“Outbreak” is 25 years old, on Netflix and really isn’t about the coronavirus

Before its 25th anniversary on March 10 and people started staying at home before the coronavirus (COVID-19) spread, Outbreak was already on Netflix streaming. Nowadays, the Wolfgang Petersen movie is now on 5th most popular on Netflix as people are watching in their houses. 

It would be fun to look back on Outbreak anyway. Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo play Army and CDC doctors respectively with a cast including Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Patrick Dempsey and Donald Sutherland. Now that we’re living through an outbreak, there’s more interest but it’s important to remember it’s still just a movie.

There are broad strokes of science in Outbreak. Somewhere between Armageddon (movie with Bruce Willis and directed by Michael Bay) dismissing actual scientific measurements to declare the rock like “the size of Texas” and actual scientific procedures lies Outbreak. It does show how a disease can spread through human contact. In this case, it comes from an animal, so the monkey spits on Jimbo (Dempsey) and scratches Rudy (Daniel Chodos) the pet store owner.

The Motaba virus has a 24 hour cycle. That’s good for cinema because the scientists can see symptoms immediately. The coronavirus takes days and weeks to manifest and people carrying it can be asymptomatic.

Coronavirus has spread beyond a single town, and it’s unlikely the military will be flying helicopters and launching missiles to keep people in their homes. If you can separate the fiction from real contagions, Outbreak is a perfectly fun movie to watch on Netflix. If it’s still too close to home, there are plenty of other viewing options until this all blows over.

Hope u like it. 

xoxoxo 

ME