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Unbreakable (Vista Series)

Unbreakable (Vista Series)

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $14.99
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great movie
Review: I liked this movie better than Shyamalan's last flick, The Sixth Sense. In all fairness, people shouldn't even compare the two, because they deal with two different things. Shyamalan's directing at times is inventful, but sometimes it makes you look more at how the camera angle is rather than the plot or characters. Bruce Willis, gives a great performance, and Sam Jackson does well...aswell. THe extras are great, specifically the deleted scenes. Some of them I wish had been left in. The sound is incredible, I hope you got 5.1. The color is so crisp and rich. It's a great DVD to get for your self or as a present. Get it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A moving comic
Review: Though I do have my favorite comic book titles, I'm not the biggest fan of comic books. Most comic books still embody a very hyped vision of the world, which overwhelms most underlying context their stories try to embody. For such a readily-hyped topic as superheroes (even X-Men, with its fairly accessible portrayal of superheroes, contained hype), this movie is very down to earth and back to the basics. What do you do when you realize that you have the power to right wrongs in the world? Forget jazzy outfits, fame, fancy names, glitzy secret identities, sprawling brawls, or psyches brimming with bubbling angst, what if you, the reader, had the power to right wrongs, but you just never knew that you could? We all have such power, but, for most, that power remains untriggered, and we are oblivious to it. Thus, David Dunn. M. Night Shyamalan does all he can to subdue any glitz or glamour you might feel for this superhero: subdued colors, subdued dialog, even the subdued fight scene near the end (no drawn out combat, that), even the subdued hero's music (no John William's blaring Superman theme, still it evokes this sense of superheroism). We're left with people we can relate to, who aren't drowning in hype.

For those who can't stand the pretentiousness of Shyamalan's scenes: I could practically see the word balloons coming out of the character's mouths. Every scene in this movie evoked the sensation of reading a moving comic book. Comic book artists take many liberties with perspective. Open most comic books (two examples: Watchmen, AstroCity), and you'll see scenes very similar in look and feel to those in this movie. Hopefully, you'll better understand where Shyamalan's coming from visually, even if you don't like it. No movie has ever evoked such a parallel for me, and I was impressed.

Keep in mind, after all of this, we're left with something slow and stylized, and, yes, as stunning as it was, perhaps with too much punchline. So be warned.

For those who aren't happy with Elijah Price's bizarre view of the world (comics are descended from ancient stories, blah blah), read Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics.

Aside from all of this, let's face it: Samuel L Jackson has never seemed breakable, except for here. How does he do it?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of those DVD's where the extras make the movie better
Review: Expectations for the follow-up to the surprise smash "The Sixth Sense" all but doomed this underrated film to become maligned and misunderstood. To his credit, writer-director M. Night Shyamalan did his best to find the perfect middle ground between casting the same hypnotic spell of "The Sixth Sense" and exploring new territory in his work. In my opinion, he finds it: "Unbreakable" is another astonishing work in which the extraordinary and the supernatural is made real.

Once again, Bruce Willis is at the center of the story and this time around he plays security guard David Dunn. The only survivor of a train wreck, David gets a strange note from Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) which asks him how many days of his life he has been sick. As it turns out, he has never been sick, nor has he ever broken a bone. On the other hand, Elijah suffers from a disorder which makes his bones brittle and he has spent a third of his life in a hospital bed as a result. Being bed-ridden most of his life allows him time to read; during this time, he develops an obsession with comic books.

Drawing from what he has learned from the comic books he has read all his life (I promise, it's not as hokey as it sounds), Elijah believes that he and David are at opposite ends of the evolutionary spectrum and that David is a kind of superman. At first, David is skeptical. After a series of encounters which reveal strengths and abilities that have no explanation, he then starts to believe that there may be some truth to what Elijah says.

Unlike the ending of "The Sixth Sense", which had people rewinding the movie in their heads and returning for repeat viewings to catch what they had missed the first time around, "Unbreakable's" finale ended up splitting audiences. This is Shyamalan's only mistake--trying to surprise his viewers twice in a row. "The Sixth Sense" conditioned us to look for clues in his work; "Unbreakable" merely confirms that the clues to a story within the story are still there.

Still, taken on its own merits, "Unbreakable" is an enjoyable and sound piece of storytelling. Willis and Jackson work well together (just as they did in "Die Hard With A Vengeance") and there are good supporting performances from Spencer Treat Clark and Robin Wright Penn (David's son and wife, respectively). Shyamalan uses the power of suggestion to create suspense better than any director currently working and although his movies are somewhat slowly paced, they deliver the goods.

