Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing plot, awesome theatrics
Review: While the theatrical part of this movie was very well done, the plot suffered. This movie left a few question unanswered (why were they under siege?) and in some cases made little sense. All in all, I felt this movie was decent primarily due to the theatrical aspect.
Rating: 
Summary: Paging Mr. Hitchcock...
Review: I like M. Night Shyamalan's movies. I confess that my review of the movie is going to be colored by this. I thought that the movie was really suspenseful, and it kept me guessing until the end. I've read some reviewers saying that this movie is corny, and has some obvious holes in the plot. Well duh, there are very few movies of this kind that don't have gaps in logic, but sometimes you have to suspend your disbelief for an hour and a half and just enjoy a movie. I think that the absolute best thing about this movie is what is not shown to you. Shyamalan took a lesson from Hitchcock and shows that your mind does a much better job of scaring you than pouring gallons of blood across the screen. As for the DVD extras, it is pretty standard fare. Deleted scenes, interviews, and documentaries, nothing that I was super impressed with, but I haven't yet bought a DVD based upon the awesome documentaries that go with it. Buy this DVD is you are a fan of Shyamalan's movies.
Rating: 
Summary: Shyalaman does it again . . .
Review: Great film. Shyalaman wonderfully builds up the tension by directing this is though it could actually happen. He lets your imagination create the suspense (which it invariably will) by subscribing to "less is more" filmaking. Rather than revealing "them," he allows them to lurk just out of sight. Viewers catch only glimpses of some haunting presence. As far as the DVD goes, I was a bit disappointed that this wasn't packaged as the earlier Vista series releases were, with a fold-out card-stock design. It looks out of place next to Tombstone, Unbreakable, and The Sixth Sense on my shelf. A cost-cutting measure perhaps? Each of those previous Vista series releases featured 2 discs, one containing the film and the other containing all the special features. I can only guess that the 1-disc release is another cost-cutting decision.... The DVD's cover is also a bit disappointing. I preferred the original movie poster art that depicted the crop signs leading up the the house in the distance. M. Night preferred this as well, as he reveals in the special features for Signs. He made sure there were not Mel Gibson shots like the studio wanted, because he reasoned (and rightly so) that this was not a movie about Mel, but a film that stands on its own. I like very much his views on this subject. I can't stand movies like this that feature a huge shot of one of the stars rather than a well-done piece of design the truly illustrates the movie. See covers from nearly any Criterion collection for a good example. Great movie, good DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: Absolutley Boring
Review: I watched this at my friends sleep over, we all fell asleep, this movie was boring. mel Gibson has done better than this. It is not scary at all.
Rating:
Summary: Classic Sci-Fi From A Modern Film
Review: Let me start by saying, I love this film. It is a sci-fi masterpiece, a throwback to the classic sci-fi flicks of the 50s. Now, before you watch this movie, please keep that in mind. It has more in common with a movie like "The Day The Earth Stood Still" than it does with "Independance Day" or "Alien." The tension builds and fills the film like a massive lead weight that sits right on your heart as it thuds in your chest. You won't see lots of shooting, blood and gore. You will see a masterpiece of film-making unfold before your eyes. The problem with this movie, or perhaps rather the other reviewers of this movie who put it down, is that it does not fit in with modern sci-fi expectations. There's not lots of CG effects, blood, aliens being blown to bits and lasers beams flying everywhere. It's not a story line hung loosely around a collection of mayhem, death and destruction in a sci-fi enviroment. No, the problem is this movie is smart. It approaches fear in a way that is subtle, not in your face. It's not the junk food that movie audiences have been fed over the last few decades. It wants you to think more of it's characters than of the war. To me, this movie is more about the family it revolves around than the actual invasion. The alien invasion just serves as a backdrop for the story of a man's faith in God. I especially like the duality of the title. "Signs" refers both to the crop circles left by the alien invaders, and the signs from God that Mel Gibson talks over in a great piece of dialogue with co-star Joaquin Phoenix. Both of these stars are first rate in this film. As for the aliens, they seem to draw much criticism as well. I think M. Night wanted them to be an enigma. He accomplished that very well. Why did they act the way they did? I don't know. They were aliens! Hollywood has been spoon feeding us so much junk in sci-fi trappings, we've forgotten how to consume a REAL sci-fi movie. In closing, I am giving this DVD five stars. I would give it 4.5 if possible. The movie is a five star affair, but I was disappointed in the extras. No trailers, and the behind the scenes parts were a bit dry. The deleted scenes were good however. If you want a true, tense, sci-fi movie and a character driven story, buy this! If you want lots of explosions and blood, you came to the wrong place, but check it out anyway, you might be surprised how much you like it.
Rating:
Summary: Signs A gripping thriller!
Review: Signs is another one of those summer 2002 movies that I was unfortunately able to make it to. That was a regrettable mistake. Signs, from director M. Night Shyamalan is a mellow yet gripping, edge of your seat thriller in the strongest sense of the term. Although I'd heard several disparaging remarks about this film, I'm quite glad that I'd not listened to them. This film is a fine addition to your DVD collection! The premise: MINOR SPOILERS Mel Gibson stars as a farmer and former pastor whose lost his wife due to a horrible auto accident and consequently he's lost his faith in God. He wakes up one morning to find that his two young children are out of the house and screaming. On his way out of the house, he runs in to his brother, played by Joaquin Phoenix (of Gladiator fame). They frantically search for and find them in the corn field where crop "signs" have been emblazoned in his corn crops. What follows from this point is clearly one of the finest suspense/thriller films this viewer has watched in quite some time. As writer, director and actor, M. Night Shyamalan has crafted a fine film that in no uncertain terms will quickly bring you into it emotionally and leave you exhausted at the end. Of particular note is the older style of movie making where the director does not immediately put the special effects right in your face. For the better part, until the end of the movie, he leaves much of the suspense to the imagination. In doing this, he creates even more suspense for the viewer than any other format might've done. The musical score for the film lends perfectly to every scene, from the mellow to the highly dramatic. Helping with the score for the home viewer is the THX format.
