Outbreak (1995)

Extreme measures are necessary to contain an epidemic of a deadly airborne virus. But how extreme, exactly?

Director:

Wolfgang Petersen

Writers:

Laurence Dworet, Robert Roy Pool

Stars:

Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman

6 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dustin Hoffman	...	Sam Daniels
Rene Russo	...	Robby Keough
Morgan Freeman	...	General Billy Ford
Kevin Spacey	...	Casey Schuler
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Major Salt
Donald Sutherland	...	General Donald McClintock
Patrick Dempsey	...	Jimbo Scott
Zakes Mokae	...	Dr. Benjamin Iwabi
Malick Bowens	...	Dr. Raswani
Susan Lee Hoffman	...	Dr. Lisa Aronson
Benito Martinez	...	Dr. Julio Ruiz
Bruce Jarchow	...	Dr. Mascelli
Leland Hayward III	...	Henry Seward
Daniel Chodos	...	Rudy Alvarez
Dale Dye	...	Colonel Briggs

Storyline

In July of 1967, In Motaba River Valley, Zaire, a virus with a 100% mortality rate starts infecting people. The virus becomes known as the Motaba virus, and it's so deadly that it causes severe bleeding and liquefies internal organs, killing within 3 days. The virus wipes out Motaba River Valley, and a devastatingly huge fire bomb is dropped onto Motaba River Valley in order to reduce the chances of further infection. The bomb was dropped on the orders of corrupt General Donald McClintock, even though an army surgeon, General Bill Ford, was against the idea. 27 years later, in 1994, there is another outbreak in Motaba River Valley. At the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), located at Fort Detrick in Maryland, Colonel Sam Daniels is doing research on the Motaba virus, and so is his ex-wife Roberta Keough, who works at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. A monkey carrying the Motaba virus stows away on a ...

---

Plot Keywords:

virus | disease | monkey | river | army | 

---

Taglines:

Try to remain calm.

---

Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Korean French

Release Date:

10 March 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Epidemia

Filming Locations:

Arcata, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

£4,343,040 (UK) (16 June 1995)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Arnold Kopelson Productions, Punch Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dustin Hoffman and Maya Angelou did uncredited work on the script but most of their work went unused.

---

Goofs

Salt comments that their Loach (Hughes H-6) will go 400 miles without refueling. The Hughes H-6's real range is only 267 miles.

---

Quotes

Casey Schuler: I hate them willies, they ought to call them the Sams don't you think?

---

Connections

References What's Up, Doc? (1972)

---

Soundtracks

"If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself)"
Written and Performed by Pete Droge
Courtesy of American Recordings
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Intrigue, action and suspense film about a deadly and rapacious virus spread in the air

When a disease in Africa is found , extreme measures are necessary to stop a rapacious epidemic , as dinky Colonel Sam Daniels (Dustin Hoffman) of the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases is sent to discover it . When he reports back to his chef officer General Ford (Morgan Freeman) and tells him that they should put out an alert on this disease but the General that since the disease is so far away and not airborne that it can't possibly reach the U.S . However, a monkey from that part of Africa was captured by a man (Patrick Dempsey) and brought the USA and tried to sell it but when the person he tried to sell it to rejected it he released it. Col. Daniels wants to look into it but General Ford denies his request so he turns to his estranged ex-wife (Rene Russo) , who works at the Center for Disease Control or CDC to look into and they discover it's the African disease but since it kills very quickly, Col. Daniels feels that it's been contained until another outbreak and learns the virus makes the bubonic pest look like a cough . The virus expands rapidly in the air like a common cold but the Army superiors have an agenda to their own . Meanwhile Hoffman must contain the virus that's somehow made its way from Africa to the USA and the events go awry . But military intelligence (Donald Sutherland) have other plans to avoid deadly virus in which a sub-continent the size of America may be consumed and decimated .

Suspense thriller with plenty of action and intrigue about a deadly virus is spread in the air . The pictures results to be a metaphor for AIDS panic in the same way that 50s extraterrestrial films mirrored fears of Red Menace . The story shows the scientific methods by which such viral ills are identified and tracked , including touches on the ethical problems as germ warfare , elimination of infected and several others . Nice performance for all-star-cast as Hoffman , Russo , Morgan Freeman as a good general , Cuba Gooding Jr as intrepid official expert on helicopters , Kevin Spacey as helper and many others . Appears unjustly uncredited T.J Walsh as US President , Dale Dye and Lance Kerwin . Colorful and appropriate cinematography by Michael Balhaus , Clint Eastwood's usual . Stirring and adequate musical score by James Newton Howard . Good direction by Petersen who does have its thrilling moments , most of them in the first half , though the second half degenerates in a superhero movie in which Hoffman turning into an one army man -almost caricature and barely credible- against the military intelligence represented by nasty Donald Sutherland . Wolfgang Petersen has directed very good films since his beginnings in Germany with ¨The Neverending story¨ and ¨Das Boot¨ ,after that , he emigrated US where realized ¨Night of shattered crystals¨, ¨Enemy mine¨ , and the successful ¨Air Force one¨and ¨The patriot¨ , though his last film was a semi-flop , the remake ¨Poseidon¨. Rating : well worth watching , better than average .