Virus is a 1999 science fiction-horror film directed by visual effects artist John Bruno and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, William Baldwin and Donald Sutherland. The film is based on a Dark Horse comic book of the same name by Chuck Pfarrer.

The film opens with the Russian space station Mir conducting a transmission with a research ship in the South Pacific, Akademik Vladislav Volkov. While the crew of both the space station and the ship converse, a large electrical storm from deep space strikes the Mir. The electrical surge hijacks the Mir's electronics and beams itself to Earth by entering the ship, disabling it in the process. The crew of Mir are apparently killed, while the large research vessel's crew suffer an unknown fate.

Seven days later, during a typhoon, the tugboat Sea Star, captained by reckless alcoholic Robert Everton (Donald Sutherland), loses its uninsured cargo, which was the captain's last chance to get out of debt. Sea Star's crew, led by navigator and ex-Navy officer Kelly Foster (Jamie Lee Curtis) and engineer-for-hire Steve Baker (William Baldwin) discover the tug taking on water in its engine room; Foster suggests to Everton that they take refuge in the eye of the storm to make repairs. Everton agrees, but while Sea Star rests in calm waters, he puts a bullet in his pistol and contemplates committing suicide. At that time, the Akademik Vladislav Volkov appears on Sea Star's radar, and upon realizing that it could be worth many millions in salvage, Everton orders his crew aboard.

A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses can infect all types of organism, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea.

Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1892 article describing a non-bacterial pathogen infecting tobacco plants, and the discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, about 5,000 viruses have been described in detail, although there are millions of different types. Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most abundant type of biological entity. The study of viruses is known as virology, a sub-speciality of microbiology.

Virus particles (known as virions) consist of two or three parts: the genetic material made from either DNA or RNA, long molecules that carry genetic information; a protein coat that protects these genes; and in some cases an envelope of lipids that surrounds the protein coat when they are outside a cell. The shapes of viruses range from simple helical and icosahedral forms to more complex structures. The average virus is about one one-hundredth the size of the average bacterium. Most viruses are too small to be seen directly with an optical microscope.

The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep Canvas-pioneering Tarzan, Best Picture-winner American Beauty, critically acclaimed animated works The Iron Giant, Toy Story 2 and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman's breakout film Being John Malkovich, M. Night Shyamalan's breakout hit The Sixth Sense, the controversial Fight Club, Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia and the first installment of George Lucas's Star Wars prequel trilogy were released this year.

These are the top grossing films that were first released in 1999; because they may have made most of their income in a later year, they may not be the top-grossing films for calendar year. The top ten films of 1999 as of January 26, 2006 (U.S. and Canada), January 26, 2006 (UK) and January 26, 2006 (Australia) are as follows:

1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year that started on a Friday (link will display full calendar). In the Gregorian calendar, it was the 1999th year of Anno Domini; the 999th year of the 2nd millennium; and the 99th year of the 20th century. It was also the 10th and last year of the 1990s. The year 1999 was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations.

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry.

Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating – or indoctrinating – citizens. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue into the language of the viewer.

Films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a psychological effect called beta movement.