFAW, Monkey Business, Hawks one stab at depicting a . married couple. Cary Grant is a research chemist with several observant chimpanzees. They watch him and Dr. Lintel mix what they hope will be a formulae for a long lasting tonic for the aging body. When they leave the lab for a few minutes, one of the chimps gets out of her cage and adds a little of this and a jot of that, then dumps it into the water cooler. Grant and Lintel return and Grant immediately drinks some of HIS formula. He chases the bitter taste away with water from the cooler thus unknowingly taking the chimps formula. And all the while Dr. Lintel is chiding him. "Please, Doctor. Self-experimentation is NEVER good." To which Grant replies "Jerome, you'll have to take the notes as I tell you what I'm experiencing. I seem to have suddenly gone blind." He takes off his coke-bottom glasses and discovers that he has perfect vision. Not only that, but his bursitis is gone. He also quickly gets the emotional maturity and intellectual depth of a 20 year old. And has a high school sense of humor. And then there's The Nutty Professor!! Written by Archimedes!! SO WHEN DO WE GET 'I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE'??!! And when are you going to spill the beans on movie reactors??
I'm so happy you recognize Kate Reid's outstanding performance. I always found it so frustrating to hear and read reviews of this film and she is barely mentioned.
One of my favorite sci-fi movies including so many you have reviewed - also loved Dr. Strangelove, Kronos, Ice Station Zebra, The Abyss, Invaders from Mars, Jason and the Argonauts, and my very favorite Galaxy Quest. Mysterious Island and fighting the giant crab that resulted in a nice crab dinner was a favorite scene.
Good review. Love the background info. I remember that one piece of paper creating problems all because the tech guys expertise was not mechanical. That scene always reminds me of the saying, "Jack of all trades, master of none.
And later on, the nuke disarm system. Psychologically, you don't expect someone to set off the sterilization bomb. Physically, if the person is disabled, they cannot set off the sterilization bomb. A smart design. Then you get to the climax where you need to shut off the bomb and the deactivation box wasn't finished installing, meaning the one person has to climb to another level. Combine that with a nurse on another floor refusing to help him because the nurse thinks he is infected by Andromeda, and it shows where even the most paranoid preparation can be undone by simple issues.
my mother took me to see this when I was 11 years old and I was fascinated... There was a lot I didn't understand at the time but I've revisited this work numerous times over the decades and find it just as powerful as ever... reminds me of another film that came out around the same time called Marooned ... about a u.s. space mission gone awry that also fascinated me
This IS my fav. This is the only monster from outer space flic to ever scare me. And now with all the traffic to & from space it still does ...more. And yeah, that rain & salt water at the end made me wonder even as a 6th grader when I first saw it at the theatre.
In regards to Dr Reid missing the scanning sample, she didn't miss just one, she missed hundreds of them as she passed out after the red lights flashed. She came to and found that the sequence had finished. Having no idea when she passed out she picks a sample to restart on (ironically it was the first sample _after_ the alkaline solution). She then had to quickly stop to attend the meeting and never got around to finishing the scans. Next time pay better attention. This film is awesome! The one problem I have is with the idea that a nuclear explosion wouldn't kill it, but would provide the germ with endless energy to keep growing exponentially. This is ridiculous. Matter itself breaks down at the subatomic level in a nuclear explosion, earthly or not..
Crichton's concept of the Andromeda organism really didn't make a lot of physical sense. The idea that it could convert radiant energy to matter in order to grow is a sign of not doing the math. But he sold it just by piling on layers of made-up detail, and that does carry over to the film.
If you have deja vu watching this, know that it is a re-upload. I had a copyright dispute that I couldn’t clear up through the normal TH-cam arbitration, so I “remastered” the video.
