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

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 4	5:30 PM	BRAVO
Sun. July 5	1:00 AM	BRAVO

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:

Factual errors: In the beginning of the movie, as the camera passes through the various bio-threat labs, many doors are open to hallways and personnel not wearing masks, and one technician even removes her mask before leaving the lab.

Quotes:

Sam Daniels: Why don't you just for once take a chance?
Robby Keough: You know what, Sam, I did, I married you.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Polka Dot Puss

Not worth it-a farce of the military and American public health system

As both an officer of the US Army and a student of medicine and public health, I was appalled by the number of mistakes and inaccuracies in Outbreak. It started off great-I thought it was going to be an excellent movie (along the lines of Richard Preston's book "The Hot Zone). Boy was I disappointed! It turned into a laughing matter-from soldiers trained in medicine somehow becoming fighter pilots in mere minutes, Chinese sailors all of a sudden being able to communicate with Americans, and a fight among high-ranked military generals. Oh, and don't forget that they somehow had the ability to create an antiserum to a deadly hemorrhagic virus in an hour. Amazing! Aside from the ridiculous nature of some of the actions, there were many scientific inaccuracies and the plot really ends up going nowhere. It is a predictable and disappointing flick-I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, past the first hour.