Once again the disaster-movie format is given the TV movie treatment, this time in the form of a thriller about a deadly virus spreading across the world. Think OUTBREAK, except done on a low budget and without much skill.
The problem with Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America is the usual problem that television movies face: there's not one jot of originality to be found anywhere in the production. The whole look and feel of the movie is predictable, with tired actors saying their tired lines half-heartedly and with the minimum of effort. Disaster films should be all about the panic, but this one's frankly dull.
As usual, there's a certain frank appeal in seeing which actors are slumming it in which production, and this one features a couple. Stacy Keach manages to come away unscathed as he's in a relatively minor supporting role, but what happened to Joely Richardson? She must have been desperate to sign up for this.
Genre fans expecting the worst may find this mildly entertaining at times - there's a certain verve, inherited from E.R., to the medical scenes - but you'll need to be in a forgiving mood to really enjoy it.
The problem with Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America is the usual problem that television movies face: there's not one jot of originality to be found anywhere in the production. The whole look and feel of the movie is predictable, with tired actors saying their tired lines half-heartedly and with the minimum of effort. Disaster films should be all about the panic, but this one's frankly dull.
As usual, there's a certain frank appeal in seeing which actors are slumming it in which production, and this one features a couple. Stacy Keach manages to come away unscathed as he's in a relatively minor supporting role, but what happened to Joely Richardson? She must have been desperate to sign up for this.
Genre fans expecting the worst may find this mildly entertaining at times - there's a certain verve, inherited from E.R., to the medical scenes - but you'll need to be in a forgiving mood to really enjoy it.