Estación 3, secreto supremo

This is still (in the 21st Century) a pretty good thriller. Maharis and Basehart are top-notch, plus Ann and Dana are very good. The plot is still very topical (as in Weapons of Mass Destruction). Would be a good remake candidate.

About Five years before the ANDROMEDA STRAIN, came THE Satan BUG, a Biological thriller with a stellar cast and background music that set the mood for a tense, exciting almost end of the world movie that I also HOPE gets its reward to remastered to DVD so others may enjoy this Classic from 1965. The cast is excellent with George Maharis, Richard Basehart, Anne Francis and Dana Andrews -this thriller is non stop action and suspense and MGM just Has to release it on DVD! Its a Movie I have watched many many times and shared it with friends whom also found it to be one of those " unheard of gems" and I hope more people will catch it and maybe, just maybe MGM will finally put this beaity to DVD with lots of Extras and maybe even a 5.1 Surround sound mode! If anyone knows if this is out anywhere in DVD or plans to put it to DVD I would love to know!

Best,

Nicholas

You want Armageddon? An Apocalyptic threat? This gives you the unscientifically-pegged Satan Bug, a virus so lethal, it can kill everyone in California in a few hours, the U.S. in a week, and the world...oh, a couple of months. Towards the end of this movie, the one who makes this pronouncement takes a step back and admits it's unclear if this virus can actually be so effective (life tends to survive, as we all know), but let's not test it, shall we? I wonder if this film influenced Stephen King's "The Stand" (the novel and the mini-series). The chilling scenario first described manages to up the ante from the generally-regarded worst threat of nuclear annihilation. An atomic bomb, destructive as it is, is still limited to a certain area; this bug - you open the flask, it's all over, baby, for the entire planet. The allusions to the 'Pandora's Box' fable are quite obvious (similar to those in "Kiss Me Deadly" from 10 years earlier).

The threat surfaces at one of those government installations for biochemical warfare, in the middle of the desert - a barren, vast, empty landscape. There's no such thing as perfect security, but here they really bumbled it by letting two unpacked crates inside; to make a long story short, with the help of an insider, certain flasks are removed from the property. The government here also seems to have lapsed badly as far as background checks. There's an air of mystery to the story, since we don't know who the master villain is, and tension is ratcheted up on a regular basis when the bug may be released at certain points. I also like the use of the desert locations where much of this takes place; the very sparse layout of an occasional building lends an almost alien-like atmosphere to the terrain.

There are some contrivances to the story which make you shrug afterward. For example, the hero (Maharis) and two government agents (including Star Trek's Jimmy Doohan in a small non-speaking role) are captured at a key point; it's obvious they are to be killed by the villains. Instead of simply shooting them, as would be proper in the isolated location, the villains go through this elaborate method of using a flask of a deadly bug. But it's an exciting sequence and sets it up for the most intense moment of the film, when any or all of the 3 may die in the next few seconds from exposure. The main villain's motivations are also hard to buy into. He seems to be doing this as a protest against biochemical weapons, but is willing to wipe out cities to make his point. He's dismissed as a paranoid delusional, a maniac, at one point, but never comes across that way, as if he has an alternate plan. This storyline is similar to a James Bond adventure and most viewers will strain to keep track of all the character names. Later films with similar threats were "The Andromeda Strain", "Warning Sign" and "Outbreak."

From the outstandingly sterile germ warfare facility to the stunning natural beauty of what is called the desert, this is an amazing film on many levels. I had expected it to be another simplistic view in the litany of 60s anti-war statement films, but it is not that, yet it makes the case for non-development of biological weapons more clearly than any of those over-the-top and jingoistic propaganda films do. And to make it all better, it comes with a thrilling plot, excellent cast and direction, suspenseful music score. I would have rated it a 10 but for the unlikeliness of some major plot directions, still they are handled in a manner that makes them possibilities if yet improbable. A great one to view alongside Andromeda Strain.

A reference is made in the movie to Palmdale (north of Los Angeles) and this might be where the exterior views of the 'lab' were filmed. But many of the other scenes remind this commenter of the Palm Springs/Coachella Valley area (east of the LA basin) in the Sixties before the influx of heavy population and housing. The beautiful purple mountains, the wide open peaceful vistas, the empty roads stretching off into the distance.

It's just a guess. Parts of Arizona could also have been involved. But that trailer park where the bad guy lives looks very much like one that's located near the base of the mountain on the back road out of Palm Desert (Hwy 111?).

Fun movie to watch for the scenery alone.

Too bad Ann Francis is once again only window dressing. She's capable, as many beautiful actresses are, of more. At least she gets to give one of the villains some grief.