The Satan Bug (1965)

Based off of Alistair MacLean's novel of the same name, The Satan Bug concerns Station 3, a top-secret research facility in the California desert where the US government engineers designer germs. One day, thieves manage to circumvent security and gain access to the main lab, where the murder chief of security Reagan and chief scientist Dr. Baxter and abscond with several specimens in airtight flasks. All but one of the flasks contain botulinus. The other is the one and only existing specimen of a new strain of polio codenamed "Satan Bug." It's so deadly that if it were unleashed, it could wipe out all life on Earth in two months.Eric Cavanaugh of the SDI (a fictional government organization) and Station 3 director Dr. Leonard Michaelson go to the lab's former chief of security, Lee Barrett, for assistance. Barrett is a top-notch detective, but quit his job because he disagreed with the military applications of Station 3's experiments. He now works as a lawyer. But with Reagan dead, there's no one else who knows the facility better and can have any chance of recovering the viruses.Aided by a beautiful female operative named Ann Williams, herself the daughter of Barrett's former employer General Williams, Barrett determines that the thieves were the henchmen of a wealthy sociopath named Charles Reynolds Ainsley. Ainsley, styling himself a modern-day messiah, shares Barrett's disdain for Station 3, and threatens to unleash the Satan Bug unless the lab is closed down for good. But is this really his plan...? Barrett will need to find out and fast; to prove he means business, Ainsley has had his henchmen unleash some of the botulinus in Florida, killing thousands. The Satan Bug could be next if Barrett can't track down Ainsley and the viruses fast!Behind the camera, The Satan Bug has an impressive pedigree. Based off of a novel by Alistair MacLean and directed by John Sturges, and featuring a score by Jerry Goldsmith. In front of the camera is a different story.First and foremost, there's the total change in setting. Although the movie is, beat for beat, a fairly accurate retelling of MacLean's novel, the book was set in England. There wasn't really much reason beyond budgetary constraints to relocate the story's setting to America and make all of the characters American. They also changed (i.e. simplified) the villain's plan. In the novel, his threat to unleash the viruses unless the lab is closed is just a smokescreen so he can achieve something completely different behind the good guys' backs, a la Simon in Die Hard with a Vengeance. That said, despite the relocation to America, I rather slightly prefer the film to the novel.Action-wise it's mostly limited to a couple of brief fistfights and shootouts that are over fairly quickly.The climax aboard the helicopter is just plain silly. Without warning, the pilot stops flying and turns to try to shoot Barrett who is riding in back. This results in the aircraft going into a spin with no one flying it, whilst Barret fights with Ainsley and the pilot, all while the flask containing the Satan Bug perches precariously on the edge of the seat and threatens to roll out the open door. Barrett ultimately manages to overcome the villains, kick them out, grab the flask and regain control of the chopper. Definitely one of the goofier climaxes I've seen in a while.The cast is good, but with the exception of Richard Basehart as Dr. Hoffman (a.k.a. Ainsley), there aren't too many familiar faces in prominent roles. I will say, though, I liked George Maharis as Barrett. In terms of the supporting cast, look for James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek) as an SDI agent who shows up in a few brief scenes, and Ed Asner as henchman Veretti.

Alistair MacLean wrote many exciting books that were made into films but few of them were really great. This film "The Satan Bug" was not one of his best books,though it was OK, and the film made from it was only partially effective as a thriller, despite having the great storyteller James Clavell as a screenwriter. Alistair MacLean wrote interesting historical WWII novels like "The Guns of Navarone" and "Where Eagles Dare". These films were popular and successful but,though good, were far from great even though they had star power like Gregory Peck and Richard Burton starring in them. The Satan Bug suffered from not having the same caliber of actors in it and seems like a B-movie."Ice Station Zebra" was a better film made from one of His books. MacLean also wrote cold war thrillers featuring rebellious,smart-alecky,outsiders trying to catch the bad guy/killer/spy before it's too late. The main characters funny,sarcastic sense of humor seldom came through in the films made from his books, and it's too bad. One of His better books that never made it to film was "Night Without End". Try it. By the way reviewers,Readers of these reviews have almost always seen the film being discussed and don't need a blow by blow description, but instead your opinions and critique only. Just saying.

I have watched this film several times, and never find it boring. That this film was not a hit at the time of release, and was not able to make a movie star out of George Maharis, shows that either the studio did not know how to market it at the time, or that a movie, even with all the right ingredients, will not become a hit movie, if people don't go and see it.I do see some problems with the screenplay however, in that things see to happen in the film, that just pop up from nowhere. A mans car getting stuck that we the audience are not entirely clued in on, two agents just coming on the screen at a particular time, what where the motivations for this to happen is not explained, and a dead body, that without the use of a DVD player or DVR that we can view the movie on Turner Classic Movies, and look back on, might make us wonder who this dead body is.The Maharis character is the most interesting of the lot, he is a man who is at odds with his government throughout his life, and he is a character in films ahead of his time. We didn't get to see people like this in movies before. He is a man who it is emphasized at the beginning of the film to be a rebel, but knows the difference between wrong and right. When his country needs him as he shows in this film he will be there for the correct cause. His last line in this film, is a telling one, I'm paraphrasing it here, but it goes something like this "Will start over again." This film, makes one ask the question, how could any country sanction a sight that could create something so deadly, and which might, as we learn towards the end, might destroy life on earth? At the same time, while the film I think questions this, it does at least give us some comfort that our government agencies fighting terror might be able to stop it as shown by agents, beside Maharis, as being capable of stopping mad men through their hard work.A great supporting cast helps the film as well, Richard Basehart is outstanding, and I just realized that Frank Sutton, (Sargent Carter) of GOMER PYLE fame, is one of the villains, and what a different role it is.John Sturges in his direction, shows a man who knew how to direct an action film, and an entertaining one to boot. The film was also ahead of its time, in warning us that we had more to fear than just a hydrogen bomb, as that fear of the bomb I believe was coming to an end at the time. A flawed, but entertaining film, that still holds up some forty years latter.

It seems that only a few people know about this movie, which is a darn shame. The film combines sci-fi, action, and drama in a beautifully photographed package.After power-hungry scientist Richard Basehart steals several vials of incredibly dangerous virus from a government lab, it's up to steely good guy George Maharis to find him and recover the stolen stuff. Dana Andrews plays a government big wheel and Anne Francis...well she looks pretty good and runs around with Maharis during most of the movie. The final scene--a fight inside a helicopter--will have your hair standing on end. Really tense movie was superbly photographed in LA and California desert locations.Good character development, fine acting, great sets (love that government laboratory!) and a very literate script makes this movie one to watch. It's very topical, 42 years later. Also, it's worth catching just to see Ed Asner and Frank Sutton (Sgt. Carter from "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.") as snarling thugs trying to run off with the lethal germs.