Reviews (2)

Born to Chill
Nobody plays a sexually hot, emotionally cold sociopath like Lawrence Tierney does!In this tale of relentless lust and remorseless overdrive, he finds prey and then partner in the hard, icy, and elegant Claire Trevor.Whirlwind-like, he ruffles all who fall across his path, drawing some into the very vortex of his barren, conscienceless evil.Comrade-in-crime Elisha Cook Jr., in striving to temper Tierney's tempestuous rage, finds himself partner and then prey, and blowsy, balmy landlady Esther Howard is swept into the tracks of both predators.A field day for film noir fans and a to-die-for must for Tierney and Cook mavens!

A tale of two cold-hearted, hot-blooded lovers
Forgotten but very interesting noir about a pair of amoral and corrupt individuals who meet by happenstance when the dame is in Reno obtaining a quickie divorce, and discover that two such thoroughly rotten people as they were meant for each other as they deceive and scheme their way to the top.Lawrence Tierney plays a ladykiller nobody whose deadly-calm demeanor masks a jealousy-prone and violent personality. Clare Trevor stars as a savvy, cold-blooded dame with a turn-on for violence who inadvertently disovers he has murdered his tarty girlfriend--it may not be the first time he has killed--and right away realizes the equally cold Tierney is the man for her! But not so fast--though both are powerfully and powerlessly drawn in their pure lust for each other, the poor Trevor, who is living well off her rich half-sister and detesting every moment of it, wants her own dough and sets out to get it when a rich, decent young man who is unsuspecting of her motives falls in love with her. Spurned and angry, Tierney decides that he, too, is tired of his lowly position in life and sets out to kill two birds with one stone when he beats Trevor to the punch by getting married first--to her sister! Inevitably, they lose their meal tickets through jealousy and deception when their true nature and motives are uncovered, leaving the two corrupt characters alone and spewing their venom at each other--with deadly consequences for both. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

You Would be Wise to Buy this Robert Wise Set
Director Robert Wise started something very entertaining in the Action\War Genre: The now classic submarine stories (Hunt for Red October, Crimson Tide, U-571). Wise directed the submarine movie that started it all: RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP. If you liked HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, CRIMSON TIDE, and\or U-571, you will absolutely love 'RUN SILENT.'
Then you can watch one of the best overall war movies ever, THE GREAT ESCAPE. One of the definitive Steve McQueen movies, it is the classic tale of POW camp breakout by a group of classic actors. From the first minute, to the ending credits, you will feel as though you too have escaped from a POW camp.
Together, thay may be the best combo on the market today, so add them to your collection ASAP.

A must in your War Library
Both War Classics are of the Golden Age of the Silver Screen. Both are of the rare 10 star for my library.

If only Holleywood would watch these and relearn how to make movies right. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Great feel good movie and great body
This movie is a real feel good movie and if you love capoeira you should really see it. And girls enjoy the great body of Jason Gedrick in the movie!!

Greatest Capoeira Dance Film Ever!! Gedrick Rules!!
This is a great dancing(Brazilean-Capoeira)movie starring Jason Gedrick.It's highly recommended!!

Greatest Capoeira Dance Film Ever!!!
This superb street/dance drama that uses the graceful Brazilean Dance/Martial arts style known as Capoeira is produced and directed by the reknowned Robert Wise(West Side Story)is about a group of teenagers who dance and fight it out on the rooftops of lower eastside New York City.The group leader(Jason Gedrick)falls in love with a girl involved with drug dealers where a street battle follows.It's a film very well worth watching!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

The best-selling novel by Michael Crichton was faithfully adapted for this taut 1971 thriller, about a team of scientists racing against time to destroy a deadly alien virus that threatens to wipe out life on Earth. As usual with any Crichton-based movie, the emphasis is on an exciting clash between nature and science, beginning when virologists discover the outer-space virus in a tiny town full of corpses. Projecting total contamination, the scientists isolate the deadly strain in a massive, high-tech underground lab facility, which is rigged for nuclear destruction if the virus is not successfully controlled. The movie spends a great deal of time covering the scientific procedures of the high-pressure investigation, and the rising tensions between scientists who have been forced to work in claustrophobic conditions. It's all very fascinating if you're interested in scientific method and technological advances, although the film is obviously dated in many of its details. It's more effective as a thriller in which tension is derived not only from the deadly threat of the virus, but from the escalating fear and anxiety among the small group of people who've been assigned to save the human race. The basic premise is still captivating; it's easy to see how this became the foundation of Crichton's science-thriller empire. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (76)

