The Andromeda Strain

1971
PG
2h 11m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

42K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:00

Alien Invasion Mystery Sci-Fi Thriller

Top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what killed the citizens of a small town and how the deadly contagion can be stopped.Top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what killed the citizens of a small town and how the deadly contagion can be stopped.Top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what killed the citizens of a small town and how the deadly contagion can be stopped.

Director
- Robert Wise
Writers
- Michael Crichton
- Nelson Gidding
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

42K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,929

1,062

Director
- Robert Wise
Writers
- Michael Crichton
- Nelson Gidding
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 4 nominations total

Videos2

Photos89

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Storyline

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Did you know

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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 reviews263

Featured review

7/10

Life not as we know it

Robert Wise made the daring decision not to cast any big name stars in The Andromeda Strain.. It certainly save on the budget. But it also lent a nice ring of authenticity.

The story behind Michael Crichton's science fiction novel and the movie is that a small northern California town has been wiped out by a new strain of virus. The only survivor are a wino and an infant. Scooping them up four scientists Arthur Hill, James Olson, David Wayne, and Kate Reid take them to a secure location as they race against time to prevent a pandemic. This thing creeps up silently and moves fast.

It's not like anything seen on earth. It's called The Andromeda Strain because that's the nearest galaxy to the one planet earth is in The Milky Way. The four have to race against time to come up with an answer.

Robert Wise got a lot of tension out of this film, especially at the climax when it is race against time to prevent a self destruct from occuring just as are four are finding answers.

They do find an answer. And ironically it's from some of the most plentiful things we have on planet earth is where the cure comes from.

This one is a science fiction classic.