Twelve Monkeys (1995)

James Cole is one of a number of convicts who are "volunteered" to go to the surface wearing NBC suits in order to collect samples. The hope is to discover the origins of the plague and hopefully destroy it. As part of the experiment, Cole is sent back in time to find the people behind "The Twelve Monkeys" thought to carry the virus. Unfortunately the time travel is far from accurate and Cole is thrown back to various times including world war one.

Eventually, on one of his many unsuccessful time travelling journeys, Cole ends up stuck in a 90's mental institution. It is here that he meets Jeffrey Goines, one of the people suspected to be behind the disease. After he convinces Dr. Kathryn Railly that he is not mad, she helps him escape and it is now a race against time to discover the source of the virus.

The picture quality is outstanding, bright colours during the day scenes, some excellent definition in the underground scenes and a crispness that only DVD can deliver. Indeed the bit-rate is up there with the best which means no artifacting and no outlining.

Sound quality is also absolutely superb, the dialogue is some of the clearest I have ever heard, the surround channels are almost in constant use with one thing or another, babbling people, cars, animals, you name it.

Although the extras are in a minority....There is only one, it is actually quite good and spans a whopping 87 minutes! Personally, something like this is worth a thousand picture galleries in my opinion.

This is a very clever film, and one of Willis' best to date. All the way though the film, you're never sure if Cole is insane, or if things are really happening. Things like the panel in the mental institution resembling the panel Cole answers to in the future make you really wonder. It actually takes a bit of thought, and has one of those odd paradoxes at the end which you just go round and round in circles thinking about, in fact the end is enough to send you mad in itself!

So, its an excellent, if slightly odd piece of science fiction interwoven with a clever plot, brilliant picture, great sound and a nice documentary to top it all off....Buy it.