love when you do classic Sci Fi

Michael Crichton is an actual MD which is why some of his work seems highly technical.

@charlieeckert4321

27 күн бұрын

He had a cameo as the surgeon who takes over for Hall when he gets called away.

@montylc2001

27 күн бұрын

@@charlieeckert4321 Yes, at timestamp 10:14. He's not named as the surgeon specifically but he's the guy sitting down with the beard.

This is the kind of thoughtful, introspective film that was common in the 1970's and which could not be made today because...no s'plosions or CGI. I will continue to die on the Hill that the best period for film making was the mid 60's-mid 70's when the old Hollywood system had collapsed and the new "Hypercapitalist" system of the 80's hadn't taken hold yet.

@kirkdarling4120

27 күн бұрын

You could be right. I'll have to think about that.

@apparition13

27 күн бұрын

You could probably say the same for music too.

@Shadowman4710

27 күн бұрын

@@apparition13 Probably.

Chrichton was one of the best for creating a narrative that is so engrossing, you forget it's a fictional story and feel like you're in the story itself

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

For a time I thought this was a true story

@MrTbk1701

26 күн бұрын

After I saw Jurassic Park in the theater when it came out, I was obsessed and read every book Michael Crichton wrote he is awesome.

@aaronleffew9593

25 күн бұрын

You're right about that

This straightforward 1971 movie kicks the heavily padded 2008 miniseries into the landfill.;) I watched the 2008 miniseries out of curiosity, and wasted time on that "re-imagined" tale. This could happen tomorrow, and it is also why satellites sent from Earth are sterilized before launch. That "601" computer overload error message chilled me to the bone.

@DavidGarcia-kw4sf

27 күн бұрын

The anime "Evangelion" pays homage to this film in episode 5 where they use the same 601 computer code for "cannot be analyzed."

@montylc2001

27 күн бұрын

I never bothered with the mini series. I knew they would frake it up.

Imagine it's 1971 and you're in a darkened theater with about 200 terrified people. That was the essence of this movie experience. All of this space virus stuff was new to the world since Apollo 11 two years earlier. We didn't know what to think of this.

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

Had to be mind blowing

@guscarlson7021

27 күн бұрын

@@RKnights Never looked at the world the same way again, same for the government.

The book is fantastic. It’s full of footnotes and has a complete bibliography included that looks entirely real. Crichton was in medical school when he wrote it, so he made it very realistic, though it’s completely fiction.

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

So good

@kirkdarling4120

27 күн бұрын

"...completely fiction." That's what they want you to think.

@chrisbullard5901

26 күн бұрын

@@RKnights, he did the same thing with “Eaters of the Dead”, which was made into the Antonio Banderas movie, “The 13th Warrior”. He took the classic Beowulf, joined it with the fraudulent journal of a Medieval Persian explorer, and added a techno-thriller twist in a style he’d come back to with “Congo”, “Sphere”, and “Next”.

Her joke about the red lights and a bordello,....this comes from the fact that the areas of a town where prostitutes ply their trade is commonly known as the "Red Light District" from the historical habit of marking the neighborhood/bordellos with red lights.

@charlesmaurer6214

27 күн бұрын

Don't forget many women go into the trade to pay for school too.

@pauld6967

27 күн бұрын

@@charlesmaurer6214 I said nothing about the motivations of the ladies of the evening. I was only commenting on the connection between the two things she mentions since the host of our video expressed that he was puzzled by the joke. She was being a smart aleck, she hadn't previously worked in a bordello.

@ianstopher9111

23 күн бұрын

🎶Roxanne🎶

That was/is a great sci-fi movie that, as other have mentioned, doesn't rely on massive explosions or special effects. Just a compelling story well-done.

@silikon2

27 күн бұрын

I also love that all the scientists look and act like scientists.

This is one of my favorite films. I first saw it in 7th grade science class. Read the book too! Fantastic story.

I've always loved the soundtrack to this film. Composer Gil Mellé was a jazz musician who liked to experiment with electronic music... he built a lot of the circuits he used to generate these sounds from scratch!

@buffstraw2969

27 күн бұрын

I loved the music. Bought the soundtrack album, the vinyl record was hexagonal in shape, like the Andromeda crystal.

@charlieeckert4321

27 күн бұрын

The score was creepy as he'll, and when I first saw it, it was a big part of the lasting impression it made on me. I saw it first in the cinema in its first run.

