Review of The Andromeda Strain (1971) by Ashley C — 29 May 2009

A fair adaptation of Crichton's novel, which I had believed was un-adaptable. This film does an adequate job, covering most of the story elements found in the book. There is a point where a monkey is killed in the film, and it's so amazingly realistic, that I had to look up how they did it. Another interesting aspect of this movie is it's use of some method to create a clear focus on both close up objects and far away ones. This is most likely done with two lenses, since the objects which crossed that line on the screen where the two are split line up nearly perfectly, and have the same motion. Also, the use of split screens to show person-viewpoint shots was fairly intriguing. The set was pretty cool, and they actually only used one level (just repainting it each time).

But enough about silly interesting techniques. The film itself could have used some quickening: the audience labored to watch long sequences of machines doing work, simply because it was cool to see someone manipulating a remote arm. But shots on this arms lasted too long and could have used some cutting. Similar to the book, the movie took far too long showing us the steps taken to sterilize the human body, and this segment could have been sped up. The acting was nothing to special, nor were any of the camera movements. It was a pretty standard film, based off a fairly interesting book.