Amazingly, the DVD's goods make the movie seem richer. While many other discs are primarily good for their digital quality (I for one think that many directors are using the DVD format as an exercise in ego-inflating self aggrandizement), the deleted scenes and Shyamalan's explanations for their exclusion add another dimension to the film. I applaud him for his discretion, but I think many of them should have made the final cut. Luckily, their inclusion on the DVD allows us to do what the film was only able to attempt: they force us to piece together a good mystery.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Mysterious Thriller (4 1/2 stars)
Review: I found this movie to be AWESOME. I love M. Night Shyamalan's work. this movie is yet thrilling and mysterious. It dosent compare to "the Sixth Sense" however. . . 6th Sense was yet thrilling, exciting, mysterious, and very very scary. Unbreakable isnt close to being as good as The 6th Sense. But Unbreakable is still a great and good movie that everyone should watch and enjoy.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A Waste of time
Review: This whole movie was like the introduction to a bigger and better movie. With some severe editing and about another 300% more plot to tack onto the end it might have been a good movie - you get my point? Don't waste your time. ;)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Better than "The Sixth Sense"
Review: If your like me, you liked "The Sixth Sense", but hated Haley Joel Osment. A lot of people aren't a fan of the kid, and I'm one of them. Although I do give him credit, because he can act extremely well... he just annoys me. So, going into "Unbreakable", I had a few mixed emotions. I didn't even know what the plot was, just knew that it was another thriller from Shyamalan, who, under the right circumstances, is a genius. In my estimation, this just so happens to be one of those circumstances. In the opening minutes, the camerawork involved got me worked up, and anticipating what was to come.

Of course, if you've seen the trailors for the film, you know the basic outline: Bruce Willis becomes the Sole Survivor of a train wreck, and oddly enough, he comes out of it with not even a scratch. He gets a mysterious letter, which makes him think about how many times he's been sick. He can't remember a time when he was ill, and eventually meets Elijah, whose convinced that Willis contains superpowers, and just might be a superhero? A lot of mind-boggling things happen after this, and the story only develops for the better.

The thing that made me love this so damn much was the entire movie was like the first act of a regular superhero movie. Usually the hero accepts his powers, and goes on to save the world, but Bruce Willis just doesn't want this power/burden. The ending is one of the best I've seen in a while, and Willis and Shyamalan are thinking about making a trilogy. A trilogy would definitely be good, but leaving it where it is now would be even better. The film is almost flawless.

The DVD isn't a slouch either. The only other thing I wanted on this was an audio commentary, with Shyamalan, Willis, and Jackson. That would make it a perfect package. The transfer is beautiful(the colors are brought out magnificently), and the audio is just as lovable. I loved the score to the film. On the second disc are a few fun, informative featurettes that could have been a little bit longer. There's also a multi-angle, multi-audio "deconstruction" of a scene that will probably only suit movie-buffs and film students. Next up, there's a slew of deleted scenes which were really good, instead of the usual trash found with most deleted scenes. They could have been very important in the telling of the film, but would have really slowed down the pacing. Lastly, there's a hilarious bit in which M. Night Shyamalan includes another one of his extremely funny "kid films". This one's entitled "Night's First Fight". The sound effects and acting pretty much sum up what I'm talking about.

The film is stellar, as is the DVD. If your a fan of thrillers, this is definitely up your alley, and go into it more open-minded than usual. You'll enjoy it much more that way.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: is definite must see for any movie fan
Review: this is one of the best movies i have seen in a long time. i saw my parents watching it in our living room and they had asked me if i wanted to join them. i declined because it seemed like a boring movie to me at the time. but that night when i popped it into our dvd player at 1 in the morning, i couldn't get enough of it. i was very tired and had planned on falling asleep while watching it, but the opposite happened. i stayed up the whole length of the movie even though i was tired. unbreakable is a great movie that has you thinking the entire length of it. if it is true that this is the first of three movies, then i think that they did an excellent in introducing all the characters and establishing the antagonist and protaganist. and it is true what they say in the movie "there are two kinds of villians: one who fights the hero with his fists and one who fights the hero with his mind." and i think that the director did an excellent job in making the villian of the movie the second kind who fights with his mind. this is definitely a great foundation for future movies.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: SHYAMALAN LOST A FEW SENSES MAKING UNBREAKABLE
Review: "Unbreakable" is fair. You see Bruce Willis' paycheck is huge, so cut out train accident sequence and just show a news junket of a crashed train.

Furthermore the sets are so dark you wonder why people are living in such depressed surroundings. The plot itself is interesting and kept me watching, but as the movie progressed it got dumber and dumber.

Shyamalan shows up in the movie for a cameo (Does he think he is the next Hitchcock?)....Not on my life.

The characters never evolve, you never understand the relationship between Willis' character and his son, or his wife.

Other dead ends are with Samuel L. Jackson character who is nuts, but you wonder how he found Willis' and how he knew he had this special gift.

The movie is just digestible fare not worth a movie ticket admission, but okay for rental.

With "The Sixth Sense" the kid could see dead people, with "Unbreakable" Willis could see crazy people....stupid.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A little boring but with a lot of plot and story
Review: It was a little pridictable but the story was entrertaning and the plot was generaly good although it was strange at times. And a little boring. I liked the overall movie but if you dint like the sixth sence then you will not like this. If you did like the sixth sence then you will probably like this also although in my opinion this movie was not as good as the sixth sence.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A 30 Minute story squeezed into 2 hours
Review: I kept waitng for something exicting to happen which is really the only thing that kept me on the edge of my seat. If it wasn't for the twisted ending which really wasn't so terrific anyway, I would have considered this a total waste. Rent it at best...add it to your library is very iffy. A 30 minute story whith a LOT of filler....I really couldn't even begin to imagine was was cut from the original.


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