"The Andromeda Strain" (2008) TV mini-series

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Mikael Salomon

Writers:

Michael Crichton (novel)
Robert Schenkkan (teleplay)

Release Date:

11 May 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It's A Bad Day To Be Human.

Plot:

A crack team of top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what has killed the citizens of a small town and learn how this deadly contagion can be stopped.

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Small Town | Military | Soldier | Virus

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Primetime Emmys. Another 7 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 21

1:00 PM

AETV

Cast

Benjamin Bratt	...	Dr. Jeremy Stone
Eric McCormack	...	Jack Nash
Christa Miller	...	Dr. Angela Noyce
Daniel Dae Kim	...	Dr. Tsi Chou
Viola Davis	...	Dr. Charlene Barton
Justin Louis	...	Colonel James C. Ferrus
Barry Flatman	...	Charles 'Chuck' Beeter
Ted Whittall	...	President William J. Scott
Ted Atherton	...	Edward 'Ed' Dewitt
Tom McBeath	...	Kyle Tobler
Rick Schroder	...	Major Bill Keane MD (as Ricky Schroder)
Andre Braugher	...	General George W. Mancheck
Jesse Moss	...	Jeff Megan
Magda Apanowicz	...	Suzie Travis
Kurt Max Runte	...	Sherriff Martin Willis
Kurt Evans	...	Lt. Roger Shawn
Panou	...	Lt. Lewis Crane
Anna Galvin	...	Lisa Stone
Michal Suchánek	...	Lance Stone
Jonathan Potts	...	Pat Terrence
Adrian Holmes	...	Sam Barton
Candus Churchill	...	Sophie Derabond
Ava Salomon	...	Sarah Scott
Emily Holmes	...	Joanne Scott
Graeme Duffy	...	Wheezer
Daniel Bacon	...	Spokesperson
Fred Keating	...	Charles Henderson
Stacee Copeland	...	Henderson's Secretary
Juan Carlos Velis	...	Roach
David Ross	...	Hank Benedict
Douglas O'Keeffe	...	Highway Patrol Officer
Tom Butler	...	Colonel Scott Arnold
Nels Lennarson	...	George the Guard
Chris Bradford	...	Wildfire Comms
Biski Gugushe	...	Sgt. George
Matthew Smalley	...	Private Brooks
Aaron Junior Turner	...	Private Connors
Teach Grant	...	Morgue Attendant
Bart Anderson	...	Al Ritter
Denise Galik	...	Annie Dillon
Donna Soares	...	Chinese Nurse
Calvin Lee	...	Korean Major
Michale Ascher	...	Sally Conover
Nicola Anderson	...	Lt. Amy Deacon
Roman Podhora	...	General Blair
Cory Dagg	...	General Michaelson
Paul Perri	...	Dr. Smithson
Luke Camilleri	...	Gordo
Eve Harlow	...	Leila
Michael Teigen	...	Ocean Savior
Jacob Blair	...	Operative #1
Eric Breker	...	Operative #2
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shaine Jones	...	Sgt. Samuel 'Gunner' Wilson (uncredited)
Katie Pezarro	...	Chinese Girl (uncredited)
Ian Thompson	...	Paramedic ambulance driver (uncredited)
Bruno Verdoni	...	Reporter (uncredited)

Directed by
Mikael Salomon

Writing credits
Michael Crichton		(novel) (as J. Michael Crichton)
Robert Schenkkan		(teleplay)

Produced by
Ron Binkowski	....	co-producer
Clara George	....	producer
Malcolm Reeve	....	co-producer
Mikael Salomon	....	co-executive producer
Ridley Scott	....	executive producer
Tony Scott	....	executive producer
Tom Thayer	....	executive producer
David W. Zucker	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Joel J. Richard

Cinematography by
Jon Joffin		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Scott Vickrey