I love, love, love, this movie. It's probably the 20th Robert Wise movie I watched, and I just love the way he does genre fiction. Wise never gets the cred that "auteur" directors like Hitchcock and Kubrick received, but it's not clear that he cared. He was too busy pumping out quality movie after quality movie. There's still a few Wise films I haven't seen, "Blood on the Moon" and "Executive Suite" are the main ones. The Haunting is the "2001: a Space Odyssey" of cerebral, scary "haunted house" movies. I'll restrain myself from going on, but to my mind, if you multiply directorial ability by box office success, Robert Wise is one of those low key winners. To his death he never was anything other (in interviews, anyway) anything other than the boy from Winchester, Indiana, who went to Hollywood and made good. My favorite two pieces of wisdom from Robert Wise are, if you're the director, strive to be the most prepared of all the personnel on the set, so you don't waste their time, and, secondly, if you're making science fiction, ground the story in a situation that's just as real and believable as possible. Out of the dozens of films he made, I've yet to see the one that he failed his own ideals on. Just an amazing, "dependable" (as Wikipedia says) Hollywood director. P. S. Since I was always in church when Star Trek was re-run on WAVE-3 in Louisville, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) was the first Star Trek story that I got to see uninterrupted (on the big screen, age 10), and although I like the other Star Trek movies, I might be one of the few people who considers "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" to be my favorite Star Trek film: it's through that movie and that story that I learned who Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, and the rest, really were. Yes, I know it's slow and cerebral. That's absolutely fine by me.
Oh, also, William Shatner had problems with Wise, but in interviews, he said what he learned from Wise was, never leave the set, even when you're on break. Stay there and contribute to the energy, and stay "dialed in" to the movie you're making.
@@AlanCanon2222 I recommend the book Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures. It covers his whole filmography pretty well. www.amazon.com/Robert-Wise-Motion-Pictures-Revised/dp/1629335363
This was an extraordinary, thorough and extremely well thought out analysis of the movie. Absolutely the best.
Bravo!!!
I was very surprised at how good this movie was when I saw it, especially given how little I had heard about it. Easily overlooked but a true classic. One of the truest hard sci-fi movies ever made.
Yes. I was two when it hit theaters, it was only later in life that I saw it. True nuts and bolts Arthur C. Clarke level fiction, under the hand of a truly humanist director. Great ensemble cast, premise, and storytelling.
Great video. First saw this on a military base when it was released and the audience thought it was dead on. It's still one of the smartest portrayals of science and scientists on film. No flash, just the grinding work of doing the data and trying to figure out whose intrepretation of it might be right with the ticking clock bearing down on them every second. I really think this film is not only one of Wise's best, but the high point of all four actors' careers. Shame it isn't more widely shown or known, but the prestidigous Criterion Channel streaming service usually runs it once a year for a month as a geek audience favorite.
There are three scenes I always dread coming upon in movies:
The desert crossing in Lawrence of Arabia.
The space walk in 2001.
And trying to escape the core while that damn interminable alarm is going off in this film.
Robert Wise only made a few epic films (The Sand Pebbles, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Sound of Music), but Andromeda Strain's gotta count as a low key one of them. Because if the scientists at Wildfire don't figure out the problem, there's no more humanity to have epics about.
That ERROR 601 ALWAYS freaks me out...
I saw this in the 1970s when it first came out and subsequently bought the book. It is one of my favorite movies.
Many people will not enjoy it because it is very "antiseptic" (as the critics said) and not full of action. It followed the scientists through their body cleaning process. Admittedly, the plot doesn't concentrate completely on that and events move along while the scicentists get ready to study Andromeda. It might not show up on TV very often also because of the onscreen apparent deaths of animals. But you can contrast that to remake (not as good as the original) where there is a cgi gruesume death of people. That also makes me think of the times we have seen characters die onscreen without a concern at all--the death of the man in the first Harry Potter movie and the Romulan senators in the last ST:TNG movie.
It is a tense movie though and we are basically following these people as they know that each minute is another minute giving Andromeda an opportunity to kill lots of people and cause massive panic. It shows the scientific method and also the degree that people don't know or can't think of everything. They push to sterilize the infection site and the..oops, maybe we should do that. Things also get screwed up because of small piece of paper too!
Levitt is a nice character. I would also include David Wayne's Dr. Dutton. His interaction with Levitt is fun. He tells her he would like to move to Alaska and she says "You, a Sourdough?" and he replies "the sourerest".
One thing that shows in is the use of a lightpen in scenes between Hall and nurse Anson. That was something pushed by IBM as an option, but it never really caught on and was eclipsed by the creation of the mouse and the software to support that as an input device.
Nobody should bother with the TV movie remake. It was woke and stupid. As soon as they involved time travel I turned it off.
Interesting thing about the light pen in the original. The prop they made wasn't real because it actually projected light out it's end. That's not how light pens work, but nobody knew that. Even today most people don't know that!
