Outbreak (1995)
65%RT Audience Score: 55%
Awards & Nominations: 5 wins & 5 nominations
A frustratingly uneven all-star disaster drama, Outbreak ultimately proves only mildly contagious and leaves few lasting side effects
Outbreak is the kind of movie that makes you want to wear a hazmat suit to the grocery store. But don’t worry, you won’t be too scared to laugh at the cheesy one-liners and over-the-top action scenes. It’s like a rollercoaster ride, except instead of screaming because you’re scared, you’re screaming because you’re having a blast. Just make sure to bring some hand sanitizer with you to the theater.
Production Company(ies)
Selznick International Pictures,,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Ferndale, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language
Year of Release
1995
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital Dolby SR
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English, Korean, French
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Aug 27, 1997
Genre(s)
Action/Drama
Keyword(s)
Outbreak, Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Donald Sutherland, Wolfgang Petersen, Arnold Kopelson, Gail Katz, Robert Roy Pool, Laurence Dworet, Action, Drama, Horror, R, $65.9M, reviewed by Ian Nathan, Duane Byrge, Dolores Barclay, Owen Gleiberman, Todd McCarthy, Time Out Staff, Cory Woodroof, Mal Vincent, Casey Cipriani, Joe Leydon, Brandon Collins, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, written by Robert Roy Pool, Laurence Dworet, produced by Arnold Kopelson, Wolfgang Petersen, Gail Katz, Rated R
Worldwide gross: $189,859,560
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $373,332,216
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 407
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 40,712,346
US/Canada gross: $67,659,560
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $133,043,042
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 569
US/Canada opening weekend: $13,420,387
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $26,389,310
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 519
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $50,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $98,317,992
Production budget ranking: 415
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $52,944,239
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $222,069,984
ROI to date (est.): 147%
ROI ranking: 777
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
Arnold Kopelson – Producer
Wolfgang Petersen – Director, Producer
Gail Katz – Producer
Robert Roy Pool – Writer
Laurence Dworet – Writer
Director(s)
Wolfgang Petersen
Writer(s)
Robert Roy Pool, Laurence Dworet
Producer(s)
Arnold Kopelson, Wolfgang Petersen, Gail Katz
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
5 wins & 5 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (65) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (26)
Petersen pulls off the thrills at a stomach lurching pace, and with its requisite Hollywood ham…
March 16, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Petersen’s vigilant, enlivening direction never allows the story’s death-of-mankind topic to undermine its personal powers, deftly mixing in humor, as well as other tonal lighteners, to nurture it.
March 11, 2020
Duane Byrge
Hollywood Reporter
TOP CRITIC
Outbreak will keep you on the edge of your scat, and every time someone sneezes or coughs in the audience, you’ll pay attention.
February 20, 2020
Dolores Barclay
Associated Press
TOP CRITIC
The irony is that Outbreak, for all its lurid finesse, ends up leaving us more dazed than terrified.
September 7, 2011 | Rating: B-
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
While the first one is considerably more frightening and plausible than the second, the entire film has been put together with such skill and attention to viewer excitement that audiences will readily swallow the whole enchilada without a burp.
March 26, 2009
Todd McCarthy
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Entertaining, but not fatally attractive.
January 26, 2006
Time Out Staff
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Maybe not my favorite Petersen film, but it’s pretty compelling when it’s showing the horrors of contagion and how futile we are to nature.
June 25, 2022
Cory Woodroof
615 Film
As an action outing, Outbreak is painless fun, designed to provide a quick rush rather than set off any kind of alarm.
March 1, 2022 | Rating: 2.5/4
Mal Vincent
The Virginian-Pilot
The whole movie is so intensely melodramatic and unbelievable…
November 17, 2020
Casey Cipriani
Bustle
Don’t expect any mercy from the people who made “Outbreak,” a smashingly first-rate thriller that will do more to rev your pulse rate than a week of aerobics classes.
June 20, 2020
Joe Leydon
The Moving Picture Show
The first hour was intriguing, but it is gross and nasty…
April 18, 2020 | Rating: 2/5
Brandon Collins
Medium Popcorn
Regardless of how ridiculous this movie was, it’s extremely entertaining.
April 18, 2020 | Rating: 3/5
Justin Brown
Medium Popcorn…
Plot
Colonel Dr. Sam Daniels has just divorced his wife Robby Keough, who works at the CDC. Out of the blue, he is assigned by his superior General Billy Ford to investigate a lethal disease in an African village with his crew formed by the scientist Casey Schuler and Major Dr. Salt. They are impressed by the disease and Colonel Daniels reports to General Ford his findings afraid of contamination in the USA. However General Ford tells that the disease kills so fast that would never reach their country. However, an African smuggled monkey carrier of the disease is brought to USA and the customs employee Jimbo Scott unsuccessfully tries to sell the animal. He releases the monkey in the woods and spreads the disease in the beginning of an outbreak in a small town in California. Now Colonel Daniels, his ex-wife and their teams must fight the invisible enemy while Colonel Daniels discovers dark secrets from his superior General Donald McClintock.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny or odd comments were found in the Fresh Kernels review for Outbreak.
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