Casting by
Denise Chamian
Scout Masterson

Production Design by
Jerry Wanek

Art Direction by
Dan Hermansen

Set Decoration by
Merlin Dervisevic

Costume Design by
Jenni Gullett

Makeup Department
Jill Bailey	....	makeup artist
Ian C. Ballard	....	key hair stylist (as Ian Ballard)
Susan Boyd	....	hair stylist
Lise Kuhr	....	additional makeup artist
Connie Parker	....	key makeup artist
Nicholas Podbrey	....	special effects makeup coordinator

Production Management
Julia Neville	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Heimbecker	....	third assistant director
Kathy Houghton	....	second assistant director
Janine Law	....	second assistant director
Ken Shane	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Perry Battista	....	lead set dresser
Josephine Bleuer	....	head greens (as Josie Bleuer)
Laurie Dobbie	....	props buyer
Dean Eilertson	....	property master
Lee Anne Elaschuk	....	graphic artist
Doug Girling	....	assistant art director
Shannon Gottlieb	....	set buyer
Roger Jacoe	....	paint coordinator
Jason B. Landels	....	assistant property master (as Jason Landels)
Jacques Larrue	....	on-set dresser
Colin Meacham	....	set dresser
Claudio Palavecino	....	on-set props
Kara Schwandt	....	assistant set decorator
Glenn Woodruff	....	construction coordinator (as Glenn 'Woody' Woodruff)
Levi Woods	....	property master: second unit

Sound Department
Bill Bell	....	sound editor
Stephane Bourgeault	....	sound assistant
Scott Cannizzaro	....	adr engineer
Tim Chilton	....	foley artist
Bob Costanza	....	sound editor
Mike Dickeson	....	sound editor
Kevin Fisher	....	sound effects editor
Erich Gann	....	sound effects editor (2008)
G. Michael Graham	....	supervising sound editor
Devon Heffley Curry	....	supervising adr editor (as Devon Curry)
Anton Holden	....	sound editor
Robert McDonagh	....	boom operator (as Rob McDonagh)
Sharon Michaels	....	foley artist
Terry O'Bright	....	sound re-recording mixer
Daryl Powell	....	production sound
Keith Rogers	....	sound re-recording mixer
Richard S. Steele	....	sound designer
Dean St. John	....	adr mixer
Tim Terusa	....	sound editor
David Torres	....	foley mixer
Daniel Tripoli	....	sound editor (as Dan Tripoli)

Special Effects by
Tony Lazarowich	....	special effects coordinator
Dale Shippam	....	special effects technician
Robert Yeager	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Patrik Bergman	....	digital effects artist
Ales Dlabac	....	CG artist
Jiri Forejt	....	digital compositor
Miro Gal	....	Inferno artist
Miro Gal	....	visual effects on-set supervisor
Tomas Hajek	....	digital compositor
Lukas Herrmann	....	digital matte paint artist
Lukas Herrmann	....	screen designer
Jan Heusler	....	digital compositor
Tomas Kalhous	....	digital effects artist
Pavel Kolar	....	visual effects artist
Vít Komrzy	....	visual effects producer
Vsevolod Korovin	....	digital compositor
Jirí Linhart	....	digital effects artist
Robert Loudil	....	visual effects artist
Jana Macenauerova	....	digital compositor
Petr Masek	....	digital compositor
Michal Mocnak	....	digital compositor
Tomas Munzar	....	digital compositor: UPP
Peter Nemec	....	Inferno artist
Vaclav Ondrousek	....	digital compositor
Robert Pik	....	Flame operator
Jiri Stamfest	....	matte artist
Frantisek Stepanek	....	visual effects
David Vána	....	visual effects supervisor
Petr Vcelicka	....	digital compositor
Jan Vseticek	....	visual effects coordinator
Lucie Zemanova	....	digital compositor
Vince Yoshida	....	prop builder (uncredited)

