Outbreak (1995) 6.5
Extreme measures are necessary to contain an epidemic of a deadly airborne virus. But how extreme, exactly? Director:Wolfgang Petersen |
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Outbreak (1995) 6.5
Extreme measures are necessary to contain an epidemic of a deadly airborne virus. But how extreme, exactly? Director:Wolfgang Petersen |
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| Watch Trailer 0Share... |
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Dustin Hoffman | ... |
Sam Daniels
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| Rene Russo | ... | ||
| Morgan Freeman | ... |
General Billy Ford
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| Kevin Spacey | ... |
Casey Schuler
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| Cuba Gooding Jr. | ... |
Major Salt
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| Donald Sutherland | ... |
General Donald McClintock
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| Patrick Dempsey | ... |
Jimbo Scott
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| Zakes Mokae | ... |
Dr. Benjamin Iwabi
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| Malick Bowens | ... |
Dr. Raswani
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Susan Lee Hoffman | ... |
Dr. Lisa Aronson
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| Benito Martinez | ... |
Dr. Julio Ruiz
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| Bruce Jarchow | ... |
Dr. Mascelli
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Leland Hayward III | ... |
Henry Seward
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Daniel Chodos | ... |
Rudy Alvarez
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| Dale Dye | ... |
Colonel Briggs
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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 ... Written by Todd Baldridge
...and it is. It's nothing earth shattering, but as enjoyable as you need for an evening in. The plot was predictable (this is disaster thriller territory): a deadly virus, that kills within hours, has somehow made its way from Zaire to the US and there is a race against time to stop it. Generally I thought the plot twists were plausible, although I'm sure some could disagree. The script seemed pretty good to me. Maybe that was partly down to the quality of cast brought in to say it.
Dustin Hoffman, as always, did a good job although covering ground more typical of Pacino. I also thought Kevin Spacey was also worth a mention but the ensemble as a whole worked well.
The direction was also successful with a good mix of suspense and emotion. I did think at the start, however, that the cinematography looked a little dated and the music sounded like it was written 10 years earlier. Although the overarching plot seemed facile there were some rather surprising action scenes involving military helicopters and bombs which I found quite absorbing.
Overall a solid thriller made work by the successful acting and character formation.