@buffstraw2969

27 күн бұрын

@@charlieeckert4321 Me too. I saw it in the theater, back in 1971. Impressed me almost as much as Kubrick's "2001," which I'd seen a few years earlier.

My favorite character is Paula Kelly, the nurse.

Always loved this one.

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

Great movie

I love this movie. It's so technical. Also they significantly tone down the writer's normal "You shouldn't have technology because you don't understand the science!" nonsense.

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

Was that an attitude back in the day?

@gallendugall8913

26 күн бұрын

@@RKnights It's in all of his books. They usually edit these rants out of the movies, but it's very strong in the Jurassic Park movie where his self insert is "Malcomb" as played by Jeff Goldblum. You'll notice in that movie most people agree with what Malcomb is saying, but that there is no counterpoint. All arguments sound strong when there is no counterpoint. Great writer but kind of a preachy self-important a-hole.

Glad you watched it. It's actually pretty close to the book. - The book this film is based on a book written by Michael Crichton. In addition to a fantastic author, he was also a Harvard Graduated Doctor. These films and TV series are based on the works of Michael Crichton -- 'Jurassic Park' 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park' 'Twister' 'Sphere' 'Westworld' 'The Andromeda Strain' **** 'The First Great Train Robbery' 'The Terminal Man' 'Coma' 'Looker' 'Runaway' 'Physical Evidence' 'Disclosure' 'Congo' 'The 13th Warrior' 'Timeline' - TV series, "ER" - -- As we say in Texas; y'all be safe.

I hear you about the slow pace of the movie alot of Science fiction of this period are, they are there to make you think but this is the kind of science fiction i was watched as a kid growing up. This was made over 50 years ago, and is science fiction about life beyond earth, which today will still haven't found definative proof.

This has reminded me of all the "B" movies we used to watch in the 70's. We would go to the Cinema on a Friday night after the Pubs had closed and see the "Midnight Matinees" - probably where I first saw this, along with some other "classic" SciFi and Horror movies of the time. Friday nights, Pub after work, Burgers from the Van for dinner, then to the Cinema for the Midnight show. Unless we were really lucky and pulled some ladies at the pubs

The dead towns people were real human beings that held still really well.

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

Chilling

FUN FACT: Michael Crichton wrote the book and you could also see his cameo in the background as one of the doctor with out his mask as they pickup Dr. Mark Hall right before the operation - 10:14

The Andromeda Strain isn't based on a true story but Chrichton usually draws on scientific research and or scientific journals to take two elements and combine them together to create a story. Such as Jurassic Park where a paper was written about a prehistoric insect being found intact in amber and combining that with cloning research. To create a story about cloned dinosaurs. The movie also had some consultants for authenticity. 😮

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

Ok, the opening sounded like there was some truths to the strain

@anorthosite

23 күн бұрын

Known as a "techno-thriller".

An early classic. But the humans are the alien life form ;-) US was digging up Spanish flu victims in Alaska from the permafrost in 2006. Apollo 11 astronauts were isolated when they came back in 1969 ... in case they brought back a space bug.

Thank you for sharing this terrific, and very underrated, film! Some great sci-fi came from this era, as others have attested. Another awesome, immersive film from this period is Fantastic Voyage (1966). Excellent reaction!

I was 11 or 12 when this movie came out. It shocked and scared Alot of people. I remember over hearing my parents and Alot of other people. At the time bio-warfair was a relative topic at the because of the moon landing at first when the astronauts came back they were put in isolation at the luner lab. After it was determined that no life existed in outer space or on the moon this practice was discontinued.

This and all the 80s WWIII / nuclear accident stuff growing up scared me more than any monster. Invisible horrors...

in 1970 my dad and my brothers traveled from the san francisco bay area to wisconsin by car-we were al reading this bok-every gas stop some one else would grab it. we couldn't put it down. when the movie came out our hopes were not too high--but it is faithful to the book-only changes i remember was the the lady doctor was a man, and the central core used curare darts not lasers-great movie!

@JFrazer4303

15 күн бұрын

Very tense book. Very well done.

Awesome pick Ray, Just watched this last week after not seeing it for thirty some years. As relavent today as when it was released, maybe more so.

This is another banger of a movie that not enough folks know about...and another movie I cannot wait to see you show to the rest of the guys. LOL

I remember watching this in the 70's or 80's. It has always stuck in my memory, so it really was a good film / story. Though I didn't see all the film from your reaction, I remember the bits you didn't show and it was still quite tense watching it, even today.