Stunts
Lloyd Adams	....	stunts
Nick Allen	....	stunts
Nicola Anderson	....	stunt performer
Guy Bews	....	stunts
Dustin Brooks	....	stunt fire safety
Kim Honey Burnett	....	stunts
Simon Burnett	....	stunts
Yves Cameron	....	stunts
Alain Chanoine	....	stunts (as Alaine Chanoine)
Raymond Chan	....	stunt double
Douglas Chapman	....	stunts (as Doug Chapman)
Laura Lee Connery	....	stunt driver
Brent Connolly	....	stunts
Colin Decker	....	fire stunt assistant
Mike Desabrais	....	stunts
Duane Dickinson	....	stunts
Jim Finkbeiner	....	stunts
Alex Green	....	stunts
Dave Hospes	....	stunt coordinator
Carol Jackson	....	stunts
Ken Kirzinger	....	stunts
Jon Kralt	....	stunt double: Rick Schroder
Rick Pierce	....	stunts
Clay Virtue	....	stunts
Marshall Virtue	....	stunts
Brent Woolsey	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Akehurst	....	lightboard operator
Paul Arnel	....	grip
Reid Cohoon	....	dolly grip
Alexander Cooper	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Jim Filippone	....	pilot: camera helicopter
Gareth Harrison	....	lamp operator
Russ Hawkes	....	dolly grip
Frederick Heartline	....	assistant camera
Tim Heller	....	lighting technician
Gilbert Jamault	....	lamp operator
Simon Jori	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Dave Joshi	....	digital video assist operator
Mike Kolafa	....	gaffer
Alex Kuchera	....	grip
John Kuchera	....	key grip
David Kurvers	....	digital imaging technician: second unit
Ian R.C. Levine	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Neil Macdonald	....	best boy electric
Steve Machan	....	grip
David McClung	....	lamp operator
Marty McInally	....	camera operator
Andrew McLeod	....	lighting technician
Ryan Monro	....	dolly grip
Sylvia Pranaitis	....	grip
Pascal Jean Provost	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Pascal Jean Provost	....	cinematographer: second unit
Richard Sinclair	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Gordon Tait	....	grip (as Gord Tait)
Jason Tidsbury	....	light balloon technician
Jasper Vrakking	....	digital imaging technician
Tom Waldman	....	generator operator
Gary J. Williams	....	second grip
Keith Woods	....	rigging gaffer
Rusty Deluce	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)
Christian Stevens	....	camera trainee (uncredited)

Casting Department
Heike Brandstatter	....	casting: canada
Andrea Brown	....	extras casting director
Andrea Brown	....	extras casting
Joe Cappelletti	....	adr voice casting
Coreen Mayrs	....	casting: canada
Chrissie S. Vides	....	casting assistant (as Chrissie S. Armstrong)
Tiffany Mak	....	casting assistant (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Luisa Dalmagro	....	costumer: preparation
Christopher Gilman	....	specialty costumes: Bio-Hazard suits
Kevin Knight	....	assistant costume designer
Paul Lavigne	....	wardrobe set supervisor
Clare McLaren	....	truck costumer
Karin Nosella	....	costume coordinator
Julie O'Rourke	....	costumer: prep

Editorial Department
Josh Beal	....	assistant editor
Alex Durham	....	post-production assistant
Jessica Schulte	....	assistant editor
Mike Sowa	....	digital color timer

Music Department
Bunny Andrews	....	music editor (as Bunny K. Andrews)
Allison Wright Clark	....	score supervisor
P.J. Hanke	....	composer: additional music
Joel J. Richard	....	musician: guitar

Transportation Department
Lawrence Albright	....	transportation co-captain
Tim Fortin	....	transportation coordinator
Mark Hoeppner	....	unit driver
Paul Irvine	....	transportation captain (as Paul 'Spike' Irvine)
Red Murphy	....	transportation coordinator
Barrie Poirier	....	transportation
Rick Rasmussen	....	picture car coordinator
Chad Urquhart	....	transportation co-captain

