12 Monkeys [HD DVD]
![12 Monkeys [HD DVD]](/images/12-Monkeys-HD-DVD-B000HT3Q14-M.jpg)
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DVD Cover Information Actor: Bob Adrian, Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Stephen Bridgewater Brand: Universal DVD: Region Code 0 Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); French (Dubbed) Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 130 minutes DVD Release Date: 2006-10-24 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Studio: Universal Studios |
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Movie Reviews of 12 Monkeys [HD DVD]
Movie Review: DARK...DREARY...DEPRESSING...
Summary: 3 Stars
This film is very much a Terry Gilliam vehicle, as his fans will easily discern upon watching this film. Apocalyptic and dark, yet visionary, the film is trademark Gilliam, with dreary, depressing sets. It is sci-fi with a time travel twist.
The year is 2035, and the future of mankind seems grim and forbidding, as the human race is relegated to living underground, never seeing the light of day, after a killer virus has decimated its ranks. James Cole (Bruce Willis), a designated criminal, volunteers to travel into the past to obtain a sample of the virus that became a killing machine, in hopes of helping scientists discover a cure, as well as getting a pardon for his supposed crimes.
Cole has little information with which to work. All he knows is that in 1996 he is to search for a radical group called, "The Army of the Twelve Monkeys". In some way, that group is affiliated with the deadly virus. How, why, or where are questions for which he must find the answers. Like searching for a needle in a haystack, Cole tries to piece the answers together, while trying to separate fantasy from reality. He finds it increasingly difficult to do so, as time travel begins to take a toll on him, given its erratic peculiarities.
In his travels, he comes across the seriously disturbed Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), who seems to have something to do with that for which Cole is looking. Jeffrey also happens to be the son of a scientist, Dr. Leland Goines (Christopher Plummer). Cole, mistaken for being mentally ill when he reveals his mission, comes under the care of psychiatrist, Dr. Kathryn Reilly (Madeleine Stowe). All of these individuals are, in some way, intertwined with his mission, but not in the way he may have originally thought. How much the past is a part of the future, and how much the future is a part of the past, is a question that the viewer must divine.
Bruce Willis gives an excellent performance, taut and well nuanced. Madeleine Stowe is compelling as the initially doubting doctor, who later becomes a believer of Cole's apocalyptic message. The always urbane Christopher Plummer is also excellent as the scientific genius and father to the troubled Jeffrey. It is Brad Pitt, however, who steals the show as the mentally unbalanced Jeffrey Goines, giving a virtuoso performance that won him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
This film was a difficult one for me to rate, being torn between awarding it three or four stars. I finally ended up awarding it three stars. While I liked the film, I found it to be too dark and depressing for my tastes. If you are a big fan of Terry Gilliam, however, add one star to my rating.