Catch it.
Superlative science fiction from director Robert Wise and writer Michael Crichton. It doesn't hurt that Albert Whitlock, whose groundbreaking tech work on *The Birds* set new visual standards, supervised the special effects. Even less painful is the technical support the movie received from no less than Cal Tech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For those unhappy with the technology's "dated" look, the computers and robotics were cutting edge for 1970, and more importantly, were REAL. (And remember, F/X nuts: the story is NOT set in the future; it's supposed to take place in 1970.) In *The Andromeda Strain*, the hardware's sturdy reality contributes to the suspense generated by the rather scary plot. A satellite sent to collect any possible microscopic life forms does just that, returning to Earth via a tiny isolated burg in the New Mexico desert. But the "life" the satellite has retrieved turns out to be more than anyone, except maybe some nutty, high-placed Cold Warriors, bargained for. The organism wipes out the town, turning the blood of its victims into a granulated dust that trickles out when their skin is cut by space-suited investigators. What follows is a complicated operation involving 3 top scientists and 1 M.D. who try to identify and neutralize the microscopic menace. Their lab, called Wildfire, is located in southern Nevada thousands of feet under an isolated agricultural building in the middle of the desert. (It's very Area 51-ish.) The laboratory set has to be one of the most complicated ever built in Hollywood. It's as if a top military insider drew up the blueprints. And the science is probably impeccable. This is all the result of director Wise wanting to GET IT RIGHT even more than wanting to merely entertain. This goes for his characters and casting, too: Wise casts character-actors as the scientists, eschewing glamor for believability. Someone called Kate Reid, playing the middle-age, overweight, grouchy epileptic, steals the show, such as it is. The grand result of all the incessant attention to detail is that *The Andromeda Strain* will hold up forever as one of the greatest -- or should that be one of the ONLY? -- hard-science fiction movies ever made. It's a real science geek's dream: those who think "sci-fi" is another term for "light sabers" are encouraged to look elsewhere. [The DVD, by the dreaded Image Entertainment, looks OK. The print hasn't been restored, but at least it's in the correct aspect ratio. The product is copyrighted 1997 -- therefore, zero extras. Maybe with future reissues Universal will scare up some commentary or a Making-Of with surviving members of the cast & crew. A Making-Of would be fascinating, in regards to this movie.]

Decent adaptation from the book
Good absorbing story of a government project gone wrong.

Quick overview ... A capsule (code named 'scoop') returns to earth with a leathal new germ aboard which kills by soldifying the blood in the body. After the inital recovery disaster, a prearranged team of scientists are called together at a special underground laboratory to isolate and determine capabilities of the new germ. The ending I'll leave to you ... see the movie.

Fast paced story with a believable script. Well acted out although the lead was a little wooden. Basically, one could see this scenario as actually having happened at one time or another due to germ warfare research.

No music in this. Rather like "Forbidden Planet" the sound effects make up for that. Good blend of fact and fiction. This flim should keep you glued to the TV set.

This is a good movie for those that like science fiction. Too bad it's priced so high. I would hope for a re-release at a modern price. I have the VHS version and will wait until the DVD drops some to buy it.

*Highly Recommended*

~P~

Potent Strain of Realism
When a man-made satellite crash-lands on Earth near a small desert town, the town residents are unaware that it carries a deadly virus from space and therefore take no precautions when handling the device. Within a frighteningly short period of time, all of the town's inhabitants are dead. All, that is, except for a crying baby and the town drunk. After being alerted to the situation, the U.S. government fears that the world's entire population may be in danger of extinction, so a crackerjack team of the nations top medical scientists is dispatched to a secret underground laboratory so that they can study the survivors and discover a cure or treatment for the alien virus before it's too late.

1971's THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN is one of the few science-fiction movies released in the immediate wake of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) that has successfully retained high status in the SF genre, and that's because it is also one of the few SF films from that era that actually takes the genre seriously and challenges the viewer's intellect. Based on the novel by Michael Crichton--one of the first movies based on a work by this now highly sought writer & director--scripter Nelson Gidding and director Robert Wise have crafted a stimulating film that is as much a scientific detective story as it is a sci-fi thriller. Audience members are kept on the edge of their seats as the scientists race against time to prevent the alien microorganism from destroying life on earth, yet viewers are also clued-in enough to stimulate their gray matter and keep them speculating right along with the film's characters. Yes, 30+ years of hindsight might make the special FX and the film's depiction of technology seem a bit dusty and dated, but Gidding's plotting and Wise's creative and innovative directing keep the excitement and the earnestness intact. To some viewers, the ending might seem a bit contrived, but overall THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN represents brilliant SF filmmaking.

The acting is pretty good, too, and Wise was ingenious in casting generally low-profile actors as the scientists, which contributes to making the characters seem true-to-life. One of the most brilliant examples of this is the casting of brash, average-looking Kate Reid as the gritty Dr. Ruth Leavitt. As is common practice in Hollywood, Wise could have chosen a sexy starlet (think Raquel Welch in 1966's FANTASTIC VOYAGE or, more recently, Rene Russo in 1995's OUTBREAK) in hopes of increasing the box-office draw. But Wise knows that in order to sell the plausibility of the plot, the characters must also feel genuine, and the wise (no pun intended) casting of non-glamour actors like Reid in this type of role more accurately reflects the real world and therefore enhances the film's overall sense of realism.

The DVD release of THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN from Universal Studios belongs in the film collections of all serious science-fiction fans. Not only does it offer the film in anamorphic widescreen at its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1--which, by the way, allows viewers to awe over some of the brilliant multi-view compositions of certain shots that were aesthetically mutilated in pan-and-scan versions--but it also offers a fascinating and insightful feature commentary by director Wise and a featurette on writer Michael Crichton. Of course, there is the requisite theatrical trailer, too. And all this for a very reasonable retail price.

