The Andromeda Strain (1971)

This sci-fi thriller cleverly builds tension throughout a well-structured plot. It contains wonderful set designs and the actors deliver intelligent and credible performances. A film that stands the test of time.

Directed by Robert Wise
Screenplay by Nelson Gidding
Story by Nelson Gidding, Robert Wise
Based on The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
Produced by Robert Wise
Cinematography: Richard H. Kline
Edited by Stuart Gilmore, John W. Holmes
Music by Gil Mellé
Production company: Universal Pictures
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Running time: 130 minutes
Budget: $6.5 million
Box office: $12.4 million

Cast

Arthur Hill as Dr. Jeremy Stone
James Olson as Dr. Mark Hall
David Wayne as Dr. Charles Dutton
Kate Reid as Dr. Ruth Leavitt
Paula Kelly as Karen Anson (nurse, laboratory technician)
George Mitchell as Mr. Peter Jackson (Piedmont)
Mark Jenkins as Lt. Shawn (Piedmont Team)
Peter Helm as Sgt. Crane (Piedmont Team)
Joe Di Reda as Sgt. Burk (Wildfire Computer Technician)
Ramon Bieri as Major Arthur Manchek (Scoop Mission Control)
Carl Reindel as Lt. Comroe (Scoop Mission Control)
Frances Reid as Clara Dutton
Peter Hobbs as General Sparks
Kermit Murdock as Dr. Robertson (White House Science Advisor)
Richard O'Brien (II) as Grimes
Eric Christmas as Senator Phillips (Vermont)
Ken Swofford as Toby (Technician)
John Carter as Capt. Morton (military police)
Richard Bull as Air Force Major
James W. Gavin as Dempsey (helicopter pilot)
Garry Walberg as a scientist
Emory Parnell as Pete "Old Doughboy" Arnold
Georgia Schmidt as Old Lady (Piedmont)
Victoria Paige Meyerink as Additional Character
Don Messick as Alarm Voice
Michael Crichton: non-speaking cameo appearance during the scene where Dr. Hall is told to break scrub, because he has to report to the Wildfire research facility.

Why have nearly all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico suddenly died?

What is ‘Project Scoop?’

What does it have to do with the deaths of Piedmont’s citizens?

Why have a team of scientists been recruited?

What is the role of the top secret sealed and secure ‘Wildfire’ facility?

What is….. ‘Andromeda?’

Trailer

Read on for more.....

Sci-Fi Stories That Inspired Classic Sci-Fi Films: “The Andromeda Strain” by Michael Crichton

Trailer

Summary:

When all but two of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico, are found dead after the return to Earth of a US space satellite (Scoop VII), the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency.

Dr Stone and his team of top scientists consisting of Drs. Dutton, Leavitt and Hall, transfer to a secure hi-tech facility, known as Wildfire, which had been constructed as a base in the event of an alien biological life form being returned to Earth from a space mission.

Such an event appears to have happened and it is up to the scientists to try to isolate the alien life form while determining why two people from Piedmont (an old Sterno drinker with an ulcer and a six-month-old crying baby have managed to survive.

As the scientists continue with their study of the alien life form, they are about to be confronted by the dual danger of its having mutated along with the lab’s fail-safe nuclear self-destruct device should it manage to escape!!!

************** 

Comparisons

The Andromeda Strain was made into a movie in 1971 and was directed and produced by Robert Wise. The film and the book quite closely parallel each other with a few minor deviations such as the Peter Leavitt character being a female, Ruth Leavitt in the film version.

[Spoiler alert paragraph!!!!]

The ending of the movie also differs from the book. In the book, Stone speculates that the Andromeda Strain will migrate up into Earth’s upper atmosphere where the oxygen content is lower, better suiting its growth and where it will mutate into a benign form. In the movie version, the now benign mutated bacteria drifts out over the Pacific Ocean into which it falls to be destroyed by the salt water.

