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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

virus | disease | monkey | river | army | 

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Taglines:

This animal carries a deadly virus... and the greatest medical crisis in the world is about to happen.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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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

This film won a development battle with a similar viral-outbreak thriller project at 20th Century Fox called "Hot Zone". That film was going to be directed by Ridley Scott and star Robert Redford and Jodie Foster, but ran into script problems that threw it off stride. When producer Arnold Kopelson hired Ted Tally to work on his script, he liked the results so much that he immediately sent it out to Harrison Ford; Ford declined, but then Dustin Hoffman and Wolfgang Petersen signed on to star and direct, and Warner Bros. greenlit the film for a 1995 release.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the movie in both the past and the present the helicopter pilots are clearly not wearing any sort of MOPP gear even though landing in a hot zone. Their exposed faces are clearly scene.

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Quotes

Sam Daniels: With all due respect sir, Fuck you!

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Connections

Spoofed in Spaceballs: The Animated Series: Outbreak (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Sacrifice"
Written by Jim Kee
Performed by Voxen
Courtesy of Statue Records

User Reviews

There always has to be a disease, doesn't there?

"Outbreak" isn't any kind of masterpiece, but worth seeing nevertheless. Portraying the army trying to contain a deadly virus brought by a monkey smuggled into the country, the movie seems especially relevant, what with bird flu and all. A particularly disturbing scene takes place in a movie theater, when a person coughs and the camera follows the particles catching on everyone's lips as they laugh, unaware of the fate that awaits them.

The always dependable Dustin Hoffman plays as intense a role as ever as the colonel in charge of trying to control the virus. Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey and Cuba Gooding Jr. also play their roles very well. Donald Sutherland's menacing looks are perfect for the kind of character whom he plays. All in all, Wolfgang Petersen directs another good one here.