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IMDbPro

The Andromeda Strain

  • 1971
  • G
  • 2h 11m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
39K
YOUR RATING
James Olson and Robert Soto in The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer2:00
2 Videos
72 Photos
MysterySci-FiThriller

A 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.A 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.A 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.

  • Director
    • Robert Wise
  • Writers
    • Michael Crichton
    • Nelson Gidding
  • Stars
    • James Olson
    • Arthur Hill
    • David Wayne
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    39K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Robert Wise
    • Writers
      • Michael Crichton
      • Nelson Gidding
    • Stars
      • James Olson
      • Arthur Hill
      • David Wayne
    • 247User reviews
    • 95Critic reviews
    • 60Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars
      • 4 nominations total

    Videos2

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:00
    Watch Official Trailer
    The Andromeda Strain
    Clip 1:49
    Watch The Andromeda Strain

    Photos72

    Michael Crichton, Larry Barbier, and Robert Wise in The Andromeda Strain (1971)
    Michael Crichton and James Olson in The Andromeda Strain (1971)
    Larry Barbier and Robert Wise in The Andromeda Strain (1971)
    Robert Wise in The Andromeda Strain (1971)
    Arthur Hill, James Olson, and Robert Wise in The Andromeda Strain (1971)
    Michael Crichton and Robert Wise in The Andromeda Strain (1971)
    Paula Kelly, George Mitchell, James Olson, and Robert Soto in The Andromeda Strain (1971)
    Arthur Hill, Jason Johnson, and James Olson in The Andromeda Strain (1971)
    Kate Reid in The Andromeda Strain (1971)
    George Mitchell and James Olson in The Andromeda Strain (1971)
    Kate Reid, Arthur Hill, James Olson, and David Wayne in The Andromeda Strain (1971)
    Arthur Hill and James Olson in The Andromeda Strain (1971)

    Top cast

    Edit
    James Olson
    James Olson
    • Dr. Mark Hall
    Arthur Hill
    Arthur Hill
    • Dr. Jeremy Stone
    David Wayne
    David Wayne
    • Dr. Charles Dutton
    Kate Reid
    Kate Reid
    • Dr. Ruth Leavitt
    Paula Kelly
    Paula Kelly
    • Karen Anson
    George Mitchell
    George Mitchell
    • Jackson
    Ramon Bieri
    Ramon Bieri
    • Major Manchek
    Kermit Murdock
    Kermit Murdock
    • Dr. Robertson
    Richard O'Brien
    • Grimes
    Peter Hobbs
    Peter Hobbs
    • General Sparks
    Eric Christmas
    Eric Christmas
    • Senator from Vermont
    Mark Jenkins
    Mark Jenkins
    • Lt. Shawn (Piedmont team)
    Peter Helm
    Peter Helm
    • Sgt. Crane (Piedmont team)
    Joe Di Reda
    Joe Di Reda
    • Wildfire Computer Sgt. Burk
    • (as Joe DiReda)
    Carl Reindel
    Carl Reindel
    • Lt. Comroe
    Ken Swofford
    Ken Swofford
    • Toby (technician)
    Frances Reid
    Frances Reid
    • Clara Dutton
    Richard Bull
    Richard Bull
    • Air Force Major
    • Director
      • Robert Wise
    • Writers
      • Michael Crichton
      • Nelson Gidding
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Special effects to create the germ from space cost $250,000.
    • Goofs
      At the beginning of the movie, vultures are shown circling over the town of Piedmont. Later, when the two scientists approach the town in a helicopter, the vultures are on the ground eating the flesh of the dead. The military even brought gas to kill off the vultures so they wouldn't fly off and spread the disease. What's interesting, is that no one gives a second thought as to why the vultures weren't dead. Even after they kill off a rat and monkey in the lab to test the disease no one wonders how it was that the vultures weren't affected. It is not unusual, in fact rather typical, for pathogens or chemicals to affect some species and not others, or at least affect them more slowly.
    • Quotes

      [finding a man dead by self-inflicted drowning in a bathtub]

      Dr. Jeremy Stone: I wouldn't believe you could commit suicide that way.

      Dr. Mark Hall: Most of them died instantly, but a few had time to go quietly nuts.

    • Crazy credits
      The opening credits read: "ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This film concerns the four-day history of a major American scientific crisis. We received the generous help of many people attached to Project Scoop at Vandenberg Air Force Base and the Wildfire Laboratory in Flatrock, Nevada. They encouraged us to tell the story accurately and in detail." "The documents presented here are soon to be made public. They do not in any way jeopardize the national security."
    • Alternate versions
      Italian version is 10 minutes shorter than original version (released at 130 min.) and omits many scenes from a subplot about a fallen fighter plane.
    • Connections
      Edited into The Six Million Dollar Man: Population: Zero (1974)

    User reviews247

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    Great hardcore sci-fi. Crichton's best
    The 1970s were a time before some of the "intelligentsia" of American culture began to abandon rationality and reject science on pseudo-ethical grounds. Unsurprisingly, then, 1970s sci-fi is often better informed by science than the sci-fi of later decades, and it is also often more thoughtful and intelligently written. The Andromeda Strain is one of the best hardcore sci fi epics from a decade which brought us such genre classics as 2001, Solyaris, Silent Running, and the original Rollerball. Unlike most of these films, however, Andromeda Strain does not strain believability beyond its bounds, nor does it indulge in metaphysical tangentializing or philosophical moralizing.

    Developed from what I consider to be Michael Crichton's best book, the Andromeda Strain takes its cue directly from the hard realism of that book, along with its documentary style and scientific background research. Though aspects of the plot defy biological probability, if not law, almost the entire film is plausible. Also borrowed from Crichton's writing is the general point the film attempts to make - one which is present in nearly all of Crichton's work - that along with technological advance comes risk. Fortunately, however, this story does not reach the near-paranoid levels of technophobia which sometimes appear in later works.

    A great ensemble cast full of not easily recognized character actors represent a team of scientists called together to contain and manage a deadly virus-like organism which has arrived on a crashed space research probe. The virus has already wiped out an entire town, and now the scientists must work at a breakneck, sleepless, pace to determine what the organism is, how it spreads and grows, and how it can be killed or contained. Their only major clues, it seems, are an old man and a baby who survived the initial outbreak. To avoid spoilers, I will avoid any further details regarding the plot.

    The only aspect of the film which really seems dated is the strange electronic soundtrack, which, at times, seems more derivative of 1950s sci-fi than more modern stuff. Suffice to say that this is one of the best uses of the 'as-it-happens' documentary film-making style. The entire film is delivered in a very refreshingly straightforward manner, with believable dialog, actors that look like real people, and a pace that builds constantly from start to finish.

    Highly recommended.
    helpful•76
    14
    • mstomaso
    • Jul 3, 2005

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    FAQ9

    • Is 'The Andromeda Strain' based on a book?
    • What is 'The Andromeda Strain' about?
    • Is this based on a true story?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 12, 1971 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Andromeda - Tödlicher Staub aus dem All
    • Filming locations
      • Alamogordo, New Mexico, USA
    • Production company
      • Robert Wise Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $6,500,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $70
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      2 hours 11 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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