The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Release date: 1971-03-12
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Robert Wise
Production Co: Universal Pictures
Genre: Thriller, Science Fiction
Rating: 7.2/10
Length: 2h 11min

Storyline

When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico, are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. Many years prior to this incident, a group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone (Arthur Hill) advocated for the construction of a secure laboratory facility that would serve as a base in the event an alien biological life form was returned to Earth from a space mission. Stone and his team - Drs. Dutton, Leavitt and Hall (David Wayne, Kate Reid, and James Olson, respectively)- go to the facility, known as Wildfire, and try to first isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont (an old wino and a six-month-old baby) survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device should it manage to escape.

Plot Keywords

scientist, alien, new mexico, based on novel, 1970s, biological weapon, virus, alien life form, crying baby, baby, major, general, military, dead woman, dead woman with eyes open, naked dead woman, enigma, plague, electronic music score, lieutenant

Short Review

It is, in fact, quite a proficient example of the science fiction genre, though I can't help thinking that 130 minutes is too long for anything non-Kubrick.