This movie is Dr. Jeremy Stone (Arthur Hill) informing the United States Senate Committee on Space Sciences about an alien invasion, not of creatures, but of a virus. After a satellite crashes in Piedmont, New Mexico, everyone dies. Only two people have survived: 69-year-old alcoholic Peter Jackson (George Mitchell) and six-month-old infant Manuel Rios (Robert Soto).

Directed by Robert Wise and written by Nelson Gidding, this is based on the Michael Crichton book. The Infectious Diseases Society of America magazine, Clinical Infectious Diseases, said that this movie is the “most significant, scientifically accurate, and prototypic of all films” of the killer virus genre.

You may not find that exciting, because it’s so close to the very dense book. I remember my mom telling me about this as a kid, because the ads for it upset me so much that she had to explain to me what it was about or I would have never gone to sleep.

The Arrow Video release of this movie has a 4K restoration from the original camera negative by Arrow Films, audio commentary by critic Bryan Reesman, an appreciation by critic Kim Newman, archive featurettes including a making of and A Portrait of Michael Crichton; highlights from the annotated and illustrated shooting script by Nelson Gidding; a theatrical trailer, TV spots and radio spots; an image gallery; an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring writing by Peter Tonguette and select archive material and a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Corey Brickley. You can order The Andromeda Strain from MVD.