History Film / TwelveMonkeys

** [[spoiler:A subsequent conversation with another time-traveler implies he was right.]]

* CassandraTruth
** [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]].

[[caption-width-right:245:Do I have something in my eye?]]''12 Monkeys'' is an Academy Award-nominated 1995 science fiction film directed by Creator/TerryGilliam and written by [[DavidPeoples David and Janet Peoples]]. The film was inspired by the French short film ''[[LaJetee La Jetée]]''. It stars BruceWillis, MadeleineStowe, and BradPitt, who won a Golden Globe for best supporting actor; Pitt was also nominated for an Academy Award in the same category.

* BrokenAesop[=/=]SpaceWhaleAesop: Because airport security makes you open all your containers, mankind will be wiped out by questionably-motivated scientists.
** The scientist in question was transporting the containers to release them anyway. The aesop may be that, if you're trying to protect against terrorists, asking someone to open a container in a crowded area is not especially effective.

* TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: During Dr. Railly's speech she briefly shows an etching of a man from the 1100s proclaiming the end of the world in 1996. Later on when James arrives in 1996 you see that man preaching on the side of a street corner. Also another example is a phone message heard by Cole in the 'present' is later found out to be made by Dr. Railly.

** BittersweetEnding: [spoiler: Cole is killed and 99% of humanity is about to go with him, but he did successfully locate the pure sample of the virus, and one of the scientists was able to collect it(although only through contaminating herself with it, and she could well die from it if it takes more than a few weeks to create a cure).]

* MadOracle: It's implied that at least one such oracle is actually a time traveler who landed in the wrong era, since he identifies James as [[OneOfUs "One of us."]]

* AnimalWrongsGroup: The Army of the Twelve Monkeys is an animal rights group blamed for the spread of a deadly super-virus that kills most of humanity. [[spoiler: They end up having [[RedHerring nothing to do with]] it.]]

* TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: During Dr. Railly's speech she briefly shows an etching of a man from the 1100s proclaiming the end of the world in 1996. Later on when James in 1996 you see that man preaching on the side of a street corner. Also another example is a phone message heard by Cole in the 'present' is later found out to be made by Dr. Railly.
* MadOracle: It's implied that many such oracles were actually time travellers who landed in the wrong era.

* MindScrew: For the viewer, although by the end it becomes comprehensible. Also, for James, [[spoiler: who starts to think he really is insane and that he imagined traveling from the future. It's mentioned that this happens to all time travellers.]] Finally, for [[spoiler: Katherine, first as she starts to realize that James must have come from the future, and later when she starts to "remember" things that never actually happened (when they put on the disguises and she says he looks familiar.)]]

* MisplacedWildlife: Cole encounters a lion in the city while collecting samples in the future. [[spoiler: Releasing zoo animals was the Army Of The Twelve Monkeys' plan.]]

* PokeThePoodle: It is revealed that the horrifyingly evil plot of The Army of the Twelve Monkeys [[spoiler:amounts to releasing some animals from a zoo]].

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: All the time travellers are going insane from the stresses involved in time travel; hence the use of expendable prisoners for this task.

* HilariousInHindsight: Looking at the bodies in the aftermath of a brutal brawl Bruce Willis says, [[TheSixthSense "All I see are dead people."]]

* BedlamHouse

* DuelingStarsMovie: BruceWillis vs. BradPitt.
** One could argue that this is more of a retroactive example, as Pitt (while having found recent acknowledgements for his roles in ''InterviewWithAVampire'' and ''{{Se7en}}'' ), wasn't nearly as big a star as Bruce ''Film/DieHard'' Willis at the time of the film's release.

** [[JustifiedTrope He could be lying and it could actually be smuggled drugs or something.]]

** [[spoiler:EsotericHappyEnding: Cole dies and the apocalypse can't be averted, but in that last scene on the airplane, we see the councilwoman from the future following the man with the virus--implying that, thanks to Cole's work, the scientists will finally get their sample of the virus and be able to engineer a vaccine.]]
*** [[spoiler: The ending actually implies that the council in the future had full knowledge of everything that had already occurred, and that James Cole's mission was to ensure the past unfolded like it was supposed to. The fact that Cole says, 'This isn't about the virus anymore is it? This is about following orders' when Jose appears to give him the gun in the airport after Cole leaves his final message (revealing that The Army of the Twelve Monkeys had nothing to do with the virus), along with the councilwoman meeting the man with the virus on the airplane, introducing herself as someone who does 'insurance', seems to indicate that the council had access to all the information from the beginning, and were simply using Cole the entire time]]

* BeautyInversion

[[caption-width-right:245:Do I have something in my eye?]]''12 Monkeys'' is an Academy Award-nominated 1995 science fiction film directed by TerryGilliam and written by [[DavidPeoples David and Janet Peoples]]. The film was inspired by the French short film ''[[LaJetee La Jetée]]''. It stars BruceWillis, MadeleineStowe, and BradPitt, who won a Golden Globe for best supporting actor; Pitt was also nominated for an Academy Award in the same category.

* DepravedDentist: Cole inflicts this on himself because he believes that they track time travellers with devices implanted in their teeth. Leads to one of the few [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Crowning Moments Of Funny]] in the whole movie.

** [[spoiler:EsotericHappyEnding: Cole dies and the apocalypse can't be averted, but in that last scene on the airplane, we see the councilwoman from the future following the man with the virus--implying that, thanks to Cole's work, the scientists will finally get their sample of the virus and be able to engineer a vaccine.]]

* EnforcedMethodActing: BradPitt's nervous and rapid speech was aided by TerryGilliam not letting him smoke during shooting.

* ShoutOut: Cole and Railly attend a Hitchcock movie marathon just before they go to the airport.

* PlayingAgainstType: Along with ''{{Se7en}}'', one of the movies that helped Brad Pitt break out of pure pretty-boy type-casting. Also, Bruce Willis's character is notably more frail than what he usually plays. [[spoiler:This was the first movie where one of Bruce Willis' characters dies.]]

* ThePlague
* TheVirus

* WorldWarOne : Features in a few short scenes and has relevance to the whole TimeTravel plot.

!!This Movie Contains Examples of:

* DoingItForTheArt: BruceWillis wasn't paid for the movie. His salary would have nearly doubled the film's budget, and he wanted to work with Gilliam badly enough that he opted for a cut of the box office receipts instead.

* FridgeBrilliance: It may take a while to wrap your head around it, especially [[GainaxEnding the ending]], but when it hits you, it's worth it.

** Highlighted in the film itself.

* HeyItsThatGuy: Done in universe by Dr. Railly, when she sees Cole in a photograph from WorldWarOne, which was the first step to convincing her that Cole may be from the future.

* MusicalSpoiler: The first clue of [[spoiler:Brad Pitt]]'s involvement with the Army of the 12 Monkeys is when the "12 Monkeys" {{leitmotif}} plays during one of his rants.