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The catastrophe in 12 Monkeys is due to the action of a single individual - an ideologue concerned with the "biosphere". The pathology highlighted is ideologica

The catastrophe in 12 Monkeys is due to the action of a single individual - an ideologue concerned with the "biosphere". The pathology highlighted is ideological thought that justifies mass murder. Love certainly conquers all in this film. It is precisely love (here romantic love) that weaves an unalterable thread through time and binds the two individuals who are absolutely necessary for the future salvation of mankind. "I’ve been thinking about 12 Monkeys a lot lately. It seems, these days, as though the human race has passed a Rubicon and is now on a straight path toward the end of days, or at least the end of the social order as we know it." - the OP. "[I]sn’t it obvious that chicken little represents the sane vision? And that homo sapiens’s motto, ‘Let’s go shopping,’ is the cry of the true lunatic?” - the mass murdering virologist.

sametmax 8y ago
I've rewatched the movie recently. Humanity is definitly not saved. The whole quest is shown as being nothing a but a futile yet beautiful slice of life. It's espacially underlined with the scene revealing the origin of the voice mail that was supposedly the only clue of the whole shebang for the future scientists.
- dnautics 8y ago
  Isn't humanity saved? The main character's buddy from prison is able to show up to try to save him because greatly improved the tech; he claims that mc is a hero and things are headed to being solved?
  - Thaxll 8y ago
    The whole thing for that movie is he couldn't save humanity by going back in time.
    - taeric 8y ago
      I thought it was that he couldn't prevent the catastrophe. It is greatly implied that he found the cause and set the future scientists up to get a direct sample of what caused things, possibly reversing it in their time. What he couldn't do, was get what he wanted. He couldn't save his love, as she was of that time, and it was doomed.
      - dnautics 8y ago
        Part of this is because he had proven that you could bring back a useful biological sample, by eating a spider in the early parts of the movie
  - nabla9 8y ago
    Not in the movie. They definitely can't change the past. They live in block universe where there is only one timeline that happens no matter what. They can only travel into the past and observe and bring some stuff back. mc is a hero because he discovers the real villain and sends message to the future. The idea is to get sample of the original non-mutated virus and develop a cure in the future so that they can live on the surface again, not to prevent the outbreak. The movie ends without a cure, but now the future scientists know who the villain is, so they might send other people to intercept the villain when he lands.
    - jlawson 8y ago
      I think the idea was that the woman scientist "in insurance" in the plane at the end was in fact the next agent working on getting the pre-mutated virus. She knew to go back to that time and get on that seat of that plane because Cole's actions pinpointed the target, time, and place.
      - nabla9 8y ago
        Ah, yes. I forgot that. There is in fact plot already going on in the last scene.
      - eternalban 8y ago
        Precisely. They have found the source, can take samples at each stop, and "get people back on top" post Cole.
tokyodude 8y ago
Did you watch some alternate edit? Love conquers nothing in the film.
- eternalban 8y ago
  Cole has no reason to seek Railly on his second time jump. He seeks her because he is in love with her. Railly also makes decisions contrary to cold reason and sticks with Cole. Don't forget, they had sent multiple agents back in time. None had succeeded. The romantic relationship is a key element of the narrative.
  - tokyodude 8y ago
    I guess that's not what I got out of it. He sought to get back to 1996 because she convinced him the rest of his experience in the future was an delusion. Railly has experiences that challenge her idea of reality. At first she believes Cole is insane but then experiences evidence that he's not. Now believing the plague Cole mentioned is coming she really has no one else.

sametmax 8y ago

I've rewatched the movie recently. Humanity is definitly not saved. The whole quest is shown as being nothing a but a futile yet beautiful slice of life. It's espacially underlined with the scene revealing the origin of the voice mail that was supposedly the only clue of the whole shebang for the future scientists.

dnautics 8y ago
Isn't humanity saved? The main character's buddy from prison is able to show up to try to save him because greatly improved the tech; he claims that mc is a hero and things are headed to being solved?
- Thaxll 8y ago
  The whole thing for that movie is he couldn't save humanity by going back in time.
  - taeric 8y ago
    I thought it was that he couldn't prevent the catastrophe. It is greatly implied that he found the cause and set the future scientists up to get a direct sample of what caused things, possibly reversing it in their time. What he couldn't do, was get what he wanted. He couldn't save his love, as she was of that time, and it was doomed.
    - dnautics 8y ago
      Part of this is because he had proven that you could bring back a useful biological sample, by eating a spider in the early parts of the movie
- nabla9 8y ago
  Not in the movie. They definitely can't change the past. They live in block universe where there is only one timeline that happens no matter what. They can only travel into the past and observe and bring some stuff back. mc is a hero because he discovers the real villain and sends message to the future. The idea is to get sample of the original non-mutated virus and develop a cure in the future so that they can live on the surface again, not to prevent the outbreak. The movie ends without a cure, but now the future scientists know who the villain is, so they might send other people to intercept the villain when he lands.
  - jlawson 8y ago
    I think the idea was that the woman scientist "in insurance" in the plane at the end was in fact the next agent working on getting the pre-mutated virus. She knew to go back to that time and get on that seat of that plane because Cole's actions pinpointed the target, time, and place.
    - nabla9 8y ago
      Ah, yes. I forgot that. There is in fact plot already going on in the last scene.
    - eternalban 8y ago
      Precisely. They have found the source, can take samples at each stop, and "get people back on top" post Cole.

tokyodude 8y ago

Did you watch some alternate edit? Love conquers nothing in the film.

eternalban 8y ago
Cole has no reason to seek Railly on his second time jump. He seeks her because he is in love with her. Railly also makes decisions contrary to cold reason and sticks with Cole. Don't forget, they had sent multiple agents back in time. None had succeeded. The romantic relationship is a key element of the narrative.
- tokyodude 8y ago
  I guess that's not what I got out of it. He sought to get back to 1996 because she convinced him the rest of his experience in the future was an delusion. Railly has experiences that challenge her idea of reality. At first she believes Cole is insane but then experiences evidence that he's not. Now believing the plague Cole mentioned is coming she really has no one else.