Label: Arrow Video
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 129 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0, 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widesvcreen (1.85:1)
Director: Terry Gilliam
Cast: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt
Synopsis: Following the commercial and critical success of The Fisher King, Terry Gilliam next feature would turn to science fiction and a screenplay by Janet and David Peoples (Blade Runner, Unforgiven) inspired by Chris Marker's classic short film La Jetée. In 1996, a deadly virus is unleashed by a group calling themselves the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, destroying much of the world's population and forcing survivors underground. In 2035, prisoner James Cole (Bruce Willis, Die Hard) is chosen to go back in time and help scientists in their search for a cure. Featuring an Oscar-nominated turn by Brad Pitt (Fight Club) as mental patient Jeffrey Goines, Twelve Monkeys would become Gilliam's most successful film and is now widely regarded as a sci-fi classic. Arrow Films are proud to present the film in a stunning new restoration.
Audio/Video: 12 Monkeys (1995) arrives on Blu-ray from Arrow Video with a new 4K restoration from the original camera negative, presented in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1) looking quite wonderful. For starters the grain is better resolved, offering more detail and texture throughout, there's a bit more depth to the image as well. The colors are warmer and deeper, with blues and reds coming through more pronounced, the blacks are superior, and the skin tones also benefit from the warmer tones, with facial detail getting a nice bump.
Audio comes by way of 2.0 and 5.1 DTS-HD MA mixes, the surround mix has some nice presence, the scene of Cole landing in the battlefield in WWI giving the most immersive experience with bullets whizzing by and bombs bursting in the directionals, and the more subtle whispering voices that Cole encounters at the asylum, optional English subtitles are provided.
Arrow carry-over all the extras from the Universal Blu-ray, including the audio commentary with Director Terry Gilliam and Producer Charles Roven, plus the fascinating fly-on-the-wall documentary 'The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys'. We also get 'The Film Exchange with Terry Gillaim', a 26-min interview with the director from '96 following a screening of the film, plus a new appreciation by author Ian Christie who speaks about this being a reform film of sorts following Gillaim's wild-man years much the same way that After Hours did the same for Martin Scorsese. Extras are finished up with an extensive gallery of images a d a trailer for the film.
Special Features:
- Audio commentary by Terry Gilliam and producer Charles Roven
The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys, feature-length making-of documentary by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe (Lost in La Mancha)
- The Exchange with Terry Gilliam
- 12 Monkeys Appreciation by Ian Christie
- Extensive image galley
- Theatrical trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
Arrow aren't monkeying around with this one, a very handsome new transfer and a handful of new extras make this worth the upgrade for fans of the film looking to own the best-looking version of the sci-fi/psycho-thriller.
SCREENSHOT COMPARISON
TOP: ARROW VIDEO BLU-RAY (2018)
BOTTOM: UNIVERSAL BLU-RAY (2009)
