Outbreak (1995)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Wolfgang Petersen

Writers (WGA):

Laurence Dworet (written by) &
Robert Roy Pool (written by)

Release Date:

10 March 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Try to remain calm.

Plot:

Extreme measures are necessary to contain an epidemic of a deadly airborne virus. But how extreme, exactly?

Plot Keywords:

Virus | Disease | Monkey | General | Research

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Dustin Hoffman	...	Col. Sam Daniels
Rene Russo	...	Robby Keough
Morgan Freeman	...	Brig. Gen. Billy Ford
Kevin Spacey	...	Maj. Casey Schuler
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Maj. Salt
Donald Sutherland	...	Maj. Gen. 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	...	Lt. Col. Briggs

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Korean

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:AA (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Arcata, California, USA

Company:

Punch Productions

Trivia:

The music and (briefly seen, somewhat blurred) footage of a cartoon seen in the movie theater scene is from the Tom & Jerry episode Polka-Dot Puss (1949). It's appearance in Outbreak is somewhat apt, as in the cartoon, Jerry tricks Tom in to believing he has caught measles, and then proceeds to 'cure' him. The episode ends with both Tom and Jerry actually contracting measles and being quarantined.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The H-6 only has a range of 267 miles. Looking at the direction as Daniels and Salt are flying the helicopter along the coast line, it is clear that they are flying south from Cedar Creek to San Francisco. Now, there are five Cedar Creeks north of San Francisco, the closest one located 180 miles northeast of San Francisco. This Cedar Creek is far from the coast though. The Cedar Creek that is closest to the coast is a whopping 323 miles away, so the flight to SFO and back plus standing in the air against the plane would never have worked without refueling. All of the Cedar Creeks are real creeks anyway, and uninhabited. When preparing for the way back to Cedar Creek Daniel mentions a town called Palisades between San Francisco and Cedar Creek. There is no such town.

Quotes:

Colonel Sam Daniels: Thank you, Mrs. - what was her name again?
Major Salt: Pananides!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mad About You: Outbreak (#5.7)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Days Of Wine And Roses

Not as bad as the critics say

This movie was greeted by howls of dislike by most critics. But, after watching it, it's not as bad as they might have led you to believe. It's not that good, but it's nowhere near that bad.

Dustin Hoffman is never going to be a good action movie actor, no matter how hard he tries. On the other hand, he does decently well. Morgan Freeman puts is his usual good performance, but this is not one of his best.

The plot is scary, mainly because of it's possibility. It's based on a very possible scenario, but one that I doubt would ever be dealt with in the way it is suggested in this movie. After reading the book "The Hot Zone", I can see the ease with which something like this could happen. On the other hand, once the movie moves past the initial outbreak scenario, it descends into normal action movie territory.

In short, not a bad movie and a fun late night thing to watch. But not the greatest movie ever filmed either.