Other crew
Nick Bergstedt	....	prep assistant location manager
Ron Blecker	....	consultant
Marc Borja	....	assistant production accountant
Crystal Braunwarth	....	script coordinator
Amanda Bronswyk	....	first assistant accountant
Bruce L. Brownstein	....	location manager
Kimberly Buckham	....	second assistant production coordinator
Zarah Chun	....	craft service (as Zara Chun)
Jason Crosby	....	marine coordinator
Penny Ann Hardage	....	assistant to producers
Shannon Harron	....	payroll accountant
Charles Heaphy	....	production financing
Patti Henderson	....	script supervisor
Paul Jasper	....	animal coordinator
Bruce C. Jones	....	security coordinator
Marco Leone	....	assistant: Mr. Salomon
Flemming Lund	....	assistant location manager
Gina Marks	....	location scout
Nadine Moser	....	production assistant
Mary Ngo	....	accounting services
Darin Oishi	....	production accountant
Karen Pelrine	....	assistant production coordinator
Daniel A. Rosenthal	....	accounting services
Adrienne Sol	....	production coordinator
Ryan Steacy	....	armorer
Kody Zimmermann	....	key office production assistant
Rowan Harland	....	animal trainer (2008) (uncredited)

Production Companies

• A.S. Films
• Scott Free Productions
• Traveler's Rest Films

Distributors

• A&E Television Networks (2008) (USA) (TV)
• RTL Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (TV) (RTL5) (first national airing)
• TV3-Russia (2008) (Russia) (TV)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2009) (Japan) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Universal Production Partners (UPP)

Other Companies

• Clairmont Camera  cameras and lenses
• Marshall/Plumb Research Associates  script research
• PS Production Services  production equipment
• Skip Film  titles
• Smart Post Sound  post sound services
• Soundtrack  ADR Facility
• Thompson-Nicola Film Commission  production services

Runtime:

174 min | Norway:170 min (2 parts) | USA:180 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Norway:15 (TV rating) | Netherlands:16 | Netherlands:12 (TV version) | Finland:K-18 (self applied)

Filming Locations:

Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

A.S. Films

Trivia:

In the source novel by Michael Crichton, the main scientists were mainly white (presumably) heterosexual men, but Robert Schenkkan, who wrote the teleplay for this remake made the decision to change the characters' ethnicities, sexualities, and genders because, he said in a May 2008 interview with Brent Hartinger on afterelton.com, "If you're going to update the story, which is our mandate, you have an obligation to reflect the world as it is." Schenkkan further said that he decided to include the brief reference to Keene (Rick Schroder) being gay because of a principle invented by Crichton in the original novel, the "Odd Man Hypothesis," which states that in a time of crisis, an unmarried, unattached person [Crichton specified a man] with no family to distract him would have the best chance of making rational, unbiased, unemotional decisions.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: At one point, the shadow of the passing helicopter is visible. Based on the shadow's length, the helicopter would be around twenty feet in length, while the actual UH-1 is just over 40'.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jeff Megan: [to Suzie] That's a lion out there. And a triangle.

Movie Connections:

References 300 (2006)

Why This Remake?

When the capsule of the Scoop Mission returns to Earth and lands in the small town of Piedmont, Utah, it brings a mutant living being and all the population, except a crying baby and an old man with ulcer, dies with clotted blood. A team of five scientists - the leader Dr. Jeremy Stone (Benjamin Bratt), Dr. Angela Noyce (Christa Miller), Dr. Tsi Chou (Daniel Dae Kim), Dr. Charlene Barton (Viola Davis) and Major Bill Keane MD (Ricky Schroder) - are summoned and gathered together in the top secret Wildfire facility. Fighting against time, they try to understand the reason why the old man and the baby survived and research an antidote to Andromeda, the ultimate biological weapon.

I wrote the above summary – with the exceptions of the names of Dr. Stone's scientist's team – in my review of the original sci-fi classic of 1971. The great pacifist story is basically the same, only longer due to updates in special effects and useless subplots with government conspiracies. I usually hate remakes, but sometimes I find reasonable surprises; but I do not know the objective of this tiresome and totally unnecessary remake. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Enigma de Andrômeda" ("The Enigma of Andromeda")