Army of the Twelve Monkeys, The

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

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!

The video quality was pretty bad, but it gave it an artistic aesthetic so I overlooked it quickly. I thought the added music was too loud. Video editing was fine.

I love Twelve Monkeys as it is and very much enjoyed this fanedit. There are some plot holes as other reviewers have pointed out but I wasn’t as bothered by them. It’s definitely more arthouse sci-fi here.

A/V Quality - 8
Editing - 10 video, 8 audio
Narrative - 8
Enjoyment - 9 (original 9)

Recommended drink: Pinot Blanc

***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.