12 Monkeys [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

An intense film about time travel, this sci-fi entry was directed by Terry Gilliam, a member of the comedy troupe Monty Python. The film stars Bruce Willis as James Cole, a prisoner of the state in the year 2035 who can earn parole if he agrees to travel back in time and thwart a devastating plague. The virus has wiped out most of the Earth's population and the remainder live underground because the air is poisonous. Returning to the year 1990, six years before the start of the plague, Cole is soon imprisoned in a psychiatric facility because his warnings sound like mad ravings. There he meets a scientist named Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe) and Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), the mad son of an eminent virologist (Christopher Plummer). Cole is returned by the authorities to the year 2035, and finally ends up at his intended destination in 1996. He kidnaps Dr. Railly in order to enlist her help in his quest. Cole discovers graffiti by an apparent animal rights group called the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, but as he delves into the mystery, he hears voices, loses his bearings, and doubts his own sanity. He must figure out if Goines, who seems to be a raving lunatic, holds the key to the puzzle. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 1
• Subtitle: Eng,Fre,Por,Spa,Kor,Swe,Dan,Fi
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Features:
  • Feature Commentary with director Terry Gilliam and producer Charles Roven
  • The Hamster Factor & Other Tales of 12 Monkeys
  • 12 Monkeys Archives

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Costume Design - 1995 (Julie Weiss)
•     Nominated Best Supporting Actor - 1995 (Brad Pitt)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pictu - 1995 (Brad Pitt)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Bruce Willis - James Cole
       Madeleine Stowe - Dr. Kathryn Railly
       Brad Pitt - Jeffrey Goines
       Christopher Plummer - Dr. Goines
       David Morse - Dr. Peters
       Jon Seda - Jose
       Frank Gorshin - Dr. Fletcher
       Joseph Melito - Young Cole
       Aaron Michael Lacey - WWI Sergeant

• Director:

  Terry Gilliam

• Producer:

  Charles Roven

• Screenwriter:

  David Peoples, Janet Peoples

• Cinematographer:

  Roger Pratt

• Composer (Music Score):

  Paul Buckmaster

• Songwriter:

  Tom Waits

• Editor:

  Mick Audsley

• Production Designer:

  Jeffrey Beecroft

• Art Director:

  William Ladd Skinner

• Co-producer:

  Lloyd Phillips

• Associate Producer:

  Mark Egerton, Kelley Smith-Wait

• Executive Producer:

  Robert Kosberg, Robert Cavallo, Gary Levinsohn

• Set Designer:

  Crispian Sallis

• Costume Designer:

  Julie Weiss

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Jay Meagher

• Makeup:

  Christine Beveridge

• Special Effects:

  Shirley Montefusco, Vincent Montefusco

• First Assistant Director:

  Mark Egerton, Philip A. Patterson

• Camera Operator:

  Craig Haagensen

• Stunts:

  Chuck Jeffreys

• Casting:

  Margery Simkin

• Conductor:

  Paul Buckmaster

• Sound Editor:

  Robin Clarke

REVIEW:

• Inspired by Chris Marker's benchmark 1962 short film La Jetee, director Terry Gilliam continues his examination of the real versus the surreal in this mind-bending piece of science fiction. In a vein typical of Gilliam's oeuvre, the film leaps through time almost at will, which produces uneven results. Obviously a play on genre conventions, 12 Monkeys succeeds at creating its various worlds (all with various degrees of grunge and gloom). However, the film spirals off in so many directions it's sometimes a trial to keep track -- but it's also this very quality that keeps it interesting and engaging. Very much a visceral film above all else, Gilliam extracts solid turns from his actors, including a nicely understated Bruce Willis and a cheerfully (and entertainingly) manic Brad Pitt, a surprise Oscar nominee for his supporting role. Almost ten years after the highly publicized director vs. studio debacle with the director's acclaimed 1985 film Brazil, Gilliam and Universal had obviously patched things up, as they distributed this film to great financial success and a place as one of the leading cult favorites of the 1990s. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi