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From Amazon.co.uk
Inspired by Chris Marker's acclaimed short film La Jetée, 12 Monkeys combines intricate, intelligent storytelling with the uniquely imaginative vision of director Terry Gilliam. The story opens in the wintry wasteland of the year 2035, where a virulent plague has forced humans to live in a squalid, oppressively regimented underground. Bruce Willis plays a societal outcast who is given the opportunity to erase his criminal record by "volunteering" to time-travel into the past to obtain a pure sample of the deadly virus that will help future scientists to develop a cure. But in bouncing from 1918 to the early and mid-1990s, he undergoes an ordeal that forces him to question his own perceptions of reality. Caught between the dangers of the past and the devastation of the future, he encounters a psychiatrist (Madeleine Stowe) who is initially convinced he's insane, and a wacky mental patient (Brad Pitt in a twitchy Oscar-nominated role) with links to a radical group that may have unleashed the deadly virus. Equal parts mystery, tragedy, psychological thriller, and apocalyptic drama, 12 Monkeys ranks as one of the best science fiction films of the 1990s, boosted by Gilliam's visual ingenuity and one of the finest performances of Willis's career. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
Madeline Stowe, Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer, Frank GorshinDirector: Terry Gilliam
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By BS on parade
Format:DVD
They say it's easier to write a sad song than it is write a happy one. The same goes for reviews. A flawed, or terrible film gives you plenty to moan about. A movie were everything about it ranges from good to sublime leaves you with very little to say. And so it is with 12 Monkeys were the only complaints I can dredge up are tiny little niggles.
I'm not saying the film is perfect, but it's very close to it. The story is properly compelling, it's well told, well paced, well acted etc. It's also visually one of the most interesting looking films I've ever seen. There is often a surreal quality to the images with extensive use of Dutch angles (camera slanted to put most things in the frame on a diagonal slope). I wouldn't call it a pretty film, just that it's visually inventive and constantly attention grabbing in a pleasing way.
I think the director himself once said that the acting of Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt has a tendency to split audiences. Most people think one gives a great performance and the other one a weak, overly mannered one. I've previously thought Brad Pitt's acting was a bit fake and unconvincing. Over time I've grown to think he's good, not outstanding or anything, but appropriate for a mentally unstable person.
The child actor during the airport scene is a minor weak link as he seems to be over-emoting like crazy with his eyes. He's not bad or annoying, he's just not note perfect.
Logically the film is not one hundred percent watertight, though I doubt many, if any, time travel films ever are. There might be some holes, but the film is too good to be affected by them. Why don't they go further back in time and correct their own mistakes (the airport scene at the end throws up a few questions along this line)?... Read more ›
I'm not saying the film is perfect, but it's very close to it. The story is properly compelling, it's well told, well paced, well acted etc. It's also visually one of the most interesting looking films I've ever seen. There is often a surreal quality to the images with extensive use of Dutch angles (camera slanted to put most things in the frame on a diagonal slope). I wouldn't call it a pretty film, just that it's visually inventive and constantly attention grabbing in a pleasing way.
I think the director himself once said that the acting of Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt has a tendency to split audiences. Most people think one gives a great performance and the other one a weak, overly mannered one. I've previously thought Brad Pitt's acting was a bit fake and unconvincing. Over time I've grown to think he's good, not outstanding or anything, but appropriate for a mentally unstable person.
The child actor during the airport scene is a minor weak link as he seems to be over-emoting like crazy with his eyes. He's not bad or annoying, he's just not note perfect.
Logically the film is not one hundred percent watertight, though I doubt many, if any, time travel films ever are. There might be some holes, but the film is too good to be affected by them. Why don't they go further back in time and correct their own mistakes (the airport scene at the end throws up a few questions along this line)?... Read more ›
36 of 38 people found the following review helpful
By DVDfever
Format:Blu-ray
Twelve Monkeys stars Bruce Willis as Cole, a man living in the year 2035 as a member of the 1% of the population left on Earth, thanks to a mystery virus which swept the planet back in 1997 killing five billion people, leaving the survivors no choice but to abandon the surface leaving the animals to rule the world once again.
The film begins with Cole as a child at the airport hearing a gunshot and seeing a long-haired man keel over, closely followed by a blonde woman screaming and running over to help him. Then we're back to the present as Cole wakes up, his job as a 'volunteer' to take samples on the surface of the planet for analysis.
Events take Cole back in time to April 12th, 1990, where he becomes a mental patient at Baltimore County Hospital, the doctors, including Dr. Kathryn Railly, played by Madeline Stowe, not understanding his ramblings about the world and its impending doom, although one of his fellow 'inmates' Jeffrey, played brilliantly by a psychotic Brad Pitt seems to appear in full agreement with him. After another chain of events, Cole is thrust forward to 1996 where he comes across Dr. Railly and Jeffrey again, and sees it as his destiny to find out what killed the planet's populaion, and just what the mysterious Army of the 12 Monkeys have to do with all of this. Can he succeed? In a typical Hollywood film you might say yes, but with director Terry Gilliam at the helm, nothing is typical, or predictable.
This film has so much going for it, that there's no way it can fail as superb entertainment, keeping Bruce Willis in the actor's A-list, and as he proved in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, he's an all-round actor who can apply himself to much more than a straight-forward action role.... Read more ›
The film begins with Cole as a child at the airport hearing a gunshot and seeing a long-haired man keel over, closely followed by a blonde woman screaming and running over to help him. Then we're back to the present as Cole wakes up, his job as a 'volunteer' to take samples on the surface of the planet for analysis.
