Outbreak Movie Review

Outbreak (1995)

Rent Outbreak on Amazon Video
Written by: Laurence Dworet, Robert Roy Pool
Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Donald Sutherland, Patrick Dempsey
Rated: R
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Plot
Army doctors struggle to find a cure for a deadly virus spreading throughout a California town that was brought to America by an African monkey.

Verdict
A solid thriller, though it's thoroughly from the '90s. The world is teetering on the edge of an outbreak due to a virus, and what felt like fantasy twenty five years ago feels a bit too real now. It's over the top and the logic isn't always consistent, but I enjoyed the manufactured drama.
It depends.

Review
Because of Covid19, pandemic movies are a popular escape for people stuck at home. I couldn't help but check this one out again. I saw this back in the late '90s. You've got to love the over the top '90s style.

Dustin Hoffman and Morgan Freeman.

It's got a bevy of '90s stars with Hoffman playing a hotshot virologist and Freeman as a general. The movie isn't quite clear on how the virus survived from 1967 to 1995, but this is a movie stoking fear. One solution is to bomb the town that's at the center out of existence. It provides a ticking clock to save the world.

Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman, Cuba Gooding Jr, Rene Russo.

The doctors are chasing down the virus and the original carrier. The virus mutates. It's over the top, but pandemics are crazy. Does the contaminant live on surfaces? Sometimes doctors spray down suits, other times they don't. The guy with no field experience throws up at the sight of his first victim. The government coverup from '67 resurfaces and a main character gets infected.

This throws a lot at you, capturing stories from all levels of this outbreak. It's a great example of '90s style, but that doesn't make it bad.