10 Time Travel Movies To See Before You Die
5. 12 Monkeys
12 Monkeys utilised Blade Runner's screenwriter, David Peoples, and his wife Janet, to assemble the components for a Gilliam feature that is stereotypically zany but remarkably un-claustrophobic (for him) - and an instant cult classic.
In contest with Brazil for Gilliam's best science fiction picture, 12 Monkeys centres a lot of its action in the nineties rather than the dystopian future from whence Bruce Willis's James Cole is sent back.
Chosen to help scientists locate the source and thus synthesise a cure for a deadly virus that has struck the population in 2035, Cole lands in 1990 (overshooting by six years) and is immediately consigned to a psychiatric ward. From here he must track and attempt to subvert the ominous Army of the Twelve Monkeys.
This is the second Willis entry on this list and he is right at the height of his powers, with a manic, pre-Durden Brad Pitt to back him up and provide the ideal counterpoint.
Dreams and memories are as important to the narrative as time travel, which uses a Terminator-like setup, but the film nonetheless makes full and extensive use of its temporal faculties, building up layers of confusion and intrigue only to shatter them with an emotional third act rug pull.