Wonderful character development!

Touches You

The Worst Film Ever

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

This TV movie is well worth watching especially if you are a disaster movie fan. The movie shows events from several points of view (a nurse, soldier, politician, a family and a pandemic expert) and builds on most of the characters quite well.The acting is acceptable as is how the story flows, the ending is clearly left that way to allow for a follow-up TV series which obviously did not go ahead, so does have a feeling of wanting it to continue to conclusion but the movie does progress far enough to make this a stand alone story.Certainly thought provoking and one of the more believable and credible potential disasters that could occur.

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.

As a professional business continuity planner, one who has worked extensively in the pandemic flu planning field, let me tell you now that this movie is not about an impossible doomsday scenario. The H5N1 virus is a very real threat and every government on every level has been preparing for it for years. What was pleasantly surprising about this movie (which, frankly, I did not expect very much from) was its accuracy - both in portraying facts and possible situations. They did a very good job of giving background on the pandemics of the past - 1918, 57, and 68. They also showed the infections coming in waves, just as they have in past pandemics and in all probability will when the next one hits.Watching this movie was like watching the scenario that plays in the head of every pandemic flu planner when they write response protocols and imagine how quickly this could move and how devastating it could be. I know I've seen this movie many times in my own head already. The fact is that it is a matter of "when", not "if". Historically, we have had pandemics on average once every 30 years (which means we are currently overdue for one). It is enormously unlikely that after an established record like that, we would never have one again. It may not be the H5N1, but it's very likely a pandemic flu will happen again.The acting was good, especially Joely Richardson's performance. The characters were well-developed and watching the communities after the first wave hit brought tears to my eyes a few times. The bravery and resiliency of the American people is truly amazing. Scott Cohen also did a very real, believable job as Governor Newsome.This movie is definitely scary, but what's more scary is being unprepared. Health departments in most large cities are developing or running education campaigns for the public to create awareness for common-sense precautions, as they say in the movie, so hopefully people will start paying attention to the ads that tell them to cover their coughs, wash their hands, and stay home when they're sick.On a final note, despite being quite impressed with the quality of this movie, the ending was a little disappointing. I was hoping for something a bit more resolutory, but I suppose it would have been difficult to end the movie on a very cheery note.Definitely worth your time to see!

I watched this movie on TV last night, hoping for a realistic account of what could happen if there were an outbreak of some highly transmittable disease. I was disappointed, and I think the movie was garbage. It did not seem real to me. Some of the acting was awful, in particular that of the doctor. She was about the worst I've seen. The whole thing played like a CNN 'worst case scenario'. Even the obligatory disaster movie human relations bits didn't seem sincere. I have seen some disaster movies, in particular those weather ones, which are actually so bad they are amusing. This one is almost as bad, but it is not even amusing, it is tedious and boring.Don't bother with this one.