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:

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 | 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)

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

This film won a development battle with a similar viral-outbreak thriller project at Twentieth 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 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 Brothers greenlit the film for a 1995 release.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 24 mins) When Col. Daniels commandeers the H-6 they put on headsets that are hanging in the helicopter. However, since all military helicopter pilots and aircrew wear helmets with integrated ICS there is no reason why any headsets would ever reasonably be hanging in a military helicopter.

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Quotes

General Donald McClintock: With all due respect, Colonel Daniels, if you do not follow us to Travis Air Force Base, I will blow you out of the sky.
Sam Daniels: General, with all due respect, fuck you, sir.

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Connections

Referenced in Venomous (2001)

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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

Scary subject matter parlayed into popcorn thriller

As a medical scientist doing research on Ebola-like virus isolated in an African village, Dustin Hoffman is miscast but still personable and ingratiating; after Hoffman's Col. Daniels is taken off the assignment and the virus invades the United States, he learns some hard truths about how our government is run. Serious material gets turned into commercial entertainment; those hoping for a more intellectual or subdued approach on this topic will be disappointed, for the film is designed as a thriller for the masses and not as a docudrama. It's well-produced and gripping, yet one wonders how seriously the filmmakers are actually taking it. Supporting cast is strong, particularly Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Hoffman's assistant. **1/2 from ****