Being the morbid bunch that we are, one of the first things on everyone’s mind when the world was stricken by the COVID-19 pandemic was to immediately revisit any movie that revolved around a deadly health crisis, leading to 1995’s Outbreak embarking on a resurgence as a result.
It isn’t held up as a bastion of blockbuster excellence, but it still stands out as a ridiculously stacked ensemble piece that found major success at the box office. Director Wolfgang Petersen steered the contagious ship to $190 million at the box office on a $50 million budget, no doubt assisted by the oodles of star power on display.
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Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Donald Sutherland, Cuba Gooding Jr., Kevin Spacey, and Patrick Dempsey were just some of the names along for the ride, with the story finding a lethal virus smuggled into the United States to force the government into action after a California town gets locked down.
It’s decent enough escapism – albeit concerningly timely back in 2020 – but a bold Redditor has come forth to claim that Outbreak “is such a stinker.” Needless to say, opinion is split on the accuracy of that statement, and while it’s a million miles away from being a classic, it’s in no way a dud, either.
Of course, that’s entirely down to personal preference at the end of the day, but watching it through the lends of the post-COVID era is nothing if not curious considering everything we’ve been through in the last three years.