Product Description

Movie DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2290 in DVD
• Brand: Universal Studios
• Released on: 2005-05-10
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 129 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Inspired by Chris Marker's acclaimed short film La Jetée (which is included on the DVD Short 2: Dreams), 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 '90s, boosted by Gilliam's visual ingenuity and one of the finest performances of Willis's career. --Jeff Shannon

DVD features
The main difference between the 2005 Special Edition and the old Collector's Edition is that the Special Edition has been digitally remastered. If you're finicky about packaging, you'll notice the special edition comes in a gold amaray case. The bonus features on both editions are exactly the same. --Ryan Boudinot

From The New Yorker
Terry Gilliam's elaborate time-travel thriller is based on Chris Marker's elegant twenty-nine-minute short, "La Jetée" (1964). Turning that perfect, rigorously constructed fable about memory and mortality into a big-budget futuristic action picture starring Bruce Willis is an inherently quixotic project, but the screenwriters, David and Janet Peoples, do a surprisingly skillful job: the complicated plot they've worked out has its own logic and integrity, and it even preserves, like insects fossilized in amber, a few poignant traces of Marker's metaphysical lyricism. Unfortunately, Gilliam's hyperkinetic direction keeps subverting the story's meaning. Instead of respecting the reflective nature of the material, he bombards us with bizarre sensation; in this picture, memory has the false immediacy of an acid flashback. Willis and his co-star, Madeleine Stowe, give alert, thoughtful performances. But finally the film is no more than a flamboyant curiosity, replacing the spooky obsessiveness of "La Jetée" with a much tamer kind of weirdness. Also with Brad Pitt, in a showy role as a voluble lunatic; he's dreadful. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Great movie, great DVD!
When I saw "12 Monkeys" in the theaters, I thought to myself, "This is one of the greatest films of the past ten years." Despite working with a script written by others and under some stringent studio restrictions, Terry Gilliam more than managed to infuse the story with his trademark approach to movie-making.

I had some reservations going in about the choice of Brad Pitt to play the role of a mentally unbalanced eco-terroist, but Pitt did a marvelous job and really made the character his own. (Viewers who like Pitt in "12 Monkeys" would probably do well to check out his performance in "Fight Club". Tyler Durden is what Jeffery Goins could be if he were less manic.) Bruce Willis and Madeline Stowe also turn in terrific performances, especially Willis for whom this was one of his first non-action films. Fans of the old "Batman" TV show will be amused to see Frank Gorshin (the Riddler) as the chief psychiatrist at the mental institution were much of the early part of the film takes place. Christopher Plummer is not given much screen time, but he does an excellent job with what little he has.

As for the story itself, even though many people try to claim that it is about the line between sanity and madness(in the vein of Gilliam's "The Fisher King"), I just do not see it as such. I never doubted Cole's sanity, the future world was too real to make me think that it was a figment of Cole's imagination. And if one did have that impression at first, there was too much revealed early in the film to sustain that belief. I prefer to view the story as an extremely intricate "whodunit", where the viewer actually receives most of the information relevant to the conclusion by about half-way through the film, but in such a jumbled and contradictory manner that the true outcome remains obscure until the last 15 minutes. But of course, this being a Gilliam picture, even after the conclusion is revealed, a final twist is thrown to the viewer. (Note: to appreciate the twist, pay attention to the future scientists. I've known some people who didn't watch closely and they didn't understand the twist as a result.)

Setting aside the film, and considering the DVD, Universal did an excellent job with this release. The documentary "The Hamster Factor" offers some great insights into both "12 Monkeys" and the movie industry in general. And the commentary track with Gilliam and the producer is very good for understanding the process of movie-making, as well as how specific scenes were set up. My only disappointment came with the "Production Notes" feature. If you watch the documentary and listen to the commentary track, the production notes really just repeat what you've previously learned.

Frightening.
Good Science Fiction (weather a book, a movie, tv, whatever) has the power to make us look at ourselves as a society. The events in this movie metaphorically mimic events in our everyday lives. Even though we have not yet discovered time travel, all of the other events in this movie could happen, which is absolutely frightening. This is a dark movie, not for everyone, which has a deep high-minded script and plot (it may take a few watchings to fully understand this one.) The cinematography, directing, and acting are wonderful. Bruce Willis proves that he can do other movies besides his normal action type. He also proved it later in The 6th Sense, but I think this is one of his best performences. As for Brad Pitt, it is his best performance. It's so real that by the end, you'll think he's crazy.

Another important thing to note is to buy the DVD, but not the DTS one. The non-DTS version has an insightful long documentary on the making of the film, the DTS version does not have this. Plus the Dolby Digital sound is excellent in itself.

Most Highly Reccomended.

Excellent, except for some nits to pick.
This movie intrigues, stimulates thought, and fully provokes attention. I want to address the various criticisms. First, the movie does drag somewhat, especially at the asylum, yet all this is forgivable because virtually every fact exposed in that segment serves as foundation for the rest of the film. Second, the romance is depicted awkwardly and is indeed unconvincing, but not entirely unbelievable; hence, this is a small flaw, especially in a movie not intended as a romance. Third, the ending is strange, and not entirely logical. I believe this resulted from Gilliam's own indecision and ambivalence: It's nearly impossible to have an ending that is deliberately subtle and unexplained, and leaves the audience debating, and yet remain logical and coherent. The woman on the plane - the scientist - is there to get a sample (if I understood the director's comments), yet she is exposing herself to the virus. In the beginning, Cole was told that a break in his suit would bar him from returning from the surface, presumably because he would be carrying the virus. How then is the scientist supposed to go back if she has been similarly exposed? There are a few possibilities, but they are embarrassingly far-fetched. Convoluted? Yes, but this movie has substance, unlike so many "hits" that should shame their directors, producers and other garbage men. The DVD (Collectors Edition) is very well done. The commentary augments the experience a lot, and the "Making of..." is interesting. The video quality is good, though not the best possible for a DVD. Unlike most DVD purchasers, I tend to be parsimonious in my ratings. A 4.5 would be the most accurate because of the few minor flaws in this package.