Top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what killed the citizens of a small town and how the deadly contagion can be stopped.Top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what killed the citizens of a small town and how the deadly contagion can be stopped.Top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what killed the citizens of a small town and how the deadly contagion can be stopped.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 4 nominations total
Joe Di Reda
- Wildfire Computer Sgt. Burk
- (as Joe DiReda)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSpecial effects to create the germ from space cost $250,000.
- GoofsAt the beginning of the movie, vultures are shown circling over the town of Piedmont. Later, when the two scientists approach the town in a helicopter, the vultures are on the ground eating the flesh of the dead. The military even brought gas to kill off the vultures so they wouldn't fly off and spread the disease. What's interesting, is that no one gives a second thought as to why the vultures weren't dead. Even after they kill off a rat and monkey in the lab to test the disease no one wonders how it was that the vultures weren't affected. It is not unusual, in fact rather typical, for pathogens or chemicals to affect some species and not others, or at least affect them more slowly.
- Quotes
[finding a man dead by self-inflicted drowning in a bathtub]
Dr. Jeremy Stone: I wouldn't believe you could commit suicide that way.
Dr. Mark Hall: Most of them died instantly, but a few had time to go quietly nuts.
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits read: "ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This film concerns the four-day history of a major American scientific crisis. We received the generous help of many people attached to Project Scoop at Vandenberg Air Force Base and the Wildfire Laboratory in Flatrock, Nevada. They encouraged us to tell the story accurately and in detail." "The documents presented here are soon to be made public. They do not in any way jeopardize the national security."
- Alternate versionsItalian version is 10 minutes shorter than original version (released at 130 min.) and omits many scenes from a subplot about a fallen fighter plane.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Six Million Dollar Man: Population: Zero (1974)
Featured review
There's an echo of 2001 and a foreshadowing of The Parallax View in this paranoiac sci-fi drama. The movie delights in presenting the tools of science and questions the direction and authority of those elected or selected to preserve us. The pacing strikes modern audiences as slow - it is - but that's the film's greatest success: suspensefully unfolding at a snail's pace. Some of the dialog is stilted and some points are far too belabored (the scene where Dr. Mark Hall, James Olson, is instructed on the use of his key is a tedious overplaying of the moment). The cast do what they can with dialog that sounded a little trite and predictable in its day and sadly is the main thing that mars an otherwise hypnotic journey into the dangers of modern governments and modern science. At the film's core, however, is a lesson that bears repeating, lest we forget.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Andromeda - Tödlicher Staub aus dem All
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $6,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $430
- Runtime2 hours 11 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content