12 Monkeys (1995) User Reviews

So you're telling me those people in the mental institution are... crazy?

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 9/10 · 15 September 2007]

Just kidding, I rented 12 Monkeys the other day because I am a huge Bruce Willis fan and I heard some things about the film. Some good and some bad, but it was one of those films you had to pay attention to every second, so I was a bit worried. Just because I felt like for a minute if this was going to be one of those films that I had to watch several times to get. But I watched it last night and I was really impressed, this movie had everything in it: action, drama, sci-fi, history, dark humor, and even a little romance. The actors all did a terrific job, I give a lot of credit to Bruce, during his scene in the car with his psychiatrist, he really got to me. But Brad Pitt, I'm just amazed with how much of a great job he did. He didn't over do his character, who was crazy, and just made it work and was extremely believable. The story was just scary, but very good and a wake up call.

James Cole is a man in the future where a virus broke out in the past and killed 5 billion people and only 1% of the population survived including him. Animals are now ruling the ground above while the humans are down below, but scientists send James to the past of 1990(really meaning to send him to '96), to find out about information of the virus. James gets put into a mental institution meeting his new psychiatrist, Dr. Kathryn Raily and another mental patient, Jeffrey Goines. He tells them the future, of course no one believes him, he goes back to the future. But the scientists send him back to the correct year to where the doctor is kidnapped by James, but he tells her more, and believes him. Now they are set on trying to prevent the virus from ever happening.

12 Monkeys was an incredible film. Like I said the story was so scary just because it's not at all hard to believe that we are not far from that happening. But the whole movie was just great, the cast, the sets, just the whole picture was a great one. It had a Terminator type of feel to it where we might loose something precious one day, ourselves if we don't listen to others. What is right and what is wrong? Who knows? But I would highly recommend 12 Monkeys, it's a great movie that if you give it the proper chance, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

9/10

Mind-Bending and Heart-Breaking

[dtb · 9/10 · 31 March 2002]

Terry Gilliam's stunning feature-length adaptation of Chris Marker's short film LA JETEE is full of mind-bending surprises, yet still touches your heart thanks to the superb cast. Gilliam's flair for the phantasmagorical works with the script by David and Janet Peoples to play with your head as much as it does with poor James Cole (Willis at his most Steve McQueen-like -- better than McQueen, even!), a time-traveling convict from the future who literally doesn't know whether he's coming or going as a team of scientists keeps sending him back to the wrong eras while trying to prevent a 1995 plague that's deadly to humans but harmless to animals. Willis, the justifiably Oscar-nominated Brad Pitt, and Madeline Stowe as a well-meaning psychiatrist give some of the best performances of their careers. Even Paul Buckmaster's tango-style score is haunting. This one's a don't-miss!

One of Gilliam's better films.

[BA_Harrison · 8/10 · 28 February 2021]

Twelve Monkeys is typically Terry Gilliam, loaded with the director's trademark quirky visuals, and, as such, should get right up my nose (I'm not a huge fan of his hallucinatory, surreal style, to say the least). And yet I still love this unusual time travel tale: it's got great performances, with a particularly strong turn from the then up-and-coming Brad Pitt, and Gilliam's chaotic storytelling actually suits the inherent madness of the whole movie. The twisty-turny plot keeps the viewer on their toes throughout, and Gilliam pulls all the threads together neatly for the finale. The occasional moment of visual excess still niggles (the steampunk/trash-heap aesthetic of the future isn't my cup of tea), but on the whole this is definitely one of the director's best films.

Bruce Willis stars as James Cole, a convict from the future who is sent to the past to try and discover the origins of the virus that wiped out most of the world's human population. After a violent altercation with the police of 1990, Cole is sent to an asylum where he meets patient Jeffrey Goines (Pitt), son of a wealthy scientist (played by Christopher Plummer), and quite possibly plants the seeds of mankind's destruction in the lunatic's mind. Together with his psychiatrist Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe), Cole tries to prevent the disaster from occurring.

At times, it seems as though Gilliam has only the slightest command of proceedings, and the film demands that the viewer puts in 100% concentration to avoid becoming as lost and confused as Cole himself, who becomes more and more unsure about what is reality and what isn't as the film progresses. Characters ramble, often seemingly incoherently, but what they are saying is, for the most part, intrinsic to the outcome, so pay attention (or have your finger on the rewind button). Those who make the effort will be rewarded by a film that is constantly inventive and frequently clever, and worth at least a few viewings to appreciate it to the fullest.

Gilliam's Masterpiece of Madness

[darkjosh · 10/10 · 29 November 2000]

Terry Gilliam's fantastic, twisted story of a virus destroying all but a handful of people across the Earth and forcing them to move underground and the man sent back in time to gather information about it is a fantastic, dizzying, and highly stylized film that boasts Bruce Willis' best performance ever.

