The Andromeda Strain: Oh, God, Why?

I will hopefully cover The Andromeda Strain (2008) in an actual review. Watching it will be a pain, however.

I am a big Michael Crichton fan and have loved every book of his I have read (not counting Pirate Latitudes) and have read the original novel The Andromeda Strain. The fact that Crichton was a doctor really helps sell this novel.

The 1971 movie adaption stayed very true to the source material.


However, I have heard of a 2008 re-imaging/remake that came out as a mini-series on A&E. The thing with remakes is that you walk a very fine line. Especially when the original source material is so well loved. The tone of the original movie and source material was very slow and scientific.

Here is the trailer for the mini-series:


As you can see, the tone is DRASTICALLY different. They seem to go more action heavy. Reading the plot synopsis I had to pause every few seconds to not lash out in rage. They added: government conspiracy, Andromeda is a virus from the future, a wormhole, and some other things.

They make a simple story so convoluted. The focus of the original movie and novel was the Andromeda Strain itself. I think changes on updating the equipment and such would be okay. But I don't feel that the story should've become so convoluted.

I plan to see this mini-series in the future and review it.