The Andromeda Strain (1971)

Share this quote on facebook Hello, Ops. This is Major Manchek, Scoop Control A-12. We need a fly-by over Piedmont, New Mexico. Infrared, a FLIR scan, all sectors, film to come direct to Scoop. Assign… Gunner Wilson. If he's not crocked some place.

Share this quote on facebook [Reading a suicide note from an old woman hanging over her stairs 0:24:33] "The Day of Judgement is at hand. Have mercy on my soul… and to Hell with all the others, amen!"

Share this quote on facebook Fools! They refuse to believe life exists in meteorites. I showed them at the astrophysics conference what I just showed you. But no! Even with a microscope, they are blind! What do I have to do, hit them over the head?

Share this quote on facebook Government Agent: [0:13:30] It was the fastest thing we could arrange, sir. [Stone looks at inside of completely unoccupied plane, says nothing, sits down. Telephone rings, agent hands phone to Stone.] It's for you, sir.
Stone: I feel like Onassis.

Share this quote on facebook [Helicopter pilot Dempsey takes Drs. Stone and Mark Hall toward the dead town. 0:21:00]

Share this quote on facebook Stone: [to Pilot] Drop us here, then rise to 1,000 feet. If we don't return...
Helicopter Pilot: I know, proceed to Wildfire and... [draws hand across throat, makes noise]
Stone: [to Burton] If something happens to us, the pilot and aircraft will have to be sterilized.
Helicopter Pilot: Uh, that's not what they told me. Just incinerated.

Share this quote on facebook Dr. Jeremy Stone: If anything happens to us, you have your orders.
Dempsey: Yes sir. Proceed directly to Wildfire, and then, uh… [He makes a slashing motion across his neck.] …zzzt!
Dr. Jeremy Stone: [to Hall] If we're eliminated, the aircraft and pilot'll have to be sterilized.
Dempsey: Uh, wait a minute! That's not what they told me. Just "incinerated".

Share this quote on facebook [Stone shows Hall a dead man with peaceful, composed posture. 0:22:55]
Dr. Jeremy Stone: Are you sure that isn't coronary?
Dr. Mark Hall: No, coronary is painful. They should grimace.
Dr. Jeremy Stone: If it was fast, they wouldn't have time!
Dr. Mark Hall: Fast? These people were cut down in mid-stride!

Share this quote on facebook [The two doctors find a old woman hanging over her stairs 0:24:33.]]
Dr. Mark Hall:[Reading a suicide note] "The Day of Judgement is at hand. Have mercy on my soul… and to Hell with all the others, amen! This TOOK TIME... REGARDLESS of What made her do it...THIS TOOK TIME"

Share this quote on facebook [The two doctors find a dead man kneeling over a bathtub, head in the water. 0:25:00]
Dr. Jeremy Stone: I wouldn't believe you could commit suicide that way.
Dr. Mark Hall: Most of them died instantly, but a few had time to go quietly nuts.

Share this quote on facebook Leavitt: You're lost. Nobody's used this road for years.
Burton: It's supposed to look that way. We spent over $50,000 to make the road like this.
Leavitt: [incredulously] Putting in the potholes?
Burton: Getting rid of the treadmarks. A hell of a lot of heavy equipment has passed this way.

Share this quote on facebook [Leavitt looks away from flashing red light on construction equipment]
Burton: Are you okay, Ruth?
Leavitt: I never liked red lights. Reminds me of my days in a bordello.

Share this quote on facebook [Dr. Ruth Leavitt shields her eyes as she and Dr. Charles Dutton walk past a barricade with flashing red lights.]
Dr. Charles Dutton: Something wrong?
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: I never liked red lights. Reminds me of my years in a bordello.

Share this quote on facebook Burton: I'm going to try a 2 micron filter.
Toby Male Technician: This one's big, I'll have to get me a fly swatter.

Share this quote on facebook [Dr. Dutton orders a bio-suited Toby out of a contaminated chamber.]
Toby: No sweat, sir. Those cages are airtight.
Dr. Charles Dutton: I wish you would sweat a little more, Toby. Sweat is a safeguard against some kinds of bacteria and carelessness.

Share this quote on facebook Dr. Jeremy Stone: Stick to established procedures!
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: Establishment gonna fall down go boom.

