Outbreak

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Year:	1995
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	Wolfgang Petersen
Genre:	Viral paranoia
Starring:	Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Donald Sutherland, Cuba Gooding Jr.
Rating:	3/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114069/
Tagline:	Try to remain calm.
Favourite line:	"If you think I'm lying, drop the bomb. If you think I'm crazy, drop the bomb. But don't drop the bomb just because you're following orders!"

With The X-Files at the height of its powers, it surely is no coincidence that this viral paranoia movie was released to cash in on similar themes and sentiments.
Though the nature of the menace here is utterly terrestrial, still there are connections - man's seemingly futile fight against the forces of nature, government conspiracies and cover ups and knee jerk military reaction.

The plot:
A deadly, airborne virus manifests itself on US soil, and the government are compelled to contain it.
That's all folks.
It's a simple, one line pitch, and it's easy to see why it got the green light. It's got a great cast too, it has to be said, and this really should have been a fantastic movie, but it lacks any real punch. The threat seems over-simplified and, crucially, most of the action takes place in blazing sunlight, losing the atmosphere and menace generated, on a fraction of the budget, by the aforementioned X-Files.
Covering similar themes as the cripplingly low budget Romero shocker The Crazies, I would actually recommend that over this, though neither is great in truth.
A disappointing waste of a magnificent set of actors.
Shame.