But here the politicians look like politicians, the generals look like generals, and the scientists look and behave exactly like scientists. Nowadays, there might be pressure to get a hunk and eye-candy in there to make the science feel sexier. The cast is spot-on and though not unusual for its time, seems refreshingly believable in their rather ‘normal’ appearance. It’s gone on to become a science fiction sub-genre in itself!ĭr Stone is a Nobel Prize-winning bacteriologist and the remainder of his team are pathologist Dr Charles Dutton (David Wayne), surgeon Dr Mark Hall (James Olson)-the closest thing to a ‘leading man’ we get here-irascible microbiologist Dr Ruth Leavitt (Kate Reid). Secret teams of experts are called together at the start of Jurassic Park (1993), Congo (1995), Sphere (1998), and to a lesser extent Timeline (2003). It’s a fine formula that Michael Crichton, author of the original novel, would recycle a few times in more novels destined for big-screen adaptations. There then follows a variation on the theme as the rest of a predetermined team of experts are assembled. The restraint with which the line is delivered and the moment of silent response before Dr Stone packs and leaves without explanation are powerfully understated. Matter-of-factly, they announce “there’s been a fire, sir.” Still one of my favourite moments in any film.
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A group of armed ‘army-types’ knock on the door of a well-to-do house and call Dr Jeremy Stone (Arthur Hill) away from the reception he’s hosting. The enigma doesn’t let-up as we plunge into one of the most thrilling of non-action sequences. Some great, enigmatic dialogue right there… He’s quick to call “a Wildfire alert” because of “unnatural death caused by Scoop 7 returning to earth”. The next day, Major Manchek (Ramon Bieri) at Scoop Control orders a reconnaissance jet flyby that confirms the town is littered with the dead and there’s nothing moving but vultures. It’s a narrative device we’ve seen many times since, some of the most memorable examples being the finale of Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds ‘rock opera’ (1977) and the slick sequence when the aliens pick off the Space Marines in James Cameron’s Aliens (1986). They become increasingly agitated as they describe a scene of desolation and dead bodies before being abruptly cut-off as they report ‘something white’ coming toward them. Weirdly, there are innumerable vultures circling overhead, at night. Much is made of distance and radio communications between the two soldiers and the Vandenberg Air Force Base heading the mission. A couple of soldiers arrive at a small New Mexico town to retrieve Scoop 7, a space probe that’s fallen back to earth after being knocked off course during its mission to collect samples from near-space in a search for extra-terrestrial organic material. The opening scenes are as gripping as they come.
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And I think it’s even more engrossing than I remembered…
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Not only are the picture and sound elements pin-sharp, due to a 4K scan taken from the original camera negative, but it’s also stood the test of time as a solid piece of filmmaking. So, watching this meticulously restored Blu-ray release from Arrow Video was a pleasant surprise.
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Robert Wise became my first favourite director! I’ve seen this movie a few times since, but not for more than a decade. It was certainly one of the earliest films I watched that made me sit up and take note of the production crew as well as the actors. On first viewing, in my early-teens, The Andromeda Strain profoundly impressed me.