Continuity mistake: In the final scene in which a man is shot in the airport (part of this scene actually recurs throughout the movie), the psychiatrist woman leans over him to hold him as he dies. From one angle, he reaches up to her face and his hand is clean. In the next angle, his hand is covered in blood as he touches her face.
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Plot summary
Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer, Madeleine Stowe, Jon Seda, Joseph Melito, Michael Chance
When mental patient Bruce Willis is sent back in time to find information on a deadly virus that will destroy 5 billion human beings in 1996-1997, he mistakenly arrives in 1990. After explaining his plea to Madeleine Stowe, he is placed in a mental institution. In 1996, he kidnaps Stowe, using her to find the 12 Monkeys, a group of revolutionists that are planning to release the virus into select cities. But, he is wanted by the authorities for murder and kidnapping, plus he refuses to return to the future, because he is in love with Stowe.
More mistakes in Twelve Monkeys
Dr. Kathryn Railly: Cassandra in Greek legend, you recall, was condemned to know the future but to be disbelieved when she foretold it. Hence the agony of foreknowledge combined with the impotence to do anything about it.
Trivia: During the phone call between Kathrine and Professor, we can see the roof of laboratory. It is made of ordinary aluminium or plastic blocks, like roofs in offices. This kind of roof can transport air. Persons behind glass are doing something with danger microbes and they are in protective suits. Professor and his assistants, before glass, don't wear that suit, but the holes in roof can transfer microbes to their part of the laboratory. (01:27:35)
Question: There are marked similarities between Cole's present day asylum and his future world, such as the showers he receives, and the scientists/doctors. What is the significance of these parallels? Do they have a hidden meaning?
Answer: It is meant to draw similarities between the treatment of the mentally ill and convicted felons. Quite often, even today, the mentally ill are housed and treated in facilities that are little better (for quality of life or prospects of rehabilitation) than prisons.