It is a tricky business when producers decide to do a remake of a film or television show that is not only well known by the fans but is held in high regards by them. Sometimes they go for the straight remake which more often than not brings little to nothing new to the story. Then there is the reimagining; a new term that typically indicates the writers can’t come up with a new idea so they just take a previous film and remold it to their own variation. Usually this is disastrous’ just look at what happened with great science fiction movies like ‘Planet of the Apes’ and ‘The Time Machine’. When I heard that a reimagined versions of ‘The Andromeda Strain’ was being made I have to admit I had my doubts. This has been one of my favorite films since I first saw it in the theaters back in 1971. Since this time it was going to be a mini series so there was hope that the extra time would be used to further develop some of the characters and theme present in the original. With some trepidation I put the screener into the DVD player and hoped for the best. Almost to my surprise the result was far different from that movie I’ve loved for the last thirty seven years but it held up surprisingly well on its own. The fundamental plot is still the same. An American satellite containing a lethal pathogen crashes near a small town. A team of scientists must work against the clock to find out just what it is. What they did with the extra time afforded by the mini series format was to give more back story to the main characters and try to import some more politically relevant issues. This had a mixed effect. You have to consider this rendition of the story apart from the 1971 version and the 1969 novel they were based on. When you do that this film works a lot better.

The screenplay was written by Robert Schenkkan. He has a few well received scripts under his belt including ‘Spartacus (2004)’ and ‘Crazy Horse’. Here he takes the bsasic plot and infuses it with political and social issues. This does broaden out the story considerably but at the expense of the claustrophobic feel that the story demands. Instead of concentrating on the frustration of the scientists Schenklan brings the action out of the laboratory and into the real world. There are some missteps such as the final stages of the infectious agent. One plot line that is a throwaway and completely unnecessary concerns the President’s troubles with a new controversial energy source. The President in this film is up for reelection and is so concerned over his poll numbers and the effects his decision have on his campaign that he is distracted from the main problem that could wipe out the human race. There is also a plot line with an investigative reporter who happens to be good friends with the head of the team of scientists. The report does provide a natural way to focus on events outside the lab but again it tends more towards being distracting then just giving the audience the required exposition for the new material. Overall this takes a lot of the immediacy away from the story. There is also too much of the government conspiracy plot line present. Okay, we get it, the government works in secret and can’t be trusted. The script hits the audience over the head with this which twists the film from a pure science fiction and attempting to also be a politically thriller.

The original film was directed by Robert Wise, one of the most eclectic directors ever. He helmed such hits as ‘West Side Story’ and ‘The Sound of Music’ to classic Sci-Fi like ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’. These are mighty big shoes for the director of this film, Mikael Salomon, to fill. Fortunately he does have the experience in this mini series format and in doing remakes. He directed the remake of ‘Salem’s Lot’ for the Sci-Fi channel and did the disaster flick mini series ‘Aftershock: Earthquake in New York’. Salomon also directed episodes of some great television series including ‘Rome’ and ‘Alias’. Obviously the man has talent in his field. Helping in this is his long years of work as a cinematographer giving him an excellent eye for framing a scene. Salomon does a great job in handling the more complex script. He has to deal with many changes in location without letting the audience loose the narrative. He does so with skill and provides us with a film that has a flow to it that keeps you intrigued. There are many special effects shots that are done well and naturally the level of the effects is less than most high budget flicks but a lot better than on the normal made for television faire. The original film had a technology that is laughable by today’s standards. The state of the art computer displays were like the first generation computer games. Here Salomon does give the technologically savvy audience something to keep their interest. The one thing I really liked was the flexible computer screens the team received when they arrived at the facility. There are modern robot arms, top of the line computers and other technological wonders to make sure you remember that this is happened now.

The film opens with a young couple parked in a car in the middle of nowhere. All the guy can think about is making his move on the young lady. Just as he is about to get to second base the worse possible thing happens; something blazes out of the sky crashing near them. He wants to take the thing back into town to get credit for the discovery. A little later an army truck with two solders show in the former mining town of Piedmont, Utah. They are shocked when they see the street of the town littered with dead bodies. One older man rushes the truck looking for help but by then the two solders have died an agonizing death. General George Mancheck (Andre Braugher) is called in. He is the head of Bio defense for the country. He gets on the phone with the head of the National Security Administration to tell them project ‘Scoop’ has crashed. The director will take care of telling President Scott (Ted Whittall). Mancheck tells the director that he fells he must call a ‘Wildfire’ alert. This alert mobilizes an emergency protocol that gathers of team of highly specialized doctors and scientist. The first one called is Dr. Jeremy Stone (Benjamin Bratt). He is in the middle of another fight with his soon to be ex-wife Lisa (Anna Galvin) who makes accusations of infidelity. Doctor Stone works at John Hopkins, designed the ‘Wildfire’ facility and is a noted epidemiologist. The army is dispatched to bring in the other team members. Dr. Angela Noyce (Christa Miller) is a surgeon, ex biologist and expert in tropical and exotic diseases. Dr. Charlene Barton (Viola Davis) is a pathologist formerly with the CDC. Dr. Tsi Chou (Daniel Dae Kim) used to work on biological weapons for the Chinese government and is one of the best microbiologists in the world. The last member of the team is Major Bill Keane MD (Rick Schroder). He is an expert in infectious diseases and a neurologist. He also headed the team that dealt with an infectious outbreak in Dallas a few years back.

The team goes to Piedmont to recover the downed satellite and finds the dead bodies. Some just died in an instant but others went into either a suicidal or homicidal rage before death. They take the satellite back too the facility to begin the investigation. Meanwhile investigative reporter Jack Nash (Eric McCormack) is in rehab and receives a phone call from Wheezer (Graeme Duffy) a computer hacker with a story for him. They meet and Wheezer lets Jack hear a recoding of what happened in Piedmont. Jack knows what the mention of the man Mancheck means and tries to contact Stone. This gives an introduction to the government conspiracy plots concerning how the NSA is trying to cover up the real purpose of Project Scoop. Stone and Mancheck are not particularly good at working together with the general not above cutting off Wildfire off from the outside or Stone using his contact with Nash to blackmail Mancheck.

The movie is thankful not trying to recapture the essence of the original. It has to be given credit for trying to take a strong story and modernize it for the current world situation. The acting is better than average with a cast that is well known for their TV roles on hit series. The bottom line is this is not a bad way to spend an evening. It is more of an action thriller than science fiction; perhaps one of the reasons this was developed for the Sci-Fi Channel but debuted on A&E. In any case it is fun to watch.