MovieChat Forums > The Andromeda Strain (1971) Discussion > Love this SMART SCI-FI!!!

Love this SMART SCI-FI!!!

posted 14 years ago by stazza
7 replies | jump to latest

Where are more modern movies like this? More about the actual plot than the drama and crying between the people. Sure, they mention the friction tween a couple on the team and some people get a little emotional, but they stay ON PLOT and focus on the issue... rather than focusing on the drama like most of today's movies do

Everything was there including Action, Gizmos, Science, Space etc etc

Missing (luckily) were the following:
- boring detailed unneeded backgound information
- human "drama queen" action like all the reality show crap out these days
- offshoot comic side kick one liners
- a CAR chase scene (granted the final scene he was chased by lasers but even THAT was unique and very original!)
- the standard BAR scene
- a sex scene
- pop music tie ins
- Computer Generated cartoonery - except where it was computers on screen generating computer screen stuff

Man, this movie was refreshing and an eye opener to the excess filler crap in todays movies!!!

BRING BACK REAL SCIENCE FICTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[–] mojo2004 14 years ago

I love this film. Every time I watch it it's like the first time!

"Where were you born? At home. I wanted to be near my mother."

[–] rockmail 14 years ago

It really is a great entertainment.

[–] technotrone 13 years ago

Agree with all points. The labs, decontamination, the scientific method of analyzing its properties felt very real. People without any background in science or a certain level of education may not appreciate it though. I was thoroughly impressed. I need to watch this few more times.

[–] rgcustomer 13 years ago

Just because almost nothing happens, doesn't mean it has a plot. It means it's boring.

So we get

- boring round-up of experts
- boring unneeded trip down 5-level decontamination process
- "drama queen" is still there
- self-parodying announcements nobody pays attention to
- lots of sci-fi tech porn
- a Bond-style ladder climb, complete with computer-guided lasers that couldn't hit the broad side of a barn
- an electron microscope that produces images in full colour -- the SAME colours shown through regular magnification.
- the female characters are there primarily to fill menial roles, even the expert

Today's films may be crap, but that doesn't mean this stinker doesn't stink. This movie almost defines excess filler.

And what great science fiction is in this film? An alien life form comes to earth, kills people, and then automatically becomes harmless. Sounds like War of the Worlds to me.

[–] escalation746 13 years ago

rgcustomer:

Science happens to be a slow methodical process and not (usually) about car chases or explosions. This film is a science procedural, in much the same mould as a police procedural. I am sure you don't watch one of those and complain "they spent all this time rounding up experts, included lots of cop porn like handcuffs and pistols, threw around all this lingo, had the characters (even the female ones) perform all this menial labour, and didn't even get to shoot the villain when they found him."

Or if you do say that, the rest of us might certainly be justified in shaking our heads, since you have so completely missed the point.

Furthermore, dismissing the fact that this is SF by way of comparison to War of the Worlds is shooting yourself in the foot. If that classic is SF then so is this. Fair enough if you happen not to like them, that's your loss. I recommend staying away from suspense films or smart SF in the future. Better that than repeatedly sharing your dislike for a film you apparently are not willing to understand.

[–] el-9984 13 years ago

This film is a science procedural, in much the same mould as a police procedural.

Yep, that's a pretty good way of looking at it. In some ways the film is a mirror of the "virus"; it's structure is fairly simple but dynamic. It's self contained, but manages at key points to mutate and move into interesting directions.

A decent film about and of it's time which still holds some resonances.

[–] westal_sage 11 years ago

GREAT film! I like to think of this as a weeder film - a true scifi fan will generally like this, and vice versa.