As the special effects technology of movies becomes more and more mature, many scenes that are difficult to show in reality can be shown in movies through special effects. Among them, science fiction films, which rely heavily on special effects, have become the most direct interests, and with the help of realistic special effects, many science fiction films have become the best in commercial films.
However, there are some sci-fi films that don't rely on powerful special effects, and a good plot alone is enough to catch people's hearts. People call these maverick "geeky" movies "brain-burning" sci-fi films.
There is no clear answer to the advantages and disadvantages of special effects blockbusters and "brain-burning" blockbusters. Depending on the audience's preferences, the answer is naturally different. For me, the plot of the "brain-burning" blockbuster is more fascinating, and the thinking triggered after watching the movie is more profound. ——@Ichiki Branch Dangerous Building
The movie introduced to you today is a "brain-burning" god work from twenty years ago - "Twelve Monkeys".
The 1996 film stars famous Hollywood stars Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, and is portrayed by Madeleine Stowe.
All three were in the year of the fight at the time.
Forty-year-old Bruce, the image of a tough guy is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and has become a household name with the "Die Hard" series.
Thirty-three-year-old Brad was in full bloom, his appearance was online, and he was definitely a first-line student at that time. With "Night Interview with Vampires" and "Burning Love Years", he once became the crush of thousands of young girls.
Thirty-eight-year-old Madeleine is at the double peak of appearance and acting skills, and a smile is enough to touch people's hearts.
Such a golden combination, as long as you encounter a good script, it is difficult not to produce an explosive chemical reaction. And the plot of "Twelve Monkeys" happens to be that excellent script.
So, the $29.5 million film, which cost $160 million, grossed $160 million worldwide. The plot of the movie is still discussed by fans. The acting skills of the three leading actors in the film have also been hailed as their classic performances.
The film opens with a dream in which clips from an airport shooting.
Then, the narrator briefly introduces us to the background of the end of the world, and introduces the story line of the male protagonist Bruce, with a clean and neat narrative rhythm.
Due to the ravages of a virus, humans have been unable to survive on the surface. In order to obtain enough virus samples for research, scientists will regularly find suitable candidates from prisoners for surface investigation, and further select determined people from them to carry out traversal missions and return to the past to obtain the source virus.
This setting of apocalypse because of the virus is the same as that of Resident Evil. But don't put this movie on the label of "plagiarism" because of this. Because the first generation of Resident Evil games was born in 1997, it was one year later than the release of the film. What's more, the subsequent plot of the movie has nothing to do with loss and monsters.
The male protagonist Bruce was selected by scientists to become a crosser because the exploration task was perfectly completed and his physical and psychological qualities were passed. In order to ensure that Bruce can complete the task perfectly, the scientist also promises him freedom after the mission is completed.
Bruce, who was free, naturally agreed with joy, but he did not expect that this group of unreliable scientists had sent him to the wrong age and was caught by a group of policemen. Eventually, he was sent to a mental hospital because he could not prove his identity and was full of nonsense.
If he is an ordinary person, it is estimated that he will stay in a mental hospital for the rest of his life. But Bruce, as the male protagonist, will certainly not die here. He not only met Brad, whose father was a virologist, in a mental hospital, but also impressed him with the heroine made a deep impression on him, and finally escaped from the mental hospital with the help of Brad and became a legend.
Although the truth of Bruce's escape is that future scientists have brought him back to the future, this experience of "flying over the madhouse" is obviously not something that ordinary people can have.
Plus the scientists sent Bruce back in time again in order to get Bruce to complete the task. The sense of time and space confusion traveling back and forth, coupled with the spiritual remarks of the heroine Madeleine, not only made Bruce doubt his own experience, but also made me feel confused as an audience, and I had the feeling of watching "Inception", and I began to be a little confused about whether the previous plot was Bruce's fantasy or actual experience.
However, whether it is fantasy or experience, Bruce is still sticking to the main task of his subconscious - to find the 12 monkey army suspected of spreading the virus, and to obtain the source virus.
After a series of investigations, Bruce was surprised to find that the main brain of the 12 Monkey Army was actually his "patient friend" Brad, and his inspiration for spreading the virus was most likely a careless word of his own.
Unable to accept the blow of the investigation conclusion, Bruce begins to become negative and admits that he is mentally ill, hoping to stay in the past and spend time with the heroine. But it was sensed by future scientists and recalled to the future again.
The disappearance of the male protagonist and a bullet from the First World War made the female protagonist begin to shake his faith, coupled with a photo of the male protagonist appearing on the battlefield of the First World War, completely subverted the spiritual theory of the female protagonist, making her believe that the male protagonist did come from the future.
The male protagonist still thinks that he is mentally ill, not only does not appreciate the reward of the scientist, but also designs to deceive the scientist and apply to cross back again to obtain the source virus.
The reunion of the male and female protagonists brings the film to a climax, and they can't convince each other, so they decide to flee the city in disguise and wait for a viral event in the future. But in the airport, the male protagonist realized the fact that the virus carrier had someone else, so he used the phone to leave a message to the future about his discovery.
Unexpectedly, the future actually sent someone to give him a gun, let him kill the virus carrier in public, and if he did not obey the order, he would shoot the heroine. Helpless, Bruce had no choice but to take the risk, only to be killed by the waiting police before he could pull the trigger.
The final scene of the story echoes the dream of the male protagonist at the beginning, and it turns out that the male protagonist in this time and space is the little boy who witnessed the airport shooting, and the wheel of fate begins to rotate again.
With the death of the male protagonist, the film seems to be moving towards a tragic ending. The successful boarding of the plane by the carrier of the virus means that the virus will travel the world as scheduled. But at the end of the film, when the virus carrier sits breathlessly in the seat of the plane, he sits next to a woman who is one of the scientists who will arrange Bruce's crossing in the future.
The appearance of this lady makes the ending of the film full of possibilities, and her dialogue and interaction with the virus carriers also adds a lot of endings to the film.
Some believe that she appeared to steal the source virus in order to poison the carriers of the virus. The glass of water she voluntarily handed to the virus man was evidence, and the water must have been toxins.
As long as the carriers of the virus die, the virus that caused the end of the world cannot spread globally, and the apocalyptic crisis is lifted.
It has also been suggested that she appeared to ensure that carriers of the virus can successfully complete the program while obtaining the source virus. Because the crosser cannot change the historical event, Bruce is also required to obtain the source virus without affecting history at the beginning of the crossing.
But because Bruce has a special reincarnation fate, he can only end up being killed by the police at the airport according to the established history. Everything must follow the wheel of history, and the world will eventually experience a catastrophe. Female scientists appeared on the plane just to get the virus back to develop an antidote.
In both of the above statements, I personally prefer the latter. In addition to the repeated hints in the film that crossing cannot change history, the more important point is that the film itself has a strong environmentalist atmosphere.
The Twelve Monkeys, who are used as the film's name, are actually a radical environmental group. They advocate the idea that animals are superior to humans, believing that humans are the murderers of nature, the creatures that should be kept in cages.
The film also mentions many times the cruel experiments of humans with wild movements, which has triggered protests from many environmentalists.
The female scientist finally bluntly said that human beings at that time were "so violent."
With such radical environmentalist ideas, how can the human beings in the film get a chance to redeem themselves? Or rather, how did they get a good ending arranged by the director?
I'm a Ichiki Branch, and what do you think the ending of "Twelve Monkeys" will be? Do you have similar brain-burning science fiction films to share? Feel free to leave your comments below.