Customer Reviews
Never trust the military - By: Jay, 21 May 2007 
When I first saw this movie, I didn't know what to expect. I was very happy that I saw this but it had a lot of thematic & freaky elements. Dustin Hoffman & everybody elsein the cast is really good & their performances were cool. A bunch of big named starsin this made this disease movie work. It showed how good the army would do if they had a disease that had an outbreak & it shows what risks they would take.
Overall the whole movie is really cool. The acting was great & the direction is good, too.
One of my favourite films of all time?! - By: blondeangibaby, 21 Apr 2007 
Im not going to analyse the entire film & spoil the storyline becos i believe the storyline is so strong & captivating it makes the movie great!!dustin hoffman & rene russo make an unusual but utterly perfect couple. The film has enuf romance to keep us girls hopeful & enuf action to keep the boys happy with some good humour thrownin for good measure. Buy this movie, u wont be disappointed.
A Brilliant Thriller - By: Michael Birch, 20 Dec 2006 I went to see Outbreak at the cinema on the day of it's release & I was thoroughly impressed from start to finish, coincidentally I saw the trailer to it the day before watching another film at the cinema & me & my friend both agreed that we had to see this film. I liked all the main actorsin it & I also enjoy the films of Wolfgang Petersen, the director & also James Newton Howard's score was brilliant & although he's scored bigger films like The Fugitive & King Kong among others this is still one of my personal top choices. If I had to pick one actor as the bestin this then I would have to say that my choice would be Donald Sutherland for not only is he a brilliant actor but he also makes an excellent villainin films. To end this review I will say watch this film to anyone who has not seen it yet as it is one worth watching.
Casualties of War. - By: Themis-Athena, 13 Mar 2004 "In war, truth is the first casualty." - Aeschylus.
In 1989, a secret U.S. Army SWAT team was calledin after an Ebola outbreak among monkeysin a Reston, VA lab; a mere ten miles from Washington, D.C. They eventually determined that this particular strain wasn't contagious for humans - others, however, are; capable of producing a 90% mortality rate within a matter of days. The incident produced Richard Preston's bestselling book "The Hot Zone," on which this movie is loosely based (another project involving Robert Redford & Jodie Foster eventually folded).
Like the Reston Ebola strain, the (fictitious) Motaba virus at the center of Wolfgang Petersen's "Outbreak" is brought to the U.S. by an infected monkey, caught near a villagein the Zairean (now: Congolese) Motaba Valley. Unlike the Reston Ebola it is contagious for humans, with a 100% mortality rate within a single day. And unlike any known Ebola strain it is airborne, i.e. not only transmitted by direct human-to-human contact.
Officially nobody has any prior knowledge of the virus at the time of its apparent first hit. In fact, once they've overcome their shock about its gruesome effects, USAMRIID Colonel Sam Daniels (Dustin Hoffman) & his assistants, Majors Schuler & Salt (Kevin Spacey & Cuba Gooding Jr.) -in Zaire to provide medical assistance - are downright ecstatic to have discovered a new virus; a once-in-a-lifetime event for most scientists, if it happens at all. What they don't know is that their own superiors, Brig.Gen. Billy Ford (Morgan Freeman) & Maj.Gen. Donald McClintock (Donald Sutherland) have encountered this virus before, albeit non-airborne,in a mercenary campin 1967 ... & on McClintock's orders, firebombed the camp to secretly develop a biological weapon. Now McClintock insists that their knowledge remain secret even after a first Motaba outbreakin Boston, brought about by the Californian animal lab worker (Patrick Dempsey) who has unwittingly smuggled the carrier monkey out to sell it to a pet store; & after another outbreakin Cedar Creek, CA, transmitted through the pet store owner & a lab technician infected by his blood. McClintock's solution is the same as 30 years earlier: Firebomb the contaminated area & everybodyin it, keep your weapon & be done with it.
But unlike 1967, complete secrecy is no longer an option, as not only Colonel Daniels's team but also his ex-wife Robby (Rene Russo), who is now with the CDC & has helped contain the Boston outbreak, is aware of the virus's presence. Thus, McClintock opts for the reverse strategy, obtains a presidential OK for his "Operation Clean Sweep" - after a dramatic presentation to the assembled cabinet resultingin the conclusion that the "bug" is capable of spreading to the entire country, including D.C., within a mere 48 hours; & the admonishment "Be compassionate, but be compassionate globally" - & orders Ford to get Daniels out of the way & keep him "in line."
Daniels, however, who has long earned a reputation for following orders rather selectively, rushes to Cedar Creek, to work alongside Robby & her team trying to contain the virus. In short order Ford & McClintock show up as well, & soon the town is crawling with soldiers, who seal it off to the outside world & implement a curfew, to prevent a further spread of the virus but alsoin preparation of "Operation Clean Sweep." A frantic race ensues; pitting Daniels & Salt, who set out to search for the host animal to develop an antiserum, against their own comrades.
The premise of "Outbreak" is entirely believable; as evidenced by the 1989 Virginia incident - after all, it was mere luck that the Reston strain didn't prove contagious for humans - & by the fact that, as is public knowledge, various kinds of viral strains do existin the U.S. & other countries; at the very least for experimental purposes. While their military use is banned under the 1925 Geneva Protocol & the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, there still is no functioning control mechanismin place (which was/is also a factorin the Iraq WMD debate). And although the U.S. is a signatory to both aforementioned instruments & has previously stated its non-use policy, the Bush government abandoned international discussions on the issuein 2001.