What sets 12 Monkeys apart from most time-travel sci-fi movies is that Bruce Willis character actually deals with what the psychological effects of time-travel, that is, not knowing what reality is actual reality: the place that the time-traveler comes from or goes to. Also, the film recognizes that things that have past cannot be altered and that the prevention of a cataclysmic event, in this case the release of said virus, cannot be stopped or changed. As Willis asserts "It's already happened," while he's in a mental hospital, the major dilemma the film trudges into is not a trite, overdone plot to save the world; instead it's Willis' inner struggle to simply survive himself. It's a fresh, innovative concept, and it works beautifully thanks to a tautly written script by Peoples and Gilliam's unique brand of dementia.

Besides this, 12 Monkey's storytelling is totally non-linear and instead opts to distort and bend the way the story is told skillfully incorporating a bevy of different time sequences: flashbacks, dreams, memories, the present, the past, the future, and even a scene that is lifted out of Hitchcock's Vertigo. All serve to envelop the viewer into its disturbing cacophony of madness and futility.

Visually, Gilliam is a master of desolate umbrage and shadow rivalling Tim Burton in his strikingly despondent scenery and imagery. With cold, wide, and immersing cinematography, Gilliam plunges into the colorless surroundings and darkness of his characters. The scenes are often bathed in a strangely antiseptic, dead white and help serve as a contrast to the often veering-on-madness characters.

Performance-wise, Brad Pitt steals most scenes, filling them with a patented loony, off-the-wall performance that deservedly garnered him an Oscar nomination. As mentioned, Bruce Willis gives the best performance of his career, not reverting to his heroic cliches and cardboard hero and instead portraying Cole as a simple, poignant, tragic everyman. Equally good is Madeline Stowe as Willis' psychologist. She holds her own, injecting her character with both wild energy and strength as she collapses under the weight of what she comes to believe is a false 'religion.'

Gilliam's expert, overwhelming, and complex handling of what could have been a routine action/sci-fi film makes 12 Monkeys a compelling vision of a nightmarish, futuristic landscape. Its rich, well-thought out, intricate storyline along with bravura performances from the entire cast and its brooding, bleak cinematography make it a masterpiece of madness. Ranking in my top 10 of all time, 12 Monkeys is a darkly lavish spectacle of a film brimming with brilliance.

10 out of 10

Imaginative, clever, engaging and very enjoyable – one of the best sci-fi's I've seen

[bob the moo · 13 February 2005]

In the future humans exist underground, the surface having become uninhabitable due to the release of a virus years before in 1996. The ruling classes are scientists and large sections of the population are held as prisoners in tiny cells; prisoners who "volunteer" to help work out what happened back in 1996 that killed off 99% of the population. Requiring information about the visit, James Cole is sent back to 1996 to gather what information he can. However, sent to 1990 by accident, Cole finds himself in a mental hospital where he meets From the very start this film marks itself out as being very much a Terry Gilliam product and those who hate his work will probably dislike this film for the same reason. However, pleasing people like that is not my concern and 12 Monkeys is actually one of Gilliam's most accessible films as it sets his imaginative style within a narrative that is satisfyingly complex and thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. The story is not perfect though, the connection to the start is nice but the ultimate twist behind the virus just seems to have been thrown in to keep the film tidy; a minor complaint though because even then the main thrust of the story (Cole) keeps it together. The twisting plot plays with both Cole's and our sense of reality and it is genuinely gripping from start to finish Gilliam's direction is superb, whether it be the realistic world of the 1990's filmed with clever angles and shots or the wonderfully twisted world of the future, it is all excellent and was such a pleasant find in my local cinema at the time.

The film benefits from great turns from the cast. Willis was having a bit of a career resurrection in the mid-90's when several films showed us that he could actually act – for me, 12 Monkeys was one of them. Willis is superb as he spins from madness to sanity and back again; he underplays all the way and is so much better than the wise-cracking everyman that he is better known for. Pitt is just as good but in a different way. Getting an Oscar nomination that he deserved, Pitt risks overdoing it but pushes his crazy performance as far as he can without being indulgent – I'm not saying he is perfect but I would could this as one of his best performances to date. Stowe is very much in the shadow of these two but she holds her own well. Morse, Seda, Meloni and Plummer are all good in minor roles but really the film belongs to the lead three – Willis in particular and Pitt in a great supporting role.

Overall this is a great sci-fi; the story is great and is only helped by Gilliam's imaginative direction and awareness of the fantastic. Meanwhile the cast are very strong, with the famous leads giving some of their best performances to date. Downbeat, imaginative, engaging and one of the more accessible of Gilliam's films, it stands out as one of the best American sci-fi's of the past few decades.

Trying to Save the Future, Which Is the Past

[nycritic · 10/10 · 29 July 2005]

Stories about the possibility of a post-apocalyptic future have been around for ages, since the very creation of science-fiction as a genre per se. The fact that today's society is responsible for what may become of the future in the near tomorrow, and that our own abuses and refusals to see what is right before out eyes are at the very center of all of these stories, whether they are good or bad.

Terry Gilliam of course is a natural for this kind of film. He gives the movie a decadent feel throughout, showing a society run ragged by its own excesses and bringing forth the a sense of imminent tragedy despite having moments of comedy. His world, the world in which TWELVE MONKEYS transpires, is a place where the mad run wild, where cities are collapsing in filth and neglect, where everything reeks of foreboding despite the luminosity of the opening sequence, where madness looms at every corner. This is a very dark movie, but his very best, most linear (despite the plot twists which hold up under examination), and one which gets better with repeated viewings.

