Cool News
Is A&E’s ANDROMEDA STRAIN Remake Infectious Or Deadly??
SPOILER ALERT !!
I am – Hercules!!
Based on the 1969 novel by Michael Crichton (“Jurassic Park,” “Timeline”), A&E’s “The Andromeda Strain” miniseries is about a virus that crashes to Earth and wipes out every resident of a town save an infant and a sterno-swilling drunk.
Ridley and Tony Scott’s names are all over the promotional material, but the project was actually helmed by veteran TV director Mikael Salomon (“Runaway,” “The Company”) from a screenplay by Robert Schenkkan (the 2004 TV version of “Spartacus”).
Cast members include Benjamin Bratt (“Law & Order”), Eric McCormack (“Will & Grace”), Christa Miller (“Scrubs”), Rick Schroeder (“24”), Andre Braugher (“Homicide”) and Daniel Dae Kim (“Lost”).
Entertainment Weekly gives it an “C-minus” and says:
… Despite the eerie premise, the cluttered remake mires itself in lab work, inane backstories and bureaucracy …
USA Today gives it two stars (out of four) and says:
… In those rare moments when this two-part thriller from producers Ridley and Tony Scott actually sticks to the book, it works — proof of the power of Crichton's imagination. Unfortunately, adapter Robert Schenkkan, who did an equally shoddy job with USA's Spartacus, uses the book only as a framework on which to load an increasingly incomprehensible mush of power-mad conspirators, environmental activists, stalwart journalists and worm-hole time travel. It would take four more nights just to make sense of the outline. …
TV Guide says:
… This slick and often scary update presents a gripping medical mystery of scientific trial and error against a topical backdrop of bioterrorism, environmental activism and 24-style government conspiracy. Even when it gets heavy-handed, like the subplot with Eric McCormack as a superhero reporter, the entertainment level is pretty sensational. …
The New York Times says:
… “The Andromeda Strain” packs its suitcase so heavily, it cannot travel. It never grows quite suspenseful enough, and it rests on the rather un-sci-fi-ish idea that the future is a benign force, like a mentor uncle with something meaningful to teach us about our venality and callous disregard for the Earth. What combats Andromeda in the end is something simple and primitive and endangered. “The Andromeda Strain” never terrifies, but it succeeds in feeling like a protracted advertisement for Greenpeace. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… The problem with resurrecting "Andromeda" is that, after years of escalating Crichton and other science/medical thrillers, the original story seems fairly bland. Unfortunately, the solution was not to take the plot to Defcon 5 and nuke it to death. Because while Andromeda the strain feeds off such extreme energy, "Andromeda" the movie just turns to irradiated dust.
…
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… just before the credits roll on Night 1, "The Andromeda Strain" comes so completely unwound that you think, "I might have to find something else to do tomorrow instead." But resist that temptation. Because once you're invested to that point, you might as well stay around for the payoff, which unfolds uproariously on Tuesday as both a "Mystery Science Theater 3000" candidate for mockery and a thoughtfully constructed drinking game.…
The Denver Post says:
… a cheesy remake of the cheesy 1971 movie based on Michael Crichton's novel … When it tries to be serious sci-fi, this "Andromeda" strains. When it verges on camp, it's not smart enough to be funny. …
The Philadelphia Inquirer says:
… For about three hours and 40 minutes (including the 2 hours and 15 minutes of commercials - OK, not that much, but it always seems like it on cable), the mini-series rockets along, an exciting pile of preposterousness with conspiratorial overtones. Then it fizzles, with stuff you've seen 1,000 times before, and irritating loose ends. …
The Boston Globe says:
… it's a little surprising how much of a paint-by-numbers techno-thriller this is. Little in "The Andromeda Strain" feels unfamiliar. … this version of his story arrives in a world that has seen not only "Lost," but "The X-Files," "Armageddon," and every other sci-fi show or movie that melds disaster, conspiracy, and teamwork. By now, it takes a lot more than clever ideas to keep us hooked. …
Variety says:
… slightly bloated, mildly entertaining and painfully shot full of adrenalin …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… Director Mikael Salomon whips the story into a first-rate, quickly paced suspenseful tale. He is not at all shy about using flashy special effects, but he doesn't let them dominate the drama. Each part has edge-of-the-seat moments, thanks to some admirable performances as well as several intriguing new plot twists that inject surprise at key moments.
9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. SciFi.
From The Guy Who Wrote
The Making of Star Wars
And The Guy Who Wrote
Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays!!
Every Episode of "Earth 2" For $15??
One Of Hundreds Of Titles In
The SPRING TV 2FER SALE!!
…
-
+ Expand All
-
it remains a classic
-
Wahoo!
-
Silver for me!
-
...it actually ages better if you're into snazzy disco-era style special effects and sets. I never had hopes for this new version, seeing as they're trying to amp up the action and tone down the more subtle sense of danger in the film and book...
-
Disconnect your higher learning functions and regress for three and a half hours. Drool. Smile like a retard does while eating ice cream, and that's the mindset you'll need to be in to enjoy this muuuuuveee.