As I recall, the computer at Wildfire identified the pH sensitivity of Andromeda early on. It wasn’t recognized by Dr. Levitt, who was monitoring the computerized testing of pH at that time, because of the red flashing monitor screen which flagged a negative growth result, and triggered her to have a partial seizure and not recall that result.
And consider how brilliant that 'oversight' was attributed to her epilepsy which is foreshadowed early when they enter the building where Dutton has to give the password phrases to enter, she plays off her epilepsy at seeing the flashing red light as 'reminding her of her years in a bordello'.
When I saw the movie in the theater, the scene when they put the sample in an electron microscope and pumped it down to the working vacuum, it sounded like a turkey gobble. The audience laughed. My wife turned to me and asked if that was what it really sounded like. Yep it does
It does? That’s great! 😂
Repeating myself here, since the takedown of the original video review:
I was 14 when I first saw this, and was incensed at the changes. A female scientist? Lasers instead of curare-tipped darts? No explanation of the "bottom level air is evacuated 30 seconds before the nuke goes?"
To be fair to me, that was the first adaptation I ever saw of something I'd read.
Now, of course, I realize that it stayed much closer to the book than the usual adaptation does.
do not read crichton's lost world before seeing the movie.
One of my all time favourite films. Love it, was totally engrossed by it.
Crichton's best work, and a very close adaptation by Wise. Outstanding production design, and well-cast.
You need to read the sequel which was recently released. Some of the issues you mention are partly answered 😉
This is an excellent review.
I saw The Andromeda Strain as a young teen and then borrowed the novel from the library. I was enthralled by both. To this day I tend to watch a film before reading any novel which it might be based.
I saw the film only for the second time last year. It was just as enjoyable fifty years later.
The Andromeda Strain was and remains an excellent film.
I had to read "2001" just to figure out what the hell I watched on film... (I call it Kubrick's acid trip) ;-)
@igorschmidlapp6987 You are right. 2001 was advertised after the initial disappointing release as an acid trip. 😊😵💫
The film does make far more sense after reading the book, though the two differ in some ways. Today, 2001 A Space Odyssey is a personal favourite, even without acid. 🫨
Watching this as a child, I was glued to the screen from beginning to end.
I first saw The Andromeda Strain when I was a teenager (rented it on VHS) and just absolutely loved it. It led me to Crichton's novel which I read, and subsequently read the rest of them (at least the ones available up till that point). I've watched the film several times since then and it still stands up for me as one of my favourites. I think part of it is that documentary style realism that appeals to me. I get what you're saying about the ending, but it has never bothered me (next time I watch it, it probably will now hahaha thanks dude...just joking). Great review; keep up the good work!
Watching this right now!!!! Ur review is so engrossing and really well done, thank you!! I've subscribed, liked, etc. Great film that I've seen before!!
An intelligent, deliberate, suspenseful, and well-made film. A very underrated Robert Wise film.
This movie had a huge impact on me as a kid growing up in the 70s. I still think it's one of the best 'hard sci-fi' movies ever made.
I love Andromeda Strain. One of my favorite sci fi movies
Speaking as a 62 year old who has suffered from photosensitive epilepsy since age 12 this movie, one of the very few in my memory, had a massive impact in the portrayal, very realistically done, of someone who experiences seizures. Also the knee-jerk reaction of onlookers. By the way, flashing red lights are only type of cause.
All that aside, I always enjoy watching this movie precisely because of its documentary style and there are some very memorable scenes: the cutting of a cadaver who bleeds crystals, a pilot whose breathing hoses start to fragment and the awful portrayal of the experimental subjects expiring after exposure to the strain (so glad to hear how that was really done!).
This is a movie that, once seen, you don't forget in a hurry.
Awesomeness!! One of my favorites Film and Book
I saw this movie on TV when I was just 10 years old, butt my father is a medical doctor. He was amazed of the accuracy of the science portrayed on this film.
One of my all time favorite SciFi Classics. The best part is the final action sequence, escaping from the underground Bio-weapons Facility. The security systems used lasers to zap escaping lab animals, but this time it is a human trying to escape. It overshadows all the biology and alien virus theme that runs through most of the film.
Demon Seed with Julie Christie, Cough Cough.Proteus AI = Alexa Today
Hehheh. Funny you should mention Demon Seed. I just started prepping for an upcoming review of it in a few weeks. 😎
Demon Seed is another movie that's completely ridiculous if you really think about it, but there's no kind of dread like 70s science fiction movie dread.
