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Andromeda Strain re-make is a bag of doo-doo

Posted by Michael Klassen on May 27, 2008 in Soapbox

As I predicted they appear to have sucked all the suspense out of a very good science fiction plot in the A&E's mini-series re-make of The Andromeda Strain. I've only watched pieces of the broadcast so far, but my gawd, can you say movie of the week?

Why can't computers just be quiet in movies? They beep and tweet in what has to be the most worn out cliché in cinema today...the computer read out sound effect.

Just like the over-the-top rubbish that was Cloverfield, I think the sci-fi thriller genre needs to be taken out behind the barn, and buried for at least a decade.

UPDATE: (spoilers follow) I watched a bit more of A&E's AS. Wow, did they ever take what was cool about this story and flub it. The 'detoxification' upon entering the lab instead of being extremely compelling like in the original movie, looked only like a well-lit car wash for humans. The "odd-man hypothesis," where the single male was given the key for disabling the nuclear reactor, was turned into a shameless revelation that Ricky Schroeder's character was gay.

The nuclear strike that was aborted in the original, actually happens "by accident" thus destroying the ending of the original where the biggest threat was that the virus would be nuked.

Finally, the most egregious liberty of the new movie was that the virus was sent "from the future" (through a wormhole, natch) as an elaborate "message" to the present day. How was the message conveyed?? As ASCII text strung together from molecules.

Ugh!

Tagged: andromeda strain, sci fi

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