by Jason Lockard

Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olsen, Kate Reid, Paula Kelly, George Mitchell, Ramon Bieri, Kermit Murdock, Richard O’Brien, Peter Hobbs, Eric Christmas, Mark Jenkins, Peter Helm, Joe Di Reda, Carl Reindel, Ken Swofford, Frances Reid, Richard Bull Nelson Gidding Robert Wise

Michael Crichton was a prolific writer. His stories were thrilling, exciting pieces of literature. No wonder many were adapted into feature films. Most notably Jurassic Park, Westworld and .

Six years ago, Arrow Video gave The Andromeda Strain a deluxe Blu-ray release. But as with all things, there are upgrades, and people are upgrading their favourite movies to Ultra HD; and so now comes the upgrade to the 70’s Sci-Fi cult classic . Let’s take a look at this new 4K release from Arrow Video.

A government satellite crashes outside a small town in New Mexico – and within minutes, every inhabitant of the town is dead, except for a crying baby and an elderly derelict. The satellite and the two survivors are sent to Wildfire, a top-secret underground laboratory equipped with a nuclear self-destruct mechanism to prevent the spread of infection in case of an outbreak. Realizing that the satellite brought back a lethal organism from another world, a team of government scientists race against the clock to understand the extraterrestrial virus – codenamed “Andromeda” – before it can wipe out all life on the planet.

Now I must be honest here, is not the best film adaptation of a Crichton novel. But there is no denying that this is an enjoyable piece of filmmaking, masterfully directed by Robert Wise. The film is definitely a product of its time, and the technology is a bit dated, but that doesn’t mean that the film is bad. True drama is timeless, even more so with performances like we get here.

On this Arrow Video 4k release the film uses the same 4K scan of the original camera negative used in the previous Blu-ray. Only here do we get the true 4K clarity. The film is transferred in 2160p and presented in widescreen format. The audio track is the original lossless mono audio. The restored picture looks and sounds extremely impressive in Ultra HD. But as with all Arrow Video releases, a beautifully restored film is never enough! They always go above and beyond. They loaded this 4K with bonus features. Here is what is included:

The bonus features have been ported over from the Blu-ray release to this 4K UHD. Bryan Reesman provided a wonderful audio commentary, and I love the ‘making of’ and Michael Crichton featurettes. These bonus featurettes are truly of the “must-see’ kind. If you are a sci-fi movie fan, a fan of Michael Crichton, or if you’re looking to upgrade your copy of , this release is a must-buy.

is out now on 4K UHD from Arrow Video.
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Review originally posted on ClassicCinema+