Context

Crichton’s novel was written within the context of the Cold War and the resulting space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. The political and military conflict between the superpower rivals forms an important part of the backdrop to the events in the story. For instance, Project Scoop is part of a U.S. government program for the development of biological weapons. Should a Scoop satellite come down in a major city in the Soviet Union, war would likely result and that is why it was decided that the Russians would not be informed about the likelihood of any deadly disease occurring. The kind of Cold War mentality that was evident would dictate a preference for a few million Russians dying of disease as opposed to many hundreds of millions of people dying as a result of nuclear war

Assessment

I personally favoured the film treatment of the story. In the original book version, I felt that the story was bogged down by far too much scientific exposition, detail and explanation of processes involved. There were moments when I literally nodded off!

Audiobook Online

PDF Download

©Chris Christopoulos 2020

Space Master X-7 (1958)

A low budget drive-in feature with a nice mix of sci-fi and detective drama

Directed by Edward Bernds
Produced by Bernard Glasser
Written by George Worthing Yates, Daniel Mainwaring
Music by Josef Zimanich, Harry Bluestone
Cinematography: Brydon Baker
Edited by John F. Link Sr.
Production company: Regal Films
Distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Running time: 71 min.

Cast

Bill Williams : John Hand 

Lyn Thomas: Laura Greeling
Robert Ellis: Pvt. Joe Rattigan
Paul Frees: Dr. Charles T. Pommer / Train-Station Announcer
Rhoda Williams: Stewardess Archer
Joan Barry: Jean Meyers - brunet
Carol Varga: Elaine Frohman
Thomas Browne Henry: Prof. West
Thomas Wilde: Collins
Fred Sherman: Mr. Morse - Hotel Manager
Gregg Martell: Jim Dale - plane engineer
Jess Kirkpatrick: Pilot Vaccarino
Court Shepard: Hendry - Battalion Fire Chief
Moe Howard : Retlinger - Cab Driver
Al Baffert: Plane passenger

Trailer

A space probe returns to Earth bringing with it a mysterious fungus!

A fungus accidentally tinged with human blood and transformed into an ever-growing pile of …."Blood Rust!"

An entire world threatened by an ever-spreading alien infection!

Can the dynamic duo of John Hand and Joe Rattigan locate the one woman who holds the key to stopping the rust from spreading and engulfing the entire world?

Read on to find out more.....

SILENT RUNNING (1972)

A melancholy sci-fi film that makes you think about what could happen, and is in fact happening to our planet, along with the consequences for us all if no action is taken.

Directed by Douglas Trumbull
Written by Deric Washburn, Michael Cimino, Steven Bochco
Produced by: Michael Gruskoff, Marty Hornstein, Douglas Trumbull
Cinematography: Charles F. Wheeler
Edited by: Aaron Stell
Music by: Peter Schickele
Production company: Universal Pictures
Running time: 89 minutes
Budget: $1,350,000

Cast

Bruce Dern: Freeman Lowell
Cliff Potts: John Keenan
Ron Rifkin: Marty Barker
Jesse Vint: Andy Wolf
Mark Persons: the Drone
Steven Brown: the Drone
Cheryl Sparks: the Drone
Larry Whisenhunt: the Drone
Joseph Campanella: Neal - Berkshire' Captain (voice)
Roy Engel: Anderson (voice)

Trailer

Spoilers follow below....

The viewer is at first treated to a close-up view of a slice of nature in all its colorful and vibrant splendor. The camera takes us on a journey through water droplet speckled plant-life along with glimpses of its insect, amphibious and other denizens.

As the camera pulls out, our view is jarred by the sudden appearance in the shot of a section of an artificial surface feature which appears to be a metal foot-ramp. Next we see a monk-like robed human figure and behind and above him a star-strewn view of space. This is not what might at first have been expected.

The robed individual is Freeman Lowell, one of four crewmen aboard American Airlines space freighter Valley Forge. Lowell is the resident botanist and ecologist who maintains the various plants, cultivates the crops and attends to the animal life, all of which are contained in enormous, geodesic greenhouse domes attached to his and other large spaceships.

