Just perfect...

Absolutely Fantastic

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The good: From a historical perspective, very interesting to see all the classic elements of a Crichton story taking shape: medical mystery, technological danger, and a literal on-screen ticking clock. Big fans of Crichton's work (like me) who seek out this movie will definitely be able to appreciate it. And you can also see how Michael got better over time.The bad: Yes, I realize this was done for TV. And yes, I realize that watching in 2010 I have the benefit of seeing many slicker productions. But the camera work here could only be described as "70s cliché." Zooming in to a character while they deliver an important line is overused (there couldn't have been that many commercials right?). At the end, there is a wrap up discussion done in a long shot that drains all emotional impact from the lines. The Netflix DVD I watched was not remastered in any way, so there were jumps in the film and audio quality was abysmal.Gazarra and Marshall are fine actors, although I feel that Marshall was a bit miscast here. He seemed like he could play a good leader/planner but not so much a doer. Martin Sheen played his part very well, but was under-used.Maybe it's mainly a budget issue, but consider that WestWorld was just made a year later - what a better made movie that is! A few simple tweaks (and more money?) would have made this OK movie great.

Okay, who knew Nixon was going to turn out to be a crook, besides anyone who watched his career.Actually this isn't bad for an early 70's made for TV movie. Personally, I've always wondered why 1970's TV was so fond of brown cars and dull colors. It seems in the 1960's, they discovered color was this new thing and were very flamboyant about it, but in the 1970's, they went with "earth tones" and got bored wit the thing.The plot is that an eccentric millionaire steals some Army Nerve gas, so potent they have to store it in binary form. Realizing a clever FBI agent is on to him, he sets up a series of contingencies to make sure his weapon goes off in San Diego when Richard Nixon (never specifically mentioned but obviously implied) is making his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.The battle of wits between these two guys is very interesting, and this is before Hollywood learned how to milk such scenarios for every ounce of suspense.

I saw this movie on TV when I was 12 years old...missed the start of it but couldn't stop watching it once started. I never new the name, or have seen it since. BUT, I forever wanted to see it again from start to finish. I saw enough of the plot and *especially the ending* to make me a lover of action thrillers for life! *****spoiler!!!*****The ending occurs in a hotel room with the binary nerve gas stored in compressed air cylinders and the cylinders are ingeniously painted with *explosive paint* so that when the device explodes, the two harmless gases are mixed and will be blown out of the nearby window. I clearly remember the race by the agents to get to the device in the booby-trapped room (two police officers were laying dead outside the door already from unknowingly setting off the door-tamper mechanism) A truly most-excellent thriller--especially for TV at that time! As was said in other comments, I'm really surprised that no one has remade this into a modern movie with all of the new special effects available now as opposed to the early 70's. If you can rent this or if it comes on again, I highly recommend viewing--just don't be eating popcorn at the end--you might choke while holding your breath!--happy watching!

One of my local UHF channels showed this movie on a Saturday afternoon. Overall, it is very well done, especially for a made-for-TV movie. The movie moved along at a good pace and the acting was good all around. It is a little reminiscent of the early episodes of "Columbo". Ben Gazzara is pursuing E.G. Marshall, who he knows is planning to do something at a Democratic national convention in San Diego. The two repeatedly try to outwit each other, all the while knowing that the other guy is watching every move. This makes for some interesting plot twists and blind alleys. Crichton, as usual, pays very close attention to technological details, making the premise very realistic, unlike a lot of "caper" movies where plot hinges on an essential piece of knowledge the character could not possibly have had. I'm really surprised this hasn't been remade for the big screen, given Michael Crichton's popularity.