Share this quote on facebook [Gen. Sparks and Maj. Manchek examine bare human bones and a crumbled oxygen mask from a jet crash. 1:36:50]
Consultant: I'd say it was done by a chemical reaction of some sort, or maybe a microorganism.
Gen. Sparks: Meaning?
Maj. Manchek: Meaning there was something in that plane that consumes plastic.

Share this quote on facebook [After insisting on nuclear sterilization of Piedmont, the Wildfire team reverses themselves. 1:50:05]
Presidential Aide: The boss'll be pleased to know that he made the right decision on 7-12 in the first place.
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: [sarcastically] Congratulate him on his scientific insight!

Share this quote on facebook [The scientists examine an electronic map to determine the projected spread of the organism. 1:52:15]
Dr. Jeremy Stone: Well, according to this, there'll be a super-colony of Andromeda over the entire southwest in—
Dr. Charles Dutton: Jeremy! These are biological warfare maps!
Dr. Jeremy Stone: Why, yes, so they are. Well, but… simulations, Charlie. Defensive! It's just a scenario.
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: That's not the point, for God's sake! Wildfire was built for germ warfare! Wildfire and Scoop! And you knew, Stone! You knew it!
Dr. Jeremy Stone: That's not true, Ruth! I learned about Scoop the same time you did!
Dr. Charles Dutton: They already had Andromeda programmed! The purpose of Scoop was to find new biological weapons in outer space, and then use Wildfire to develop them!
Dr. Ruth Leavitt: It stinks, Stone!
Dr. Jeremy Stone: You're blowing your tops! We have no proof.
Dr. Charles Dutton: The map!
Dr. Jeremy Stone: Don't be an ass! That map only shows what Andromeda could do in the hands of an enemy!
Dr. Charles Dutton: Enemy? We did it to ourselves!

Share this quote on facebook Burton: Jeremy, these are Bio-Warfare maps!
Stone: So they are! Defensive, Charile. Simulations.
Leavitt: That's not the point! Wildfire was designed for Germ Warfare. Wildfire and Scoop.
Burton: They'd use Scoop to find biological weapons and use Wildfire to develop them!
Leavitt: It stinks, Stone!
Stone: Don't be an alarmist, Ruth. We don't have evidence for any of this.
Burton: Evidence? Look at the map!
Stone: Don't be an ass! The map only shows what could be done, in the hands of an enemy.
Burton: Enemy?! We did it to ourselves.

Share this quote on facebook Karen: [baby wailing in background] Dr. Hall, may I please feed the baby now, he's been crying steadily!
Hall: [to monitor] No! Keep him crying! And run another blood analysis! [to Burton] If I'm right, Jackson and the baby should have similar Ph levels. [to monitor] Karen, where's that analysis?
Karen: [Irritated] It's coming up on your console, now.
Peter Jackson: [turns to face CCTV camera] Hell of a way to run a hospital!

Share this quote on facebook [Video monitor: GASKET INTEGRITY ZERO. LEVEL V CONTAMINATED]
Stone: Mark, come on, we've got to get out of here! There's no substation in this sector! [both of them run into corridor, turn left and see corridor connector closing, turn and run the other direction in time to see that connector closing]
Public Address System: Five minutes to self destruct.
Stone: When the bomb goes off there'll be a thousand mutations, Andromeda will spread everywhere, we'll never be rid of it! [pointing at uncompleted bomb cutoff substation)] The defense system is perfect, Mark. It'll even bury our mistakes.

Share this quote on facebook [Final lines of the film. 2:08:50]
Sen. Phillips: This cloud-seeding business, Stone — [are] you absolutely sure it worked? You better be!
Dr. Jeremy Stone: All reports continue to indicate that the experiment was successful, Senator.
Sen. Phillips: Then we can feel confident your so-called biological crisis is over.
Dr. Jeremy Stone: As far as Andromeda is concerned, yes. We have the organism at Wildfire, and we continue to study it. We know now beyond a doubt that other forms of life exist in the universe.
Sen. Phillips: Thanks to Scoop.
Dr. Jeremy Stone: Yes. [pauses] However, with this new knowledge, there's no guarantee that another "so-called biological crisis" won't occur again.
Sen. Phillips: Hmm. What do we do about that?
Dr. Jeremy Stone: Precisely, Senator. What do we do?

Share this quote on facebook Kate Reid — Dr. Ruth Leavitt

Share this quote on facebook Ken Swofford — Toby

Share this quote on facebook James W. Gavin — Dempsey

Share this quote on facebook Reuben Singer — Dr. Rudolph Karp