The Andromeda Strain

I have learned, over the years, that whenever a movie or TV show has a an overwhelming amount of background music then it is usually trying to disguise something that isn't working. That is the first tip-off that this version of Andromeda Strain is of poor quality. Thank goodness for Close-Captions, since much of the dialogue was covered by music. 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. This retelling does, indeed, offer a version that has some good updates and that is the only reason I am rating it as high as a 4. I found it a tremendous struggle to stay with this production which, ultimately, is bloated and mediocre.

There is a certain type of 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. And things blowing up.

If there was a punchline to the original, the film will either ignore, misinterpret, or completely blow it.

The remake of Lathe of Heaven (2002)was such a film.

The remake of The Andromeda Strain (2008) is also such a film. It takes the tight script and edge-of-seat stress and paranoia of the original and substitutes digital effects, things blowing up, and absolutely nonsensical plot. 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. It's just dreary and indecipherable. See the original instead.

When the capsule of the Scoop Mission returns to Earth and lands in the small town of Piedmont, Utah, it brings a mutant living being and all the population, except a crying baby and an old man with ulcer, dies with clotted blood. A team of five scientists - the leader Dr. Jeremy Stone (Benjamin Bratt), Dr. Angela Noyce (Christa Miller), Dr. Tsi Chou (Daniel Dae Kim), Dr. Charlene Barton (Viola Davis) and Major Bill Keane MD (Ricky Schroder) - are summoned and gathered together in the top secret Wildfire facility. 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. The great pacifist story is basically the same, only longer due to updates in special effects and useless subplots with government conspiracies. I usually hate remakes, but sometimes I find reasonable surprises; but I do not know the objective of this tiresome and totally unnecessary remake. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Enigma de Andrômeda" ("The Enigma of Andromeda")

Having recently re-watched the 1971-version of "The Andromeda Strain" taught me one thing: the original is still a near-perfect Sci-Fi landmark and never will a remake, whether in the form of a film or a mini-series, be any better.

But okay, I'm not here to elaborate on the superiority of the Robert Wise classic. The mini-series has reason to exist as well, although it never really surpasses the quality-level of "average". Literally everything about "The Andromeda Strain" 2008 is average;- whether it comes to the added storylines versus the original film, the acting performances, the action/horror sequences, or the special effects. The foundations of Michael Crichton's genius novel are luckily kept intact, give or take a few minor details. When a satellite crashes back onto earth, almost the entire population of the nearby little town Piedmont, Utah, literally drops dead. In the original film, Piedmont was located in New Mexico, but I guess that's one of the few minor details. A handful of eminent scientists are escorted from all corners of the US of A to a top-secret governmental underground facility in the desert to examine the unearthly substance attached to the satellite. What's different or additional compared to the '71 version is that there's a sub-plot with a research journalist, bigger political involvement (including a role for the US-President), nastier intentions by the military and a couple of utterly grotesque theories with wormholes.

People like Benjamin Bratt and Christa Miller are decent performers, but they fail to be very plausible as brilliant scientists. Still, they are not as implausible as - say - the numerous mutations of the virus, or the insane explanations of where it supposedly comes from. The mini-series was released in the same year as the original author, the mighty Michael Crichton, passed away. I sincerely hope this wasn't the last adaptation of his work that he had to see.

The original is a classic and one of my 50 favourite movies.

This 2008 remake... I just watched it tonight... it was up there with being a BAD movie... It is very disappointing... come on... its 2008.... SURELY they could have remade it better than the 1970 (ish) version ? The answer: NO

Its far fetched... has bad acting... 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 version makes you feel embarrassed to admit you watched it.

What made the original work is that it was 'confined'... the majority of the movie took place down in that closed off lab... you were trapped in there with the 'Andromeda strain' and the scientists. THATS what gave it its realism... All of the attempt at action... just shook the original plot all to pieces.

Thumbs down on many levels...