You should do The Satan Bug if you haven’t already.. good work
I haven’t heard of that either! Putting it on my list.
This is my favourite in the "hard" Sci-fi category.
I thought the documentary presentation, casting and script were excellent here.
Your criticism of the failure to detect the pH weakness I saw as a strength in the story as it was missed due to Levit's epileptic seizure, thus highlighting the human fallibility in the process.
An excellent film!
The same can not be said for the remake. I watched it once, which I consider too many times for my liking.
There is also a gigantic plot hole in this that nearly no one sees. I mentioned it in another thread a few years ago and people were pretty angry I had nearly ruined the movie for them so I won't mention it again. This is one of my favorite movies of all time regardless, I don't think they need to change anything at all. Brilliant story and brilliant film making. Movies are meant to transport us into another world for a couple hours with a compelling story and this one does A++.
"I never liked red lights. Reminds me of my years in a bordello."....LOL. A classic line that sneaked right by many people. This is a great, and underrated movie, which is one of very few that have ever been made that paid a full measure of respect to the scientific method and treats its audience like intelligent, reasoning human beings.
I always wondered what exactly she did at the bordello? Probably what we think even though she does not fit the prototype of that-kind-of-woman. (Raquel would have.) Maybe she was a nurse who checked the workers.
When I see a top ten sci-fi film list, if this is not on it then I don't think its a serious list.
I'd say the movie is more relevant today than ever with the recent Covid scare. Where it emanated from, its objective, and how to coral and protect ourselves from it is still elusive for most of us. Natural strain mutation, accidental corrupted mutation, scientifically engineered new strain for medical progress or chemical warfare? And I think that's where the movie really hits home, in that as lethal as this organism is - it is also 'life beyond our planet and understanding'. Which is pretty exciting. But when it's risk factor is projected on bio-warfare maps and graphs - who is really deciding the objective of this new life form and its future on earth?
If memory serves did it not mutate and become some kind of plastic or rubber-eating virus that basically put an end to space exploration by getting into the atmosphere and surrounding the earth? If I am not mistaken I read the book after seeing the movie on the NBC Saturday Night Movies I found it in a used bookstore while on a lunch break from middle school I thought it was great Scifi.
One of my favorite movies.
I know what you mean about how certain things can ruin a movie. I rewatched the original Planet of the Apes yesterday and in the beginning there we a couple of nitpicking errors that it ruined the movie for me. Ha!!! One was Heston smoking a cigar in the space ship’s oxygen rich environment that’s puffing out smoke. Then when he is done with a puff he just laid it on the instrument console. Next he gives himself a hibernation injection when he’s done he just throws the use hypodermic and cotton ball in a drawer. Very professional on two counts. Ha!!!
Great Review thank you! I have always liked this movie , the episode Home Soil from Star Trek TNG always reminds me of it.
I also enjoyed the 2008 Miniseries of Andromeda Strain worth a look. (:
This is the most essential science fiction movie ever made. It's literally about a fictional scientific event, and follows a group of scientists that deal with the fictional event by means of science. I love it.
They did well with the Dr. Ruth Leavitt character. Chosing an actress who wasn't glamorous was a smart move, from a story standpoint. It may have hurt them at the box office though.
The OG "Andromeda Strain" is in my library with "Colossus: The Forbin Project", and all the other movies you list. I grew up on that stuff ... The Andromeda Strain reboot A&E mini-series in 2008 truly sucked...
I hated the two part remake. 😠
Of this era, my favourite are more tech than science. Demon Seed and Colossus: the Forbin Project.
All time 70's though.. Rollerball.
I drew up a house concept based on the Andromeda Strain, in my High School Architectural Drafting Course.
My teacher wasn't impressed. ;-)
Well, your teacher was obviously a fool!
And still one of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies since I saw it in the theater in 1971! And I totally agree with everything you said about Kate Reid's performance!!!
After seeing this film a few times over many years, I got ahold of a hardcover copy of the novel.
The film seems to plod along --- (uhhh. no, in fact it DOES plod along with nearly criminal slowness) ---
but the book is an absolute breeze, wonderful to read.
It is a brilliant film - a mature story and a mature rendition, certainly germane to our Covid era.
It's one of the very few science fiction films which is explicitly about science; well-reasoned and executed, it's a great movie.