FRIGHTENING WHAT IF MOVIE
THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN was the first of Michael Crichton's novels to be successfully screened. It's a tense, suspenseful look at what happens when an unknown virus returns to earth via one of our satellites and quickly decimates the entire population (except 2--a baby and a drunk) of a small town. The movie's focus is on finding out what the virus is and how it can kill so expeditiously.
Robert Wise who gave us THE HAUNTING and THE SOUND OF MUSIC uses some split screen techniques which work well, and keeps the movie dark and suspenseful. Although it has become somewhat dated in its technologies, Wise elicits good performances from the cast, especially Kate Reid, David Wayne and Paula Kelly. Arthur Hill is a little to stiff for my liking, and James Olson overplays some of his scenes.
Still a worthwhile film, and one that will scare the pants off of you in light of where we've come with germ warfare.

The crashing Bore from outer space
The Andromeda Strain is one of the worst films ever made. It is about a deadly Bacterium from the Andromeda Galaxy, which is spreading on earth. When you catch the disease your blood turns to sand, sounds cheap already, Huh.
Why the movie is so boring is because most of the time Scientists are in a labratory doing research for over two hours! The movie is about as scary as Barney. Do not buy or rent this movie. This movie is dangerous it just might bore you to death!!!!!!!!! ... Read more

Reviews (10)

The Original Rocky: Cliched but Supremely Well Done
The boxing film genre is, by its very nature, always viewed through a prism of cliches. From the very first fight films of the thirties, usually with Cagney as the fighter and Bogie as the crooked fixer, Hollywood has delivered a nonstop series of boxers on film who, for the most part, have resonated with the viewing public. The better ones linger in the memory, and with SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME, director Robert Wise presents the true to life story of middleweight champion Rocky Graziano, played in the performance of a lifetime by Paul Newman. Newman has been so good so often in future films using his face and voice, that it is refreshing to remember that as Rocky Graziano, he could combine that busted face and Brooklyn accent with a physical ferocity in the ring that compares favorably with the best of Stallone's Rocky. Newman plays Graziano as the thug that he surely was. First as a street hood, then later as an army malcontent, Graziano seems on the fast track to prison and an early death. Paradoxically, it is the very bitterness of his soul that convinces his manager Everett Sloane to take a chance on this tough kid as a professional fighter. Along the way, the cliches start to pile up: Sloane's 'Meshuganah' Yiddish accent; the complaints of his future wife (Pier Angeli) that she can't stand the fight business; and the many altercations that Graziano has with the rule-bound boxing commission, which is determined to make Rocky adhere to a set of rules that from the first reel, he would fight with the same ferocity that he would later show in the ring. But by the time these cliches add, the audience no longer cares that they are cliches. Now they care very much about the motivation within Rocky's soul. When Rocky forgets to attend a scheduled fight only because of the trauma of a breakup with Pier Angeli, the audience can feel the pain of his broken heart which does not leave room for such petty details as punching some opponent's lights out. And there are the fight scenes. The climactic battle with champion Tony Zale, the 'Iron Man,' is one of the best choreographed fights ever filmed. Court Shepard, who plays Zale, is an intimidating presence, who says not a word during this long bout, yet his etched in concrete face tells Rocky all he needs to know that Zale is no joke. The blow by blow narration done over the radio by real life announcer Henry Wismer adds a grueling note of authenticity to a fight that leaves the audience gasping at the pounding Graziano and Zale give each other. Throughout the film, Newman gives just the right note of a street born Brooklyn tough guy who slowly comes to realize that the toughest bout of his life need not take place in the ring itself. Connecting to his wife and father gave Rocky more internal bruises than the Iron Man ever could.

One of the best boxing movies ever made .
Paul Newman does an exellent portrayal of a young and future middleweight champion. Rocky Graziano was one of the most colerful fighters of his time. Newman and Rocky worked together and spent alot of time making this movie believable.

A Surprisingly Good Movie
SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME is the story of Rocky Graziano from his troubled early life through his victory over Tony Zale which gives Rocky the world middleweight boxing championship. Paul Newman excels as Graziano and Pier Angeli is superb as his girl friend and future wife Norma. It is a surprisingly good film with a strong supporting cast which includes Everett Sloane, Eileen Heckart, Sal Mineo and Harold J. Stone.

The movie won Oscars for Best B&W Cinematography and B&W Art Direction. It was also nominated for Best Editing.

James Dean was the first selection for the role...
James Dean was the first selection for the role. His first it would have been after "GIANT".

Need we say more??

Great movie.

A.C.

One Of Newman's Finest Roles!
In this movie Paul Newman plays the role of Rocky Graziano.The
boxer Graziano was a one time juvenile delinquent who actually
wound up serving time in the penetentiary.This movie vividly portrays the hard knocks that Graziano had to endure during his
life and his boxing career.Through hard work and intense training
Graziano became the middleweight champion of the world.This is a
very touching movie that shows what determination can do. Graziano displayed these traits. This movie was also the debut of Steve McQueen. A very good movie that you must watch. ... Read more