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Alien Invasion

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Signs (Vista Series)

Signs (Vista Series)

List Price: $14.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A Movie with Great Acting, Terrible Logic
Review: Honestly, this movie has some terrific acting. All the characters are relatively well-rounded, Mel Gibson is at his best, and the director does a good job of building suspense and creating an emotional tie between the characters and the audience.

However, as is often the case in Hollywood productions, there's a major flaw that destroyed the movie for me. Water is toxic to the aliens. So just what is a superior race of aliens doing on a planet covered with a highly toxic substance without any sort of protective suits? If they are intelligent enough for interstellar space travel, why didn't they manage to notice that the majority of the surface is covered in water? Didn't they see the cloud formations of water vapor from orbit? What about the rain? If humans were visiting a planet covered in hydrochloric acid, I can guarantee that we would be wearing something to protect ourselves from it.

More examples: Anybody who has actually been in a cornfield knows that before dawn, they are drenched in dew. So the aliens were running through (highly toxic) water all the time. Blood has a high percentage of water in it, so any time an alien clawed a human, it was covering its hands / claws with (highly toxic) water. And surely the high humidity of many regions must have been at least mildly irritating to them...

It's really too bad the movie's resolution was based upon such a flawed concept, as once again the acting was quite good. If only the directors had hired a science consultant or had at least taken a few minutes to think through the logic of their choices. If you view this movie as a psychological suspense / character movie, it's quite enjoyable though.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: God blows through a stop "Signs"
Review: First, as a movie, "Signs" is only so-so. Despite great acting - especially from Mel Gibson - a handful of extraordinarily tense scenes skillfully wrought by director M. Night Shyamalan, and an exploration into the existence of God, "Signs" is pretty silly.

Occasionally the dialog works, but most of the time it sounds like the pretentious script from a post-modern adaptation of a Greek play. Stilted. Monosyllabic. Bad. Also, Shyamalan's cameo in the flick is totally pretentious, and he exhibits the charisma of a two-by-four during his scenes. It's a shame he stole the part from some deserving professional, probably some guy looking for his big break. But it's Shyamalan's bat and ball, and he'll play shortstop if he wants.

Then there's the whole premise of the movie. Alien invasion? As instrument to test an ex-preacher's faith? Talk about going overboard. Why couldn't God settle for a plague of locusts, a run of bad luck, or even your run-of-the-mill serial killer? But now I'm getting into my next topic...

God. Faith. This is what "Signs" explores. It turns out in the movie that the whole alien invasion, the son's asthma, and the wife's gruesome death was just an intricate plot by God to test Mel Gibson's faith. (Well, the preacher Gibson plays.)

?

But...let's face facts. The actual, real, living, breathing God (whatever she looks like) did not make this film. M. Night Shyamalan did. He wrote the script, he created the characters, he framed the scenes, shot the shots. It's his universe, message, and plot. You get the feeling, though, that Shyamalan feels he's actually framing theological ideas or debates. Maybe even that he's channeling divinity by using his creative process (he wouldn't be the first artist to believe this). The earnestness of the movie underscores this point. In any case, it seems obvious that Shyamalan's spirituality seeps throughout this flick.

In the end, it's an easy kind of spirituality. God reveals himself in a devious set of interrelated coincidences and saves everybody. There are no uneasy questions that linger past the closing credits. Happy, happy. But the drama unfolding outside the theaters is much more convincing for me. And confusing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE BEST MOVIE OF 2002
Review: I was a fool and didn't go see Signs in the theater. People kept telling me how great the movie was and that I should really go and see it. Being strapped for cash (my usual state) and having been unimpressed with The Sixth Sense, I decided not to.

Big Mistake...

Signs is the best movie I have yet seen from 2002. I don't think anything else that I haven't seen could possibly top it. I now own it.

I'm not writing this review just to throw my cent and a half worth into the discussion. Instead, if you are reading this, I am writing to earnestly urge you to see this film. Signs is easily one of the best movies of the past decade.

I've heard it described as a B movie by others. Maybe it has some stock characters and maybe it is very stylistic--but who cares? When a story moves you-isn't that the point of all art that has meaning?

And this story moves.

As for details: This DVD does not have commentary, but the featurettes form a kind of commentary and are more worthwhile than the kind you usually get on DVDs. The menu page is great. The audio is suitably creepy.

You don't know me and I don't know you, but take my word on this movie. Get it. You won't be sorry.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: signs
Review: I have a collection of Mel Gibson's films and I like them all very much except this 'signs' film. It is by far the worst thing I have seen all year and a rock bottom vote for Gibson. The filming was dark,ugly and unviewable. The audio was by grunt to grunt only. The story line was totally absent. For me it was a total waste of time and I would not recommend this film to anyone.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: The Outer Limits reborn?
Review: Yes, I've heard the good, the bad, and the ugly about SIGNS.

Yes, I could label Shyamalan as a prima donna for writing, directing, producing, *and* acting in his own movie.

Yes, I could be disappointed in the script for its lapses in logic.

And yes, I could also very much enjoy this movie for what it is - an extension of some of the classic TV shows from the 60's, most notably THE OUTER LIMITS. There's even more Joseph Stefano here than Alfred Hitchcock - the only thing missing is the control voice!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Different but dull
Review: Never has a movie needed a car chase more desperately than this one. A car chase, an explosion -- anything to jolt it out of its torpor. M. Night Shyamalan has often been compared to Hitchcock and Spielberg, but in some respects he's their opposite. The movies of those two great directors find thrills in the tedium of everyday life. They take banal moments -- a dip in the ocean, a shower -- and make them riveting. Shyamalan, on the other hand, takes riveting moments and makes them banal. I was struck by the scene in which Mel Gibson and family gather to watch news of the alien arrival on TV. Their reaction was so sullen and underplayed you'd have thought they were watching Senate subcommittee hearings on C-SPAN. That's typical Shyamalan. The protagonists in all his movies exist in a semi-catatonic state.

