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Watching "The Andromeda Strain" the other night caused this movie to pop-up as a recommendation, and I hadn't seen it in a long, LONG time, so I watched it.
The movie is about a bunch of scientists who invent a device that allows the recording of a person's experiences -- not just the audio or the visual, but the feelings, smells, and even emotional impacts. Like with all new tech, the possibilities for using it in good ways abound; and then a whole lot of "bad" uses for it start to surface, leading the inventors to realize that it might not be such a good thing after all.
That's a way-oversimplification of the story, but I only put it there to make a point: TV ruins this movie. The original theatrical version had the "regular" scenes in Flat aspect ratio; but when the action shifted to playback of the "recorded" scenes, the image widened out to Scope (with a fisheye effect) and the sound moved more into the surrounds. In the video version, at least the one on YouTube, the Flat/Scope differences are gone; the whole picture is the same shape. Of course if you're paying attention you can easily tell the differenct between the "regular" scenes and the "recorded" ones, but it's far less effective. I remember watching this in the theatre back in '83 and just being fascinated by it.
Anyway, that gripe aside, on to the story.
Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood play Michael and Karen Brace, a pair of married-but-splitting-up scientists who are on the ground floor of the aforementioned recording invention. They've remained friendly so they can work together. After the device is unveiled to the lab's executives, and they go bananas over the possibilities for it in things like travel, education, medicine, and so on, various other uses for it start to crop up. One of the inventors, a bit of a horn-dog, records himself having sex; then another guy (a much older horn-dog, I guess) splices the "orgasmic" moment of the sex tape into an endless loop, and overstimulates his nether regions to the point of sensory overload, leading him to retire and spend his days playing golf. Which is about the last thing you'd expect him to want to do, but whatever. Then Michael records himself having pleasant thoughts and memories about his married life. He presents that tape to Karen, who plays it for herself, and they reconcile.
The other main scientist on the project, Lillian, is sort of a loose cannon among the crew, and is a chainsmoker who has heart issues. When it's revealed that the owner of the company is in bed with the military, and they have cooked up all sorts of military-related uses for the device, including torture, mind control, etc., Lillian blows her stack and insists that this invention was NOT intended for such uses. Naturally, her bosses don't agree.
Shortly after that, Lillian suffers a big heart attack while working alone in the lab. Realizing she's going to die, she manages to cue up a blank tape and record the whole death experience. (Her death scene is really pretty impressive.) Upon discovering her body in the lab, Michael realizes that she "looked happy" and resolves to play the tape she left behind. Experiencing the playback almost causes him to suffer the same fate she did, until he figures out how to un-wire some of the physical outputs of the recording, enabling him to see her experience without actually reliving it.
At this point the story sort of falls apart, because the lab executives don't want Michael to play the tape for reasons which don't make much sense. They stop the playback, fire him and Karen from their jobs, and lock him out of his lab. He manages to log-in remotely and use robotic equipment to play the time, but is discovered and thwarted. This only leads him to find another "way in," which everyone knows there's always another way in.
Meanwhile Karen, along with one of the other scientists, manage to reprogram the automated assembly line, which is busily manufacturing the recording devices for the military, to run amok and self-destruct, ostensibly to prevent this invention from doing any more damage to humanity. The only area not destroyed is the console that continues to play back Lillian's tape for Michael when ever he manages to log-in.
Finally Michael is able to view Lillian's tape to its conclusion, which has her apparently going into a Heaven-like existence. Michael awakens from the experience filled with wonder and awe, and the movie ends with he and Karen fully reconciled and ready to make a lot of great new memories together. What happens to the lab, the recording device, and the military is left to the imagination, but I suppose the writers intend for us to think that the death of Lillian, the firing of Michael and Karen, the retirement of the older scientist, and the trashing of the lab have rendered the whole thing un-recoverable.
The above description makes the whole thing sound kind of dopey, and that's exactly what it is. A lot of things happen for no real good reason. One thing that really bugged me throughout the show, and it really has nothing to do with the story, is the tape used to make these recordings. It's obviously supposed to be some kind of supercharged magnetic tape, but it's really flimsy and looks like two-inch-wide plastic giftwrapping ribbon. YET, when Michael uses the automated machinery to cue up the tape remotely, the end of the tape magically spools out from the reel and threads itself through the complicated playback mechanism. Having had quite a bit of experience with audio tape and movie film over my lifetime, I found that to be a major hole in the story, for some reason. It would have been way better if they'd used some sort of plug-in memory device, but of course that would have been way less visually interesting.
These complaints aside, though, it's certainly an interesting movie to watch, what with the lab scenes, the rudimentary computer efx, the robotics in the lab, and the fantastical death-experience visuals, and all. Doug Trumbull, the director famous for many major sci-fi scenes in his career, outdoes himself on this one. All the leads do a decent job, especially Louise Fletcher and Christopher Walken. Natalie Wood is good too, in what proved to be her last role. There's a whole other account of her death before the movie was finished nearly derailing it, but the movie seems pretty complete despite that happening. Maybe that accounts for some of those holes in the story.
So I still like the movie, but I do wish I could see it in a proper theater with the proper aspect ratios and the proper soundtrack, though. It also has a pretty awesome onesheet.
As I remember it from seeing it in the theatre: 3.5 stars.
YouTube version: 2 stars.
