Poster from TMDB
OverviewAI-generated
The Andromeda Strain is an American science fiction disaster film directed and produced by Robert Wise, based on a work by Michael Crichton, who co-wrote the screenplay with Nelson Gidding. Its subjects include epidemic disease, extraterrestrial life and the scientific method, and it starred Arthur Hill, James Olson, Kate Reid and David Wayne, with cinematography by Richard H. Kline, editing by Stuart Gilmore, and a score by Gil Mellé, using a split-screen technique.
Set in 1971 across New Mexico, Nevada, California and Utah, and made by Universal Pictures, the film was released in 1971 with a budget of 6,500,000 dollars and revenue of 12,376,563 dollars. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing and the Academy Award for Best Production Design.
Synthesized by Vinony from 44 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, OMDb, IMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film · TMDB
7.0When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico, are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. A group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone scramble to a secure laboratory and try to first isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont - an old alcoholic and a six-month-old baby - survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device designed to prevent the escape of dangerous biological agents.
Cast
- Arthur Hill as Dr. Jeremy Stone
- David Wayne as Dr. Charles Dutton
- James Olson as Dr. Mark Hall
- Kate Reid as Dr. Ruth Leavitt
- Paula Kelly as Karen Anson
- George Mitchell as Jackson
Themes
- biological weapon
- based on novel or book
- biology
- new mexico
- epilepsy
- chemistry
- secret lab
- disaster
- epidemic
- nuclear threat
This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
Ratings
IMDb
7.2/10
43,020 votes
Rotten Tomatoes
67%
Metacritic
60/100
- Year
- 1971
- Runtime
- 131 min
- Genres
- Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
- Rated
- G
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 4 nominations total
via OMDb · IMDb
Key facts
- Directed by
- Robert Wise
- Screenplay by
- Nelson Gidding
- Based on
- The Andromeda Strain , by Michael Crichton
- Produced by
- Robert Wise
- Starring
- Arthur Hill James Olson Kate Reid David Wayne Paula Kelly George Mitchell
- Cinematography
- Richard H. Kline
- Edited by
- Stuart Gilmore John W. Holmes
- Music by
- Gil Mellé
- Production company
- Universal Pictures
- Distributed by
- Universal Pictures
- Release date
- March 12, 1971 ( 1971-03-12 ) (United States)
- Running time
- 130 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Budget
- $6.5 million
- Box office
- $12.4 million ( North America )
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- film
- Genre
- disaster film
- Country of origin
- United States
- Original language
- English language
- Based on
- The Andromeda Strain
- Main subject
- research ethics
- Director
- Robert Wise
- Screenwriter
- Michael Crichton
- Cast member
- David McLean
- Composer
- Gil Mellé
- Producer
- Robert Wise
- Production company
- Universal Pictures
- Cinematographer
- Richard H. Kline
- Narrative location
- Washington, D.C.
- Filming location
- California
- Duration
- 131
- FilmAffinity ID
- 844184
Show 12 more facts
- publication date
- 1974-11-26
- film editor
- Stuart Gilmore
- title
- The Andromeda Strain
- nominated for
- Academy Award for Best Production Design
- after a work by
- Michael Crichton
- distributed by
- Universal Pictures
- different from
- The Andromeda Strain
- set in period
- 1971
- uses
- split screen
- review score
- 60/100
- box office
- 12376563
- capital cost
- 6500000
Sources (15)
via Wikidata · CC0
~11 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Andromeda Strain is a 1971 American science fiction thriller film produced and directed by Robert Wise, based on Michael Crichton's 1969 novel of the same name and adapted by Nelson Gidding. The film stars Arthur Hill, James Olson, Kate Reid, and David Wayne as a team of scientists who investigate a deadly organism of extraterrestrial origin. The film follows the book closely with only a few exceptions. Everyone in the small town of Piedmont, New Mexico, is dead after a mysterious satellite crash landed nearby. Members of the investigation team are the film's protagonists.
The special effects were designed by Douglas Trumbull, and are notable for their use of advanced computerized photography. Real laboratory scenes using a spectrograph were shot at Caltech. Composer Gil Mellé recorded actual laboratory sounds for the film at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for authenticity while doing research for the film score. Microbiologist Abigail A. Salyers noted that the film raised real concerns with the larger public about the risks of interplanetary contamination. Environmental scientist Michael Paul Meltzer referred to the larger story as a "touchstone for planetary protection specialists in discussing matters of back contamination and the dangers that they present".
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “The Andromeda Strain” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.