Technology trumps thrillsĪs a techno-thriller, Wise’s film is heavy on the technology, light on the thrills. Throw in the bunker-obscuring desert cornfields, and I’d be stunned if “The X-Files” didn’t draw from “The Andromeda Strain.” Indeed, the two projects both aim to draw suspense from scientists/investigators gleaning little bits of information here and there, and from threats that are tucked away in medical facilities. Leavitt (Kate Reid) even throws in a sarcastic “Another giant leap for mankind!” (The film, unlike the book, came out after the first moon landing.) government in bringing a germ from the upper atmosphere back to Earth, perhaps part of biological-warfare research. Gidding gives us a debate between by-the-book team leader Stone (Arthur Hill) and individualist Dutton (David Wayne) about the irresponsibility of the U.S. More broadly, “The Andromeda Strain” slots into the categories of dystopian SF and conspiracy noir – both popular in the ’70s. This and other specifics of scientific research – and the newfangled notion of computers assisting the process – are fascinating enough to Gidding and Wise (and perhaps some viewers) that they are worth lingering upon. It’s not the best way to build suspense, but maybe it was different enough to be compelling 50 years ago.Īs with the only slow part of Crichton’s book, a lot of time is spent showing the quartet moving through the sterilization locks of the five-level Wildfire bunker. When the two scientists investigate the town of Piedmont (changed from Arizona to New Mexico for no apparent reason), one side of the screen shows them peering into homes and the other side shows a snapshot of the corpse therein. Director Robert Wise gives us an early example of multiple images in a frame.
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