Chrichton was a master at writing stories where something goes wrong, but unfortunately there's some bits across his work that don't quite gell -- I can imagine a failure in Wildfire's communications systems; I cannot imagine people being unaware of the communications breakdown. You'd almost certainly insist on routine "Nothing to report" heartbeat messages both ways.
The bit about Andromeda evolving into something less lethal is solid science, and is common across pandemics. Andromeda seems to have done it very quickly.
I do king of wince hearing about the use of carbon dioxide. Nitrogen would have been much more humane.
Whereas Colossus: The Forbin Project bored me, The Andromedia Strain had me on the edge of my seat.
I was 13 when the Andromeda Strain Movie came out. What made it so fascinating and frightening to me was just a few years earlier we had the 1st Moon landing and there was the isolation of this Apollo crew, just incase of a non-terrestrial bug coming back to earth. Now couple this with a horrifying event that took place a year earlier not far from my home town - Salt Lake City, Utah; a massive amount of sheep had died, most likely caused by a errant poison gas accident in Skull valley, Utah - which was not far from the Dugway Proving Grounds. An area which had open air testing of VX nerve gas. The idea that a space bug being handled - mishandled by the Government seemed highly possible.
Excellent movie, right up to the ending which, yes, is a bit of a cop out of the "with a single bound he was free" variety. Apart from anything else, how could they assume that the strain would not mutate again, into a more harmful form? And how could anyone predict the knock-on effects of an alien organism being introduced into the Earth's ecosystem?
But that niggle aside, overall excellent movie.
What do you think of "Colossus: the Forbin Project"?
I’ve been trying to get my hands on a copy to do a full review. I’ll let you know!
I haven't seen it since it first came out and yet I have remembered the title. Need to see it again to find out why I remember such an obscure title.
That's a good one, very much in the same vein--a low-key, slow-burn science-fiction movie with gradually ratcheting dread.
@@TheUnapologeticGeek You should. There's TH-cam videos of Eric Braeden ("Forbin") talking about his long career, and he says "Colossus" really advanced it. He was reluctant to do it at first because Uni wanted him to change his real name, Hans Guidgast, to something more American; but he thought the script was intriguing and eventually did. He says over the years, he's run into a lot of genre directors, including James Cameron, who are huge fans of the movie and even like quoting the last line of the movie, "Never..." to him. In an age where more and more technology, including cars and home security systems, are connected and vulnerable to the Internet, the movie is still surprisingly relevant and less far-fetched than it used to be. Uni kept the rights and has long been interested in remaking the film, but I doubt they'll ever find a better Forbin than Braeden. (Or Paul Frees as Colossus' voice, for that matter.)
Love that one. I'm a big fan of AI in SF films, and that's one of the most plausible AI villains.
The end of the film is the 'happy ending' demanded by the times,with the strain apparently destroyed by the PH levels of the ocean (even though the strain has mutated beyond that stage by then).
The book ends differently.
That ALL of the intruding Andromeda Strain mutates at the same time, to break through the seals in the Wildfire installation, and then again to exist in Earth's high atmosphere in altered form, might be a clue to the Strain being something a little more than the simple 'virus' it appears.
After all, when the green spots are studied, and the black rock their are coming from studied, one scientist gets the intuition that he's looking at a city and it's inhabitants.
He dismissed the idea, even though the joke is made that the words 'take me to your leader' may come from a slide under a microscope.
Essentially the mutations end in the book with what seems to be a quarantine of Earth.
Depends on how you look at it, though.
I think your opinion of this film depends greatly upon when you saw it and how old you were at the time. I saw it on its release, in the theater, and I was 11. It was completely realistic and terrifying, very unlike many other science-fiction movies. I've lost track of how many times I've seen it. One of my favorites. I was going to mention, "Silent Running" but you already did. I also saw 2001 on its release and though being eight at the time I still remember the experience clearly. Further back, I saw, "Fantastic Voyage" on its release and remember that very clearly. But "The Andromeda Strain" left me reeling. It's a great film.
I watched this movie a couple of months ago. Its actually very good, the mysterious alien entity truly looked unstoppable and scary. Unfortunately it has a deus ex type shitty ending
Pre-Reactionary Crichton was good stuff once upon a time.
This is one of my favourite science fiction films.
Indeed probably the best work of Michael Crighton.
I recently got hold of the original movie poster and just had it framed.
