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Sci-Fi Fans: 12 Monkeys Unveiled

12 Monkeys is a 1995 science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt. The film is based on the 1962 short film La Jetée and follows James Cole, a prisoner sent back in time from 2035 to 1996 to gather information about a deadly virus released in 1996 that wiped out most of humanity. Upon arriving in 1996, Cole is detained in a mental institution where he meets Jeffrey Goines. Cole is later sent back to complete his mission but arrives in 1990 instead of 1996. He is eventually sent to 1996 where he kidnaps Dr. Kathryn Railly and tries to learn about the Army of the Twelve Monkeys and its role in releasing the

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227 views2 pages

Sci-Fi Fans: 12 Monkeys Unveiled

12 Monkeys is a 1995 science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt. The film is based on the 1962 short film La Jetée and follows James Cole, a prisoner sent back in time from 2035 to 1996 to gather information about a deadly virus released in 1996 that wiped out most of humanity. Upon arriving in 1996, Cole is detained in a mental institution where he meets Jeffrey Goines. Cole is later sent back to complete his mission but arrives in 1990 instead of 1996. He is eventually sent to 1996 where he kidnaps Dr. Kathryn Railly and tries to learn about the Army of the Twelve Monkeys and its role in releasing the

Uploaded by

desmon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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12 Monkeys is a 1995 American science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by

Chris Marker's 1962 short film La Jetée, starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad
Pitt, with Christopher Plummer and David Morse in supporting roles. After Universal Studios
acquired the rights to remake La Jetée as a full-length film, David and Janet Peoples were
hired to write the script.

Under Gilliam's direction, Universal granted the filmmakers a $29.5 million budget, and
filming lasted from February to May 1995. The film was shot mostly in Philadelphia and
Baltimore, where the story was set.

The film was released to critical praise and grossed $168.8 million worldwide. Pitt was
nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and he won a Golden Globe
Award for his performance. The film also won and was nominated for various categories at
the Saturn Awards.

A deadly virus, released in 1996, wipes out almost all of humanity, forcing survivors to live
underground. A group known as the Army of the Twelve Monkeys is believed to have
released the virus.

In 2035, James Cole is a prisoner living in an underground compound beneath Philadelphia.


Cole is selected to be sent back in time to find the original virus to help scientists develop a
cure. Meanwhile, Cole is troubled by dreams involving a foot chase and shooting at an
airport.

Cole arrives in Baltimore, 1990, not 1996 as planned; he is arrested and incarcerated at a
mental hospital on the diagnosis of Dr. Kathryn Railly. There he encounters Jeffrey Goines, a
mental patient with environmentalist and anti-corporatist views. Cole is interviewed by a
panel of doctors where he tries to explain that the virus outbreak has already happened.

After an escape attempt, Cole is sedated and locked in a cell, but he disappears, waking up
back in 2035. Cole is interrogated by the scientists who play a distorted voicemail message
that asserts the association of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys with the virus. He is also
shown photos of numerous people suspected of being involved, including Goines. The
scientists offer Cole another chance to complete his mission and send him back in time. Cole
accidentally arrives at a battlefield during World War I, is shot in the leg and then transported
to 1996.

In 1996, Railly gives a lecture about the Cassandra complex to a group of scientists. At the
post-lecture book signing, Railly meets Dr. Peters who tells her that apocalypse alarmists
represent the sane vision while humanity's gradual destruction of the environment is the real
lunacy.

Cole arrives at the venue after seeing flyers publicizing it and, when Railly departs, he
kidnaps her and forces her to take him to Philadelphia. They learn that Goines is the founder
of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys before they set out in search of him. When Cole
confronts Goines, he denies any involvement with the group and says that, in 1990, Cole
originated the idea of wiping out humanity with a virus stolen from Goines' virologist father,
Dr. Leland Goines.
Cole is transported back to 2035 where he reaffirms to the scientists his commitment to his
mission. But when he finds Railly again in 1996, he tells her he now believes himself crazy as
she had suggested. Meanwhile, Railly has discovered evidence of his time travel which she
shows him, believing he is sane. They decide to depart for the Florida Keys before the onset
of the plague.

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