Coronavirus movies

On the leap day Feb 29, 2020, the COVID-19 viral outbreak has leaped out of China and reached all continents in the world except the Antarctica. This reads like a script from a movie but no, this time it is for real.

If you are in badly affected areas such as Italy where infections have skyrocketed, some cinemas are now closed, and even football matches have been cancelled.

If you want to take your mind off, how about catching up on some movies related to viral outbreak that you may have missed? Yes, it is not helping that you are still thinking about virus ...

Spoiler alert, most movies finish with a positive ending but this is exactly what you need now! Hope is fear’s antithesis. So, here is a list of the top 10 coronavirus related movies.

1. Outbreak

This has got to be the best viral outbreak movie ever! Timeless! Starring Dustin Hoffman and you know a movie cannot go wrong with this man. Yes, he is the one in the film Rain Man raising awareness of autism to the world.

Anyway, we have digressed and back to Outbreak. It was released in 1995 so some of you may have missed it because you were not born yet. Despite the fact that the movie is 25 years ago and has a slower pace because people back then have a longer attention span, the movie is so good you have to see it to believe it.

The story starts with this virus that was discovered in Africa and was sort of like an Ebola-like virus. But, but…it is airborne transmission! Recently in 2014 to 2016, we had a real Ebola outbreak in West Africa and has similarity with the current COVID-19 outbreak in that bats are thought to be involved.

The movie features biosafety lab level 4 for you to see how scientists work on a pathogen that has no cure and no vaccine. The movie has so many twists and turns, a bioweapon and even a white-faced monkey. Science, romance, humor and heroism included. Two hours long but worth every minute of it!

2. Contagion

Want to see a movie with a viral outbreak starting from China? Well this one is close enough, it started in Hong Kong. In the real world, Hong Kong is now hit with almost 100 COVID-19 cases and only 2 deaths.

The movie Contagion was released in 2011 and was a box office success. With movie stars such as Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow, you cannot go wrong with this one.

The plot is about the spread of virus by fomites, how the authorities work together to identify the ground zero and develop a vaccine to stop it. There is even a conspiracy theorist played by Jude Law.

Apparently, some scientists praised the movie for its accuracy.

3. 28 Days later

If you prefer to see angry zombies running around hurting people, ‘28 Days later’ is perfect for you. The plot is about the accidental release of infected chimps in Cambridge and then something known as the Rage Virus began to spread. In just 28 days, mainland and Britain is destroyed.

The Rage Virus is an extremely virulent pathogen and is bloodborne, which turns the host into angry zombies. The progression of the horror of an epidemic so scary in a short period of time will have you stuck on your couch with no toilet break.

The revenue of this movie is more than ten times its modest budget and its success is likely due to a very interesting story. This movie has a sequel, ‘28 Weeks Later’.

Have you always wanted to see an empty London, zombified angry English folks and overturned double decker? Then this movie is right for you.

4. I Am Legend

I Am Legend is a thriller movie showing a post-apocalyptic world based on a novel and features a good-looking protagonist named Robert Neville (played by Will Smith) who is a military virologist.

The story plot is about a virus that is meant to cure cancer but has accidentally decimated mankind down to very few individuals and Robert is a survivor in New York. He hangs out with his dog outside during daytime but will seal his home and hide at night because his mutant neighbors are night creatures, and not so friendly and will bite at first sight.

The psyche of a lonely man seeking out other survivors is well depicted by Will Smith. Robert is somehow immune to the virus and his blood is the key to save humanity. There are zombified dogs in the movie too if that is of interest.

5. Resident Evil

If you are an avid video games fan, then you must have played at least one of the resident evil series. The movie, Resident Evil, is based on the epic success of the video game and it was released in 2002 and gained over a hundred million dollars in revenue. It now has at least five sequels.

The story is about an engineered T-virus that has infected people in a genetic research facility known as the Hive, which is underneath the Raccoon City. The Artificial Intelligence based control system known as the Red Queen locked down the hive and killed everyone inside.

Later, Alice played by Milla Jovovich awakened with a memory loss and went down to the Hive to suss things out.

There is probably nothing sexier than seeing gunslinging Milla Jovovich put down zombified men, women and dogs. Why else do you think the sequel is so successful?

6. Quarantine

A news reporter and a cameraman followed some firefighters to a building to report on what a typical night shift for firemen may look like. However, this was no ordinary night especially when you see an elderly woman biting a policeman. More like a nightmare!

Shortly after, authorities and disease control experts came to seal the building and hence the movie title - Quarantine.

Ordinary folks were trapped inside and have to defend themselves against the infected. They need to head to the basement, to find their only way out.

7. Contracted

The plot for the film Contracted is possibly the most horrifying one on how a girl can get infected.

Samantha, a lesbian, was trying to overcome sadness from a break up by drinking up at a party. She was then raped and contracted a sexually transmitted disease, which turned her into some sort of a living zombie with bloodshot eyes, falling hair and fingernails falling off.

What is her fate? Watch the movie to find out.

8. Patient Zero

A mutated form of rabies has turned humans into violent predators. The protagonist, Morgan, was infected, but he remained a human and able to coverse with the infected. He and others were hiding in a nuclear silo.

Dr Gina (played by the pretty Natalie Dormer, who also stared in the Game of Thrones) was desperately seeking the patient zero in an attempt to manufacture vaccine.

As you may have guessed, their hiding place was discovered by the infected and the next thing you know was chaos and screaming humans running away from them.

9. World War Z

Want to see Brad Pitt in a viral outbreak apocalyptic action packed horror movie? Then World War Z is the one for you.

Brad Pitt plays Gerry Lane, a former UN employee, who had to escape a city infested by some special zombies that are driven by sound. There was a scene of Gerry flying to South Korea where he was attacked on arrival by zombies.

Will Gerry be successful in his quest to discover a vaccine against the deadly pathogen?

10. The Andromeda Strain

The Andromeda Strain is an old film in 1969 based on one of Michael Crichton’s novels. The plot is about extraterrestrial microbial contamination on earth and the microbe is named, Andromeda, which mutates and change its own biological properties

The microbe appears to have crystalline structure and it can transform energy to matter and hence cannot be stopped by a nuclear weapon as it would only grow bigger.

This should be a fun one to watch to watch see how much the science in the movie was accurate given that it was based on old facts.

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