Deadly Outbreak (1996)

He has it down.

1 phrase: Steven Speilberg please use him with your mind and his moves you"ll have a hit. He's great at his art and believes in what he's doing just as you do. So 2 great minds and 2 great talents wow. July 3, 2006

Formulaic action flick

Imagine a hybrid of "Die Hard" and "Outbreak" and you'll have some idea what to expect from "Deadly Outbreak," a formulaic action flick that has martial-arts star Jeff Speakman filling in for Bruce Willis as the right man in the wrong place at the right time. Only undemanding genre fans will care.

Speakman plays Dutton Hatfield, a Special Operations officer assigned to the U.S. embassy in Israel. He goes along for the ride when some visiting American VIPs visit a chemical-weapons research center. Unfortunately, the VIPs are impostors. Led by a former military official (Ron Silver), they take over the center to gain control of something breathlessly described as "possibly the most deadly chemical warfare agent ever designed." But even though they are heavily armed and highly trained, they are no match for our resourceful hero.

Under the uninspired direction of Rick Avery, "Deadly Outbreak" quickly devolves into a series of predictable cat-and-rat encounters, as the increasingly frustrated Silver repeatedly sends his flunkies out to kill the indestructible Speakman. Occasionally, Speakman tries to bring a touch of tongue-in-cheek humor to the repetitious proceedings. (When some goons try to rape scientist Rochelle Swanson, he shouts: "Hey! That's not practicing safe sex!") But Speakman seems much more comfortable when he is kicking butts or cracking heads.

For most of the movie, Silver is reduced to sitting behind a desk, glowering at his underlings, and purring commands like, "Would you be kind enough to go up to the second floor and bring me Hatfield's head?" Later, he drops all pretense of being polite, and snarls: "Gallo, bring me Hatfield's head!" It comes as absolutely no surprise that, despite the best efforts of the bad guys, our hero's head remains firmly attached to his neck. April 11, 2001

keep it in perspective

The first question one should ask is why do I watch or buy these movies? I am constantly amazed at people who review a movie like this and are apalled it isn't the "English Patient". Watched in its perspective, Deadly Outbreak is an enjoyable movie. Jeff Speakman's acting has improved ( he holds his own) and he does more Kenpo in this movie than he has in years. Its very reminiscent of the films Cannon used to put out back in the 80's, but the effects are good. Having an actor of note, Ron Silver, in the movie helps, although I wonder if SIlver has ever turned a role down. I know why Jef Speakman is int hemoive but why is Ron Silver? January 22, 2000

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