Hidden Gems

One of my all time favorite films and arguably one of the best satires ever created in any medium. I recently showed it off to a group of my friends at a movie night. Went surprisingly well, I was a bit afraid that it might have been too dense for some of my friends. But for me, I will never forget the last 20 minutes or so of this film and seeing it for the first time. The ending absolutely blew me away. But it couldn't have ended any other way.

I liked the visuals but the story simultaneously confused and bored me.

I saw this in a class at school and had mixed feelings about it. It spurred some interesting debate though.

i love this movie, it is quite good

I love this film so much; Terry Gilliam's best work as far as I'm concerned.

Nothing hidden about this. 
I guess my perception is tainted by seeing the film adaptation of 1984 before this. And this is just 1984 with random whimsical Monty Python nonsense sprinkled in. Which is still interesting, just not the paradigm shift people treat it like. I'm also bothered that the film 1984 was really quite good yet never gets talked about, and a film that's an "homage", put nicely, becomes classic because when it rips off the brainwashing scene, the doctor is wearing a baby mask? Idunno. 
Much bigger fan of 12 Monkeys because it wasn't just lifting elements from something else and putting it through a Gilliam filter.

I've heard some very good stuff about this movie, but I've never gotten around to watching it. 
Slightly related question: how's the film to watch with parents? My parents love 1984, and the British whimsy of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers and such, and was thinking this could be a good movie to watch with them.

@ryanwho: Not to be an asshole, but you know that "12 Monkeys" was based off of a French film called "La Jetee", right? It's a semi remake of the film, Universal had to pay money to acquire the rights to make it. Then Gilliam got his hands on the project and the rest is history.  
 
@Red: I watched it with my parents and it went all right. My parents were mostly just fans of Monty Python, but my dad was a huge fan of "Time Bandits" which helped him.

Really can't stand this film at all. Tedious satire that runs it's one joke about beauraucracy into the ground in the opening ten minutes. My biggest thought sitting through it was why did Robert De Niro get involved in such a shit project?

@HandsomeDead said:

Really can't stand this film at all. Tedious satire that runs it's one joke about beauraucracy into the ground in the opening ten minutes. My biggest thought sitting through it was why did Robert De Niro get involved in such a shit project?

For once I agree with you, I couldn't really make it pass the first hour, the movie drags its one gimmick for way too long and never really tells anything worth telling with the concept, which admittedly is interesting.  
 
This also goes for 12 Monkeys and Time Bandits. I really think Gilliam is one of the most overrated directors.     

I really love this movie. I think Jonathan Pryce is great in it, and it's crazy how Gilliam manages to create a world that's quirky and funny while also being extremely dark and unsettling.

I always thought of it as a "re-telling" of 1984 - that's how it was introduced to me, in fact. I never really thought of it in any other way.

its amazing in its own right. i made my parents watch it and they loved it, and its certainly top 100 for me.