La amenaza de Andrómeda

I have not read Crichton's novel, and have no intention of ever doing so, so I cannot compare either version to it, only the two to each other. This aired as four one-hour episodes, with commercials, so without, the running time was probably around 180 minutes. That gives it more time to explore the concept, and though some of it is used on action(!) and pushing PC(not computer, the other kind) messages, it is utilized. This very much tries to "update" the story. Where the original had a masterfully established atmosphere of isolation, claustrophobia and sterility, in the design of the lab, this one has it be high-tech and futuristic(because they can), and has plenty of scenes taking place outside of it as well as contact between inside and out. The subtle, skillful and careful cinematography and editing of the film are discarded for stylizing the crap out of a lot of what we see, and at least a little of it is frankly silly. This has excellent special effects, and it does tend to be well-shot. Dialog and acting are good, if Miller is so similar to her recurring role on Scrubs that it is a constant distraction. The plot is reasonable, and develops nicely. This has a couple of interesting science fiction ideas gone over. I recommend this to fans of virus flicks. 7/10

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")

The original is a classic and one of my 50 favourite movies.

This 2008 remake... I just watched it tonight... it was up there with being a BAD movie... It is very disappointing... come on... its 2008.... SURELY they could have remade it better than the 1970 (ish) version ? The answer: NO

Its far fetched... has bad acting... bad special effects (the wave of virus washing across the land) and worse plot.

Its rubbish compared to the original, which gave you a little tingle down your spine as you watched it... this version makes you feel embarrassed to admit you watched it.

What made the original work is that it was 'confined'... the majority of the movie took place down in that closed off lab... you were trapped in there with the 'Andromeda strain' and the scientists. THATS what gave it its realism... All of the attempt at action... just shook the original plot all to pieces.

Thumbs down on many levels...

There is a certain type of movie. It's usually a made-for-TV movie, and it's usually an "updated" remake of an older movie.

The cast and story elements are painfully politically correct.

The writers appear to labor under the mistaken assumption that the viewer really doesn't need to be told a coherent story as long as there are a few visual elements from the original and some handsome-looking people emoting at each other. And things blowing up.

If there was a punchline to the original, the film will either ignore, misinterpret, or completely blow it.

The remake of Lathe of Heaven (2002)was such a film.

The remake of The Andromeda Strain (2008) is also such a film. It takes the tight script and edge-of-seat stress and paranoia of the original and substitutes digital effects, things blowing up, and absolutely nonsensical plot. When the time comes for the big reveal (which I won't reveal here), instead of the insightful political message of the original, we get a sophomoric, pasted-on ending that doesn't relate to what's gone before and basically contains no message whatsoever, but does allow one last digital effect.

It's not even bad enough to be good in a campy way. It's just dreary and indecipherable. See the original instead.

During the late sixties, Michael Crichton wrote a novel about contamination with an alien microorganism. At that time, science was hailed as the pinnacle of human achievement and it was thought that anything is possible. Therefore it is normal for the book and the subsequent film from 1971 to focus on the science, on the formalism, on the way people think their way out of a situation.

Fast forward to 2008. People are dumber, science is a joke, people need to look good and the design must be perfect. Some horrible deaths and some fear of government conspiracy or terrorism is the only way tension can be achieved.

The problem is that I have anticipated this. My own theory says that if you expect it to happen, there won't be a negative response, yet I am terribly angry at this mini series BECAUSE it was exactly what I expected. Things have been added to the original story that make no sense and make no sense to add: government black ops, wormholes, message from the future, ecological controversy over ocean vent mining, etc, etc. As expected the effects were really good, the people looked good, the computer interface design was flawless. And it all fell completely empty.

If you are familiar to The Andromeda Strain book or 1971 movie, you might find it interesting to see how it can go horribly wrong. Otherwise, just watch the 1971 version. It is slow paced, faithful to the book and a lot more interesting.