Outbreak (1995)

Army doctors struggle to find a cure for a deadly virus spreading throughout a California town that was brought to America by an African monkey.

Director:

Wolfgang Petersen

Writers:

Laurence Dworet, Robert Roy Pool

Stars:

Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman

5 wins & 4 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

When a disease in Africa is discovered, Colonel Sam Daniels of the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases or USAMRIID, is sent to investigate. When he reports back to his superior officer General Ford 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 and brought to the U.S. and a man who works at the customs house took it and tried to sell it but when the person he tried to sell it to rejected it he released it. Later the man who arrived in Boston collapses and dies, Col. Daniels wants to look into it but General Ford denies his request so he turns to his ex-wife, 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!

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Plot Keywords:

disease | virus | monkey | epidemic | quarantine | 

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Taglines:

Try to remain calm.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | 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:

Alerte!

Filming Locations:

Arcata, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,420,387, 12 March 1995, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$67,823,573

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$189,859,560

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

The breed of the two dogs , Henry and Lewis, that belong to Sam (Dustin Hoffman) and Robbie (Rene Russo), are Saint Bernards.

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Goofs

(at around 26 mins) When Daniels, Schuler and Salt are first viewing the Motaba virus, the close up shown appears to be a picture of an Ebola Virus. Actually, it is not possible to discern the Ebola virus by its looks from other related viruses. Ebola belongs along with Marburg (and possibly a third, recently discovered virus) to the family of "filoviridae" (meaning "thread-like viruses") that all look the same. It's possible that the (fictional) Motaba virus belongs to the same family and hence looks the same.

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Quotes

Sam Daniels: Go without a mask you'll see better!

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Connections

Referenced in Mad About You: Outbreak (1996)

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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

Brilliant stuff!

Personally this film is in my top 10. It is a real treat of a movie to watch which not only acts as pure entertainment but also a deeply involving film which involves great performances and some real thrilling moments. It all starts with the wipe-out of an African village due to a deadly virus. However the virus is transported to the US by a small monkey which is smuggled by boat. The film then tracks along as more and more people get infected and the virus mutates making it airborne and more of a threat. "It spreads like the flu" The actors involved are Dustim Hoffman who as usual does an outstanding job. Rene Russo is used well as a love complication. Kevin Spacy is brilliant as the doctor with a sense of humour. Morgan Freeman and Donald Sutherland seem to be having fun with the material and things get interested when they clash at the end. The film, although thrilling at times (e.g a spectacular helicopter chase and an attempt to break out of the quarantined town) is extremely emotional as it does follow a few people as they are diagnosed with the virus. However, this is where the film also goes downhill a bit. We are expecting to see the chaos and mass panic of a virus infected town. However things seem abnormally calm, and I got fed up of main stars getting infected just to add to the pressure to Dustim Hoffman's character.

But overall this film is brilliant, I strongly advise everyone tries to watch this. it isn't everyone's cup of tea but is still a brilliant film which I will treasure and keep in my top 10.