ridiculous rating

Good idea lost in the noise

An Exercise In Nonsense

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

In "The Andromeda Strain," a U.S. military satellite crashes in a small town in New Mexico and unleashes a deadly plague killing all but two survivors . As the military quarantines the area , a team of highly specialized scientists is assembled to find a cure to the pathogen code-named "Andromeda," and a reporter , Eric MacCormack , investigates a government conspiracy only to discover what he is chasing wants him silenced . The team of scientists formed by Benjamin Bratt as Dr. Jeremy Stone , Christa Miller as Dr. Angela Noyce , Daniel Dae Kim as Dr. TsiChou , Ricky Schroder as Major Bill Keane , Viola Davis as Dr. Charlene Barton , all of them are assembled in a high-tech, underground facility to identify and defeat the "enemy" before it is too late. As the threat must be identified in time to save the population from extermination . This is a fair-to-middling rendition based on Michael Chricton novel , previously adapted by Robert Wise with Arthur Hill, James Olsen , Paula Kelly , David Wayne , Kate Reid . It deals with a strange satellite falling back to earth carrying a deadly bacteria , as a crack team experiences strong difficulties as it becomes clear that the satellite has performed its intended function all too well, and has brought back something from space . It was originally exhibited as a two-part miniseries , but has also been edited into 4 different parts intended for airing as hour long episodes with commercials . This Sci-Fi yarn hits hard in the creepy beginning when an U.S. Army satellite , Scoop , falls to earth near Piedmont and population being destroyed , and in the hair-raising climax , as an extremely exciting ending , in fact , it is worthy of a typical action/thriller movie . However , the tension and suspense inherent in the bestselling Chricton novel is talked down by excessive changes from original book and a boring cast . After a splendidly traditional opening set piece , the message about the risks of scientific research starts to loom ponderously large with banks of super-computers dedicated to investigation as well as inclusion some weird elements as ¨Worm holes¨ and underwater bacteria ¨bacillus Infernus¨. As you'll perch on the very edge of the armchair when protagonists fight against time assailed by the Andrómeda Strain and to disarm the self-destruct device before it can trigger itself off .The motion picture was regularly directed by Mikael Salomon . Filmmaker makes rather plod through the screenplay , so that when the scientists finally get the connection between the micro-thing from outer space and a secret bacteriologic warfare , it seems heavily developed and high time , indeed . Salomon has stated his intention of working on less of the TV-series and pilots that force him to compromise his visions, in favor of more qualitative features and mini-series . He made some films but also directed other series , episodes and TV movies as ¨Rome¨, ¨The Company¨, ¨The Grid¨, ¨Salem's lot¨ , ¨Band of Brothers¨, ¨Six¨, ¨Pompeii¨, ¨Damien¨, ¨Young Arthur¨ and many others

Though I'd never seen the original or read the book I'd always been curious about this sci-fi classic.I found this version to be well-acted and full of suspense, but unclear and repetitious at times. (How many buzzard scenes did we really need to see?) And I didn't get at all why Mancheck and his crony were killed in the end, and by whom. (The president didn't seem swift enough to mastermind something like that.) And how was the Viola Davis character threatened? Most importantly, how and why was the lethal strain transmitted to earth in the first place? I liked the film for a few truly interesting scenes but more care should have been taken to clarify questions like these.Not at all bad but this could have been better.

This TV-movie had a lot of promise, but failed for three major reasons:1. Horribly heart-breakingly bad story writing.2. Stupidly implausible(and numerous) scenes at key moments of the movie.(One of the main cast has a seizure at the end of the movie, and unknowingly "breaks" a single panel (in a whole room of panels) that prevents the team from disarming a self-destruct device. In almost the same scene, the same cast member Drowns in a tiny pool of water for no apparent reason, cutting Rick Shroeder's thumb off(don't ask)) 3. Rick Schroeder was cast for this film. (Seriously, really?) Everyone involved in the re-making of this movie should be smited. NOT worth a watch nor even a free download: AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

This version is OK, but it took them four hours to laboriously tell a story that the original told better in half the time! The casting of the original is better, the plot line was tighter and it was played with the urgency of a real-time event. This version totally fails to present the same level of immediacy.This version is too full of buzz words, contrived plots and overworked conspiracy theory. The original Star Wars was better than any of the sequels because it presented something entirely new... similarly, the original Andromeda Strain was memorable because it was fresh and new. Hollywood has sunk to doing too many remakes because they lack the imaginative minds and bold creativity to do anything new!