Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1367 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-04-01
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 131 minutes

Amazon.com
The best-selling novel by Michael Crichton was faithfully adapted for this taut 1971 thriller, about a team of scientists racing against time to destroy a deadly alien virus that threatens to wipe out life on Earth. As usual with any Crichton-based movie, the emphasis is on an exciting clash between nature and science, beginning when virologists discover the outer-space virus in a tiny town full of corpses. Projecting total contamination, the scientists isolate the deadly strain in a massive, high-tech underground lab facility, which is rigged for nuclear destruction if the virus is not successfully controlled. The movie spends a great deal of time covering the scientific procedures of the high-pressure investigation, and the rising tensions between scientists who have been forced to work in claustrophobic conditions. It's all very fascinating if you're interested in scientific method and technological advances, although the film is obviously dated in many of its details. It's more effective as a thriller in which tension is derived not only from the deadly threat of the virus, but from the escalating fear and anxiety among the small group of people who've been assigned to save the human race. The basic premise is still captivating; it's easy to see how this became the foundation of Crichton's science-thriller empire. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Sci Fi at its Best
Made in the 70's, this movie still has the suspense and good acting as it did when it was first released. Moreover, the film does a masterful job of staying close to the book. Indeed, having read the book, I feel I can make this statement with a clear conscience. Whether the newer made for TV version of the Michael Crichton book is better, I will leave for the younger reader to decide

Good Movie
Loved this movie. It kept me interested from start to finish. It's far better than the TV rendition.

unpressed
After watching the one on TV i was disappointed in this one.Not enough gore for me and the girls were much better looking on the one on TV.I guess this is what happens when you get old.