| | | The future is history.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), Commentary, Archives, Production Notes, Theatrical Trailer, English, French Subtitled
In this science fiction masterpiece, Cole (Bruce Willis) is sent back in time to save the human race from a deadly virus that has forced mankind into dank underground communities in the future. Along his travels, he encounters a psychiatrist (Madeleine Stowe) and a mental patient, brilliantly portrayed by Brad Pitt, who may hold the key to the mysterious rogue group, The Army of the 12 Monkeys, thought to be responsible for unleashing the killer disease. Believing he can obtain a pure virus sample in order to find a cure in the future, he is met with one riddle after another that puts him in a race for time.
"Fierce and disturbing, with a plot that skillfully resists following any familiar course." Janet Maslin, New York Times
"...a disturbing and dazzling lost world." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Editor's Note
When a man enters a hospital claiming to have journeyed back in time from the year 2025 to stop a killer virus from exterminating mankind, a beautiful psychologist decides he might be more than delusional. Terry Gilliam populates this labyrinthine, apocalyptic film with twisted characters and eerie revelations. The film was shot primarily in Philadelphia; Gilliam uses the more dilapidated area of the city to the film's apocalyptic advantage. The film is based on the 1962 French short film LA JETEE.
Plot Summary
In this intriguing science fiction film from director Terry Gilliam, penal colony prisoner James Cole must travel back in time from the year 2035 to find the cause of a virus that killed five billion people in 1997.| Cole's trip into the past won't be easy. For starters, he winds up in the wrong year on his first attempt. Once, as he time-travels, Cole ends up a prisoner in an insane asylum in 1990. There, he meets psychiatrist Kathryn Railly and inmate Jeffrey Goines, who could hold the key to the epidemic's spread. Cole later winds up in the middle of a World War I battlefield. | After meeting James for a second time, in another year, Dr. Railly gets further involved in his quest. Although she thinks at first that Cole must be crazy, Kathryn soon starts to believe him and attempts to help.| But James has already started to question his own sanity and tries to figure out if his journeys through time are real or if he's just been imagining everything.
| Features | 12 Monkeys Archives | | Audio: English, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Feature Commentary with Director Terry Gilliam & Producer Charles Roven | | Subtitles: French, Spanish | | The Hamster Factor And Other Tales Of 12 Monkeys (The Making Of 12 Monkeys) | | Theatrical trailer | | Widescreen Presentation | | Commentary with Director Terry Gilliam and Producer Charles Roven The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of 12 Monkeys making of feature | | The 12 Monkeys Archives | | Production notes |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Universal |
| Release Date: 5/23/2006 |
| Running Time: 130 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1995 | | Catalog ID: 25452 | | UPC: 00025192545221 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English | | Available Subtitles: French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1996) | | | Brad Pitt, Nominee, Best Supporting Actor | |
Golden Globe (1996) |  | Brad Pitt, Winner, Best Supporting Actor |
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| | Professional Reviews | Premiere
"...Plenty of surrealistic fluorish..." 12/01/1995 p.36Rolling Stone
"...Pitt is terrific....Solving the riddle of 12 MONKEYS is an exhilarating challenge..." 01/29/1996 p.64-66 USA Today
"...A Hitchcockian chase...A crowd-pleasing airport-pursuit pic..." -- 3 1/2 out of 4 stars 12/27/1995 p.1D Entertainment Weekly
"...A near-fractal script,...[an] achingly battered performance [by Willis]...and its own pell-mell momentum....Emotional urgency..." -- Rating: B 07/12/1996 pp.64-5 Los Angeles Times
"...An unlikely love story combined with a visionary detective yarn....Mystifying, intriguing..." 12/27/1995 p.F1 Reel Views 7 of 10
...it is refreshing to encounter a movie with a logical, intelligent approach to the dangers of zipp - James Berardinelli
San Francisco Chronicle 8 of 10
12 Monkeys is a grandiose cinematic invention, cleverly turning the present-day urban America - Peter Stack
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