So, "Outbreak" addresses enormously important concerns; & it does so compellingly & with a stellar cast. Dustin Hoffman imbues his Colonel Daniels with tremendous compassion but also a great sense of humor; & his snappy exchanges with Russo's Robby Keough & his team are a delight, especially those with Kevin Spacey, whoin 1995 burst into movie audiences' collective awareness with this film, the Oscar-winning "Usual Suspects" & "Se7en." Morgan Freeman brings all his sensitivity to the movie's most intricate role, General Ford, who is caught between being party to McClintock's scheme & realizing its profound immorality. Then-27-year-old Cuba Gooding Jr. may have been a bit young to play a Major, but he certainly stands his ground; & few actors can portray a villain as menacingly as Donald Sutherland, although the script gives him little opportunity for true complexity.
Unfortunately, "Outbreak" gets the full "Hollywood thriller" treatment, complete with dramatic score, two-dimensional villain, cliched ending & reliance on a few coincidences too many. This (and some plot inconsistencies) somewhat reduces its effect, preventing a good movie from becoming a truly great one - although its 'copter chases are pure eye candy; & it certainly helps that they were shot by Michael Ballhaus, arguably the business's best cameraman. But for the importance of its subject alone, & its outstanding cast, "Outbreak" is worth all the notice it has received.
"[The Cedar Creek population] are casualties of war. ... I'd give them all a medal if I could. But they *are* casualties of war." - "Outbreak," Maj.Gen. Donald McClintock.
"[N]o massacre has occurred ... no further action is warranted." - From the initial Department of the Army investigation report on the March 16, 1968 My Lai incident (Vietnam).
A must-see, frighteningly real medical/military thriller - By: Daniel Jolley, 13 Jan 2004 Outbreak is one of the best, most absorbing, most impressive films I've seenin a long, long time. It is based on a threat more frightening than nuclear war, stars the best actors & actresses Hollywood has to offer, features tons of heart-pumping, exhilarating action, & falls squarelyin the category of "blew me away." Man, that Dustin Hoffman can act; I don't believe I've ever fully appreciated the man's acting skills before. Then you have Morgan Freeman, for my money the best actor working today; I'm used to Freeman being squarely on the side of good vs. evil, & I wanted to slap him many times as I was watching this film, but the man does incredible work. Donald Sutherland plays his rather inhuman role perfectly, Rene Russo lights up the screen, Cuba Gooding, Jr., supplies both humor & heroism of the noblest kind, & Kevin Spacey shinesin a co-starring role. When Kevin Spacey isin your film but is not the bonafide star of the whole thing, you know you're looking at some kind of special movie. As an animal lover, I also have to praise the animals that performed so wellin this film, especially the poor little monkey who helps start a national & potentially global crisis through no fault of his own.
You have to respect viruses. These things are the killer sharks of the microscopic world, insidious, darn near indestructible little buggers who destroy every cellin their path. They don't clock out after eight hours or nap away afternoon breaks; these things never stop or rest. The subject of Outbreak is a very special virus bornein the wilds of Africa, an unmatched destructive force that can kill a man (in the most horrible of ways)in a matter of hours. It's like nothing ever seen before – well, actually, it was seenin 1967, but the powers that be took their little secret home with themin a vial & firebombed all the evidence of its existence (along with a significant number of innocent human beings). Now, the virus is back; not only is it back, it isin America - brought to these shoresin the form of a poor little monkey taken from its home & illegally smuggled into this country. Our government &in particular our military faces an invisible enemy that can destroy the nation & everyonein itin a matter of days. If & when such a virus outbreak does take place here, let us all fervently hope that our government performs much better than they doin this movie.
Dustin Hoffman plays Col. Sam Daniels of the USAMRIID, a noble man who did not forget his Hippocratic Oath when he became an army officer. He & his crew, including Major Schuler (Kevin Spacey) & new team member Major Salt (Cuba Gooding, Jr.),in conjunction with Daniels' ex-wife, former co-worker, & new bigwig at the CDC Robby Keough (Rene Russo) are basically the only peoplein the government more concerned with saving lives than with protecting military secrets. Daniels' boss is Brigadier General Ford (Morgan Freeman), a frustrating playerin these events who knows things about the virus he is forbidden (and does not want to) admit, but the true villain of this tale is Maj. General Donald McClintock (played to a slimy tee by Donald Sutherland). Daniels & his fellow heroes rush to help the dying & to battle this awful virus, constantly stymied & eventually gravely threatened by military superiors who care more about protecting the secret of a biological weapon than about the people they pledged themselves to defend & protect.
The things you seein this film are quite possible, & that is what makes it such a gripping, even frightening film. While the audience is never treated to a true gross-out shot of what this super duper hemorrhagic virus can do to a human body, the horror is nevertheless quite real. The heroism of Daniels & Saltin particular isn't limited to the hospitals & labs; they take on the government & the military itselfin an effort to save lives. The one critical information source the medical team needs is the host organism. The original carrier who brought the virus to America's shores represents the only real hope of saving a whole town & very possibly the entire nation. This virus has a 100% kill rate; no one survives it.
Well over two hours of increasingly adrenaline-pumping suspense await the viewer of Outbreak. This movie will hold you completely under its spell & leave a definite impression on you for some time to come. It is a rare joy to see Hollywood take on a very serious issue & deal with itin a realistic fashion, & few movies can boast the caliber of talent that you will find here. One or two of the leading actorsin this modern thriller can carry a movie on their own, but here a whole range of Hollywood's best come together to make a movie that succeeds perfectly. As far as I'm concerned, Outbreak is a must-see motion picture.