Its not as bad as some other fare that's been clogging the TV of late, but they could have done a better job. The biggest cliches get camera time here. "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and "Black people be fuckin' it up for the rest of us". Come on, now. Try to come up with somethign original if you're going to deviate from the source material instead of regurgitating hollywood formula. -
...is coming back to A&E? They aired the episode where Vito rearended the dude getting his mail last week but it appears it's on another break for the second half of season six (they had one after the end of season five as well). Anyone know when it may return?
-
they have so little credibility anymore, I wonder why Herc still mentions them. you might as well quote from ilovewillsmithnomatterwhat.com on a new Hancock review.the SF Chronicle, as always, spot on and hilarious. no one is going to watch this piece of shit, so many decent actors gone to waste in a made for TV void...
-
complete and utter travesty of one of my favourite ever movies.
no suspense, no shocks, no real sense of fear. boring.
if it was two hours long it might have been much much better.
do not bother watching. -
Porn studios, I have your title should you wish to remake this.
-
It returns next Sunday, 10 o'clock, like normal.
-
Another disaster! Only thing I even remember from this mess is Chainsaw Guy.
-
Benjamin Bratt has almost no presence in the lead roll. Eric McCormack shows he's a one note actor by basically playing a toned down Will. The big race against the clock scene is completely unbelievable, unlike the original, and the conclusion feels like the worst of X Files paranoia.
-
Nice, senseless political jab there. Crap remakes, now an election issue? Cute.
-
i kicked your first loving ass
-
Phazers set on "mock".
-
Just the bit with the bomb had me shaking my head. On top of all the ridiculous other bits it just killed it. Made no sense whatsoever. And, unlike the original, too many people know what happened that there isn't somebody, somehow, who wouldn't want their 15 minutes of fame by telling the press. Just one big flop.
-
If you can do it better than the original, or can offer a radical new take on the original, then fill your boots.Otherwise, don't fucking bother.
-
surely...
-
The Great Strain Robbery, Jurassic Pork, Rising Cum, Airflaps, Bikini Line, and my personal favourite, Spheres.
-
Hahahaha
-
I'd recommend spending your time watching Robert Wise's far superior original. There's no worm holes, messages from the future, holographic computer displays or cutting off thumbs to deactivate the nuke in the classic original.
-
A horribly underrated classic sci-fi film, it is. That is all.
-
The critics can lick each others' taint. I thought it was well made and very entertaining. You can't compare it to the original anymore than you can compare Ron Moore's BSG with the 1978 version. A forty year old book has to be updated and re-imagined for the modern era. Let go of the book a little and completely let go of the original movie and watch it with an open mind, you just might like it.
-
the clock is ticking down to midnite on the possible sag strike...aftra may bend over and take it up the ass, but looks like sag will be in for the long haul if they dont accept the crap that the producers want to hand them....those of you that reside in sunny socal, get ready for doom, cuz if you think the economy is bad now, wait till this strike occurs and hollywood shuts down totally...
-
the movie was made before the "youth culture" hit its stride...think of the concept...movies populated by people over the age of 40...populated by people who dont look good with their clothes off...people who really looked like scientists who had spent their lives below ground doing research...there is a real palpable sense of doom and claustrophobia...no way is that made today, cuz it wouldnt be considered sexy....hey hollywood, indy made 126 mil this weekend....do you think everyone was going to check out shia?
-
"Vito rearended the dude"
-
The key to salvation, at least in the movie as I never read the book, was the wino. Go figure.
-
Any time you remake something you are going to invite comparisons to the original. And the Andromeda Strain was not that complicated. Aside from some technical terms and maybe a set or two it needed little to no updating, 40 years old or not. Sure, they reimagined it a bit and I have no problem with that (why make a carbon of the original) but they reimagined it poorly. The story was quietly frightening. It did not need the addition of green politics, time travel, viral telepathy, evil military types or deranged AI computers to "improve" it.
-
..just have an open mind is all I'm saying. Of course you can compare Ron Moore's BSG with the original, but you don't have to. The two stand separate from each other just fine. The same can apply here if you let it. Any adaptation to the screen is an interpretation and artistic license comes into play. Whether or not you like it is up to you and me. Just forget the original, its what I try to do with any remake, let it stand on its own.
-
It was pretty good. Looking forward to tomorrow.
-
Jouranlists no longer represent heroic characters.
Hey, reminds me of Ernest Borgnine in "The Black Hole." Only five people on deep space mission--and one would be a journalist. Yeah, uh huh, sure. -
shit the models in the great glam ad above are hot as hell.
-
But noooooo... you gotta make it sound like theres a chance it DOESN'T create a wormhole with its own raw sucktitude.
-
lol a wormhole. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
-
Fedrich519 - "Just forget the original, its what I try to do with any remake, let it stand on its own" But you can't. Precisely because it already exists in another form, comparison IS inevitable to the millions who are aware of the original. A good remake (Spielberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS is the only I can think of) is CLOSER to the source material, not farther and thus works better. Otherwise, why not simply call it something else?