A tragic event in which a deadly virus was unleashed onto humanity in 1996 and thus led to the extermination of Life On The Planet As We Have Known It leads to scientists of the future to try and make amends to change humanity's fate on the Earth by employing renegade citizens -- the scum of the Earth -- as guinea pigs to go back in time, among them one James Cole (underplayed to great effect by Bruce Willis). Cole could be any person. We don't know anything about him, but in a way, that doesn't matter since he is little more than one of many expendable volunteers and hints of his character sneak in later as he gets closer to fulfilling his mission. What we do know is that he is a man who dreams, and his dreams may have been reality: he may have already been at the scene of the Event of 1996.

It's this constant sense of deja vu that keeps popping up throughout the movie. When taken to a mental ward by mistake in 1990 he meets Jeffrey Goines (spastically played by Brad Pitt, Oscar-nominated here) who frantically spews forth talk about doom and destruction, and later Cole believes he has seen Goines in his recurring dream as a man pushing a boy aside while escaping... what? He doesn't know. Later he meets a psychologist, Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe), and one of her first reactions to him is that he's insane, and that she's seen him before. This becomes a running notion throughout her participation in this story from passive/resistant to active and even slightly crazy believer that Something Terrible is coming This Way, especially when she meets him six years later: she has seen Cole before. At the same time, Cole continues talking about a dream he keeps having in which she also plays a part as a blonde woman running down the aisle, screaming for help, after shots have rung out and a particular red-headed man in a ponytail (Jeffrey Goines?) has apparently escaped, not before pushing the little boy who is an innocent bystander. The questions arise: have these events happened? Are they going to happen? Who is really a part of this, or better yet -- is everyone, down to the smallest player, a part of a Greater Plot? Or is this all some trick in the fabric of time in which Time in itself is one huge conveyor belt showing repetitions of fragments of events that slide by over and over again?

These questions are formulated in a masterful sequence which includes key scenes of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece VERTIGO in which Madeleine Elster/Judy Barton mourns her own brief existence ("You took no notice," she says, as Cole and Railly watch from their seats in the movie theatre they are hiding in). Snippets of dialog from VERTIGO form a foil to the dialog between Railly and Cole and later, when Cole awakens from having apparently dozed off in the theatre and goes looking for Railly, he comes face-to-face with her in disguise (looking almost exactly like Eva Maria Saint from NORTH BY NORTHWEST) as the swelling Bernard Herrmann score plays the emergence of Judy Barton, dressed as Madeleine Elster. It's a fascinating sequence, more so because of the most improbable occurrence of the names of the actors in both films: Madeleine Stowe plays Kathryn Railly who dons a blond wig and grey trench-coat and calls herself "Judy Simmons" while helping an "insane" man named James Cole; James Stewart plays a detective who tries to help "insane" Madeleine Elster who will later re-appear not once, but twice, first as brunette Judy Barton, and later, as Madeleine. Action and re-enaction, play and re-play.

these monkeys will go to heaven...

[dbdumonteil · 9/10 · 13 June 2003]

"Twelve monkeys"'s got all the elements to become Terry Gilliam's masterpiece. An outstanding screenplay, a sustained rhythm, clever sometimes ironic dialogs. Moreover, he had a good nose about the cast. "Twelve monkeys" is also the first movie where Bruce Willis stands back from the kind of character he used to play in his previous movies. Here, a jaded and hopeless character which you could nickname a prisoner took over from a fearless and invincible hero (as it was the case in "Die hard"). No matter how he tries, he's a prisoner of the time. The movie contains a very thrilling end too. It's got a real dramatic power. But this terrific movie is also a reflection about man, the dangers he dreads (notably, the ones that could cause the end of the world and here, these are virus that can create illnesses). No matter how long it will take, "twelve monkeys" will be estimated at its true value: one of the masterpieces made in the nineties.

This is amazing stuff

[philip_vanderveken · 9/10 · 15 August 2005]

Normally I try to avoid Sci-Fi movies as much as I can, because this just isn't a genre that really appeals to me. Light sabers, UFO's, aliens, time traveling... most of the time it's nothing for me. However, there is one movie in the genre that I'll always give a place in my list of top movies and that's this "Twelve Monkeys" I remember to be completely blown away by it the first time, but even now, after having it seen several times already, I'm still one of its biggest fans. Every time I see it, this movie seems to get better and better.

Somewhere in the distant future all people live underground because an unknown and lethal virus wiped out five billion people in 1996, leaving only 1 percent of the population alive. James Cole is one of them. He's a prisoner who lives in a small cage and who is chosen as a 'volunteer' to be sent back to in time to gather information about the origin of the epidemic. They believe it was spread by a mysterious group called 'The Twelve Monkeys' and need the virus before it mutated, so that scientists can study it. But their time traveling machine doesn't work perfectly yet and he is accidentally sent to 1990, where he meets Dr. Kathryn Railly, a psychiatrist, and Jeffrey Goines, the insane son of a famous scientist and virus expert...