The lush foliage being framed against the pitch black of outer space and contained within a marvel of human technology makes the existence of the flora and fauna all the more remarkable and miraculous.

“On this first day of a new century, we humbly beg forgiveness and dedicate these last forests of our once beautiful nation, in the hope that they will one day return and grace our foul Earth. Until that day, may God bless these gardens and the brave men who care for them.”

This is the not too distant future, where all plant and animal life on Earth is becoming extinct. What remains has been preserved in the domes of the 2000 meter long orbiting space freighters. The plan or mission is to eventually return the preserved plant and animal life to earth. The Valley Forge, is part of a fleet of freighters currently located just outside the orbit of Saturn.

Freeman Lowell is passionately and one might say obsessively dedicated to his work of preservation and conservation. Not so, however his crew-mates whose main priority is to return to Earth after their one-year deployment to space.

“Do I have to put signs up here to keep you guys off my grass?”

The tranquility of the scene is rudely disrupted by the antics of Lowell’s crew-mates who burst in on Lowell driving motorized buggies, tearing up the soil and nearly bowling Lowell over. Blowing off steam and having fun is a lot more appealing to Lowell’s crew-mates than dedication and respect for what’s around them and their responsibility toward it.

In the next few scenes featuring his interaction with his crew mates, Lowell comes across not just as some hippie drop-out intent on merely shunning civilization. Instead, this is a man who appreciates the natural world and all that it offers, who is adept at working in partnership with technology as a tool and one who can play a mean hand of poker which suggests skill at strategy and bluff. He probably just prefers the natural world and technology to his fellow ass-hole human beings and is fully committed to the ideals behind the forest preservation mission.

More importantly, Lowell appears to be a hopeless and naive optimist who fervently believes that the authorities back on earth have indeed paid attention to his communications and that “they're about to re-establish the parks and forest system” with him as director. After all, he’s spent the last eight years dedicated to the project and that “here's no way they're gonna announce cutbacks, not after this amount of time.”

“You don't think that it's time that somebody cared enough to have a dream?”

What Lowell doesn’t seem to understand is the fickle and self-absorbed nature of human beings as alluded to by crewman Wolf who tells him, “it's been too long, Lowell, people got other things to do now.”

This sentiment is underscored by a radio transmission from Con Central in which their boss, Anderson informs the crews of the fleet that orders have been received to “abandon, then nuclear destruct, all the forests and return our ships to commercial service.”

It is at this point that something within Lowell’s psyche seems to snap and begins to unravel. It is as if there is no place in the universe anymore for logic, reason, for rationality, for a sense of right and wrong. To him, such a destructive course of action as the blowing up of the Earth’s last remaining forests in space is just “insane.”

"Rejoice in the Sun"

♪ Fields of children ♪

♪ Running wild ♪

♪ In the sun ♪

♪ Like a forest is your child ♪

♪ Growing wild ♪

♪ In the sun ♪

♪ Doomed in his innocence ♪

♪ In the sun ♪

♪ Gather your children ♪

♪ To your side ♪

♪ In the sun ♪

♪ Tell them ♪

♪ All they love will die ♪

♪ Tell them why ♪

♪ In the sun ♪

♪ Tell them ♪

♪ It's not too late ♪

♪ Cultivate one by one ♪

♪ Tell them to harvest ♪

♪ And rejoice ♪

♪ In the sun ♪

(Joan Baez)

A future time where all flora and fauna is extinct on Earth.

The planet's ecosystems exist only in large pods attached to spacecraft.

Commercial interests have now taken precedence.

The pods are to be jettisoned into space and destroyed by nuclear devices.

The crew of Valley forge and other ships can return home to earth.

Botanist and crew member Freeman Lowell has tended the plants for eight years.

How will the dedicated Lowell take the news?

Is the earth destined to lose the last of its forests and living creatures?

Read on for more....

