A great film Classic

Rating: 10/10 (13 March 2008)

Without doubt one of Terry Gilliam's own favorite films he has directed and also quoted by Bruce Willis as his finest work his proud of. Brad Pitt also praises the film as one of his best performances. Inspired by the 1962 French film written and directed by Chris Marker this English adaptation was written by David Webb Peoples after producer Robert Kosberg raised the finance for the film. An astonishing story about a virus that is let loose by a Biologist Dr Peters (David Morse of Contact) at a Biological chemical research firm run by Dr Goines (Christopher Plummer). The virus virtually wipes out the Human race of five billion people but the animal kingdom is immune. A group of advanced scientists survive in a high tech underground city into the future and harness time travel and send back human prisoners to before the disaster to discover how the disaster occurred. The prisoners gain pardons for their very stressful time travel and one of the best is James Cole played by Bruce Willis. After several journeys back in time Cole discovers that the Animal Liberation group The 12 Monkeys headed by Jeffrey Goines ( Brad Pitt) son of Dr Goines is some how connected. Also on theses time travel episodes he repeatedly meets Psychiatrist Dr Railly (Madelaine Stowe)who eventually realizes that she has been repeatedly meeting Cole and that the time travel and his story of the plight of the human race is real.
This film contains a brilliant interweaving plot structure that skillfully deals with the anomalies of time travel science fiction as well as a plausible man made scenario for the disastrous extinction of the human species.
an extraordinary masterpiece of a Film has become recognised as one of the great classics of film making. It is already a cult classic amongst the a List actors and directors.
Terry Gilliam extracts brilliant performances from all the actors and the whole spectrum of emotion including the romance and moment of belief of Dr Railly for Cole.