Not a good remake. Plenty of plot points borrowed from the book, but lots of fluffy stuff added that doesn't make any sense and leaves one with an itch. Lots of dumbness, particularly later in the flick. People croak who shouldn't have and some don't croak who reasonably should have. The NSA is involved somehow in a creepy, back-channel way that is never explained and which makes no sense in the first place. Shadowy players go around whacking people without covering their tracks at all. Dumb, dumb, dumb.Lots of "surprises" are telegraphed far in advance of their reveal. Lots of "mysteries" are obvious long before they are solved. The rate of spread of the disease is far in excess of physical possibility. The solution to the disease could not possibly be spread quickly enough to deal with it, but the filmmakers figured that viewers' minds were already shut off by that point anyway.It's hard to believe that a mess like this could have been hacked out by the Scotts, but then, so was _Prometheus._ Okay, I believe it now.

In "The Andromeda Strain," a U.S. military satellite crashes in a small town in New Mexico and unleashes a deadly plague killing all but two survivors . As the military quarantines the area , a team of highly specialized scientists is assembled to find a cure to the pathogen code-named "Andromeda," and a reporter , Eric MacCormack , investigates a government conspiracy only to discover what he is chasing wants him silenced . The team of scientists formed by Benjamin Bratt as Dr. Jeremy Stone , Christa Miller as Dr. Angela Noyce , Daniel Dae Kim as Dr. TsiChou , Ricky Schroder as Major Bill Keane , Viola Davis as Dr. Charlene Barton , all of them are assembled in a high-tech, underground facility to identify and defeat the "enemy" before it is too late. As the threat must be identified in time to save the population from extermination . This is a fair-to-middling rendition based on Michael Chricton novel , previously adapted by Robert Wise with Arthur Hill, James Olsen , Paula Kelly , David Wayne , Kate Reid . It deals with a strange satellite falling back to earth carrying a deadly bacteria , as a crack team experiences strong difficulties as it becomes clear that the satellite has performed its intended function all too well, and has brought back something from space . It was originally exhibited as a two-part miniseries , but has also been edited into 4 different parts intended for airing as hour long episodes with commercials . This Sci-Fi yarn hits hard in the creepy beginning when an U.S. Army satellite , Scoop , falls to earth near Piedmont and population being destroyed , and in the hair-raising climax , as an extremely exciting ending , in fact , it is worthy of a typical action/thriller movie . However , the tension and suspense inherent in the bestselling Chricton novel is talked down by excessive changes from original book and a boring cast . After a splendidly traditional opening set piece , the message about the risks of scientific research starts to loom ponderously large with banks of super-computers dedicated to investigation as well as inclusion some weird elements as ¨Worm holes¨ and underwater bacteria ¨bacillus Infernus¨. As you'll perch on the very edge of the armchair when protagonists fight against time assailed by the Andrómeda Strain and to disarm the self-destruct device before it can trigger itself off .The motion picture was regularly directed by Mikael Salomon . Filmmaker makes rather plod through the screenplay , so that when the scientists finally get the connection between the micro-thing from outer space and a secret bacteriologic warfare , it seems heavily developed and high time , indeed . Salomon has stated his intention of working on less of the TV-series and pilots that force him to compromise his visions, in favor of more qualitative features and mini-series . He made some films but also directed other series , episodes and TV movies as ¨Rome¨, ¨The Company¨, ¨The Grid¨, ¨Salem's lot¨ , ¨Band of Brothers¨, ¨Six¨, ¨Pompeii¨, ¨Damien¨, ¨Young Arthur¨ and many others

A satellite crashes in southern Utah. A teenage couple finds it and brings it into the town of Piedmont. A military retrieval team tracks it to the town and finds the population dead. They are also taken quickly by the contagion. General Mancheck (Andre Braugher) activates the Wildfire Alert. Dr. Jeremy Stone (Benjamin Bratt), Dr. Angela Noyce (Christa Miller), Major Bill Keane MD (Ricky Schroder), Dr. Tsi Chou (Daniel Dae Kim), and Dr. Charlene Barton (Viola Davis) are retrieved to investigate the outbreak. The victims' blood get clotted or they commit outlandish suicides. A man and a baby are the sole survivors. They are brought back to the Wildfire Lab. Reporter Jack Nash (Eric McCormack) gets a tip about the incident and leaves rehab. Project Scoop to collect samples from a wormhole is headed by Mancheck unbeknownst to President Scott who proposes underwater mining which could wipe out an unique environment.This stretches the two hour 1971 movie into a 4-part three hour mini-series. The 1971 movie is already extended. This one adds on a lot of stuff including The Happening. It also suffers from complicated scientific talk just like the original movie. It does have enough flash to keep it energized but it's not an improvement. Overall, it's watchable TV fare that leaves one in an empty Buckyball.

Instead of rehashing how awful this movie was, let's name the cliché or plot hole that stood out the most for us.For me, it had to have been when Dr. Barton was in the containment room, panicking because she had been exposed to the virus, and she realizes that her hyperventilation has probably made her flushed with CO2 so she has not been infected. And just then, the good Dr. Noyce motherly chirps in with "You have to CALM DOWN!"Why? Was Dr Noyce trying to kill her or something? And for that matter...whatever happened to Dr. Barton? Like so many other characters...she just fell out of the plot after that.