The Andromeda Strain Blu-ray Review

In the small desert community of Piedmont, New Mexico, a government satellite falls to earth, killing everyone in town instantly – except for a crying baby and an elderly man. The satellite and the two survivors are transported for study to a Top Secret underground facility known as Project Wildfire. A team of scientists is assembled, including pathologist Dr. Charles Dutton; grumpy microbiologist Dr. Ruth Leavitt; surgeon and blood chemistry expert Dr. Mark Hall and the team’s leader, Nobel Prize-winning biologist Dr. Jeremy Stone. Stone is briefed by the government on the presence of an alien microbe code-named Andromeda, that contaminated the satellite. Their job is to study the deadly bacterium, isolate it and find a cure and also find out why the survivors are unaffected. As an added fail-safe, the lab contains a nuclear self-destruct mechanism to prevent the spread of infection in case of an outbreak.

What follows is a meticulous look at the scientific process as the team spends the next four days analyzing both Andromeda and the survivors. They painstakingly follow the clues, studying endless amounts of data to find a solution. Outside the lab, the threat of the contagion spreading grows while the government delays the order to burn the infected town until the team reports its results. Our scientists work around the clock looking for answers as the pressure mounts with every passing hour. The lab is 1970s state-of-the-art with its computer systems, robotic arms, sterile clean rooms and added levels of security. Technology is not always reliable, however, and a single error may cost us more than we can afford. Pray the team gets this right and figures out what the hell is going on in time.

Science fiction films of the 1950s spotlighted the idea of aliens coming to Earth to wipe out the human race. Many terrestrial threats were embodied by radiation and the nuclear era, but the threat from outer space was equally popular. Jump ahead twenty years and there’s more science fact than fiction at play here. The Andromeda Strain marks the beginning of a new wave of pandemic outbreak pictures with a lot of emphasis on math and science. The film is stunning visually but plays like a documentary until the final moments. Director Robert Wise (The Body Snatcher) knows how to build suspense and stretches the tension to its breaking point many times over. In addition to being a stellar director, Wise is also an accomplished editor (Citizen Kane) who is a master of timing. Andromeda is a slow-boil story that steadily builds until it explodes with a high-stakes ending that stands up against most contemporary thrillers.

Based on the bestselling novel by Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park), this is a well-realized character study of people working together under extreme circumstances. The details can be a bit overwhelming, but audience patience will be rewarded before the credits roll. Both the book and the film open with a title card claiming this to be a true story carefully transcribed from government records. This is of course all bullshit, but it sets the mood straightaway. The screenplay written by Nelson Gidding (The Haunting) is faithful to the book and improves upon the original ending. Wise thoughtfully cast unfamiliar names and faces in the roles to keep events grounded without a clear hero or survivor in the mix. The sets designed by Boris Leven (West Side Story) are futuristic and clean and visually dazzling. Cinematographer Richard H. Kline (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) fills the widescreen frame with stunning compositions and creative lighting.

The Andromeda Strain is a study of the process of how things work, laying out the details in full, coaxing audience trust before ripping away their safety net. The picture went on to influence countless successors in the outbreak/pandemic subgenre and its style remains relevant today. Sure the equipment is outdated and there’s too much exposition getting the scientists into the sterile lab environment, but everything else works. As intense as this movie is, I have no idea how it got a G rating release, but trust me when I say it left me haunted.