What I like so much about this movie is the fact that it is never clear whether all what you are seeing is real or not. Is this just an illusion, created in the mind of a mentally ill man or is it real? Does he really come from the future and can he really travel through time? Was the population really wiped out by a virus, released by the army of The Twelve Monkeys? Those are all questions that will leave you wondering from the beginning until the end. If the makers of this movie had chosen to make it all more obvious, I'm sure that I would never have liked it as much as I did now. It's just that mysteriousness that keeps me interested time after time. But that's not the only good thing about this movie of course. The acting is amazing too. Normally I'm not too much a fan of Bruce Willis, but what he did in this movie was just astonishing. Together with Madeleine Stowe and Brad Pitt he should have won several awards for it, because together with the amazing story, they made this movie work so incredibly well.

Even after several viewings, I'm still a huge fan of this movie. Except for this movie, I have only seen one other Terry Gilliam movie and that's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", which wasn't bad, but didn't really convince me either. However, it's this movie that really makes me look forward to his other work. I give it a 9/10, maybe even a 9.5/10.

Not my kind of thing....

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 21 July 2012]

Obviously, a lot of people adore "Twelve Monkeys", as it's currently #180 on IMDb--placing it among the very best films ever made. While I recognize that it is an amazingly unusual plot (done before in the short French film "La Jetée"), it just isn't the sort of film that appeals to me--though I generally do like fantasy and sci-fi films. I guess the film's weirdness and very slow pace just didn't appeal to me--perhaps you'll love it.

Bruce Willis plays a criminal from the future who has been sent back in time to try to prevent a HUGE apocalyptic event in which most of the people on Earth will be wiped out in 1996. Now I NEVER understood why they put the entire future of mankind on a criminal nor did I understand why they just didn't send dozens or thousands back in time to make 100% sure the plague would not occur. Regardless, he arrives too early--back in 1990. And, unfortunately, he's seen as a crazy man and is sent to an asylum. There, he meets a goofy psychiatrist (are there any other type in films?!) and a real crazy guy (Brad Pitt). How will these three folks work together to either cause or prevent devastation? See this film if you want to know.

Aside from seeing Frank Gorshin in a very unusual role as the man running the asylum, not a lot appealed to me about this one. I didn't dislike the film--I just never felt all that interested. Part of this might be because I never liked "La Jetée"--part of it might be because Madeline Stowe's character seemed really hard to believe (sort of like Ingrid Bergman and her incredibly gullible character in "Spellbound"--another goofy female psychiatrist with no personal boundaries and a tenuous hold on reality). All I know is that I wanted to like this movie but didn't. However, I did respect that it tried to be different and quite complex. Worth a look, though I can't figure out exactly what everyone loves about this one.

Ahead of the Time

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 13 January 2021]

In 1996, a deadly virus is released by a terrorist group known as The Army of the Twelve Monkeys and wipes out 5 billion people from Earth and the survivors are forced to live underground. In 2035, the prisoner James Cole (Bruce Willis) is forced to return to 1996 to find the original virus to help the scientists to research the cure to mankind. However, he is mistakenly sent to 1990 and locked up in a mental institution, where he meets the lunatic Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt). James Cole unsuccessfully tries to explain his assignment to the doctors, including the psychiatrist Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe) that is responsible for his treatment, and then he tries to escape but is incarcerated in a cell. Out of the blue, he vanishes, in the beginning of the incredible journey of James Cole.

"Twelve Monkeys" (1995) is a sci-fi ahead of the time. The plot has many details that requires the viewer to watch this film more than once to fully understand the story. Watching "Twelve Monkeys" again in 2021 is particularly scary in times of the pandemic Covid. Hope that the history does not follow fiction. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Os 12 Macacos" ("The 12 Monkeys")

great potential, but big flaws

[enmussak · 7/10 · 13 December 2002]

Now, I thought this movie was good and I suggest seeing it. It is very entertaining. However, several things detracted from my ability to really get into the story (which was very good). I'll see anything by Gilliam... you know its going to be something interesting.

1)Brad Pitt's acting. Come on, Brad... your character can't be THAT crazy? I would have appreciated a little more subtlety to his insanity. This led the viewer not to take his character seriously (let alone a global threat). His acting was very over the top and ineffective. Four years later he figured it out in Fight Club... in which he was superb. Unless he makes some horrible career moves, Pitt will be remembered as one of the premier/bad-boy actors of this period in film.

2) The ending... just flat out bad and melodramatic.

With some fine tuning, I believe 12 Monkeys could have been right up there with Seven or Silence of the Lambs as a great film of the 90's. However, it just isn't.

Full of Gillian-isms, Empty of Willis-isms - in a good way...

[j30bell · 8/10 · 23 November 2006]

There is a story (possibly apocryphal) about an exchange between Bruce Willis and Terry Gilliam at the start of Twelve Monkeys. Gilliam (allegedly) produced a long list (think about the aircraft one from the Fifth Element) and handed it to Butch Bruce. It was entitled "Things Bruce Willis Does When He Acts". It ended with a simple message saying: "please don't do any of the above in my movie".

There is a fact about this movie (definitely true). Gilliam didn't have a hand in the writing.

