12 MONKEYS
15 More timely than ever… 1995 ★★★★★ OUT 25 APRIL 4K UHD EXTRAS ★★★★★ Commentary, Making Of, Featurettes, Booklet
Terry Gilliam’s first (and so far only) film finished on time and on budget also happened to be his first studio appointment, one where megastars Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt are thrown into a post- (and pre-)apocalyptic world twisted and warped by Gilliam’s absurdist steampunk aesthetic.
The central conceit resonates as strongly today as when it walloped audiences back in the ’90s, with its story of a devastating viral contagion that’s killed billions and forced humanity underground for years. In a primal show of force and skill, Willis plays convict James Cole, who’s sent back in time from 2035 to 1996 – albeit via 1990 and WW1 thanks to less-than-perfect time-travel tech. Cole crosses paths with a thoroughly loopy and potentially genocidal Jeffrey Goines (an Oscar-nommed Pitt in relentless, unhinged peak form) and therapist Kathryn Railly (a careerbest Madeleine Stowe) to navigate a coiling snake of a story that winds tighter and tighter around itself as viral armageddon approaches.
The ride is enthralling throughout, and despite a rickety early-third act and a discombobulating flurry of visuals, 12 Monkeys remains Gilliam’s most coherent feature to date. It’s both an intricate work of art and ultrarare successful marriage of auteur vision and studio resources. The new 4K resto is backed by previously released extras, notably The Hamster Factor, a feature-length Making Of from 1996.