“Andromeda” predicts a pandemic! ? Hard science fiction that confronts unknown pathogens (Part 1)

"Andromeda" Synopsis

An artificial satellite crashes in a small town in the American Midwest. Due to an unknown virus attached to the aircraft, all residents except for a newborn baby and an elderly alcoholic are wiped out. All the blood on the corpse had turned into powder. Fearing the spread of bacterial contamination, the military summoned specialists in various fields from among scientists. They organize a research team led by Dr. Stone and send it to an underground facility in the desert, but...

Due to the effects of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the science fiction film ``Andromeda'' (71), which depicts the dangers of unknown pathogens, is once again attracting attention. So this time, I would like to analyze the appeal of this movie in two parts.

Index

• A movie about the pandemic
• About the original novel
• sharp performance
• Realistic cast
• Robert Wise's style
• Possibility of space microorganisms
• odd man hypothesis
• photosensitive seizures

A movie about the pandemic

Currently, there are many names (*1) of movies that are said to have predicted the pandemic on the internet. ``Andromeda'', which we will be talking about this time, is one such movie, in which an unknown pathogen is attached to the capsule of a military satellite called Scoop that falls on a small village in Piedmont (a fictional village) in New Mexico, and the village residents and... The story begins when a soldier goes to recover a satellite and dies under mysterious circumstances.

"Andromeda" preview

*1 For example, " The Crazies " (73), "Plague" (79), " Resurrection Day " (80), " Outbreak " (95), "Contagious" (97), " Infected Archipelago " (09) ), `` Contagion '' (11), `` Yongashi Variant Growth '' (12), `` FLU: 36 Hours of Destiny '' (13), and ``Containment'' (15). These stories mainly depict the collapse of social order due to an explosion of infections and panic in the medical field.

On the other hand, as in `` Cassandra Cross '' (76), ` `Twelve Monkeys '' (95), `` Phase 6 '' (09), and the rebooted version of the `` Planet of the Apes '' series (11/14/17), Some works use the pandemic as a backdrop for their stories.

The overwhelmingly popular genres in this lineage are ``The Last Man on Earth'' (64), `` Omega Man '' (71), `` 28 Days Later... '' (02), and the ` `Resident Evil '' series (02/04). /07/10/12/16), `` I Am Legend '' (07), ` `World War Z '' (13), ` `Train to Busan' ' (16), `` PANDEMIC PANDEMIC' ' (16), etc. It's a Dawn of the Dead movie.

Although it is rarely mentioned as a Dawn of the Dead movie, the science fiction film `` The World to Come '' (36), written by H.G. Wells, features Everytown in 1966, which has been devastated by war and plague. The description of the plague is that unconscious people wander around, and although they do not eat human flesh, they are Dawn of the Dead.

About the original novel

The original work is the novel `` The Andromeda Germ '' (*3) published by Michael Crichton in 1969, 51 years ago (*2). At the time, Crichton was completing his medical degree at Harvard Medical School, working as a research student at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, and writing novels.

``The Andromeda Pathogen'' is based on Crichton's medical knowledge and experience, so the details are very specific. In addition, it is styled as a report on an incident that actually happened, and contains illustrations such as hard copies of computer screens and sketches of crystal structures at key points, giving it a sophisticated feel as a fake documentary. has been done.

*2 In the United States, in November 2019, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the original novel, a sequel novel written by Daniel H.The Andromeda Evolution' was published. It was co-authored with Crichton, who passed away in 2008. Coincidentally, the timing seemed to predict the coronavirus pandemic, and the Japanese translation "Andromeda pathogen-mutations-' was also released on May 26, 2020. In terms of content, it is a story on a scale that far exceeds the reader's imagination, and I highly recommend reading it.

*3 This original work was remade in 2008 as a four-episode TV miniseries , ``The Andromeda Strain .''

sharp performance