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 | |
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Leland Hayward III | ... | Henry Seward |
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Daniel Chodos | ... | Rudy Alvarez |
Dale Dye | ... | Colonel Briggs |
Colonel Dr. Sam Daniels has just divorced his wife Robby Keough, who works at the CDC. Out of the blue, he is assigned by his superior General Billy Ford to investigate a lethal disease in an African village with his crew formed by the scientist Casey Schuler and Major Dr. Salt. They are impressed by the disease and Colonel Daniels reports to General Ford his findings afraid of contamination in the USA. However General Ford tells that the disease kills so fast that would never reach their country. However, an African smuggled monkey carrier of the disease is brought to USA and the customs employee Jimbo Scott unsuccessfully tries to sell the animal. He releases the monkey in the woods and spreads the disease in the beginning of an outbreak in a small town in California. Now Colonel Daniels, his ex-wife and their teams must fight the invisible enemy while Colonel Daniels discovers dark secrets from his superior General Donald McClintock. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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 .