Army of the Twelve Monkeys, The

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12 Monkeys is one of my favorite sci-fi flicks, so I was ready to see what a talented faneditor like Jorge could do with it. He performs major surgery on it, stamping it with his signature style and timeline alterations. Some of the changes are more successful than others.

The most excessive “looney tunes” scenes are toned down with smooth edits, and most of the cuts in this version flow well. Some of the really giant holes are smoothed over with expert, long crossfades of video or audio.

On the other hand, the recolorization is more a distracting gimmick than an enhancement of atmosphere. The film has a grainy look and there’s noticeable splotchiness and tiling in the shadows. Some of the background music has been replaced, or new music added, with more conventional music that lends a jarring melodramatic tone to some scenes.

The most interesting aspect is the total reframing that makes Dr. Railly the central character, a psychiatrist who is sucked into the paranoid delusions of her patient. By cutting all the future scenes, we see how unstable Railly is. All the characters who expressed closed minded disbelief in the original are now the sensible voices of reason and concern.

SPOILER ALERT:
Like other commenters, I felt the final scene didn’t work. I think it’s trying for a “Sixth Sense” surprise, where one revelation resets the premist of everything that went before. But The Sixth Sense was finely constructed to reassemble with a nudge. 12 Monkeys doesn’t have that construction. To give another example, in Jorge’s previous Blue Skies on Mars, the theme of “is this real or is this virtual” is discussed and examined throughout, so the final twist is an additional and satisfying turn. This edit denies Cole’s reality throughout, so the final scene comes out of nowhere. Also, the final scene doesn’t make sense. Cole returns from the past – where he’s been bugging everybody about the Army of the 12 Monkeys – and then he goes and finds some 12 Monkeys graffiti. from Cole’s point of view it’s nothing new, so the only reason for the scene is to throw a twist in, which makes it an annoying stunt.
END SPOILER

This fanedit is a clever reframing of the original, but ultimately it is a diminution rather than an enhancement. Without our full knowledge of Cole’s background and motives, the movie is far less poignant and there is no compelling urgency to Cole’s actions. And all the cool scenes of the future are gone.
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9.0
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9.0
This review is based on my opinions and my personal viewing experience. Nothing is meant as an attack. Spoiler warning.

I’ll keep it short ‘n sweet.

Loved it!!! Damn cool, once again.
Loved the “then” and “now” aspect.
The new Perspective worked great for me.
Audio seemed perfect to me.
LOVED the reframing, this film looks great in scope!
ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY F’ING LOVED the new color treatment, totally awesome! it’s like looking at a beautiful flower in full bloom. Bravo on that one my man!
A couple things baffled me at first, but i soon caught on. No i’m not gonna mention them for spoiler purposes.

9 out of 10!
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9.0
I watched this last week and enjoyed it quite a bit. You took a truely fascinating and artistic fim by Terry Gilliam and made it your own. Well done. I knew from the outset that was the way you were going to end the movie and for the most part it works. But along with what Boon said I was kinda scratching my head when the beginning credits were appearing thinking to myself “Why are those popping up?” Then it occurred to me that was the end of the film coming up and Cole was going to keep repeating the same thing over and over.

I really enjoyed the new aspect ratio, gives it more of a cinematic experience, but some of the color treatment was particularly odd. Not saying it was bad, just a little to pink for me. Also, I wish the video quality was a tad bit better because everything seemed a tad bit washed out. I will give you major props though because it must have been hell to color correct the entire film. For that I say, “Good Job”. The audio once again was fantastic. No hard cuts anywhere. Everything was clear and concise.

I must admit I found your “Blue Skies on Mars” much more fulfilling. However, you have once again crafted another wonderfully executed fan-edit by creating a totally unique and alternate version for viewers to watch. With that said, all that remains is “Was I entertained in the end?” The short answer……”You Betcha!”

Recommended. Good job Jorge!
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9.0
*This rating was given before reviews were required*
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8.0
***This review contains spoilers ****

Twelve Monkeys is one of Terry Gilliam’s best movies IMO. It is also a really working example how his style of mixing genres and working on several stages at the same time (odd, funny, dramatic, thrilling) kind of works in perfection.
In the end I as the audience had seen a movie that was fascinating, amusing, emotional and tense at the same time. Not all popcorn cinema, but highly artistic.
Jorge’s Army Of The Twelve Monkeys is a more sorted version that only plays in 1990 and 1996 (with an ending int he future) and it is chronological. It also contains a lot less oddities, but left in quite a few, making these stick out even more than they did before (like the madness of Goines). While trying to focus on a more streamlined and less odd version, the flow of the original is not happening, but replaced by a very different, still odd mood. The struggle of Cole that really kept the movie going falls flat, the superb emotional finale falls flat, but Madeleine Stowe’s character suddenly becomes the leading role and the entire movie is more the experience of her adventures with Cole.
As that the fanedit works and presents the audience with a very different movie, which is wonderfully executed and pulled through.
I consider the original the much better movie, but for a different version this one was truly interesting and kept me entertained. It is a fabulous and consistent effort to truly change a movie experience.
The ending in the future, which is actually the beginning of the original did not work too well for me. The intention, when Cole finds the sign was clear, yet emotionally nothing happened and the credits running were confusing.

Technical notes:
The pinkish coloring and the blurry image quality were not working so well for me. The reformatting was most of all perfect, except for some very few scenes, which were too obvious and brought the reformatting to my attention (example: taxi driver and a few face close-ups).

Rating:
This was good. I recommend it. Very well done, Jorge.
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