Science Fiction Virus/Pandemic Movies

Humanity is no stranger to the real-life threat posed by viral epidemics and pandemics, from the medieval bubonic plagues that claimed possibly 50 million people, about 25% to 60% of the European population; the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that killed some 50 million people worldwide, more than were killed in WW1; the SARS and influenza H1N1-2009 or Swine Flu outbreak in the early 2000’s, Ebola, and of course the current worrying Coronavirus or Covid-19 Virus which is now firmly embedded within our constant 24/7 continuous multi media & multi platform news cycles.

Despite our collective complacency, I suspect that each of us have always harbored a fear in the back of our minds that the human race would eventually have to contend with a viral or microbial pandemic of calamitous proportions. This is not to say that the current crisis would reach that level of threat.

Global pandemics have also become a staple of science fiction based in varying degrees of accuracy on science fact and historical occurrences. Not surprisingly, film depictions of global pandemics have frequently taken off in some rather strange and fantastic directions with extreme worst-case scenarios being a necessary part of the formula. The viewing audience comes to expect the usual round of the ever increasing spread of rumors and panic, society gradually sliding off the rails, draconian quarantines being imposed, widespread outbreaks of looting and pillaging and so on.

Film depictions of such doomsday scenarios have probably colored our perceptions of actual epidemics and pandemics to some degree. Just the idea of being susceptible to infection from invisible viruses and bacteria taking over our bodies creates a sense of panic, uncertainty and helplessness. Science fiction movies will of course emphasize the entertainment value of depicting worst-case doomsday scenarios and it is not surprising that such fictional representations could shape our perceptions of real-life events.

Still, I’ve yet to see a film depiction of people fighting over rolls of toilet paper in a supermarket! Reality can be a lot stranger than fiction……

I guess panic buying and hoarding might be explained as people attempting to gain a measure of control through taking some kind of action in the face of events that seem to be beyond the individual person’s control. Either that or some people are just plain stupid!

Some science fiction films (Zombie films excluded!) featuring viral epidemics and pandemics include; 

The Andromeda Strain (1971) is adapted from a Michael Crichton novel in which a team of scientists race against time to destroy a deadly alien virus that threatens to wipe out life on Earth.

Plague (1979): A deadly bacteria called M3 escapes from a laboratory and causes sickness and death around the world. A scientist works tirelessly to develop an antidote to stop the contagion. 

The Stand (1994 miniseries): A human-engineered variant of Super flu escapes from a lab and wipes out almost the entire world population.

Outbreak (1995): An airborne “Motaba” virus is inadvertently smuggled into the US from Africa via an infected monkey, requiring a team of doctors to race against time in an effort to save a town where the infection is spreading. A strong military response is employed to quarantine the affected area.

12 Monkeys (1995): A post-apocalyptic future world has been ravaged by an unnamed virus. Human survivors who live underground can't use medicine to develop a vaccine or antiviral cure, but instead resort to time travel to prevent the original outbreak. 

Contagion (2011): A pandemic begins when a woman returns to Minnesota with a strange illness after a trip to Hong Kong. Within days, she dies and then others begin exhibiting the same symptoms as the outbreak spreads across the world. This film eerily parallels the current emerging Covid-19 scenario!

Containment (2015): In a 1970s-era housing council block in Weston, Southampton in present-day United Kingdom, artist Mark wakes to find that he has been sealed into his flat with no way out. There is no electricity, no water and no communications with the outside world. There is only a voice over the intercom that repeats the phrase, "please remain calm, the situation is under control." All that can be seen from the flat are people in Hazmat suits who patrol the grounds outside near a newly erected medical testing tent. Mark teams up with several residents in an attempt to find out what is going on and hopefully find a way out of their prison. 

There are many more movies like the ones mentioned above. Apart from their entertainment value, they are somewhat useful in terms of the issues they raise and the insights they may provide in terms of;

• The nature and origin of viral and microbial outbreaks.
• Possible means of transmission and spread.
• Effects on individuals and communities.
• Consequences for society.
• Medical and political responses.
• Possible reactions of individuals and communities to crisis.