I would contend that these two factors played a huge role in creating the extraordinary (if not commercial) success that is The Twelve Monkeys.

Visually, the Twelve Monkeys is all that we have rightly come to expect from a Gilliam film. It is also full of Gilliamesque surrealism and general (but magnificent) strangeness. Gilliam delights in wrong-footing his audience. Although the ending of the Twelve Monkeys will surprise no one who has sat through the first real, Gilliam borrows heavily from Kafka in the clockwork, bureaucratic relentless movement of the characters towards their fate. It is this journey, and the character developments they undergo, which unsettles.

I love Gilliam films (Brazil, in particular). But they do all tend to suffer from the same weakness. He seems to have so many ideas, and so much enthusiasm, that his films almost invariably end up as a tangled mess (Brazil, in particular). I still maintain that Brazil is Gilliam's tour de force, but there's no denying that The Twelve Monkey's is a breath of fresh air in the tight-plotting department. Style, substance and form seem to merge in a way not usually seen from the ex-Python.

Whatever the truth of the rumour above, Gilliam also manages to get a first rate (and very atypical) performance out of the bald one. Bruce is excellent in this film, as are all the cast, particularly a suitably bonkers - and very scary - Brad Pitt.

It's been over a decade since this film was released. When I watched it again, I realised that it hadn't really aged. I had changed, of course. And this made me look at the film with fresh eyes. This seems to me to be a fitting tribute to a film that, partly at least, is about reflections in mirrors, altered perspectives and the absurd one-way journey through time that we all make. A first rate film. 8/10.

Too Many Unanswered Questions

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 9 February 2010]

While I didn't dislike this movie, I had to put aside any understanding about the implications of time travel that stuck in my mind. I love time travel movies, but they always leave a bittersweet taste for me. The story is interesting but I can never get beyond the point of "What is he trying to do?" The effects launched by travel into the past are so fundamentally unpredictable, they can't stand up. He says he can't change things and then goes about changing things. I can sense the frustration in Bruce Willis's character. He is trying to buy favor with his own time. But how can he even have his own time if he changes the past, even in the smallest way. We could go on. Once we just choose to ignore these questions, we have a basic chase movie where the kidnap victim does begin to relate to her captor and his cause. I just can't get past the previously mentioned factors. I will give Bruce Willis credit. He plays the haunted, victimized creature he becomes very well. Brad Pitt plays a very tightly wound nut case as well.

Intriguing story, lackluster execution

[hall895 · 5/10 · 12 October 2015]

In 2027 James Cole is a prisoner living beneath the streets of Philadelphia with some of the very few survivors of a virus which wiped out most of humankind back in 1996. Somehow these people living under the streets have invented time travel. OK then. The scientists in charge send Cole back to 1996 to collect information on the virus in order to develop a cure. Why, if you have time travel capabilities, the focus is on finding a cure for the few people alive in 2027 rather than stopping the virus from wiping out the species in the first place is not particularly clear. Anyhow Cole's mission gets off to a bad start when he ends up in 1990 rather than 1996 and immediately finds himself placed in a mental institution. This is all very weird. It's about to get much weirder.

Cole ends up jumping back and forth in time, quite befuddled by the whole experience. Anyone watching this film will also feel that sense of befuddlement. It's certainly an intriguing story but one which director Terry Gilliam never really got a firm grasp on. The film ends up being a bit of a disjointed mess. You're drawn into the story but ultimately end up lost in this movie's complex maze. Bruce Willis turns in a solid performance as Cole. He's solid and reliable, giving this film which threatens to veer out of control some desperately needed grounding. Brad Pitt is the other big star. He plays Jeffrey Goines who is one of the craziest crazies in the institution. Pitt plays the part with wild-eyed manic enthusiasm. The effect is quite jarring. Yes, Jeffrey is supposed to be crazy but this is some serious overacting on Pitt's part. Madeleine Stowe plays the female lead, Kathryn Railly, Cole's doctor at the institution. Cole pops in and out of her life. Initially she thinks he's nuts but as she processes new information she may have to re-evaluate that position. Unfortunately the chemistry between Willis and Stowe is lacking, the relationship between their characters falls rather flat. And as their relationship becomes more important in the story that becomes a big problem for the movie.

Ultimately 12 Monkeys is a rather frustrating film. It has an intriguing premise but the story does not play itself out in a very satisfying way. Things get muddled pretty quickly and the story twists itself into some confusing knots. The film tries to spring some surprises but telegraphs some of its twists way too soon, which is part of the reason the ending is not nearly as powerful as Gilliam would hope. Meanwhile Gilliam's assortment of visual tricks throughout serve no purpose other than to distract and annoy. Stowe's performance lacks energy, Pitt's has too much energy. Christopher Plummer is underused. Willis does a fine job but too much of what surrounds him disappoints. For all the jumping back and forth in time the film is rather slowly paced. The story may interest you but there really is not much in the way of entertainment. You would imagine a story such as this would be full of exciting moments but excitement is in very short supply. 12 Monkeys held great promise but in the end that promise is not fulfilled.

A brilliant movie. One of the very best science fiction movies of the 1990s, and one or Terry Gilliam's greatest achievements.

