A deadly, unidentifiable virus is causing a series of mysterious deaths in Seattle. Disease specialist Samantha Carter (Turner) must team up with Dr. Nick Baldwin (Sabato) to track down the lethal pathogen and stop its deadly path of destruction. They discover that a computer virus has evolved into a deadly organic virus. Samantha and Nick face a race against time to uncover the deadly source before it is unleashed on an unsuspecting public. The seven American lawyers hired by Australian media magnate Jack Doulan, whose company rivals Albert Teal's Digicron for preponderance on the world market of telecommunications, are suddenly struck during a video conference in Seattle by an incredibly fast-working virus which wipes out everyone on their floor. Dr. Nick Baldwin, a brilliant virologist who works as an 'insubordinate' ambulance technician after being fired for failing to observe procedure, is first on the site and points out to US Army disease specialist Dr. Samantha Carter, who told him there were deaths in several other cases but never a trace of the virus, his ambulance has taken a survivor to his hospital; her therapeutic incompetence gets the patient killed, him assigned as temporary consultant to her army research unit- even there computer model operator Darren is killed by the virus, which also strikes at other sites in and around Seattle, notably at places where Digicron's 500 TV channels setup box is being tested. Nick realizes the survivors had eye diseases, so the otherwise non-contagious, short-living virus probably enters via the eyes; the common link seem to be TV screens, and as soon turns out Digicron black boxes. Their next theory is that a computer virus may have evolved into a deadly organic virus. Samantha and Nick must then prevent Digicron's box being sold to the general public in vast numbers, according to the company's Barnum-marketing starting in only two days, but CEO Teal refuses to believe them. Behind his back they find out his most recently promoted VP, Ned Henderson, is the brilliant programmer who must know about the computer virus, but Doulan is also after him to beat Teal at his own game, and Henderson has a deep-rooted frustration inspiring his own agenda… A somewhat dull made for tv movie which premiered on the TBS cable station. Antonio and Janine run around chasing a killer computer virus and…that's about it. For trivia buffs this will be noted as debuting the same weekend that the real life 'Melissa' virus also made it's debut in e-mail inboxes across the world. Actually, this flick, made in 1999, has pretty good production values. The actors are attractive, and reasonably talented. There aren't a bunch of clowns running around blasting away, expending hundreds of rounds, but never hitting flesh. Nor are there wild car chases/crashes where thousands of dollars worth of beautiful machines are uselessly trashed.<br/><br/>The interiors look respectably modern, architecturally, and the equipment looks up to snuff. Well, there is that high tech computer room furnished with what look like leftovers from a '50s electronics lab. And the pancake make-up on the corpses cracked me up. Not pancake make-up in the conventional sense, but what looks like dried pancake batter slathered over their exposed skin. This is supposed to support the idea that the bodies have calcified – though how the virus would accomplish this transmutation is an exercise left for the student (viewer).<br/><br/>Ah yes, the virus. I would like to tell you that this is not the absolute worst premise for a sci-fi, horror flick I know of, but I can't. A computer virus that is transmitted via a television (or computer monitor) screen and becomes a lethal biological pathogen? Gimme a break. Warp drives a la "Star Trek" are one thing, but photons becoming viruses? This is so silly the desired "fright factor" just isn't realizable. The flick could have used one of those awful dream sequences where the dead come alive, or have a cat jump out of the closet, or something, because the viral thingamajig isn't doing it. <br/><br/>One presumes Robert Wagner has the same excuse for playing in this inanity that Lord Oliver gave for some of his later, trashy venues. He needed the money. No other comparison between the two should be construed,however.
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