If you were a film fan in the mid-1990s, you were probably aware of a seemingly sudden Hollywood rush to create a virus-based thriller. There were two competing projects, and 1995’s “Outbreak” managed to piece itself together faster than “The Hot Zone,” able to kill off the competition (which would eventually be made as a television miniseries in 2019) as Warner Brothers slammed their project through the production process, determined to be first an only endeavor exploring the ravages of illness and the fight from medical and military professionals to save lives. Big money was spent to secure such positioning, and such creative speed shows in the finished picture, with screenwriters Laurence Dworet and Robert Roy Pool delivering an exaggerated take on disease-based horror, twisting real-world threats into thriller position, and awkwardly so at times. Director Wolfgang Petersen (coming off his excellent 1993 Clint Eastwood picture, “In the Line of Fire”) isn’t tasked with creating hospital corners with the project, asked to generate a swiftly paced understanding of threats. The helmer understands the assignment, delivering screen energy for “Outbreak” as it sprints around troubles and complications for the characters. It’s a very silly film, but it’s also grandly entertaining for its first 90 minutes, watching Petersen keep things on the move as catastrophe comes for all. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com
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