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Movies / On DVD / 12 Monkeys
12 Monkeys

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12 Monkeys (1995)

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Reviews Counted:48

Fresh:41

Rotten:7

Average Rating:7.2/10

Consensus: The plot's a bit of a jumble, but excellent performances and mind-blowing plot twists make 12 Monkeys a kooky, effective experience.

Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: 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... 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. [More]

Starring: Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Madeleine Stowe, Christopher Plummer

Starring: Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Madeleine Stowe, Christopher Plummer

Director: Terry Gilliam

Director: Terry Gilliam
Producer: Charles Roven
Composer: Paul Buckmaster

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jul 28, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

Blu-ray Disc Features:

  • Region [unknown]
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • DTS 5.1 Surround - Spanish
  • DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 - English
  • Subtitles - English, SDH, Spanish

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary: Director Terry Gilliam and Producer Charles Roven
  • Trailer

Featurette:

  • 1. The Hamster Factor & Other Tales of 12 Monkeys
  • 2. 12 Monkeys Archives

Interactive Features:

  • BD Live: Basic Download Center
 
 
 
 

Reviews for 12 Monkeys

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
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A movie that is about as much fun to watch as getting your teeth pulled.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment 5 Comments
01/01/00
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

In its frantic mix of chaos, carnage and zoo animals, 12 Monkeys is Jumanji for adults.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment 3 Comments
01/01/00
Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Oh my!

Full Review Source: StaciWilson.com | comment 3 Comments
12/31/04
Staci Layne Wilson
Staci Layne Wilson
StaciWilson.com

Distinctly lacking in sentiment. Give me cataclysm, but at least act like you care.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment 2 Comments
05/14/03
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

The acting is good, and the visuals are sharp. But at two hours long, they should have just settled for six monkeys.

Full Review Source: Film Scouts | comment 1 Comment
04/17/02
Leslie Rigoulot
Leslie Rigoulot
Film Scouts

Neither as visually compelling as Brazil nor as emotionally gripping as The Fisher King.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment 1 Comment
03/26/09
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety

A clever, complex, and poignant success is as astonishing as it is satisfying.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/30/03
TV Guide's Movie Guide

One of the qualities that makes 12 Monkeys so good is the fact that it is almost too complicated to explain.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
Barbara Shulgasser
Barbara Shulgasser
San Francisco Examiner

I'm pleased beyond words to find a movie that cares deeply for its characters even as they fall under the wheels of destiny, instead of killing them just to be clever.

Full Review Source: Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus

Aside from his trademark visual style, Gilliam generally handles the chaos he depicts quite well, and he's come up with a marvelous cast.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Despite my beef with the interminable convolutions of 12 Monkeys, the film has one major thing going for it: put simply, it's very, very cool.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
08/08/02
Cory Cheney
Cory Cheney
Urban Tulsa Weekly

An antithesis of how The Terminator handled time travel.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
06/23/04
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Willis and Pitts's performances, Gilliam's atmospherics and an exhilarating momentum easily outweigh such trifling flaws.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
02/13/01
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Dark and somber like Blade Runner, this sci-fi is a spectacular mess, a convoluted film with too many ideas for its own good, blending (among other things) the virus thriller with the post-apocalyptic genre.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
08/12/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Weird meditation on time and apocalyptic possibilities.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
08/21/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Gilliam gives the material a lunatic poetry of his own, but remains impervious to the requirements of narrative pacing.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

A consistently engaging motion picture.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The whole scope of 12 Moneys is completely insane, often confusing, sometimes almost unintelligible; but somehow at the end it all comes together and everything makes sense if you look at it closely enough.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
02/27/01
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

It has a story -- and a good one at that -- with characters one cares about and isn't just a flashy display of what today's special effects teams are capable of. Anybody out there in Hollywood listening to any of this?

Full Review Source: Sci-Fi Movie Page | comment Comment
01/01/00
James O'Ehley
James O'Ehley
Sci-Fi Movie Page
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
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