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

Color:

Color

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:

Continuity: The frame gets flipped in the scene where the soldiers drive the Humvee through town. As they start moving, you can see the steering wheel and engine "snorkel" on the left; but when they pass they ambulance, it has switched sides.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

References 28 Days Later... (2002)

Why This Remake?

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")