The virus traveled through space until it hit the satellite.

Great reaction. There is another AI out of control movie from the same era called 'Demon Seed'. The story line predicted the current dilemma with present AI.

As I commented in the watch-a-long, the slow pacing (IMO) helps the creation of the passage of time making for a realistic timeline. Also if you liked this I strongly suggest looking up the mini series of the same name made in 2008, (only 4 x 42 minute episodes but most commonly available as 2 x 1h 20m movies), it has the same basic storyline but with modernised themes, a quicker pace & an insane ending. Great reaction R Knight, so glad I got to watch-a-long as it was one of my suggestions & agree less Sci-Fi but it is listed as one. Looking forward to hopefully watching your next one.

During a High School Architectural class, I designed a modular house based on the Andromeda Strain. ;-) Build a bigger, better lab facility.

I watched this back in the mid 70's on TV. it is a good movie, the final climb was very stressful to watch. Ironic, the doctor with epilosy didn't want a doctors check-up, because she would have been kicked off her project. Well, I'm sure they sent up satellites to see if they could pick up space dust back in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. That's why all of the astronauts were put in quarantine, just on the chance they caught an alien bug. Michael Crighton is very good on writing very plausible story lines, that reflect the days tech, and money world.

Another great reaction to a movie I watched in a theater when first released! Been one of my favs ever since,.

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

Nice! It's cool to hear that you still love the movie after all this time.

The production values are kind of clunky, which was typical of rather low-budget 70s productions. But because this is styled to look like a government documentary, the clunkiness works for it and it has aged well.

Another total classic. It's one of the most realistic depictions of Science in Scifi - people following established procedures to do "proper" scientific work, nobody comes up with some far fetched assumptions that turn out to be true, which is a really annoying trope. The Godzilla (and other Kaijus like Gamera) movies do this a LOT. You'll see one of the monsters do something and then the camera will show the main scientist who sees the monster doing this for the very first time. And he (always a he) then will explain something about the "obvious" behaviour this points to AND draw conclusions about it, and they're always true.

The soundtrack for this came on a hexagonal shaped vinyl record.

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

Really?

@dansmith3085

27 күн бұрын

@@RKnights Yep.

You review a great selection of films!

Such a great film and your reaction video is a perfect accompaniment. So glad you saw this classic

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

Your support means the world to me! I'm grateful that you appreciate the film and my reaction video.

If you want to keep the run going, might I suggest "Silent Running" from 1972.

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

It's on my list, not sure if I get to it but I will at some point

I think if I remember correctly, the organism was purely extra terrestrial, it was picked up by the scoop, but do I remember that it was difficult to find because it was hidden in the sieve and didn't she miss it because of her epilepsy when concentrating on the microscopic analysis? The biggest plot fail for me is that if it could multiply and change in Earths atmosphere so fast, then how come if it was picked up by a Satellite (which are quite low altitude), it couldn't at some point simply have entered our atmosphere previously or was it so rare? (or did I miss the part where they explained why it had never been seen on earth before?)

@Dularr

27 күн бұрын

Her epilepsy prevented recognizing the agent that prevents growth. Scoop protected the organism upon reentry. Normally any rock or dust would burn up.

@toomanyaccounts

19 күн бұрын

it was picked up by the sat and protected from burning up in entry.

A more prescient movie for the Covid era is "Contagion".

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

Thats the one! I forgot what it was called

The movie made a brief reference to the Lunar Lab referencing the Apollo missions. The returning astronauts and samples they collected were immediately quarantined on their return because of fear of a possible infection threat. Just last year , 2023, a NASA probe returned samples collected from the asteroid Bennu. The capsule containing the samples landed in Utah. Small samples for study have since been distributed to research facilities for some countries around the world.

@JFrazer4303

15 күн бұрын

Everything among complex almost organic compounds including things almost like amino acids. Very exciting times.

There have been other reactions/reviews of The Andromeda Strain (1971) from years ago, but yours is more recent (interestingly, TBR Schmidt just released their reaction one day after yours). Anyways, congratulations on releasing your excellent reaction and hopefully other reactors will also do so and help spread the word on this overlooked film. A similar themed film, The Satan Bug (1964) would also be a likewise worthy suggestion for reaction. Not done yet, another overlooked Michael Crichton adapted film is Coma, starring Genevieve Bujold and Michael Douglas. :)

Time to listen to Apollo 440 again. The intro to Ain't takin' 'bout dub contains a sample from Andromeda Strain. kzread.info/dash/bejne/fXiduLOje5q9dso.html

Go back to timestamp 10:14. The medical technician in the background with the beard and his mask down is Michael Chrichton himself. I'm not sure but I think this is the only movie made from his books that he did a cameo in.