We cannot let fictional representations of potentially disastrous occurrences determine our responses to them. Nor will conspiracy theories and social media rumor-mongering and the panic they help to foster help us cope with present and future pandemics. Only factual information, expert informed opinion, scientific and medical breakthroughs, responsible political leadership, effective communication and mutual support will ensure that our species will not succumb to a pandemic while clutching a prized precious packet of toilet paper to its breast......

©Chris Christopoulos 2020

Moon Zero Two (1969)

A sci-fi film that walks a fine line between being an unintentional spoof and a straightforward space adventure film.

Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Screenplay by Michael Carreras
Story by Martin Davison, Frank Hardman, Gavin Lyall
Produced by Michael Carreras
Cinematography: Paul Beeson
Edited by Spencer Reeve
Music by Don Ellis
Production company: Hammer Films
Distributed by Warner-Pathé Warner Bros.
Running time: 100 minutes
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: £500,000

Cast

James Olson as Bill Kemp
Catherina von Schell as Clementine Taplin
Warren Mitchell as J. J. Hubbard
Adrienne Corri as Elizabeth Murphy
Ori Levy as Korminski
Dudley Foster as Whitsun
Bernard Bresslaw as Harry
Neil McCallum as space captain
Joby Blanshard as Smith
Michael Ripper as 1st card player
Robert Tayman as 2nd card player
Sam Kydd as barman
Keith Bonnard as Junior customs officer
Leo Britt as Senior customs officer
Carol Cleveland as hostess
Roy Evans as workman
Tom Kempinski as 2nd officer
Lew Luton as immigration officer
Claire Shenstone as female hotel clerk
Chrissie Shrimpton as boutique attendant
Amber Dean Smith as Hubbard's girlfriend
Simone Silvera as Hubbard's girlfriend
The Go-jos as Hilton bar dancing girls

Earth’s Moon

May 2021

Bill Kemp, former astronaut pilot turned space salvager together with his Russian partner, Korminski become involved in a millionaire criminal space industrialist’s scheme to capture a sapphire asteroid and crash it into the far side of the moon for later recovery. Kemp and his partner are initially unaware of the fact that there is also a link between this job and the salvage team’s agreement to help Clementine Taplin locate her missing brother……..

Trailer

Read on for more......

Runaway (1984)

A lesser-known 1980s sci-fi gem that deserves far greater recognition

Directed by Michael Crichton
Written by Michael Crichton
Produced by Michael I. Rachmil, Lisa Faversham, Kurt Villadsen
Cinematography: John A. Alonzo
Edited by Glenn Farr, James Coblentz
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Production company: Delphi III Productions
Distributed by Tri-Star Pictures
Release date: December 14, 1984
Running time: 99 minutes
Budget: $8 million
Box office: $6,770,587 (USA)

Cast

Tom Selleck as Sergeant Jack R. Ramsay

Cynthia Rhodes as Officer Karen Thompson
Gene Simmons as Dr. Charles Luther
Kirstie Alley as Jackie Rogers
Stan Shaw as Sergeant Marvin James
G.W. Bailey as Chief of Police
Joey Cramer as Bobby Ramsay
Chris Mulkey as David Johnson
Sullivan Walker as K.C.
Anne-Marie Martin as Hooker At Bar
Michael Paul Chan as Wilson, Vectrocon Security Guard
Babz Chula as Construction Foreperson
Marilyn Schreffler as Voice of Lois
Elizabeth Norment as Miss Shields
Carol Teesdale as Sally
Paul Batten as Harry
Betty Phillips as Linda
Stephen Thorne as Tommy
Stephen E. Miller as Rudy
Cec Verrell as Hooker
Amber Borycki as Baby (uncredited)

Sometime in a future which we have almost caught up with, robots perform domestic house-hold, agricultural, construction and many other services. The police have a specialized department tasked with investigating and resolving cases involving malfunctioning robots that pose a danger to humans. Such robots are known as "Runaways"

Trailer

Read on for more......

