The Andromeda Strain (2008) (TV)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Mikael Salomon

Writers:

Michael Crichton (novel)
Robert Schenkkan (teleplay)

Release Date:

11 May 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It's A Bad Day To Be Human.

Plot:

A crack team of top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what has killed the citizens of a small town and learn how this deadly contagion can be stopped.

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Small Town | Virus | Satellite | Military

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Primetime Emmys. Another 7 nominations

Cast

Benjamin Bratt	...	Dr. Jeremy Stone
Eric McCormack	...	Jack Nash
Christa Miller	...	Dr. Angela Noyce
Daniel Dae Kim	...	Dr. Tsi Chou
Viola Davis	...	Dr. Charlene Barton
Justin Louis	...	Colonel James C. Ferrus
Barry Flatman	...	Charles 'Chuck' Beeter
Ted Whittall	...	President William J. Scott
Ted Atherton	...	Edward 'Ed' Dewitt
Tom McBeath	...	Kyle Tobler
Rick Schroder	...	Major Bill Keane MD (as Ricky Schroder)
Andre Braugher	...	General George W. Mancheck
Jesse Moss	...	Jeff Megan
Magda Apanowicz	...	Suzie Travis
Kurt Max Runte	...	Sherriff Martin Willis

Runtime:

174 min | Norway:170 min (2 parts) | USA:180 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Norway:15 (TV rating) | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

A.S. Films

Trivia:

Originally aired as a two-part miniseries, but has also been edited into 4 different parts intended for airing as hour long episodes with commercials.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the helicopter with the scientists goes to the secret base, it is visible through the helicopter windows that one of the F-16s escorts them. This is impossible, because the F16 has a stall speed of about 250 mph while that helicopter has a max. speed of only 135mph - a difference greater than 100 mph.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jeff Megan: [to Suzie] That's a lion out there. And a triangle.

Movie Connections:

References 300 (2006)

Awful

Simply horrible: overblown made-for-TV-movie melodrama, poor acting, silly makeup effects and production design, bad direction. And a script that foolishly adds multiple, painfully obvious plot lines to the original story so that the taut and gripping plot of the novel is almost completely obscured. Despite having more running time than the 1971 movie, this soggy mini-series seems rushed to cram in all the stupidity it can.

Watch it at your peril, if you want a satisfying, chilling, and intelligent movie, rent the well-crafted Robert Wise version; it is one of the great SF movies of the 1970s. It is one of the rare movies that really shows science at work, and the scenes of death at Piedmont will always stick with you.