By the way, the actor James Olson who played doctor Mark Hall died earlier this year at the age of 91.
Great upload, thanks!
While accurate your use of the term science fiction to describe Michael Crichton's work would have gotten you sued if he was still alive. He loathed science fiction, the people who wrote it and the people who read it. He was known to pitch screaming and thrashing on the ground child-like tantrums when people used the words "science fiction" in his presence.
Ahead of it's time (Hot Lab's). One of my favorite classic movies!
I liked the casting in this film, but it didnt offer much else. I'm sure it was way more impactful when it was released.
How about the forbin project next?? A great movie with a surprising down beat end
And I had one of the two environmental protection outfits that they wore in piedmont. And the movers that brought all our stuff from LA to Phoenix, it was gone…
The book this film is based on I read when I was in the US Navy. When I saw this film the theater was divided into different levels and the ushers wore white jump suits.
Kate Reid was in an episode of Columbo.
She was a brilliant actress.
Another one of my favorite movies. Your reviews are always so interesting.
@11:14 didn't notice the first time, but wise is wearing a wildfire key around his neck!
When I read the books eons ago. And I saw the warfare maps I was convinced that this was based on a real event. And the most scaring scene is still for me the 601 .
I can believe that coincidence happens in a film with a scientific theme / nature Hebrew is not a popular language in film
I have the oddest feeling I have seen this review before. I think I have started to lose my grip on reality, or I watch way too many reviews/retrospectives on youtube.
You're not crazy. This is a re-upload. I had a copyright dispute over a handful of footage in which Universal refused to acknowledge my fair use claim. So I replaced the footage, polished up the video's rougher edges, and voila.
Okay good, I thought I was going crazy! I recommend pinning a comment or adding that info to the description to prevent confusion.
Always wondered how they knocked-out the rats and monkeys.
Great work
Love it! High end slow burn sci-fi ahead of the game for its time. Interesting story & concepts, well acted. An enjoyable annual watch. Very good book. “Annihilation”, “The Arrival”, “Ex-Machina”, “The Endless” & “Interstellar” are also good slow burn sci-fi movies.
You just rattled off a bunch of my absolute favorites!
@@TheUnapologeticGeek yes some very good sci-fi 👍🏽
Add "Moon" to the list!
I take your points about some contrivances in the story (which were also in the novel). I'd argue that these are inevitable to 'spin a good yarn' in Hollywood. What I had a real problem with is the failure to have all the nuclear destruct stations operational. Exactly how long would it take to do this? In the novel it is worse. The Wildfire base blueprints were followed, construction was completed and only then did someone realise they were three de-activation stations short!!!!!
Possibly some were damaged in the original shipment and sense they were specialized equipment either they had to be fixed and returned or new ones made from scratch. No one and inventory.
Great movie. I was 11 or 12 when the movie came out. I loved the movie and read the book. It was the first “adult novel “ I ever read! Have watched the movie 20+ times and read the book a dozen times.
Just re-watched AS today. For the nth time. Much like you, I read it as a teen in the early 70s and LOVED it. Both book and film still hold up extremely well.
One of my favorite movies.
I think it was the first time I read the book then saw the movie.
That "601" computer overload error message chilled me to the bone!
I'm told it's a borrow from the NASA error code '1202.'
Crichton was truly brilliant
Excellent choice. Great vid. Bit of an odd one this, but have you ever seen theatre of blood?
Can't say that I have.
The Vincent Price movie served me as an introductory survey of Shakespeare when I was a boy. Seeing it many decades later was not as fun, but still fun.
@@benton804 I do love Vincent Price. I’ll have to check it out!
ERROR 601
ERROR 601
ERROR 601
It is very difficult to do 'hard' SF. The Andromeda Strain pulls it off better than any other SF film. If there are others, please enlighten me. One change between movie and book is that instead of using lasers to attack Dr. Hall, Crichton used numbing darts. Good change. The performances are wonderful. I love Arthur Hill. David Wayne showed his humanity. Kate Reid is fabulous. I still think Robert Redford in the Mark Hall role would have been an improvement, would have increased box office and not detract from the film.
As stated they didn't want A-Lost actors to distract you from believing the documentary feel of the story. I wish they did the same on Battlefield Earth.