Watching "The Andromeda Strain" the other night caused this movie to pop-up as a recommendation, and I hadn't seen it in a long, LONG time, so I watched it.
The movie is about a bunch of scientists who invent a device that allows the recording of a person's experiences -- not just the audio or the visual, but the feelings, smells, and even emotional impacts. Like with all new tech, the possibilities for using it in good ways abound; and then a whole lot of "bad" uses for it start to surface, leading the inventors to realize that it might not be such a good thing after all.
That's a way-oversimplification of the story, but I only put it there to make a point: TV ruins this movie. The original theatrical version had the "regular" scenes in Flat aspect ratio; but when the action shifted to playback of the "recorded" scenes, the image widened out to Scope (with a fisheye effect) and the sound moved more into the surrounds. In the video version, at least the one on YouTube, the Flat/Scope differences are gone; the whole picture is the same shape. Of course if you're paying attention you can easily tell the differenct between the "regular" scenes and the "recorded" ones, but it's far less effective. I remember watching this in the theatre back in '83 and just being fascinated by it.
Anyway, that gripe aside, on to the story.
Christopher Walken and Natalie Wood play Michael and Karen Brace, a pair of married-but-splitting-up scientists who are on the ground floor of the aforementioned recording invention. They've remained friendly so they can work together. After the device is unveiled to the lab's executives, and they go bananas over the possibilities for it in things like travel, education, medicine, and so on, various other uses for it start to crop up. One of the inventors, a bit of a horn-dog, records himself having sex; then another guy (a much older horn-dog, I guess) splices the "orgasmic" moment of the sex tape into an endless loop, and overstimulates his nether regions to the point of sensory overload, leading him to retire and spend his days playing golf. Which is about the last thing you'd expect him to want to do, but whatever. Then Michael records himself having pleasant thoughts and memories about his married life. He presents that tape to Karen, who plays it for herself, and they reconcile.
The other main scientist on the project, Lillian, is sort of a loose cannon among the crew, and is a chainsmoker who has heart issues. When it's revealed that the owner of the company is in bed with the military, and they have cooked up all sorts of military-related uses for the device, including torture, mind control, etc., Lillian blows her stack and insists that this invention was NOT intended for such uses. Naturally, her bosses don't agree.
Shortly after that, Lillian suffers a big heart attack while working alone in the lab. Realizing she's going to die, she manages to cue up a blank tape and record the whole death experience. (Her death scene is really pretty impressive.) Upon discovering her body in the lab, Michael realizes that she "looked happy" and resolves to play the tape she left behind. Experiencing the playback almost causes him to suffer the same fate she did, until he figures out how to un-wire some of the physical outputs of the recording, enabling him to see her experience without actually reliving it.
At this point the story sort of falls apart, because the lab executives don't want Michael to play the tape for reasons which don't make much sense. They stop the playback, fire him and Karen from their jobs, and lock him out of his lab. He manages to log-in remotely and use robotic equipment to play the time, but is discovered and thwarted. This only leads him to find another "way in," which everyone knows there's always another way in.
Meanwhile Karen, along with one of the other scientists, manage to reprogram the automated assembly line, which is busily manufacturing the recording devices for the military, to run amok and self-destruct, ostensibly to prevent this invention from doing any more damage to humanity. The only area not destroyed is the console that continues to play back Lillian's tape for Michael when ever he manages to log-in.
Finally Michael is able to view Lillian's tape to its conclusion, which has her apparently going into a Heaven-like existence. Michael awakens from the experience filled with wonder and awe, and the movie ends with he and Karen fully reconciled and ready to make a lot of great new memories together. What happens to the lab, the recording device, and the military is left to the imagination, but I suppose the writers intend for us to think that the death of Lillian, the firing of Michael and Karen, the retirement of the older scientist, and the trashing of the lab have rendered the whole thing un-recoverable.
The above description makes the whole thing sound kind of dopey, and that's exactly what it is. A lot of things happen for no real good reason. One thing that really bugged me throughout the show, and it really has nothing to do with the story, is the tape used to make these recordings. It's obviously supposed to be some kind of supercharged magnetic tape, but it's really flimsy and looks like two-inch-wide plastic giftwrapping ribbon. YET, when Michael uses the automated machinery to cue up the tape remotely, the end of the tape magically spools out from the reel and threads itself through the complicated playback mechanism. Having had quite a bit of experience with audio tape and movie film over my lifetime, I found that to be a major hole in the story, for some reason. It would have been way better if they'd used some sort of plug-in memory device, but of course that would have been way less visually interesting.
These complaints aside, though, it's certainly an interesting movie to watch, what with the lab scenes, the rudimentary computer efx, the robotics in the lab, and the fantastical death-experience visuals, and all. Doug Trumbull, the director famous for many major sci-fi scenes in his career, outdoes himself on this one. All the leads do a decent job, especially Louise Fletcher and Christopher Walken. Natalie Wood is good too, in what proved to be her last role. There's a whole other account of her death before the movie was finished nearly derailing it, but the movie seems pretty complete despite that happening. Maybe that accounts for some of those holes in the story.
So I still like the movie, but I do wish I could see it in a proper theater with the proper aspect ratios and the proper soundtrack, though. It also has a pretty awesome onesheet.
As I remember it from seeing it in the theatre: 3.5 stars.
YouTube version: 2 stars.
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