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 | River

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 12	10:30 PM	AMC
Fri. Nov. 13	2:30 PM	AMC

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

Colour:

Colour (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 monkey shown as the host is a White-headed Capuchin, a species native to Central and South America. This conflicts with the setting of the original virus in Zaire, Africa.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: At the opening of the film, the setting is said to be "Zaire, 1967". The country was only called Zaire between 1971 and 1997. In 1967, the country was called the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was also the name it reverted to after 1997.

Quotes:

Colonel Sam Daniels: Anything I can do to help?
Major Salt: Just don't make me nervous.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: Outbreak (#2.1)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Sacrifice

Worse than I expected

There's a marvellous book called: "The Hot Zone" It's a true account of what happened when monkeys were brought into Washington D.C. from Africa - who were carrying the deadly ebola virus. So, I thought that's what the film "Outbreak" would be about. It wasn't - all Wolfgang Peterson had to do was put Richard Preston's book onto celluloid.He didn't Instead, he made a film that had all the tension of a broken rubber band. I would have thought a man who made the excellent film: Das Boot (The Boat), would have equitted himself better. An opportunity missed.