Twelve Monkeys

Based on the 1962 short La Jetée, Terry Gilliam's brilliant dystopian thriller is his finest film yet, with its inevitably stunning visuals, a nail-biting plot, and the casting against type of Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt.

Willis, here remind everybody of his ability to alternate no-brain blocksbusters with smaller, interesting projects, is time-travelling convinct James Cole, who is sent from his futuristic prison back to the 1990s to prevent mankind from being destroyed by a virus which may have something to do with mental patient Jeffrey Goines (Pitt, earning a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination).

Kicking off with a bizarre sci-fi thriller - once sent back, Cole's babblings about the impending human wipeout land him in an institution alongside the clearly barmy Jeffrey - Gilliam goes on to deliver a movie that is not only rich in visual detail but offers an involving, occasionally baffling storyline and builds the tension to positively unbearable levels during the final reel.