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

The film that gave Star Trek back to the world

Directed by Robert Wise
Screenplay by Harold Livingston
Story by Alan Dean Foster
Based on Star Trek by Gene Roddenberry
Produced by Gene Roddenberry
Cinematography: Richard H. Kline
Edited by Todd C. Ramsay
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Production company: Paramount Pictures
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date: December 7, 1979
Running time: 132 minutes
Budget: $44 million]
Box office: $139 million

Cast 

William Shatner: Captain Kirk
Leonard Nimoy Leonard Nimo: Spock
DeForest Kelley DeForest Kelley: Dr. McCoy
James Doohan James Doohan: Scotty
George Takei George Takei: Sulu
Majel Barrett Majel Barrett: Dr. Chapel
Walter Koenig Walter Koenig: Chekov
Nichelle Nichols: Uhura
Persis Khambatta: Ilia
Stephen Collins: Decker
Grace Lee Whitney: Janice Rand
Mark Lenard: Klingon Captain
Billy Van Zandt: Alien Boy
Roger Aaron Brown: Epsilon Technician
Gary Faga Gary Fag: Airlock Technician
David Gautreaux: Commander Branch
John Gowans:  Assistant to Rand (as John D. Gowans)
Howard Itzkowitz: Cargo Deck Ensign
Jon Rashad Kamal: Lt. Commander Sonak
Marcy Lafferty: Chief DiFalco
Michele Billy Povill: Lieutenant (as Michele Ameen Billy)
Jeri McBride: Technician
Terrence O'Connor: Chief Ross
Michael Rougas: Lt. Cleary
Susan O'Sullivan: Woman (as Susan J. Sullivan)
Ralph Brannen: Crew Member
Ralph Byers: Crew Member
Paula Crist: Crew Member
Iva Lane:  Crew Member
Franklyn Seales: Crew Member
Momo Yashima:  Crew Member
Jimmie Booth: Klingon Crewman
Joel Kramer: Klingon Crewman
Bill McIntosh: Klingon Crewman
Dave Moordigian: Klingon Crewman
Tom Morga: Klingon Crewman
Tony Rocco: Klingon Crewman
Joel Shultz: Klingon Crewman
Craig Thomas Craig Thomas: Klingon Crewman
Edna Glover Edna Glover: Vulcan Master
Norman Stuart Norman Stuart: Vulcan Master
Paul Weber Paul Weber: Vulcan Master
Joshua Gallegos: Security Officer
Lisa Chess Lisa Chess: Yeoman
Leslie C. Howard: Yeoman
Sayra Hummel: Technical Assistant
Junero Jennings: Technical Assistant

Trailer

(Spoilers follow below.....)

“Who are they fighting?”

“Unknown, sir.”

A cloud-like ominous entity moves through deep space, having long traversed its bejewelled beauty festooned with supernova, nebulae and innumerable star systems. This mysterious luminescence is of a size that can barely be comprehended by human or extraterrestrial intelligence. It seems to defy all known concepts of size and distance.

The interstellar intruder is about to be confronted by one such extraterrestrial intelligence in the form of three Klingon heavy cruisers. On the Klingon command cruiser bridge ‘battle stations’ is sounded. From the point of view on the tactical grid, the main viewer and from the external perspective, the three diminutive ships closing on the steadily growing luminescent cloud-like entity appear puny and inadequate in comparison to the enormity of the unwelcome trespasser.

Undaunted, the ships sweep further into the mysterious cloud as if under the influence of some unknown beckoning force together with an impelling innate force located deep within the Klingon psyche and genetic makeup. The cruisers are soon dominated by the sheer immensity of the cloud that seems to dominate and consume all the available surrounding space.

The hatches of the photon torpedo launch tubes slowly slide open to reveal red-hued harbingers of death within. The order is then given to fire and the brilliant orbs of the photon torpedoes burst forth from the tubes.

On the Klingon bridge, the tactical grid displays the three torpedoes heading directly toward the Cloud and then suddenly and unexpectedly winking out of existence before reaching their intended target.

An external shot reveals the same course of action with the same result as the other ships launch their torpedoes toward the cloud. This time, however, there is a response in the form of an orb of power emanating from within the luminescence and heading directly toward the Klingon ships.