[Infofreak · 24 January 2003]

I grew up on Python and have followed Terry Gilliam's subsequent directorial career for more years than I care to remember. Half his output leaves me cold, the other half dazzle me beyond belief. 'Brazil' is his movie that I would rate the highest, but I've come to think that I have unfairly underrated 'Twelve Monkeys'. I have always enjoyed it, but I've only come to realize just how good a movie it really is. Sometimes I think it is even better than 'Brazil'. It's a close pick. Unlike 'Brazil' Gilliam didn't come up with the script. He basically was initially involved as a director for hire. Thankfully the script itself (by David and Janet Peoples) is first rate. On top of that Gilliam manages to stamp his own style and approach on to the material without sliding into complete self-indulgence as he sometimes does. The budget of this movie wasn't anywhere near as large as you would imagine from the impressive results on screen. It looks superb. Gilliam coaxes first rate performances out of Bruce Willis (quite a surprise) and Brad Pitt (not such a surprise, see also 'Johnny Suede' and 'Kalifornia'). Madeline Stowe is also very good, as is Christopher Plummer, and in a small but important role, David Morse. It's difficult to fault this movie. It is a joy to watch, and improves with each viewing. I also highly recommend Chris Marker's 'La Jetee', the short experimental film which inspired 'Twelve Monkeys'. It is also brilliant.

Pure Mad Genius Filmmaking

[The-Ambassador · 9/10 · 28 November 2014]

It is unfortunate that all big budget films cannot be as good as 12 MONKEYS. But alas is that not what makes these once in a while films so special? Obviously director Gilliam is a rare talent, a treasure. But even for him 12 Monkeys outshines nearly everything else he's ever done. (And that says a lot. Brazil after all is another incredible film.) But this movie has two things going for it that ale it rise to the very top of the top. #1 it features a stellar cast who all equally deliver fantastic performances. This is Bruce Willis at his peak -- before he sold out and went all Die Hard, when e still cared about being taken seriously as an actor. Same with Brad Pitt. Many attribute this film as the first time Pitt showed the world that he truly was an actor and not just another pretty face. (He further proved that point in Fight Club and many others through the years -- Money Ball, Tree of Life, et al.) and then there's Madeline Stowe. Besides the stellar acting though 12 Monkeys accomplished something even more important: it gave us the opportunity for future films such as Memento and Inception. 12 Monkeys not only featured a non-linear approach to time travel, it did so erratically boldly dynamically and unapologetically so, allowing future filmmakers, like the aforementioned referenced Nolan brothers, to feel safe stepping even further out on those limbs. 12 Monkeys opened that door and so many others. This is a film you can see over and over and still see something new in it AND be moved by. A classic by all standards.

Terry Gilliam: Visionary - 12 Monkeys: Vision

[ToldYaSo · 10/10 · 24 April 1999]

I had the privilege of seeing this film at a preview screening years ago, and outside the theater I was confronted by a camera crew from a local TV station looking for comments on the film. At the time, the only words that escaped my mouth were "Awesome. Just awesome." I like to think I can articulate myself a little better than that, but at the time I was somewhat incapable of doing so.

The story is intriguing and thought provoking, and the acting is first rate from all the principals. This film was the first one that Terry Gilliam directed that he didn't have a hand in the writing credit for. Back with Universal after his long, arduous battle with them over "Brazil", Terry had achieved what he wanted most; the "final cut". Terry is a master craftsman, and each shot is like a beautifully conceived painting that has been constructed carefully with determination and conviction. It is only justice that such an individual should be unfettered in his attempts to convey a concept. Unfortunately, limitations still exist in such arrangements.

The Universal Collector's Edition DVD of this film is simply amazing, although most of the bonus features aren't listed on the box. It contains among other things, a director/producer audio commentary and an informative and extremely interesting 90 minute documentary on the making of the film called "The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of 12 Monkeys". It tells of some of the creative pitfalls in filmmaking, including a test of mettle when preview screenings tested poorly, striking the team with feelings of self-doubt and despair. Fortunately, for all of us, they decided to change very little about the film and released it to an enormous success.

Absolute Top Tier Sci-Fi

[Mcnabbbeasty · 8/10 · 20 March 2021]

I know "12 Monkeys" gets its respects in being a highly respectable science fiction motion picture, but it deserves a whole lot more then just that. I believe this is one of the greatest Sci-Fi flicks ever created. It's imaginative, visionary, and masterfully conceptualized; all imperative elements in the orchestration of profound science fiction. Brad Pitt delivered one of the most entertaining and fun performances I've ever witnessed as a crazed looney bird who's the son of a eminent virologist, and to a less profound degree in the art of acting, Bruce Willis displayed one of his greater performances as well. 12 monkeys hits on all cylinders and makes it one of the great Terry Gilliam's most profound achievements.

Mind Bending and a bit Hilarious.

[sudhirkumarpal8 · 8/10 · 5 April 2021]

I don't know why his name is not under credits, but Pitt has done one of the best acts ever, of his career. No wonder he was nominated an Oscar for this. For all his amazing looks, he puts too much hard work in his roles. I never thought if that crazy guy role for a slim, good looking, stubbled stud will ever work. But he proved these amazing guys too can be crazy, that too beautifully.

