Directed by:
Terry GilliamCinematography:
Roger PrattComposer:
Paul BuckmasterCast:
Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer, Jon Seda, David Morse, Bill Raymond, Frank Gorshin, Chuck Jeffreys, Matt Ross (more)VOD (2)
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In this intriguing science fiction film from director Terry Gilliam, penal colony prisoner James Cole must travel back in time from the year 2035 to find the cause of a virus that killed five billion people in 1997. Cole's trip into the past won't be easy. For starters, he winds up in the wrong year on his first attempt. Once, as he time-travels, Cole ends up a prisoner in an insane asylum in 1990. There, he meets psychiatrist Kathryn Railly and inmate Jeffrey Goines, who could hold the key to the epidemic's spread. Cole later winds up in the middle of a World War I battlefield. After meeting James for a second time, in another year, Dr. Railly gets further involved in his quest. Although she thinks at first that Cole must be crazy, Kathryn soon starts to believe him and attempts to help. But James has already started to question his own sanity and tries to figure out if his journeys through time are real or if he's just been imagining everything. (Audio Ciné Films Inc.)
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Reviews (10)
Brilliant! Terry Gilliam is known for his original and specific work, and with 12 Monkeys he brings it to absolute perfection. It's not every day that a film is so imaginatively and brilliantly directed from start to finish, and that the imagery and, above all, the plot are so varied and sophisticated that you can't help but pop the DVD back into the player and immerse yourself in the cinematic poetry with even greater intensity. It’s is not a groundbreaking work like Kubrick's Odyssey and its nowadays routine visuals won’t lift viewers from their seats, but thanks to its literally timeless story, the great performances and the endless imagination of one film crew, it’s definitely one of the gems of world filmography.
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Imaginative, smart, engaging, dark, and very entertaining; one of the most interesting, perhaps even the best, time travel sci-fi fils ever made. It works as both a science fiction and a great and suspenseful thriller. Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt give excellent performances. Solid film. 80%.
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An interesting futuristic view for that time and a nice concept of time travel, but not so impressive today. There are much better pieces in the genre, more action-packed and more nimble concepts and here not much happens in two hours. On the other hand, the main qualities of 12 Monkeys are not "during it", but in what comes "after it" - or rather, after the closing credits. I've never seen a film that didn't have an official interpretation of the ending, it was explained by the filmmaker, but also by the audience, who simply hasn’t agreed on the final version. And that's what I like about this film. Otherwise, though, the main storyline is too talky for me, and even Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis can’t significantly save it, so I'll leave the three-star rating with the comment that the ending will be on my mind for a long time to come. A fun film.
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Beautiful science fiction that has everything that good science fiction should have. Excellent plot, nice tricks, convincing acting performances (god, this Pitt!!!) and, above all, depth, as is customary with Gilliam. Unlike Brazil, it is very accessible, but not trivial and cheap. Gilliam's manuscript makes this apocalyptic story a riveting and incredibly suggestive spectacle. One more science fiction that could be indelibly written into film history. Does Gilliam have a patent for that?
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In the best role of his career, Willis left his acting mannerisms behind and dropped his smile #1. An extraordinary film with a brilliantly conceived plot and a breathtaking ending. You won’t get bored for a moment and your brain will work at full speed. The only weakness is the Brad Pitt’s awful overacting, it ruined the impression of the film for me. Thanks to the gods of cinema for Terry Cilliam.
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