The ape and the great escape

Rating: 10/10 (19 September 2006)

Why waste time and write a comment on an old science fiction movie of the nineties? The special effects are executed so much better nowadays, aren't they?
Number one: You don't even have to accept this movie as Science Fiction. The story is told as if we were witnessing the main character (Bruce Willis) losing grip of reality, as if everything we see might only exist in his mind. Movies sort of only exist in our mind, by the way.
Number two and all the way to number twelve: I don't believe Terry Gilliam will ever top this: It's not just his best movie, It's an all time instant classic, with a terrific script and a stellar cast.
Disconnection and misinterpretation are key words in this feverish update of the H. G. Wells classic "The Time Machine". But in Gilliams deconstructed version, the Sci-Fi technology is reduced to visual madness, and human life is reduced to fear of contact, both inward and outward in life. Everybody's in cages, and when they try to break loose or are set free, they just become even more disconnected and visually surreal. Every time you try to loosen the knot, it turns out you're just tightening it.
It won't take you long to realize that this movie unfolds like a classic tragedy. But the story will keep twisting and turning long after you've finished watching the movie. To me, that's as good as it gets, if you decide to waste some of your precious limited time on earth at watching movies - without the possibility of escaping by time machine to the nearest banana outlet or whatever you fancy in life.