Released in 1995, this haunting, atmospheric sci-fi thriller combines intricate, intelligent storytelling with the imaginative vision of director Terry Gilliam.
The story begins in a wintry post-apocalyptic wasteland and the year is 2035. An extremely infectious disease has forced society to move underground where they are protected from it.
James Cole (Bruce Willis) is a social outcast and criminal, but has been given the opportunity to clear his name of all criminal activity on one condition: he has to travel back in time to the 1990's and return with a concentrated sample of the disease to allow scientists to create a cure.
However when Cole is constantly whiplashed between the First World War, 1990, 1996 and 2035, he gets caught up between the dangers of the past and the terror of the future and starts questioning his perception on reality. He meets Dr Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe), a psychiatrist who is convinced that he has lost his mind, and Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), a crazy mental patient who has connections with a radical group that may have already unleashed the deadly virus.
Unfortunately, after Kathryn successfully convinces Cole that his story is all an illusion, she comes up with physical evidence that suggests that everything he has said is, in fact, true after all...
Did you know? Terry Gilliam apparently gave Bruce Willis a list of "Willis acting clichés" not to be used during the film, including the "steely blue eyes look".
(4 Star)
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