Search - The Andromeda Strain on DVD

MPAA Rating: G Content Advisory: Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1971 DVD Release: 01/28/1998 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 11 mins Studio: Image Entertainment Members Wishing: 13 Genres: Science Fiction, Thriller, Sci-Fi Disaster Film, Paranoid Thriller See Also: The Andromeda Strain

The "Andromeda Strain" is a deadly extraterrestrial virus. It is brought to Earth when a research satellite crashes near a tiny Arizona town. Everyone in the community dies within days, except for a baby and an "insulated" drunkard. Recruited from labs all over North America, doctors Charles Dutton (David Wayne), Jeremy Stone (Arthur Hill), Ruth Leavitt (Kate Reid), and Mark Hall (James Olson) don radiation suits and race against time to isolate and destroy the virus. The film is based on a novel by Michael Crichton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Arthur Hill - Dr. Jeremy Stone
David Wayne - Dr. Charles Dutton
James Olson - Dr. Mark Hall
Kate Reid - Dr. Ruth Leavitt
Paula Kelly - Karen Anson

This Universal DVD release of The Andromeda Strain makes plain that Hollywood was really taking chances during the early '70s. Ace director Robert Wise cast a number of unknowns in key roles and concentrated on scientific technique in this taut, suspenseful adaptation of the hit Michael Crichton novel. Unfortunately, Universal didn't bother to remaster the widescreen film print and it looks dirty, dingy, and faded. An anamorphic widescreen transfer of a remastered print should be in the works, and consumers would be advised to wait for one, especially considering that the audio track is also non-dynamic and somewhat muffled. While The Andromeda Strain isn't quite up to the peerless standards of such wonderful Robert Wise movies as The Sand Pebbles or West Side Story, it still deserves to receive the same treatment that those superb films received when they were transferred to DVD. ~ Nick Dedina, All Movie Guide