This was a killer virus, time travel, save mankind, sci-fi thriller made in 1995. I watched this and realized that I saw the film a long time ago, but didn't connect the title when several people recommended it. The director, Terry Gilliam, now in his 60's has a long history of acting, writing and directing. He was active with all of these disciplines in the Monty Python films. His credits extend back into the 1960s and include two old favorites of mine, Time Bandits (1981) and The Fisher King (1991).Even though film technology has improved since 1995 specifically with computer animation, this film was still well done. The story line has twists that you might expect with time travel however the film is forever dated since it pegs April 1996 as Armageddon. The plot points are all there, beginning with several problems and continuing with conflicts to resolve. The climax has occurred before the story starts, a benefit of messing with the clock. I'll let you decide if there was a resolution. I will tell you that the protagonist, Cole, is locked in an infinite time loop - a quirk of the story that makes him unintentionally immortal.

I thought that the probation panel of experts that judges the character James Cole was hokey, but ... oh well. Cole played by Bruce Willis is believable in his time travel disorientation and drugged states, but I thought his `superhuman' strength was over played. He did manage to look really ugly most of the time - in compensation?

The `looker' in this film is Cole's psychiatrist, Dr. Kathryn Railly played by Madeleine Stowe. She seems like a good actress with a history of unremarkable parts. The big surprise for me was the insane Jeffrey Goines played by Brad Pitt. Pitt has annoyed me in recent roles, but I thought he was great in this part. Maybe it was type cast? Just kidding.

I liked the connection made to cartoons and old films, The Birds, Vertigo. I also liked the scene in which the character Kathryn laughs when she sees giraffes running along a New York freeway - it was a human reaction and made the scene real.

I found this appropriately in the film cult section of the video store. If you're a sci-fi junky, this is a good old film.

Reviewed March 6, 2003.