Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain

Touted as an all-star remake of the sci-fi book-turned-film by Michael Crichton, the latest incarnation of The Andromeda Strain is a Sky miniseries with some Hollywood heavyweight behind it. Executively produced by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, and directed by Mikael Saloman, expectation is high for this self-proclaimed ‘epic television event’.

About an hour in, and all of the above might lead you to wonder why and how these experienced hands could allow such god-awful special effects to slip through the net. Indeed, it seems a bizarre oversight on a feature with a massive big-up from these illustrious names. Tin pot graphics aside, though, and this is still the kind of vastly enjoyable doomsday fodder that the Americans do so well.

Should you be unfamiliar with the 1970 book or the 1971 Robert Wise film adaptation, the global threat is an alien virus that hitched a lift into our atmosphere via a stray satellite. It crashes near a hick town in Utah and, after some ill-advised prodding from resident yokels, the government soon have a deadly outbreak to reign in before it sweeps the world.

There’s a host of seasoned television actors on board: Benjamin Bratt (Law & Order), Rick Schroder (24), Eric McCormack (Will & Grace), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost) and Christa Miller (Scrubs). The acting is solid and although occasionally undermined by riotously cheesy dialogue, we let them get away with it because it’s all part of the charm with these end-of-the-world gigs. “What about all the other wives and daughters out there?” is so earnestly delivered by Ted Whittall as the President that you feel he may explode with the stars ‘n’ stripes of it all.

A crack team of scientists are locked down in a bunker-style lab to deal with the problem, and yes, there are silly character clichés and super computers with Godlike powers, but it’s still good fun. It really is a shame, but the special effects are unforgivable and are what keep this just good fun and nothing greater.

As the action gets bigger and sillier, the quality diffuses and it is the early, subtler shift that’s worth watching. The political spin is a clunky attempt to chuck in some relevant up-to-date issues, but raises some interesting thoughts. Catch it on television, but disappointingly it's not a must-have for your sci-fi collection.

Extras: A gallery, plenty of commentaries, and a visual effects breakdown – whether you need to know how they didn’t make the magic happen is your call.

Released on 19th May 2008 by Universal Pictures.

Written by Amy Swales.