Rating:
Summary: AN OKAY MOVIE
Review: To start with: I agree with Amazon.com when their reviewer says, "It's effective to a point, but vaguely hollow at its core." -- I didn't find myself thinking that it was hollow, while I was watching it, but I was disappointed and it felt empty. Don't get me wrong: The acting by everyone in the movie is great, and the pain and the resolving of the loss of faith of the central character played by Mel Gibson, and the rest of the characters entwined, is quite moving. The ending of the film is anticlimatic. Not bad. Just very low key. Symbolic without any explanations -- doesn't need any. Sometimes I realize that the very thing that one person dislikes about the film may be what I would like. If an alien invasion seeming flimsy in its portrayal because the movie is focusing so hard on the emotional pain of a family, and a hanging question -- "Is nothing a coincidence?" -- doesn't bother you, then maybe you should buy it. This film takes you through the experience of a family: You live it with them. That is something no one can truly describe or do for you. Buying it depends on whether or not you like the experience.
Rating:
Summary: Not Really About Aliens- but - A Great Movie About Hope
Review: If you want a great movie with some truly "on the edge of your seat", creepy moments - then you've found a winner. M. Night Shyamalan, the master of surprise endings and "jump out of your skin" scenes, has delivered again. Signs doesn't waste any footage working up to it's story line. With the opening scene the movie hits the ground at a dead run and doesn't stop it's mad spring until the final lines are spoken. The viewer gets swept up and pulled along with the momentum, and it is quite a ride! This movie centers around a very small cast of characters, and they all give some stellar performances. Rory Culkin does a great job as the astute, asthmatic son. He is engaging and funny and gives a nice, solid performance. Expect to see more great stuff from this young man in the future. Abigail Breslin, who plays the young daughter, is perfection. Joaquin Phoenix plays the uncle of the two kids. Phoenix is one of my favorite actors and he doesn't disappoint. The main character in the film, played by Mel Gibson, is Graham Hess, a recently widowed ex-reverend. The backdrop of the movie is short and to the point -aliens have arrived and for the Hess family, it is time to survive the night. It doesn't really matter that (as some critics have ascertained) the plot seems a little unbelievable. As I said - it's only the backdrop for the real story. As you watch the movie, you realize that this is a lot more going on than just an alien invasion. The story actually has less to do with the aliens and more to do with Graham's inner conflict. Despite what some critics have implied, this is not a movie about religion - but it is a movie about faith. Faith and hope. Graham has lost both. The death of this wife has left him bitter and disillusioned. He has abandoned the religion he used to embrace and he has lost his hope that there is something bigger and better out there. For Graham Hess there are no more miracles, just a bleak landscape of chance and coincidence. As Graham tells his brother, 'There's no one watching out for us. We are all alone'. It is this character that makes the movie so watchable. Because even though the events happening around them stretch the bounds of common sense, everyone (I would think) can relate to what Graham is going through. Whether is has been the death of a family member, the attack on the WTC, or any other crisis - we have all at one time been to that place of dark despair where nothing makes sense, and nothing seems to help. This is what the character of Graham is going through. And we feel empathy for him. It is a real treat to watch Mel Gibson play the part of Graham. To go with him through his journey of rediscovery. To watch Gibson portray so accurately Graham's anger and frustration at the death of this wife. To feel his anguish as he tries to cope with a reality that he can neither explain nor justify. And finally to witness his rise from the blackness to a new awareness of good and a new acceptance of faith. M. Night Shyamalan has given us a very astute look into the human psyche and, in particular, one man's struggle to walk through the chaos and confusion and emerge from the other side reborn, as it were, from the ashes. And along the way, just for kicks, he has thrown in some great humor and enough thrills and chills to satisfy the thrill seekers in all of us. A great movie!
Rating:
Summary: overhyped and disappointing
Review: All my friends were talking about how great this was and that it was frightening. So I, liking a good scare, decided to check it out with a friend. The beginning i thought it would be ok, with the whole "children of the corn field" going on. After viewing this movie and nearly falling asleep, I feel that this movie was underdeserving of the money it made at the box office. It's about aliens and the whole movie builds up to the actual alien attack. The building part is boring as is the attack, where they actual show the pathethic alien. Everyone lives and everything is great. This did not amuse me. Nothing remotely scary happens and the story line isn't that good. Save your money please! Even a 9 year old i know found this movie to be extremely dull with no frightening aspects.
Rating:
Summary: Spooked us
Review: We stopped watching this halfway through and resumed watching it the next day, in the sunlight. That's how scared we were. I get the feeling that some of these dyspeptic reviewers are too young to remember the classic old horror movies that contained space invasion elements, such as the origional "Thing", and so many others that entranced me when I was a child. Over and over I would watch, as the scary invader/monster/whatever finally made an appearance. Over and over I was relieved to see the humans triumph over the threat to the world. This was a genuine plot device that thrilled people in the fifties because of the pinko fears that threaded through our lives--we thought we were going to be blown up by the Communists. At any rate, horror movies were not significantly about storyline or character development, in the long run: it was cathartic entertainment. That's right, you watched it to get scared and, and then to get rid of your Commie fears and finally to be entertained that way. Plus, it's human nature to like to be jumped. I don't understand it--maybe it's an adrenaline thing. BOO!!! The ending was terrific, the acting was wonderful. I particularly liked Joaquim and his sturdy portayal of Gibson's loving, loser of a brother. No complaints here, except understand what you are watching before you criticize it, film students.
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