I love James Olson and thought he did an amazing job as Dr Hall, very believable and the most normal seeming of the 4 main characters. RIP💕
CORONA 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
My comment, part 2. "You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your two lips together and ... blow.". That is how you whistle all right, but everyone knows Lauren Bacall wasn't talking about whistling.
And there's the immediate follow up to TTFAW, Monkey Business, Hawks one stab at depicting a . married couple. Cary Grant is a research chemist with several observant chimpanzees. They watch him and Dr. Lintel mix what they hope will be a formulae for a long lasting tonic for the aging body. When they leave the lab for a few minutes, one of the chimps gets out of her cage and adds a little of this and a jot of that, then dumps it into the water cooler. Grant and Lintel return and Grant immediately drinks some of HIS formula. He chases the bitter taste away with water from the cooler thus unknowingly taking the chimps formula. And all the while Dr. Lintel is chiding him. "Please, Doctor. Self-experimentation is NEVER good." To which Grant replies "Jerome, you'll have to take the notes as I tell you what I'm experiencing. I seem to have suddenly gone blind."
He takes off his coke-bottom glasses and discovers that he has perfect vision. Not only that, but his bursitis is gone. He also quickly gets the emotional maturity and intellectual depth of a 20 year old. And has a high school sense of humor.
And then there's The Nutty Professor!! Written by Archimedes!!
SO WHEN DO WE GET 'I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE'??!! And when are you going to spill the beans on movie reactors??
Great movie.
I'm so happy you recognize Kate Reid's outstanding performance. I always found it so frustrating to hear and read reviews of this film and she is barely mentioned.
Well done. Sub earned.
thank you.
You're welcome.
One of my favorite sci-fi movies including so many you have reviewed - also loved Dr. Strangelove, Kronos, Ice Station Zebra, The Abyss, Invaders from Mars, Jason and the Argonauts, and my very favorite Galaxy Quest. Mysterious Island and fighting the giant crab that resulted in a nice crab dinner was a favorite scene.
This video looks so incredibly re-mastered! Not sure why 😉
I’m not exactly sure why, but I find this to be one of your best featurettes so far, and I have yet to see the film!
Good review. Love the background info. I remember that one piece of paper creating problems all because the tech guys expertise was not mechanical. That scene always reminds me of the saying, "Jack of all trades, master of none.
And later on, the nuke disarm system. Psychologically, you don't expect someone to set off the sterilization bomb. Physically, if the person is disabled, they cannot set off the sterilization bomb. A smart design. Then you get to the climax where you need to shut off the bomb and the deactivation box wasn't finished installing, meaning the one person has to climb to another level. Combine that with a nurse on another floor refusing to help him because the nurse thinks he is infected by Andromeda, and it shows where even the most paranoid preparation can be undone by simple issues.
@@toddkes5890 Murphy's'Law "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."
@@MiBones ..and at the worst possible time.
my mother took me to see this when I was 11 years old and I was fascinated... There was a lot I didn't understand at the time but I've revisited this work numerous times over the decades and find it just as powerful as ever... reminds me of another film that came out around the same time called Marooned ... about a u.s. space mission gone awry that also fascinated me
This IS my fav. This is the only monster from outer space flic to ever scare me. And now with all the traffic to & from space it still does ...more. And yeah, that rain & salt water at the end made me wonder even as a 6th grader when I first saw it at the theatre.
The first time I saw this movie it was scary even with the technology of the 70's in movie industry.
another one hit out of the park, Mr. G.
In regards to Dr Reid missing the scanning sample, she didn't miss just one, she missed hundreds of them as she passed out after the red lights flashed.
She came to and found that the sequence had finished. Having no idea when she passed out she picks a sample to restart on (ironically it was the first sample _after_ the alkaline solution). She then had to quickly stop to attend the meeting and never got around to finishing the scans.
Next time pay better attention. This film is awesome!
The one problem I have is with the idea that a nuclear explosion wouldn't kill it, but would provide the germ with endless energy to keep growing exponentially.
This is ridiculous. Matter itself breaks down at the subatomic level in a nuclear explosion, earthly or not..
Crichton's concept of the Andromeda organism really didn't make a lot of physical sense. The idea that it could convert radiant energy to matter in order to grow is a sign of not doing the math. But he sold it just by piling on layers of made-up detail, and that does carry over to the film.
Very underrated movie. Probably the only scifi movie ever to show a microtome in use. robert wise did a fantastic job.
Let's get this to 10k views family!