The Andromeda Strain: The Complete Miniseries

The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track works well throughout both discs which is a real plus due to the amount of scenes shot in the underground lab. There is a good level of audio balance between action sequences and character driven scenes. The 1.78:1 anamorphic PAL picture is somewhat softened in places which serves to reduce the harshness of the image but also gives the image a telltale TV hue.

Between the director’s commentary and the Making Of featurette, there really is very little on offer in terms of substance or entertainment, in light of the rich source material. Vast portions of both the directorial commentary and the documentary are devoted to snooze-inducing details about the more technical aspects of film-making with a brief pause to refer to the original 1971 picture. The gallery of stills and short sequence on visual effects are there merely to make up the numbers and don’t really offer anything in terms of innovative content.