Monday, June 6, 2011

First Contact

The Andromeda Strain (1971) - Wise
The Andromeda Strain 1
The Andromeda Strain 2
Wasn't too sure about watching this. I remember it as boring ass movie as a child and indeed, the 2/3 of the film is purely procedural - in Michael Chrichton's 'I have to explain this made up world to you in detail' way. But once you settle in, it is a very enjoyable ride.


What if our first contact with alien species is with a too small organism our naked eyes can't see(which is the most probable scenario anyway) and deadly to us? After a satellite probe crashes into small town Nevada and kills off townspeople in their daily tracks, the US gov't assembles top scientists to an undisclosed superslick Nevada underground facility to determine whether to nuke the town. It's the usual gambit- the time is running out, perspiration, contamination, red lights, countdown, laser beams, the key...


Robert Wise goes town with the whole gov't top secret mumbo-jumbo stylings here - split screens, color coded floor corridors, mechanical arms, plus Doug Trumbull's innovative, pre-computer graphics FX. Now I can see where all the SCI-FI/spy films parodies originated from. It is super silly but at the same time, awesome.

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