Bruce was good as usual, may be too much drooling in his role and for his psychiatrist. Even for that personality he easily managed to overpower those two guys in the theater (kinda Die Hard thing). That scene was funny as hell.

Time travels, I think, if are that frequent, can never be right on the money. Ending up in the trenches as result is never a good idea. Can't they transport the person with his clothes on. I mean I will never wish to be teleported to some place naked, at-least factor in the weather for God's sake.

We have witnessed Corona recently and 2035 is a bit far away. Doesn't portend well for the human race.

Overall a good watch #TwelveMonkeys1995 - 8/10.

12 Monkeys is the best modern sci-fi classic!

[ivo-cobra8 · 7/10 · 29 November 2015]

12 Monkeys (1995) is the best modern sci-fi classic flick! This is the finest sci-fi movie of all time and I love this film to death! It is my favorite best Bruce Willis flick alongside with Die Hard, Sin City, The Fifth Elemen and The Jackal, 12 Monkeys Delivers! The movie it self is a modern sci- fi classic that does involve travel into the past, so it immediately presents a time-travel paradox which can't really be resolved. In order to even try watching this movie, you MUST LOOK PAST THE PARADOX. If you don't, this movie has zero credibility, and is not worth your time.

This movie is about Bruce Willis who stars as a prison inmate from the future who is sent back in time to stop a deadly virus from decimating the world's population. Brad Pitt delivers an Academy Award-nominated performance as a lunatic in an asylum. Directed by Terry Gilliam. An unknown and lethal virus has wiped out five billion people in 1996. Only 1% of the population has survived by the year 2035, so now the Year is 2035. A prison inmate gets a chance to travel back in time to gathering information about an army 12 monkeys and stop them at all cost. But something goes terrible wrong and he is sent back in the year 1990, 6.years earlier and he is now shipped off in to mental institution asylum where there he meets Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt) a lunatic in an asylum. The movie has two parts in here. The first part is set in 1990 Asylum and the second part is set 1996 on the airport before the deadly virus is released out. The movie explains the army of 12 monkeys were not responsible for deadly virus but was someone else. I will not tell you who it was you will have to find out for your self who it was.

I found this to be one of the more enjoyable movies I have seen in quite a bit. The acting is excellent and I must say that Brad Pitt plays his part brilliantly. The story is good and keep you guessing all the way through. All in all, this is a movie that takes you for an intriguing ride and leaves you with a bit to think about. This was Brad Pitt's second famous role after he finished Se7en another mystery thriller flick. The film has a mystery in it, it keeps guessing you what will happened next what will Cole (Bruce Willis) do to stop Jeffrey (Brad Pitt) and his army of 12 monkeys. This is a movie you have to watch repeatedly to get the full scale of what is going on and who's what when and where. That requires some level of patience and understanding so be prepared. Madeleine Stowe did a perfect outstanding job of acting in this movie.

The main actors set in motion, it's up to the script to deliver the real substance of the movie. (One often sees great performances in mediocre films... here the story transcends the performances -- an impressive feat.) The script delivers. The film is absolutely filled with great, classic moments (I counted TEN all-star ones during my last viewing), and they're evenly spaced through the movie. This movie is what is a perfect 10 and it will always be a solid Sci-Fi flick even the series of 12 Monkeys was released out this year and the first season is already completed!" I wish Sci-Fi movies like this one would be made today. Btw Director Terry Gilliam was brilliant and imaginative who directed the most perfectly movie field with all the tools that fit the task -- actors, CGI effects and the story with script that delivers. It is mind blowing, entertaining, and just plain crazy! Plus it has monkeys in it! It is really funny to see Pitt before his TROY/MR. SMITH days. If you really want a shocker look up Pitt in "The Wrong Side of the Tracks" with Rick Schroeder. Anyway, this movie rocks. Willis puts in a good performance, and all the characters give this movie a creepy feel. It is kind of like Mad Max, except a city landscape and weird scientists instead of Tina Turner. Although most modern "the future was destroyed by a virus" movies are more realistic, this movie is still fun to watch given that it was made in 1995.

12 Monkeys, also known as Twelve Monkeys, is a 1995 American neo-noir science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film La Jetée, and starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt, with Christopher Plummer and David Morse in supporting roles.

10/10 Score: Bad Ass Seal Of Approval Studio: Universal Pictures, Atlas Entertainment, Classico Starring: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer and Jon Seda Director: Terry Gilliam Screenplay: David Peoples, Janet Peoples, Based on La jetée by Chris Marker Producer: Charles Roven Rated: R Running Time: 2 Hrs. 09 Mins. Budget: $29.000.000 Box Office: $168,839,459

Superior sci-fi

[Red-Barracuda · 9/10 · 20 April 2012]

A convict from the year 2035 is assigned a mission in order to win parole. He is sent back in time by a group of scientists to try and discover the source of a fatal plague that wiped out most of the human race. A plague which did not kill animals. In his travels he discovers mysterious graffiti announcing the arrival of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys.

