Just saw 12 Monkeys for the first time - Question on ending
04-12-06, 01:26 PM
#26
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Originally Posted by greydt
It's been awhile since I've seen the movie, but wasn't the point of the female scientist going back to the past not to actually intercept the case (and stop the plague), but to get a sample of the virus in it's initial stage (before it mutates) in order to create a cure for the people in the future?
Originally Posted by Save Ferris
2. I DONT think though, that there is a happy ending. There seems to be NO way for someone to bring a virus sample back to the future. You have to be naked.
04-12-06, 02:16 PM
#27
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Originally Posted by joeblow69
It's been a long time since I've seen this, but didn't the security guy at the airport force virus guy to open one of his test tubes to verify it was "empty"? Isn't that how the virus got released? So they clearly didn't stop the virus from destroying the world.
Exactly. It's just a loop the repeats infinitely due to the time travel with nothing every changing.
Scott talks about the loop idea a bit in some of the documentaries etc. on the collectors edition. (i.e. the 12 monkeys logo being circular etc. are hints).
04-12-06, 05:07 PM
#28
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I believe that Gilliam said in the documentary on the DVD that it was a happy ending, because the scientist would be able to get a sample. I think he also said that a lot of people either didn't recognize the scientist or didn't understand why she was there and therefore thought that it was a sad ending with Willis's character dying without completing his mission.
04-13-06, 10:05 AM
#29
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Originally Posted by GrimTangent
I believe that Gilliam said in the documentary on the DVD that it was a happy ending, because the scientist would be able to get a sample. I think he also said that a lot of people either didn't recognize the scientist or didn't understand why she was there and therefore thought that it was a sad ending with Willis's character dying without completing his mission.
I was one of them who thought she was just a woman who coincidentally looked like the scientist from the future and that Willis failed. Interesting that she indeed was the scientist, but that opens up the whole "How did they get the virus back for a cure" debate.
04-13-06, 10:27 AM
#30
I remember Gilliam being coy about admitting the line the scientist said was important. He kind of said it was ad-libbed but I think he is just propagating debate over his film.
When Willis was sent to 199? before getting to 1996 he said he wasnt trying to change the past, everyone was already dead and he couldnt do anything about them.
When Willis was sent to 199? before getting to 1996 he said he wasnt trying to change the past, everyone was already dead and he couldnt do anything about them.
