The Andromeda Strain is a medical science techno-thriller set in the late 1960's (and this movie came out in 1971). A secret government satellite crash lands in Nevada. It was collecting space samples and whatever it caught killed everyone in town, coagulating all their blood. Except for an old drunkard and a crying baby.

A team of four scientists is assembled at a top secret biowarfare lab built in Nevada with a nuclear bomb failsafe. As the scientists research the organism they come to realize that an atomic explosion would only give it the energy it needs to reproduce. Naturally when the failsafe activates it's up to the scientists to stop the bomb before it explodes and thereby dooms the planet...

This is a rather slow build-up movie. It's based on a Michael Crichton novel so maybe that explains the loving detail paid to the biowarfare lab. The scientists go through five levels of decontamination and there are lots of little details such as eating nutrient shakes instead of normal food. All the tech is believably possible for the late 1960's assuming unlimited government funds.

I did like the organism. It takes a while for them to find it and then to figure out how it works since it is unlike Earth-based life. They explain how it affects animals and people and also show how they do animal testing to find out how big it is and how lethal it is. It is very much a great theatrical rendition of research.

Overall an engrossing movie that stands the test of time.