CS Weekly Archive> DVD > 6/06/08

A Contained Epidemic

by peter clines

Screenplay by Robert Schenkkan
Based on the novel by Michael Crichton

The natives of Piedmont, Arizona retrieve a strange satellite that crashes outside their town and unwittingly set loose a mysterious, resilient, and lethal virus. The Andromeda Strain wipes out their small town in less than an hour and waits for the storm winds that will carry it to a major city. The only hope is a small group of doctors, virologists, and biologists recruited for just such an emergency, but they'll have to overcome a number of personal and political hurdles before dealing with the deadly contagion—which has an eerie ability to mutate just as fast as they can examine it. With all the environmental and medical issues in the news these days, The Andromeda Strain would seem ripe for a remake. Alas, the major symptom of this new strain is having too many ideas and not enough space to let them develop into good ones. Constricted by the television-enforced structure of a miniseries—one that clocks in at barely 45 minutes longer than the 1971 film—most of the plot points don't get past the clichéd shorthand we're all used to in television. The two discs have a full commentary and a few galleries, but screenwriter Robert Schenkkan (The Quiet American) and his work are mentioned only in passing. In the end, this particular strain of Andromeda still beats the common cold, but it just isn't the killer it should be.

The Andromeda Strain (2008)

Universal Home Entertainment
Not rated; 177 min.

$26.98

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Peter Clines has had a lifelong love affair with the movies. He grew up in New England, where he studied English literature and education, and now lives and writes somewhere in Southern California. If anyone knows exactly where, he would appreciate a few hints.

The Andromeda Strain (2008) courtesy Universal Home Entertainment