In this vision of the early 80's apocalypse films, the U.S. and Japanese co-produced an ambitious film called Virus. It was 1980, and it ran right around the time, Threads (1981) and the Day After (1983)came out. The scenario starts with a submarine surfacing following the reconnaissance of a drone looking for survivors in Paris in the aftermath of terrible plague. Most of the still living international personnel are safe in Antarctica, and are trying to cope with this inevitable Holocaust that ravages most of the world from Spring 83 to November.
In flashbacks, we see how a bio-weapon called MM-88 is passed on in a weapons deal in E.Germany, but in the midst of this transfer parties are slain. Around the same time, President Richardson(Glenn Ford) asserts the peace process with a Soviet Accord in 82', much to the chagrin of the military establishment, which is anxious to get funding for the ARS (automatic response system) which would give them the "Arms advantage necessary to contain the Soviets".
An accident takes place while the weapon is being flown over a mountainous region, accidentally releasing the genetically engineered super virus (Italian Flu) that rages through country after country. Just when things couldn't get any worse, a "fail-safe" retaliatory strike will be accidentally set off when an impending sea quake of about 8-9.0 hits the sea (which will be interpreted as a nuclear blast by the ARS system)
It had the usual disturbing images....the burning of piles of bodies, and the moral dilemmas of repopulating the world. The melancholy music score provides ambiance to the somber proceedings. The continuity is a little stilted because the Japanese version has some events from Japan's point of view added in. Bo Swenson is a hoot in surly "Walking Tall" mode through the film. Ford provides a embattled, stern but rational President, while Henry Silva hams it up as the "military lunatic" on the fringe. The location shots in what looks like Antarctica was pretty good. The production looked top-notch for its time. A pretty good apocalypse film, if you ignore the huge gap in logic towards the end. 5.7 out of 10
In flashbacks, we see how a bio-weapon called MM-88 is passed on in a weapons deal in E.Germany, but in the midst of this transfer parties are slain. Around the same time, President Richardson(Glenn Ford) asserts the peace process with a Soviet Accord in 82', much to the chagrin of the military establishment, which is anxious to get funding for the ARS (automatic response system) which would give them the "Arms advantage necessary to contain the Soviets".
An accident takes place while the weapon is being flown over a mountainous region, accidentally releasing the genetically engineered super virus (Italian Flu) that rages through country after country. Just when things couldn't get any worse, a "fail-safe" retaliatory strike will be accidentally set off when an impending sea quake of about 8-9.0 hits the sea (which will be interpreted as a nuclear blast by the ARS system)
It had the usual disturbing images....the burning of piles of bodies, and the moral dilemmas of repopulating the world. The melancholy music score provides ambiance to the somber proceedings. The continuity is a little stilted because the Japanese version has some events from Japan's point of view added in. Bo Swenson is a hoot in surly "Walking Tall" mode through the film. Ford provides a embattled, stern but rational President, while Henry Silva hams it up as the "military lunatic" on the fringe. The location shots in what looks like Antarctica was pretty good. The production looked top-notch for its time. A pretty good apocalypse film, if you ignore the huge gap in logic towards the end. 5.7 out of 10