Station 3: Ultra secret

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.

I have watched this film several times, and never find it boring. That this film was not a hit at the time of release, and was not able to make a movie star out of George Maharis, shows that either the studio did not know how to market it at the time, or that a movie, even with all the right ingredients, will not become a hit movie, if people don't go and see it.

I do see some problems with the screenplay however, in that things see to happen in the film, that just pop up from nowhere. A mans car getting stuck that we the audience are not entirely clued in on, two agents just coming on the screen at a particular time, what where the motivations for this to happen is not explained, and a dead body, that without the use of a DVD player or DVR that we can view the movie on Turner Classic Movies, and look back on, might make us wonder who this dead body is.

The Maharis character is the most interesting of the lot, he is a man who is at odds with his government throughout his life, and he is a character in films ahead of his time. We didn't get to see people like this in movies before. He is a man who it is emphasized at the beginning of the film to be a rebel, but knows the difference between wrong and right. When his country needs him as he shows in this film he will be there for the correct cause. His last line in this film, is a telling one, I'm paraphrasing it here, but it goes something like this "Will start over again." This film, makes one ask the question, how could any country sanction a sight that could create something so deadly, and which might, as we learn towards the end, might destroy life on earth? At the same time, while the film I think questions this, it does at least give us some comfort that our government agencies fighting terror might be able to stop it as shown by agents, beside Maharis, as being capable of stopping mad men through their hard work.

A great supporting cast helps the film as well, Richard Basehart is outstanding, and I just realized that Frank Sutton, (Sargent Carter) of GOMER PYLE fame, is one of the villains, and what a different role it is.

John Sturges in his direction, shows a man who knew how to direct an action film, and an entertaining one to boot. The film was also ahead of its time, in warning us that we had more to fear than just a hydrogen bomb, as that fear of the bomb I believe was coming to an end at the time. A flawed, but entertaining film, that still holds up some forty years latter.

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."

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

The first half of this movie is really great. The mood is ominous and intercuts between the good and bad guys in a way that keeps us just slightly ahead of the characters in the movie if we watch closely.

The production is not quite top-drawer, but the sets and locations are attractive and interesting, and the main cast members are solid. (I have fond memories of Anne Francis as a kid, and she still looks good to me. Maharis is cool and clever, and Basehart actually does a solid job. The sad thing is that Dana Andrews, who was a really first-class talent in his younger days, just walks through this picture; fortunately he's not onscreen very much.) The tension isn't maintained through the entire movie, but the pacing is. The showdown at the end is pretty weak.

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon. The laser disc version that I just saw was very clean.