Product Details

• Actors: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley
• Directors: John Carpenter, Terry Gilliam
• Writers: Bill Lancaster, Chris Marker, David Webb Peoples, Janet Peoples, John W. Campbell Jr.
• Producers: Charles Roven
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, Norwegian
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: July 1, 2003
• Run Time: 239 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B00009QG8O
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #205,277 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "12 Monkeys/The Thing" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

12 Monkeys
Inspired by Chris Marker's acclaimed short film La Jetée, 12 Monkeys combines intricate, intelligent storytelling with the uniquely imaginative vision of director Terry Gilliam. The story opens in the wintry wasteland of the year 2035, where a virulent plague has forced humans to live in a squalid, oppressively regimented underground. Bruce Willis plays a societal outcast who is given the opportunity to erase his criminal record by "volunteering" to time-travel into the past to obtain a pure sample of the deadly virus that will help future scientists to develop a cure. But in bouncing from 1918 to the early and mid-1990s, he undergoes an ordeal that forces him to question his own perceptions of reality. Caught between the dangers of the past and the devastation of the future, he encounters a psychiatrist (Madeleine Stowe) who is initially convinced he's insane, and a wacky mental patient (Brad Pitt in a twitchy Oscar-nominated role) with links to a radical group that may have unleashed the deadly virus. Equal parts mystery, tragedy, psychological thriller, and apocalyptic drama, 12 Monkeys ranks as one of the best science fiction films of the '90s, boosted by Gilliam's visual ingenuity and one of the finest performances of Willis's career. --Jeff Shannon

The Thing (1982)
Director John Carpenter and special makeup effects master Rob Bottin teamed up for this 1982 remake of the 1951 science fiction classic The Thing from Another World, and the result is a mixed blessing. It's got moments of highly effective terror and spine-tingling suspense, but it's mostly a showcase for some of the goriest and most horrifically grotesque makeup effects ever created for a movie. With such highlights as a dog that splits open and blossoms into something indescribably gruesome, this is the kind of movie for die-hard horror fans and anyone who slows down to stare at fatal traffic accidents. On those terms, however, it's hard not to be impressed by the movie's wild and wacky freak show. It all begins when scientists at an arctic research station discover an alien spacecraft under the thick ice, and thaw out the alien body found aboard. What they don't know is that the alien can assume any human form, and before long the scientists can't tell who's real and who's a deadly alien threat. Kurt Russell leads the battle against the terrifying intruder, and the supporting cast includes Richard Masur, Richard Dysart, Donald Moffat, and Wilford Brimley. They're all playing standard characters who are neglected by the mechanistic screenplay (based on the classic sci-fi story "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell), but Carpenter's emphasis is clearly on the gross-out effects and escalating tension. If you've got the stomach for it (and let's face it, there's a big audience for eerie gore), this is a thrill ride you won't want to miss. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars 12 Monkeys 4 stars / Thing 2 stars, September 17, 2004

By	bernie "xyzzy" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (VINE VOICE)

12 Monkeys
Action, lots of action, violence and a taste for spiders. This is more intricate than the mindless "Die Hard" series. You have a solid plot and a rather good mystery. Add that to a little time travel and a deadly virus and you have a decent movie.
Bruce Willis is tasked to travel back from 2035 to today (1996) to brig back a pure strain of virus that was released into the world. The are the "what ifs" of time and if you look close you may see your self. He gets more than he bargained for and so do we (a movie that will hold your attention.)

The Thing
Yep we are confronted by a dog-splitting being from the great beyond. Being isolated we must evaluate track and kill this most obviously menacing "Thing". But what, who, and where is it?
In an attempt at graphic surprises we have sacrificed character and mood of the book ("Who Goes There" by John W. Campbell Jr.), and the original movie ("The Thing From Another World.)". Ah you say what if you do not compare? Still it is a sticky blob story that has no personality of its own.
This movie is fun to watch and say "don't look there" but it is far from extraordinary.