Twelve Monkeys

A real thriller of a film, carefully crafted and so well-thought out that I used it in a philosophy essay about time-travel at university.The two main actors - Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis - are so unbelievably good that you can feel both James Cole's anguish and Geoffrey Goines' agitation oozing from the screen. Madeleine Stowe's attempts to rival her male colleagues fall a bit flat - she seems a bit like a jumpy Alanis Morisette in the "Ironic" video rather than the character she is supposed to be playing (it would have been better had Railly remained calmer and more composed as a foil to Cole and Goines' supposed lunacy) but gives a decent performance.The exquisite location filming and atmospheric use of dirt and decay made me think I was in some Orwell novel - don't watch this without taking a long hot shower afterwards - but the tension between Cole's mission and longing for the "good ol' days" is poorly developed, as is the romance between Cole and Railly - perhaps there isn't supposed to be one, but the on-screen hints were sending confusing mixed messages out, and the film would not have suffered had there been less ambiguity, particularly in the final scenes.There is an 87 minute "Hamster Factor" documentary also on the DVD but I was so exhausted by the film that to sit through almost as much again immediately afterwards was too much. More information on the cast would have been nice as well, but at the end of the day a good movie should speak for itself - and this one does so at a high volume.

An Excellent science fiction (and more) adventure! Terry Gilliam at his best!

My old DVD of this movie has a small screen size (low resolution) on my 4K TV that I was unable to rectify on playback. This Blu-ray solves that problem and nicely fills the screen. However, the image quality is only as good as some better DVDs. That said, it is enjoyable and good to look at.

One of Gilliam's best films and maybe his last great one. Apparently an attempt to put his touch in a mainstream film with big star, it is in fact a surprise because Bruce Willis gives one of his first compelling and dramatic performances, and the film is as fascinating as not superficial and clichè at all.Maybe this is even better than other and more independent film from Gilliam, because it finds the right balance between intriguing entertainment, glamour and his personal and mysterious touch and point of view.It is a kind of enigmatic spiral where the story generates itself through a time paradox and it is also a homage to "the woman who lived twice" (and the man, too, in this case). But it's above all a story of tragic solitude whose drama finds its perfect representation in the very idea of the time paradox and eternal returns of events, actions, situations, like there is no space for redemption. Visually stunning in a great blu ray

Set in a strange, maybe now more familiar, dystopian world, devastated by a pandemic released by a mad scientist. fortunately, the 'council' has the ability to send a minion back into the past, seeking a way to stop that future. Bruce Willis is the minion, Brad Pitt the brilliantly schizophrenic target, his urban terrorist organisation, Twelve Monkeys, a full dairy fruit and nut group. completing the triangle is love interest Madeleine Stow. A terry Gillian masterpiece, and the perfect film to lockdown with. It deserves recognition for Gillian's talents, Willis acting the roll deftly, and Pitt's portrayal. The plot may be slightly flawed as it completes the circle, but its a regular rerun for me, alongside Luc Besson's Leon, but that's another story.

The only problem is that the volume on the movie goes up and down, still a great movie.

One of Gilliam's more polished films. Being a fan of Brazil (1985), I decided to try this later work at the recommendation of another Gilliam devotee. I find some of Gilliam's films self-indulgent and rambling, but Twelve Monkeys surprised me with its slickness. The plot is complicated, being based on a sequence of assignments made by reluctant time-travelling detective Bruce Willis. By the end, though, you get a fairly clear idea of what happened, but with enough loose ends to give you something to think about afterwards. Willis provides his usual brooding energy, but the hyperactive presence of Brad Pitt prevents him from stealing the entire film. The result is a pleasingly balanced contribution from all the cast.My one dislike about the film is the speed with which Madeleine Stowe's fear of her apparently psychotic kidnapper turns to attraction. I think her character would have been stronger if she had played a bit harder to get. This weakness reminded me of 'Brazil', in which the love subplot was equally unconvincing, even if it was meant to be a fantasy.