Outbreak (film)

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Outbreak is a 1995 film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by Laurence Dworet and Robert Roy Pool. The film focuses on an outbreak of a fictional Ebola-like virus called Motaba. The film is set in the fictional town of Cedar Creek, California and shows how far the USAMRIID and the CDC might go to contain the spread.

Col. Sam Daniels[edit]

[appeals to the Cleansweep bomber to call off the strike] You hear me, don't you, guys? I'll say it one last time. These people that you're going to bomb are not the enemy. We can kill the virus without killing these people. I swear on my soul that the President does not have the facts. He doesn't know we have a working serum. If you think I'm lying, drop the bomb. If you think I'm crazy, drop the bomb, but don't drop the bomb because you're following orders! Your superiors have another agenda. Don't you understand that right below you in Cedar Creek, there's a biological weapon they've been manufacturing for 30 years? I guarantee you that the disease has spread beyond the perimeters of this town! If you incinerate Cedar Creek, you incinerate the serum!!!

White House Chief of Staff[edit]

[addresses Cabinet after General McClintock briefs them on Operation Clean Sweep] Now, as I understand it, you want to firebomb the town of Cedar Creek, California, population 2600, with something called a "fuel-air bomb", the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in our arsenal. [describes with hands] The way it works, it explodes, sucks in all available oxygen to the core, vaporizes everything within a mile of ground zero — men, women, children, and one airborne virus. Destruction complete, case closed, crisis over. [He pulls out a small booklet from his back pocket.] This... Constitution of the United States... [throws on table] I've read it cover to cover. I don't find anything in it about vaporizing 2600 American citizens, but it does sayseveral times — that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process. So, a couple of things before "Clean Sweep" is even considered: One, unanimous, unwavering support for the president on this one and I mean public, you're gonna stand there shoulder to shoulder with him - he goes down, you go down. Second, I want an army of experts citing hundreds of thousands of lab experiments, telling any idiot with a camera, that there was no other way! You got that? Hmm? No member of this government is going to go sneaking off to the Washington Post telling how "they were the sole voice of opposition". If there is a voice of opposition out there, I want him in here now! [Throws a wad of photos on the table.] Those are the citizens of Cedar Creek, go ahead take a look at them - these are not statistics, ladies and gentlemen - they're flesh and blood! I want you to burn those images into your memories, because they should haunt you until the day you die!


Sam Daniels: What're you gonna be doing at CDC?
Robby Keough: Working BL-4. Same as you.
Sam Daniels: My job.
Robby Keough: Well, I like to think of it as my job.

Casey Schuler: I hate this bug.
Sam Daniels: Come on, Casey. You have to love its simplicity. It's one-billionth our size and it's beating us.
Casey Schuler: So, what do you wanna do — take it to dinner?
Sam Daniels: No.
Casey Schuler: What, then?
Sam Daniels: Kill it.

[Sam tries unsuccessfully to get Robby to issue a CDC alert.]
Sam Daniels: Once in your life, take a chance!
Robby Keough: You know what, Sam? I did. I married you.

[Airport dispatch Sergeant Wolf tries to call General Ford to confirm Daniels' change to Cedar Creek.]
Sam Daniels: You call the tower right now, and you tell 'em to change my flight plans. Put your finger on the phone! Put your finger on the phone.
Sgt. Wolf: This could mean my stripes, sir.
Sam Daniels: It'll mean your ass if you don't put your finger on the phone. Finger the phone. Finger it.

[Daniels and Salt barge through a crowded line at a Federal export clearance office.]
Sam Daniels: Colonel Daniels, from USAMRIID. I'm sorry.
George: Yes, and I'm George from Sioux City, Iowa. Back of the line, Colonel.
Sam Daniels: We got a terrible epidemic. We're from Cedar Creek, George. [to the crowd] We're from Cedar Creek, California!
Major Salt: CEDAR CREEK, CENTER OF THE VIRAL INFECTION!!! '[people stand back]
Sam Daniels: '[looks worried] George, you heard about this virus — need we say more? Okay, we need all the bills of lading from ships arriving from Africa [clasps George's hands] in the last three months. George!
George: [nervously] Uh-huh… huh?
Sam Daniels: Shall I cough on you, George?

[Colonel Briggs hands General McClintock an address.]
Col. Briggs: They're headed right there, and I got two teams on standby.
Gen. Donald McClintock: Good, Briggs — a potential screw-up you managed to avoid among many others you have not. Who do you think should handle this now?
Briggs: You, sir?
McClintock: You kiss ass with the best of them, Briggs. You hope to make general one day?
Briggs: Yes, sir.
McClintock: Well, you won't.

Gen. Donald McClintock: With all due respect, Col. Daniels, if you do not follow us to Travis Air Force Base, I will blow you out of the sky!
Sam Daniels: General, with all due respect, fuck you, sir.

[The USAF plane tasked to bomb Cedar Creek has sent the bomb over the water. General McClintock wants to have the plane rearmed]
Brig. Gen. Billy Ford: Sandman, this is General Ford. You will ignore that order. For the record, I'm relieving General McClintock of command, for the crime of withholding vital information from the President of the United States.
Maj-Gen. Donald McClintock: I have never in any way, withheld vital information from the President of the United States.
Ford: Colonel Briggs.
Colonel Briggs: Sir.
Ford: Place General McClintock under arrest.
McClintock: If I go down for this, Billy, you go down for it.
Ford: It's out of our hands now.
McClintock: You silly sentimental son of a bitch...Nobody puts me under arrest. Nobody. [blocked by a pistol-packing Col. Briggs as he tries to leave the command post] Colonel Briggs. What a wonderful moment this must be for you. [Briggs grins as he leads him away under armed guard.]

[Sam and Robby talk as she's recovering from the disease.]
Robby Keough: It's a pretty unique experience.
Sam Daniels: Sorta like living with me.
Robby Keough: Mm-hmm.
Sam Daniels: Would you go through it again?
Robby Keough: Maybe. Now that I have the antibodies.


  • This animal carries a deadly virus… and the greatest medical crisis in the world is about to happen.
  • Try to remain calm.


External links[edit]

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