Customer Reviews

12 Monkeys (Special Edition)

5 star:		(154)
4 star:		(59)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Despite the cheesy special effects and some unnecessarily silly scenes that greatly detract from the movie, 12 Monkeys is a very good science fiction movie.

Set in the year 2035, a plague has wiped out much of the human race and they are forced to live deep underground. Scientists of the era send criminals back in time, using imperfect time machine technology, to try to discover the origins of the virus so they can bring a sample back to the future to find a cure, and take back the planet. Bruce Willis plays Cole, who is sent back to find out who the 12 Monkeys are, which are believed to be a terrorist group responsible for the unleashing the virus. Unfortunately, he sent back to wrong time and finds himself in a mental institution. While there he is treated by a psychiatrist played by Madeline Stowe and runs into Brad Pitt - a wacky mental patient. It's hard to tell much more about the plot without giving the movie away, but these two characters play a vital role in the plot.

The director does an excellent job with the time travel elements of the story, an aspect that become quickly inconsistent and ruinous to a movie of this nature without careful attention to detail. The acting is also superb. I would highly recommend the movie.

Also note, the "Making Of" feature on the DVD is one of the few that I actually enjoyed and found quite interesting.

Willis plays a time traveler from the future . His mission is to save the mankind from extinction. It's a must for you to watch the La jetée of Cris Maker in 1962, film that inspired Gilliam.
Once more the journey of the hero is a huge cycle . He comes from the future and will try to stop the unavoidable destiny of the world loaded for misery , pollution , overpopulation and hopeless. Gillliam handles the camera like Gods with that masterful so typical from him, Pitt as the madman is powerful too.
Art direction of first rate , dazzling direction and amazing visual effects ; add to all this a magnificent script and hera you have: one of the major achievements of Gilliam in his brilliant career.

Inspired by the 1962 French short LA JETÉE--an unusual film from director Chris Marker that relays its narrative via a collage of still images--the sci-fi flick 12 MONKEYS tells the story of a tough convict (Bruce Willis) from circa 2040 C.E. who "volunteers" to travel backwards in time to the 1990s on a mission to locate the source of a viral pandemic that will wipe out more than 90% of the Earth's population before the year 2000. This opus from auteur Terry Gilliam is more earnest and convincing than many of his previous efforts, and it is arguably his best film to date. The convoluted plot does require viewers to be attentive and exercise the gray matter, but the audience is rewarded for the effort with a fascinating and satisfying cinematic experience.

The acting in 12 MONKEYS is top-notch, especially the work of the three principals. As the time-traveling antihero, Bruce Willis delivers one of his greatest performances and is touchingly emotive as his character tries to accomplish his task while also retaining his health and sanity. Playing a psychiatrist who eventually becomes Willis' love interest, the pretty Madeleine Stowe is convincingly as strong and intense or as vulnerable as the role demands. And in his hilarious portrayal of a demented anarchist who also happens to be the son of a famous virologist, Brad Pitt fervently chews the scenery and nearly upstages his more experienced costars.

Willis' struggle with the psychological aporia and culture shock of traveling backwards in time while he also pieces together a complicated but vital puzzle makes for a literate yet gripping science-fiction thriller that keeps viewers guessing right up to the final scene. Yes, the plot is complicated and labyrinthine, but it all ultimately comes together in an intense and scintillating epiphany. Ardent sci-fi fans will especially enjoy the final payoff, but even filmgoers not normally into the genre will find 12 MONKEYS to be an enjoyable flick.

The standard DVD from Universal offers a nearly pristine digital transfer of the film in anamorphic widescreen at the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Also included are cool bonus goodies like a feature commentary with director Gilliam and producer Chuck Roven, a featurette made during the film's production, the original theatrical trailer, and more. Universal also offers 12 MONKEYS on a special DVD that offers DTS Dolby sound, but apparently the better sound comes at the cost of bonus features.

In short, 12 MONKEYS is a must-have for sci-fi fans, but all lovers of great cinema should be pleased to have this film in their DVD collections.

If you're a fan of Director, Terry Gilliam films (Time Bandits, Brazil, Monty Python and the Holy Grail), you'll find 12 Monkeys very satisfying. The performances by Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt and Madeleine Stowe are top-notch, along with those of a strong supporting cast. This is a multi-layered, sci-fi thriller, that keeps you guessing and theorizing throughout. You'll want to watch it several times, and will keep noticing new details and plot points each time. It'll definitely stay with you.

Twelve Monkeys is an excellent film by Terry Gilliam. It takes place in a future world which mirrors our current world; however, a flu virus has destroyed a majority of the population of the world. Bruce Willis portrays a prisoner who volunteers for an experiment involving time travel-- his mission: to discover where the flu virus was first released. Each time he enters the past using an insane assylum as a porthole, a horrifying chain of events occurs. This is a visually stunning and edgy film. The performances by all of the actors -- Bruce Willis, Madelaine Stowe, and Brad Pit-- offers a grim yet real glimpse into the reality of a future pandemic. I would definately suggest this film to anyone who enjoys good art direction, surrealistic sci fi, and great acting. Ligeia

Yet another film that views the future of humanity as a grunge pit, about as darkly as Gilliam's own "Brazil", but houses a fiendishly perfect underlying message.

