The Andromeda strain

Directed with clinical precision by Robert Wise, this record of the Earth’s first biological crisis is perhaps the most painstakingly authentic science fiction thriller ever made. When a satellite falls to earth near a remote New Mexico village, the recovery team finds everyone in the area dead except an infant and an old derelict. The survivors are brought to a five-storey underground lab - one of the most elaborate and intricate sets ever assembled in Hollywood - where scientists attempt to determine the nature of the deadly microbe before it starts a world-wide epidemic. Based on Michael Crichton’s bestselling novel that created national paranoia for its topical relevance to the first moon landing, this is a surprisingly accurate and scientific chiller.