★ 7 / 10
I found this a far better disaster-scenario movie
CinemaSerf
I found this a far better disaster-scenario movie then most, as Dustin Hoffman plays a military doctor on the hunt for the source of a lethal virus that could…
I found this a far better disaster-scenario movie then most, as Dustin Hoffman plays a military doctor on the hunt for the source of a lethal virus that could potentially eradicate life in the USA in a matter of days. Hoffman has to convince his boss - Morgan Freeman and his boss Donald Sutherland that he is up to the job and after a few false leads is soon on the trail of an African monkey that may hold the solution. Denied sufficient resource from the Army, he enlists the help of ex-wife (and expert in disease control Rene Russo) to help him grapple with his predicament.The story is tautly delivered with Sutherland rather good as the slightly unhinged general whose almost "nuke 'em" strategy leads for an uncomfortably strained relationship with the scientist. There is a smattering of plausible science and plenty of action - Cuba Gooding Jr. is his sort of "Mr. T" sidekick and Kevin Spacey and Patrick Dempsey add a bit of collateral too. Given the April 2020 Covid-19 situation, "Outbreak" has an added poignancy as to just how simply these things could occur!
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★ 8 / 10
***Scarier than any horror flick — and ultra-suspenseful***
Wuchak
***Scarier than any horror flick — and ultra-suspenseful*** After a deadly incurable African virus is brought to a Northern California coastal town via a…
***Scarier than any horror flick — and ultra-suspenseful***
After a deadly incurable African virus is brought to a Northern California coastal town via a monkey the military moves in to quarantine the village. While Dustin Hoffman seeks to find an antidote, the two generals in charge of the quarantine (Morgan Freeman & Donald Sutherland) strangely decide to annihilate the town. Can Hoffman find a cure in time? And, even if he does, can he stop the firebombing?
Wolfgang Petersen's "Outbreak" (1995) is an outstanding drama/thriller, which I suppose you could designate as a disaster flick. Although viruses are so small they're invisible, they have the potential to be the biggest monsters of all. Certain deadly viruses, if let loose, can wipe out an entire town in a couple days. This is the scenario in "Outbreak." It COULD happen and is therefore realistic, which naturally makes the story more horrifying than most horror flicks or monster movies.
But "Outbreak" is more than just a scary what-if story, the second half involves a military cover-up and is edge-of-your-seat suspenseful, all the way to the final minutes. It's like an avalanche that slowly builds momentum.
Cuba Gooding Jr. is also on hand in a significant role as Hoffman's partner in the race-against-time. And, for those who care, there's a romantic subplot about Hoffman’s character and his ex-wife, played by Rene Russo. Will they get back together?
The locations are magnificent, filmed in the coastal towns Eureka, Arcata and Ferndale, California, all in the extreme Northern part of the state, just south of the Redwoods and West of Bigfoot territory (i.e. Willow Creek). The African sequences were shot in Hawaii.
BOTTOM LINE: This is top-of-the-line cinema — equal parts scary, dramatic and suspenseful.
The film runs 2 hours, 7 minutes.
GRADE: A-
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★ 7 / 10
Intrigue, action and suspense film about a deadly and rapacious virus spread in the air
ma-cortes
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…
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 .
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