When the recce aircraft overflew Piedmont it had not yet mutated, it had by the time the other aircraft had. In the book, lead scientist Jeremy Stone, despite his legal training before becoming a highly eminent scientist with political connections, expressed surprise at how unusually easy it was to get the expensive and controversial Wildfire Lab funded and built, implying that he did not know the secondary and ulterior motive the government had. I highly recommend the book.

If I remember correctly, on an old IBM mainframe computer, a 601 error is an input overload -too much data coming in for the software to handle and so the program crashes - so that is what the end frame is about - the suggestion that there is too much data to handle.

such a great movie

The credits list the surgeon as Dr. Mark Hall, which to a British person would be very weird, but perfectly acceptable to an american.

Excellent choice! I'm Gen X too (born 69) and love this serious clinical style because it's what I grew up with. Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk tv shows all followed this clinical style for the most part. I recommend Phase IV as well. If you just glance at the synopsis, it'll sound like Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, but it's actually almost as clinical as this. (Though, not a fan of the split diopter Robert Wise seemed in love with. The cinematography of the weakest part of this movie to me.)

Some 70's Sleeper Psychological Horror films you may not have heard of but are excellent: The Other Magic The Shout The Mafu Cage The Appointment The Terminal Man 2 cents

@ianstopher9111

23 күн бұрын

Before watching Magic, I would recommend Dead of Night.

the science eq is real-it gets a credit.

Classic sci-fi films you should see: Barbarella Soylent Green Silent Running Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) Deadly Mantis This Island Earth When Worlds Collide the Blob Time After Time Time Machine Invaders from Mars Starman Robinson Crusoe on Mars Incredible Shrinking Man Fantastic Voyage Conquest of Space 4D Man

LOL! The character you hated (but who saved the day) was Dr Mark Hall who is Michael Crichton's self insert, he usually puts a self insert character into his books, and I feel the same way about him.

A random recommendation - don't know if you've already seen it or if it has been mentioned to you before. 1983's The Dead Zone, starring Christopher Walken is a favourite of mine. More mystery/thriller/horror with a little sci-fi thrown in.

"Carbon dioxide and Hydrogen", we dont not have the most. The average hydrogen content of air at ground level is 0.6 parts per million and CO2 makes up only about 0.04% of the atmosphere. The air in Earth's atmosphere is made up of approximately 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen.

I'm sure most of you have gotten an HTTP error like 400 or 404. If you have to check responses you will know quite a few others like 200 and 201. Error 601 is quite an unusual one and I think was added due to this film. Speaking of which I suspect everyone's favorite HTTP response is 418: The HTTP 418 I'm a teapot client error response code indicates that the server refuses to brew coffee because it is, permanently, a teapot. A combined coffee/tea pot that is temporarily out of coffee should instead return 503.

Think you'd like Colossus; The Forbin Project...

Wizards are now called “experts”🤫It’s now called dual use🤔

Arthur Hill's wife is a Karen for sure! Colosis is a classic - enjoyed your reaction to it. more 70's classics: Marooned The Lathe of Heaven Westworld Silent Running Soylent Green Rollerball 2-cents

The remake of the show but it ended up being stupid, trendy and they added that Andromeda is sentient for no reason.

@RKnights

27 күн бұрын

Really, I dont think I will watch is, at least for now

@Shadowman4710

27 күн бұрын

@@RKnights It was a miniseries on cable tv, maybe 20 years ago. Didn't watch it but I hear it wasn't good.

@kirkdarling4120

27 күн бұрын

They made it an evil corporate conspiracy instead of something just scooped out of space. That's a spoiler, and I'm not ashamed of it.

well.... it COULD be a true story..... 🐒

Covid, made in a lab.

The redone move from AMC, I think, is somewhat different and worth the watch.

This was a Made for T.V. Movie. Not for the theaters.

@Otokichi786

27 күн бұрын

This a TV movie: kzread.info/dash/bejne/qo2F0bWleKe0ZJs.html

@RetroRobotRadio

27 күн бұрын

The remake was made for TV. The original was in theaters.

@montylc2001

27 күн бұрын

No it wasn't.