Events take Cole back in time to April 12th, 1990, where he becomes a mental patient at Baltimore County Hospital, the doctors, including Dr. Kathryn Railly, played by Madeline Stowe, not understanding his ramblings about the world and its impending doom, although one of his fellow 'inmates' Jeffrey, played brilliantly by a psychotic Brad Pitt seems to appear in full agreement with him. After another chain of events, Cole is thrust forward to 1996 where he comes across Dr. Railly and Jeffrey again, and sees it as his destiny to find out what killed the planet's populaion, and just what the mysterious Army of the 12 Monkeys have to do with all of this. Can he succeed? In a typical Hollywood film you might say yes, but with director Terry Gilliam at the helm, nothing is typical, or predictable.
This film has so much going for it, that there's no way it can fail as superb entertainment, keeping Bruce Willis in the actor's A-list, and as he proved in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, he's an all-round actor who can apply himself to much more than a straight-forward action role.... Read more ›
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Rebel Scum
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is without doubt one of the best sci-fi/time travel movies ever made. 12 Monkeys demands more from the viewer than your average movie.
The plot is intelligent, the acting is superb and it looks beatifully gritty.
I never get tired of watching this film, it's a classic that constantly rewards the viewer with each subsequent viewing.
The plot is intelligent, the acting is superb and it looks beatifully gritty.
I never get tired of watching this film, it's a classic that constantly rewards the viewer with each subsequent viewing.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
twelve monkeys
Video: 1080p high definition widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English DTS-HS Master audio 5.1: frencha canadian, italian, spanish, latin american spanish dts surround 5.1
Subtitles: english SDH, french acanadian, italian, spanish, latin american spanish, korean, swedish, danish, finnish, dutch, norwegian, portuguese, greek, traditional madarin
very good film with a good trasnfer, but the extras are all low definition, even thou they are interesting
Video: 1080p high definition widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English DTS-HS Master audio 5.1: frencha canadian, italian, spanish, latin american spanish dts surround 5.1
Subtitles: english SDH, french acanadian, italian, spanish, latin american spanish, korean, swedish, danish, finnish, dutch, norwegian, portuguese, greek, traditional madarin
very good film with a good trasnfer, but the extras are all low definition, even thou they are interesting
30 of 34 people found the following review helpful
By Zarniwoop
Format:Blu-ray
Much like other reviews of this film - it's a shining example of Gilliam's directorial vision, with a deliciously circuitous storyline and a fantastic ensemble cast in one of the best sci-fi flicks of the 90s.
Share the blue-ray transfer is so weak - it honestly doesn't look much better than the DVD (which I also own) put through a decent upscaler. Details are horribly soft, although grain is still very high in places. Seeing as this is a VC1 encode as opposed to the much poorer MPEG2 transfers there shouldn't really be any excuse; as it is this just seems to be another "release it on blu-ray as quickly as possible!" cash ins. Wait for a better release.
If you want a really good HD experience, give Blade Runner or Zulu a whirl first.
Share the blue-ray transfer is so weak - it honestly doesn't look much better than the DVD (which I also own) put through a decent upscaler. Details are horribly soft, although grain is still very high in places. Seeing as this is a VC1 encode as opposed to the much poorer MPEG2 transfers there shouldn't really be any excuse; as it is this just seems to be another "release it on blu-ray as quickly as possible!" cash ins. Wait for a better release.
If you want a really good HD experience, give Blade Runner or Zulu a whirl first.
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4.4 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Opinion Twelve Monkeys
arrived on time. Do not like the movie though. It has a very good cast but the script and di5rection leave much to be desired as the viewer is always guessing what is going on well... Read more
Published 16 days ago by Michael Asciak
5.0 out of 5 stars
12 monkeys is a wicked film, time travel movies are for me.
Great film, vision, concepts here, a nice feel to the dark future, watch out for the 12 monkeys! Ha ha....
Published 19 days ago by Marty
5.0 out of 5 stars
the service was very good
i thought it was very good quality and watching iwill be telling my friends all about it thanks so much
Published 2 months ago by gail
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not simple, but rewarding
A complicated and difficult to follow plot unfolds (after following several false leads) into a well-constructed fantasy of a possible future dystopia. Read more
Published 3 months ago by ilia
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect scifi film
I love this film, not easy to understand but a clever film with action and love ...
What else ? Humor ;-)
What else ? Humor ;-)
Published 4 months ago by Newsax
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pitt stole the show.
excellent movies, while Bruce Willis played himself he was at shone by a brilliant performance by Brad Pitt. it is no wonder that he went on to further fame. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Dr John S Maxwell
5.0 out of 5 stars
What an accomplishment
One of the best SF films ever made, ranking right up there with Blade Runner et al. Also featuring Bruce Willis' best performance to date as the desperate and very vulnerable hero. Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. Stadler
5.0 out of 5 stars
DVD
This was a great movie and has been watched several times and enjoyed.
A very good movie all round too.
A very good movie all round too.
Published 4 months ago by r edmundson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Twelve Monkeys (Blu-ray version)....
Director Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys which is a story set in the year 2035 starring Bruce Willis as the reluctant "volunteer" aided by Doctor Kathryn Railly played by Madeline... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Milt Ingarfield
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic
Always loved this film. Great for a rainy Sunday. It's a film that keeps you interested. Not many films do that any more!
Published 5 months ago by hayley
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