That said, I can't help but admire the director's refusal to succumb to summer-movie cliches. Unlike many of the hacks making big-budget fare these days, he's ambitious enough to try something different. But his bid to perfect the anti-blockbuster has resulted in movies that are nearly as contrived as the schlock they repudiate. The on-screen ennui eventually envelops the audience as well. At least that's how I felt about halfway through "Signs." It's too bad. I want to like Shyamalan's movies. But if his protagonists don't seem particularly involved in their dilemmas, why should I be?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Surprisingly Good Movie
Review: I have to admit I am a fan of M. Night Shyamalan's films. I thought "Sixth Sense" was excellent, and despite the panning it got, I thought "Unbreakable" was pretty good too. I got "Signs" out with trepidation; I'm not exactly an "Alien" movie type of fan though I do watch them.

However in this case I will make an exception to the rule. What a fantastic little film is all I can say. And oh boy, what heart stopping moments there are from beginning to end.

Don't rent this if you want gratuitous violence and bodies all over the place, this isn't that kind of movie. What it does do is play with your head big time. A series of crop circles are appearing all over the world and one of them has just turned up in a small field belonging to an ex-Pastor who is going through a crisis of faith.

M. Night Shyamalan choose a good cast with Mel Gibson (Graham Hess) excelling as the Pastor who has lost his faith in God after the accidental death of his wife in a freak car crash. The two child characters (Hess's young children) are equally good, with Rory Culkin (Morgan Hess) proving that he is as good as his famous older brother when it comes to acting. Abigail Breslin (Bo Hess) does justice to her role as little girl who has an odd phobia about water, a phobia that just might help save her and her family.

However out of all these excellent people for me by far the best was Joaquin Phoenix (Merrill Hess) who plays Gibson's much younger brother, a failed baseball player with a quirky habit of striking out because of his love of "swinging" the bat too much.

The move starts off as a patchwork quilt of ideas that are slowly pulled together to create a creepy story about the invasion of earth, and the concept that somehow things happen for a reason, not matter how terrible they might be. A surprise for me was how good an actor M. Night Shyamalan is. He had a bit part as the Vet who accidentally killed Gibson's wife in the car accident and who gave me one of two great giggles in a film with few laughs. Just as he about to flee to a place near water, he tells Gibson "not to go into his pantry" because one of "them" (the Aliens) is locked in their. He does it with such a dead pan expression that I had to laugh out loud. The next excellent giggle is when Gibson comes home (after his pantry experience) to find his two children and younger brother sitting on the sofa, all with aluminium foil hats on their heads, "So that Aliens won't hear their thoughts," I howled at that, it was so comical and yet you could understand and even feel their desperation as they tried to understand what was happening to them and the world.

The tension in the film builds up, M. Night Shyamalan doesn't let you glimpse the Aliens too often, all you get is a "feel" of them in the beginning but as the film gathers momentum you become more and more aware of them and their hostile presence. There is a neat twist in this film that is at first subtle then as the answers dawn on you it becomes obvious. I won't spoil it for you but this is cracking good film.

Just remember, it has little violence on show that is left to your imagination instead it relies on playing tricks on your mind.

I really enjoyed this film, and it made me jump on several occasions. Worth renting and watching with the lights off...if you're brave enough....

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ...movie critic is...
Review: If you enjoy watching well made suspense movies then this is the one for you. This most definitely is NOT a B movie...Any movie that has Mel Gibson is not a B movie. So anyway the acting is great from all of the cast with a few flaws from the police woman. M. Night is a master of suspense and really makes the movie become real to you. He brings an alien invasion to life and that is what makes it so scary...it seems real. I enjoy watching horror movies, but rarely are there any that are worth a second viewing. But Signs, while it is not really horror more suspense, is definitely worth more than one viewing. So to summarize the plot is well done and goes smoothly, there are scenes that are very humorous, fantastic creepy scenes and music, and good enviroment setting and acting.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's not an alien movie!!!
Review: People have criticised this movie because of the aliens and the various plot holes that surround them. Some people don't seem to realise that this isn't an alien film. They just help to carry the message that the movie brings. It's a movie about faith, beliefs and showing how the family deals emotionally with what is happening. It's a movie based around the humans living in the house! They're the stars of the show. Forget the aliens and you'll find the movie does what its supposed to do. And it does it very well. By not seeing the aliens, it builds up a level of tension that can be missing from other supposed alien movies. One of the main reasons the film is so good is the acting. The cast do a great job playing their characters, allowing you to easily relate to them and understand their problems.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: signs a good movie and a bad one
Review: Signs was a movie that was exciting and also scary in some parts. Mel Gibson was the main actor of this movie who played a role that was very well played and very depressing. The aliens however were very human like in some ways as of appearance, but also different in there speed and strength which was beyond our own. The movies rating was probably more like a PG rather than a Pg-13. It seems that it was just rated pg-13 because of some intense parts and only a couple of profanity words. There was no blood and no real people that were dieing throughout the movie that were shown. Other than a few down parts this was one of the best movies of its time.


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