Terry Gilliam has always been an interesting film director and visual stylist even when some of his movies are uneven. With 12 Monkeys he perhaps produces his most wholly satisfying work. It's a consistently compelling mystery within the framework of a time-travelling sci-fi narrative. It's a fairly complex story, so attention is demanded of the viewer. This is perhaps the chief strength of the film, however, as the labyrinthine narrative is one that benefits from multiple viewings. There are still some elements of ambiguity even at the end, so it's a film that actively encourages discussion.

There's a good cast too. Bruce Willis was on a bit of a run in the mid 90's and this is one of the great films he appeared in at the height of his powers. On the other hand, it's one of the first films where Brad Pitt was allowed to display his acting chops and show that he was a lot more than just a pretty face. While in visual terms, it's as interesting as you would expect from a Gilliam movie; although not as phantasmagorical as some of his more personal fantasy features. In 12 Monkeys he was a director for hire but it's not immediately obvious. Perhaps the distance this gave him actually helped instill some discipline that made the whole more cohesive on the whole. Whatever the case, this is an excellent sci-fi film with a compelling central mystery.

This makes sense now

[johanex71 · 7/10 · 20 April 2020]

Shockingly Realistic with the condition what we r going through now in 2020.. a movie ahead if it's time. Bruce is phenomenal in this one. One of the greatest time travel movie in Hollywood.

Time and destiny in a true 90's masterpiece

[cepmc29 · 10/10 · 18 July 2005]

A linear travel within a non-linear structure. It's a fact that time, in 12 monkeys, flows in this come-and-go between present, future and past. However, the movie's linearity can't be avoided: it's the very work of the projector, the unfolding of the narrative.

What we can see underlying the temporal theme is a reflection on the inevitability of our actions. The world of this Terry Gilliam film is a world with little space for free-will.

Right from the beginning we are informed about a schizophrenic's prophecy, according to which a plague would rule the Earth in 1997, forcing the few survivors to live underground - the only place not affected by the virus.

Cole's (Willis) mission is clear: return to the mid 90's to investigate whatever and whoever is related to the release of the virus. There's no way to change the past: all that can be done is gather information that can help the scientists of the present (that, for us viewers, is the future) find the cure. Not to change what happened (the past is inevitable), but make the present better.

In his "returns" in time, Cole gradually comes near a striking dilemma: his life in the past is better than his life in the present.

The latter is dark and dehumanizing, controlled by totalitarian scientists that elect "volunteers" (this word is incisively ironic) to embark on the journeys to the past.

The scientists have not yet reached the highest level of achievements in time travel, and Cole ends up on wrong dates - this will, later in the plot, work as a proof of his sanity for the psychiatrist Kathryn (Stowe).

We can see, through the evolution of the story, that linearity and non-linearity interlace in a circular temporality.

There is more than one moment in which the scene that is the first and ends up being almost the last - and certainly the climactic - appears. It modifies itself, according to the evocation of Cole's memories, that come up in his dreams.

In an airport, a man is shot dead while running, armed, toward someone else. A blonde woman runs after the murdered one.

This is the scene that connects the past (in which Cole is a kid that visits the airport with his parents), the present (the time of the narrative) and the future (adult Cole) Throughout the narrative, Cole has the feeling of having already lived the reality he is experiencing now. His prophetic dreams are the proof that it is impossible to escape or avoid what happened. The agents that shoot him stop him from killing the mad scientist, doctor Peters (Morse), that is the responsible for the dissemination of the disease.

What was can't be changed. And, in Cole's case, what was is what will be. Eternally.

A film not quite well understood for many. To me, nothing less than a masterpiece.

Other good movies with similar theme: The Back to the future trilogy (that has another angle regarding the "mad scientist" character, and although it shares the atmosphere of decay - particularly in the second film -, it is way more optimistic than Gilliam's work, that is an odd Hollywood picture).

In another register, there is "Wild strawberries", one of Bergman's masterpieces, that involves a striking and enlightening travel to the past through dreams and reminiscences.

I've never watched "La Jetée", but only because I can't find it.

Interesting!!

[Shubh9019 · 7/10 · 19 March 2023]

Twelve Monkeys is a film that is a nice Science fiction treat for the fans of this genre.

It's truly compelling and keeps viewers move in circles around it.

The performances were the best I've seen in a long time.

Brad Pitt was exceptional. He is one of those actors whom you can rely upon for performance purposes.

Bruce Willis was also really a great attraction. He was able to carry the film on his shoulders.

The movie takes its time to set up and build and that may be counted as a negative aspect of the movie.

Be patient for the first half of the film and after that you'll surely enjoy yourselves.

Not as good as expected

[zurain-malik · 1/10 · 25 July 2011]

I expected a great film, especially after reading the glowing reviews on IMDb, but I was disappointed.

The main characters seemed to me to be annoying, and incompetent. The story was OK but you don't really feel as though anything of any consequence has happened or been achieved at the end of the film.

Overall you feel as though the film goes nowhere and does nothing, it also manages to do this at an achingly slow pace and with no memorable characters or even a character you can identify with.

How this film has scored so highly is beyond me, I thought it was terrible.