Did anyone here watch Andromeda last night?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

and who else was struck by how close to reality the willingness of the miliary, the government and the powers behind the scene, to lie, cheat, murder and worse appeared to be?

We were watching and were struck again and again by the thought of - ' "Damn, they have DHS down pat!"

[Orrex]

1. Well, yeah. But that's been a theme of modern fiction for decades

Crichton, the broken-clock-who's-right-twice, wrote The Andromeda Strain in 1969 IIRC, when secretive governmental hegemony was of a very different stripe but still very real. This modern retelling is clearly informed by modern context, and in this environment of course they're going to amplify anything that smacks of secret government/military conspiracy.

Nothing new there.
:shrug:

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. And even longer than that

I've read short stories published in the old pulp magazines of the 40s and 50s, and there are plenty of space opera tales where the hero must go up against a government that is secretive and corrupt. Goodness, just look at Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1948.

[Orrex]

3. Very true!

Hell, we might as well also include the end of Lovecraft's The Shadow over Innsmouth from 1931 as an example of a secret domestic military operation.

It's a popular theme, apparently!

[zippy890]

4. was it well done? I liked the original movie nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. no complaints, to be honest.

nice at times, OK at others, and a couple of well done scenes. part II tonight. I'd recommend it.

[Occulus]

9. Okay, WHY did the pilot's visor start to get eaten away in the first place?

Was it because she had a nuke on board, and flying over the area subjected her plane to Andromeda?

I do hope they answer that, because I thought Andromeda attacked the blood, not pilot visors...

[shanti]

10. that puzzled me too

i didn't think that andromeda targeted inanimate objects, just blood.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. andromeda adapts and mutates, and

had passed through several changes, attacking birds and all. it suddenly becomes a plastic eater.

[librechik]

18. if I remember correctly from the first movie, the virus attacks rubber and plastics,

disintegrating the bonds between the molecules, so the protective gear doesn't work, and all the plastic and rubber in the fighter jet dissolved which stalled the motor, disabled the eject mechanism, and made the instruments useless.

[Echo In Light]

6. Yeah, the original movie is very well done. The latest version of Invasion of The Body Snatchers...

...is worth a look at also - plenty of scary Homeland Security/FEMA-esque looking operations in the story that are clearly meant to draw a disturbing parallel.

[suston96]

7. Yes, and I am looking forward to the conclusion tonite.

The old movie is a classic. This one is well done.

But also on TV last night was "Tora, Tora, Tora" the Pearl Harbor movie. More government deceit and cover up by those in the government and military that knew and wanted Japan to attack us first.

One movie is fiction and the other is historical reality.

[Occulus]

8. Did you catch the name of the oil company the people were protesting outside of?

Only onscreen for a moment, but its name was

ENBERTEL

As in, Enron, Halliburton, and Bechtel.

I thought that was a nice touch. I really didn't expect their President to give the lab more time, though.

[Wizard777]

12. They also took a few swipes at Bush.

The President said, I'm not going into a war on half baked intelligence.

[HeeBGBz]

13. Damn, that was last night???

I wanted to watch it. :-(

[azmouse]

14. It's in 2 parts and both will be shown tonight.

Check A&E listings for your local times.

[Cheap_Trick]

20. I think it's due on DVD within the next week or two n/t

[TrogL]

15. Some really stupid gaffes

• Supersonic jet keeping pace with a helicopter
  
• all other animals die quickly except the white dog
  
• all they had to do was nuke the site, blame North Korea and declare martial law
  

[ChairmanAgnostic]

17. it was a REALLY FAST CHOPPER.

I believe the book mentioned how it did not affect all life forms equally.

As for your last point, Give Bush Time.

[azmouse]

16. It was alright but movies today have so many predictable scenes.

Someone is always divorced or getting divorced and has some issues involving a child. That person always meets a former love on the team that is put together.

Someone always has a problem with another team member that goes deep into both of their pasts and that is somehow resolved in one of them saving the others life or sometimes one of them will sabotage the group.

Can't today writers at least try to be a little more original.

[Cleita]

19. Yes, they sure got their political points in very effectively.

Now let's hope the kool-aid drinking freepers take note.