Despite evasive maneuvers, the orb strikes one of the cruisers with a bolt of energy which engulfs the vessel causing it to dematerialize. Raising defensive shields, executing evasive turns and discharging rear torpedoes at the approaching energy orbs do nothing to forestall the fate of the remaining two cruisers. The Klingons achieve an honourable death - their passage and entrance to Sto'Vo'Kor' assured.

“Sir, it's on a precise heading for Earth!”

Meanwhile at Starfleet Monitoring Station Epsilon IX, from the outside there appears to be an air of sedate almost complacent serenity surrounding this small outpost as astronaut workers lazily and quietly waft about servicing the station’s equipment. This atmosphere is about to be shattered within the installation where a report of the battle scene has come through to the monitor room.

A text translation of the Klingon commander’s voice appears on a monitor screen:

“Intruder unidentified.

Believe luminescent cloud to be enormous

Power field surrounding alien vessel.

Our sensor scans unable to penetrate.

Imperial Klingon Cruiser Amar, continuing to attack.”

The crew of Epsilon IX know that the battle has taken place “within Klingon boundaries” but not who or what the Klingon’s were fighting. After the shock of witnessing the complete annihilation of the Klingon vessel on the viewer, their minds now turn to the realisation that the cloud will pass into Federation Space fairly close to them “on a precise heading for Earth.”

Read on for more……..

“Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures,” by Joe Jordan

Title: Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures
Author: Joe Jordan
Contributors: Gavin MacLeod, Douglas E. Wise
Edition: illustrated 
Publisher: BearManor Media, 2020
ISBN: 1629335363, 978-1629335360
Length: 506 pages

“Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures,” by Joe Jordan is a product of meticulous research by the author, covering a period of over fifty years. It contains detailed plot synopses and commentary of many of Robert Wise’s memorable and important films. 

By photo by Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2227156

Robert Wise began his film career at RKO as a sound and music editor. He later became more involved in editing film content and went to work for RKO film editor William "Billy" Hamilton. At RKO, Wise worked with Orson Welles on “Citizen Kane” (1941) and was nominated for the Academy Award for Film Editing.

In his role as producer and director, Wise aimed for establishing a connection to the viewer and had a reputation for a strong work ethic, attention to detail, budgetary thrift and well-researched preparation for a film. 

Of relevance to this blog is Robert Wise’s film “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, a classic science fiction masterpiece that warned about the dangers of atomic warfare.

Other films of Robert Wise that have stayed in my mind over the years are;

• “I Want To Live” (1958)
• “Run Silent, Run Deep” (1958)
• “The Haunting” (1963)
• “The Andromeda Strain” (1971) 

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19705323 

• "Startrek The Motion Picture" (1979)

Joe Jordan's book includes over twenty interviews, as well as presenting a comprehensive analysis of Robert Wise’s work. 

I am sure that after reading this fascinating tribute, you’ll come away with an even greater appreciation of this two-time winner of the Academy Award for Best Director – the legendary Robert Wise. 

*************

A Tribute

Rosetta and Joe Jordan

Joe's Robert Wise book is dedicated to his father and it is very sad to note the recent sudden passing of his father.

Joe's mother, Rosetta preceded her husband in death by 37 years. He missed her so much and never remarried.

Joe has managed to find comfort in knowing that both of his parents are finally together again. It is also of comfort to Joe that his father was able to enjoy the revised edition of his son's book prior to his passing.

According to Joe, "My father was so excited to receive his copy of the Robert Wise book. You should have seen the look on his face when he found out the book is dedicated to him. My father was always a big fan of The Sand Pebbles," (a 1962 novel by American author Richard McKenna about a Yangtze River gunboat and its crew in 1926. In 1966 it was used as the storyline for a movie of the same name starring Steve McQueen and directed by none other than Robert Wise.)

Our condolences go out to Joe for his loss along with our best wishes and kind thoughts. I'm certain his father would have been very proud of Joe.