-
No other news?
-
You have been warned......
-
Like serving beans on a submarine
-
so the end of part 1 was pretty cool, i'm definitely wondering how the hell a disease can turn blood to powder AND disintegrate airplanes.
-
so the end of part 1 was pretty cool, i'm definitely wondering how the hell a disease can turn blood to powder AND disintegrate airplanes.
-
sorry everyone
-
Whenever some idiot producer/director/whatever decides, "hey I have no idea what to make that might even be *remotely* original, so I'll take a proven classic, add a bunch of special effects, bad acting, and a whole lot of government conspiracy crap and use it to sell commercial space!" One of us could be there and slap some sense into them. With a baseball bat if need be. Good God People **LEAVE THE CLASSICS ALONE!!!**
-
the underschooled may have trouble with it though.
-
SUCKFEST!from characters who stop working to stop armageddon to chat about lost love, to do ipod treadmill workouts, to a running for his life in the desert reporter who SEES the rapidly approaching andromeda sweeping toward him, then destroys newly found suv and DOES NOT take advantage of a suddenly available Humvee, to Ricky climbing pipes when there are ladders to either side of him, to incredibly wooden acting from nearly everyone---oh, god it was an utter mess.Cannot believe Crichton won't sue them--'cept maybe he already cashed the check they gave him. Oh, yea, completely random eco-terrorists on oil rig scene. Some link to deep sea vent bacterium, or just shitty writing. Just shitty writing. If it was Good writing, wouldn't even have to ask.The book was Great, the original film was great, and this was Let's take all the good stuff from that and redo it -- but to be "original" ourselves we have to "change it up" so lets have the guy get blinded by steam, yea, that is way better than the original"Plagiaristic Putzes--if you are going to just blatantly copy/remake (steal) something that has already been done, at least don't make it WORSE.To be fair, it had one interesting twist that was different than the original--though half of that twist was swiped from Contact, and the other half from 4400.
-
And it's a nice TV!
-
the screen credit reads "based on the novel by J. Michael Crichton", whoever that is.And the whole point of the book and movie was the medical mystery of why did the baby and sterno-drinker survive? In the new version, they weren't even a major factor and with the wormhole angle, not even important in the solution. And the back/side personal stories added absolutely nil.
-
I read the book when i was a teenage and loved it. The very same copy is sitting on my computer desk right now (i'm about to re-read it). Personally, i thought this mini series was great. There was some wooden acting
like the black woman saying "OH YEAH! STUPID STUPID STUPID!" after forgetting to autopsy the rats, or the friggin slo mo thumb toss scene (which almost ruind the whole thing for me
But i'm truly surprised that no one thought this ending was GREAT! The andromeda virus apparently devestates the future because the only bacteria that could have killed it has gone extinct. They create a wormhole and send it back in time encased in a nanotechnology casing which itself eplains why they cannot kill it.
Because the the military covertly sent a satellite to collect samples from the wormhole, the casing is compromised and when the satellite crashes it releases andromeda (which was not the intention of our descendants who sent it back in time)
Along with the name of the future extinct bacteria's name which must be saved to presumably ensure the human race's survival from andromeda, there is a cryptic set of numbers and a strange symbol embedded in the message from the future. After andromeda is easily consumed by the bacteria described by the message from the future, we find, in the last moments of the show, that the numbers and symbol refer to the serial number and container which encase the last surviving sample of andromeda after it is annihilated (which is being stored on the international space station)... Additionally it is implied that the President has no intention of ceasing the vent mining which will cause the andromeda-combating bacteria's extinction!! This means that in the future, the space station crashes releasing that sample of andromeda, and because vent mining caused the extinction of the bacteria even after we were warned, it lays waste to earth causing future scientists to send it back in time with instructions intending for us to: save the bacteria from extinction, and identify the container and location of the andromeda sample that THEY THEMSELVES SENT BACK IN TIME!!! AND THE CYCLE BEGINS AGAIN!! that was fucking entertainment, loved it!! I'm drunk. -
as i did need the end the ending explained as it was weird, and j.micheal cricheton is micheal cricheton, who most of his novels get ripped to pieces when they get to the big screen, and the endings are made happier see jurassic park and lost world, when in jurassic park the book spoiler alert Dr. Hammond is killed by the compies and doesn't make it to the lost world, and also the lost world also had it's ending changed and another micheal crcihton novel will be featured on a and e sat preceding an encore of the andromeda strain, Sphere, trust me the book is better, as Sphere is also ripped to sreds and like i said the book is better
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 151 total posts 140 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 128 total posts 94 posts
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 92 total posts 91 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 474 total posts 70 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 64 total posts 64 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 51 total posts 51 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 116 total posts 41 posts
- Wanna smell like the Hulk? What about Cap? Consider yourself a Thunder God or a unisex God of Mischief? -- 71 total posts 40 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 35 total posts 35 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 35 total posts 34 posts