The film has all the workings of a modern thriller. The time travel intrigue is very credibly done and the plot is riveting. The decor looks cobbled together from the debris of the 20th century. Cities are either scabby Skid Rows or towering skyscrapers. Scientists still work in laboratories that look like old postcards of Thomas Edison inventing. Bizarre killers and villains are hurled at our protagonist (Cole, played by Willis), and there are many bloody fights.

Bruce Willis is superb in his rendition of a man from the future, especially his impish reverie on listening to simple music. Brad Pitt does more than he typically does in movies, which is perhaps why he overdoes it. He almost makes the manman he plays a laughable caricature.

But all of this is just the plumbing for what the movie is really about -- its vision. With a little pondering, forced or naturally invoked, one can actually identify with all the craziness of this movie. Beneath its slick sci-fi veneer, it actually couches a rather gloomy message of how we are letting our supposed technological advancement govern our fate.

Brilliiant script, excellent visuals, and some delectable but pithy insanity. Highly recommended, to purchase, not just rent.

This is one of those movies which you almost hate watching, simply because it's so infuriating in that you know what will happen. You know (spoiler coming up) that Bruce Willis will fail, you know his recurring dream is his future, you realize that nothing will be changed as the characters inexorably go towards their own destruction. But still, you have to watch. I suppose this review sounds far too much like a bad car wreck, but the fact remains that this is one of the most enthralling movie of the 90's, and an excellent entry into the more serious works of Brad Pitt. An excellent movie, well worth repeated watching. Look for an extremely interesting Astor Piazzola piece.

This is not only one of Terry Gilliam's best movies but one of the finest time-travel films ever made. The story is great -- and in its logical tightness, it's right up there with the first _Terminator_ film (and the classic Heinlein stories 'By His Bootstraps' and _The Door into Summer_).

The casting is amazingly good for 1995. Remember, this was before Bruce Willis was known as anything but a wisecracking action hero, and Brad Pitt hadn't yet turned into a national obsession (he'd already been cast in this one before _Interview with the Vampire_ and _Seven_ were released). In fact, when I first watched this film, I thought Pitt had been horribly miscast -- but it turned out I was wrong, as repeated viewings demonstrated. (Madeleine Stowe is terrific as well but that was no surprise then or now.)

You probably already know the premise. James Cole (Willis) is a convict in 2038, and in exchange for a complete pardon he 'volunteers' for a time-travel mission. In 1997, see, most of the human race was wiped out by a really nasty virus, and the scientists of Cole's day want him to go back in time and collect some samples of it so they can get cracking on a cure. But something goes wrong . . .

That's all I'll say, except to note that everything gets neatly wrapped up at the end. (And I mean everything. If you think there are loose ends, watch it again.)

The screenplay is the work of David and Janet Peoples, so it's no surprise that it's well done; David Peoples was one of the writers on _Blade Runner_ (and he also wrote _Soldier_, which is set in the same world as _Blade Runner_). The dialogue is crisp and the exposition clear and swift. (In fact, it's arguably _too_ good: the film is supposed to be, in the beginning at least, ambiguous as to whether the time travel stuff is just Cole's schizoid fantasy, but thanks in large measure to the convincing screenplay, most of us know from the start that it's the real thing.)

Of course it's Gilliam who brings all this together. If you've seen _Brazil_, you've probably already seen this one too -- but if you haven't, see both.

When approaching a subject such as time travel one has to decide which school of thought they attend. First School; Time is linear and will be altered by any outside interference. Easy way to think of it, Time is a single string, if you jump from the end of the string to the middle time in a way reorders itself and all reprecussions of your actions (from the middle of the string) play through the string to alter the end of the string. Or Time is non linear and/or branching: basically all choices you can make are played out through multiple strings of reality becoming a criss crossed spider web. This movie takes the first opinion and hints at the idea that time abhors being altered and will "right" itself any way it can. Theory: Hitler dies at birth, but is replaced by time with a new personality with the same agenda. Meaning Time has to be hammered/altered repeatedly like a piece of hot steel to force it to hold the shape you wish of it. That being said i will only say i thought the movie was a truly well thought out and intelligent take on time theory far better than most. 1 Note to those who review: dont pan something simply because you dont bother to take all possiblities into account. 2 If you have to watch a movie 2 to 3 times to understand the concept of the story or the twist ending, dont bother buying this without renting it first. Just go rent Navy Seals and drool to your hearts content. OoOOoOO Navy Seals!

This is a really great movie. But, there is a but. I did not like the plot, where someone from the future goes back to the past - and the future results in something because the future is somehow involved in the past. That makes no sense, and there was some other logical breaks. But a really great movie after all, exiting, intelligent, good actors and all that. The 7.9 in imdb is deserved - and I recomend it, if you like sci-fi back in time movies - because it is typical that way.