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Unbreakable (Vista Series)

Unbreakable (Vista Series)

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not for everyone (but definitely for me)
Review: I think the assorted reviews here show that Unbreakable is a movie you'll either love or hate. As a confirmed comic geek, this movie was a dream come true, and the DVD even more so. It is a movie that treats the mythology of the superhero with the reverence and respect ignored by almost all the big budget comic-book adaptions.

The problem is most people aren't comic geeks. The mixture of gritty realism with the notion that a man can be born with super powers may seem like oil and water to those who've never heard of "Watchmen" or "The Dark Knight Returns." When I saw this movie in a theater, I distinctly recall the audience moaning and groaning at certain scenes, especially those involving Samuel Jackson's character. Many people I talked to afterwards also complained. I think what they fail to realize is that while Jackson's character seems surreal or worse, corny, it makes perfect sense. Quite simply, he's is a guy who's read too many comic books. To me, he doesn't seem corny or out of place at all. In fact, I think it was one of Jackson's best perfomances, and one of the top five of the year.

The pacing also proved trying to many. I know a few people who even walked out on it. People hear "super-hero" and they expect punches to be thrown immediately. Granted, the pacing can be a little slow at times, but I never said the movie is perfect.

From a technical standpoint, Night does an incredible job. His bizarre perspective's and subtle use of color and sound are extraordinary. Like "Sixth Sense" it requires several viewings to absorb. The performances, while understated (excluding Mr. Glass of course) are very genuine.

The second DVD included with the set contains some really great stuff. This movie had some of the best deleted scenes I've ever seen on a DVD. I also enjoyed the 20 minute feature on super-hero's and comics. It was awesome to see Will Eisner, Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons talk shop in a documentary format. I only wished it was longer. Maybe they'll include more in the sequel (Hope, hope, hope.)

So, while the movie isn't perfect, it's definitely worth seeing. If you can't get into the whole comic book angle, maybe you can relate to the ultimate theme of the story: finding your place in the world. While this may not be a traditional story of good and evil, it is a story of a single man's potential, for good or ill.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A warm and poetic fairytale
Review: M. Night Shyamalan and Bruce Willis team up for the second time in this modern fairytale about an everyday superhero. The film takes its time in both story- and characterbuilding, but it is a fine story with great acting, some surprising twists and even a little tension now and then. I won`t get into the discussion if it is better or worse than " The sixth sense". I think they are both brilliant movies.

The film comes in a beautiful paper box containing a fold-out which holds two discs.The first disc contains the movie, which is THX and simply brilliant in both sound and picture quality.

Disc 2 contains the extras which I find a bit sparse. It contains a behind the scenes featurette, a segment about comic books, 7 interesting deleted scenes introduced by the director and the possibility to watch the great train station sequence in film-to-storyboard comparison, and with optional sound effects- or music track only.All in all not bad, but I would have liked trailers, tv-spots, illustrations,storyboards and stills in a special edition like this.

Enclosed is also a "collectible card" with 2 Alex Ross illustrations. It is a fine card really, but I am getting tired of paper cards in my dvd`s.

So to Vista and other dvd producers ( in particular Warner Brothers) : please put the extras ON THE DVD instead of throwing in some worthless paper cards to call it a "special edition". Please !!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Unbreakable is almost Unbeatable!
Review: Unbreakable is a very unique and wonderfully done silent thriller. The cast is outstanding and the plot line is one of the most original ideas i have ever seen. The ending of this film is outstanding totally blowing my mind. This is a must have...4 1/2 stars.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Some thrilling scenes but falls short
Review: Very dark and too brooding on subplots that did not add to the overall storyline. Although stretching the imagination, the story does become believable ( that a super-hero could exist). The film spends too much time on the stagnant relationship with his wife and on the central character's feelings of depression. Although several scenes had me on the edge of my seat, the pace of the movie seemed to be too slow for long stretches. The plot could have been a lot tighter (such as in the 6th sense). Glad I waited for the DVD and didn't go to the movies on this one.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: ok - the real story on this movie - it's awesome if ........
Review: ........you're about 10 years old!

ok - first - the ad campaigns are terribly misleading. this isn't a "change your life"/"i had a near-death-experience and massive awakening" movie; if you go into it expecting this you will be sorely disappointed. instead, this is a more serious type of *batman* or *superman* flick with a morose, monotone, somber, melodramatic superhero sans the exaggerations of "supernatural" powers and strength.

in other words this is a comic book on film - and little more. really, that's the straight scoop on this flick; i kid you not!

the acting is good all around, considering that the mood of this film is droll and dreary throughout - i think there was ONE joke in the entire film; aside from that all of the characters bore the same overly serious expression. (did any of the characters actually crack a smile at all??)

there could have been so much more to this movie had it been taken in the *fearless*/*awakenings*/*the game*/*cast away* direction. but alas it was not.

and the ending - it is absolutely preposterous and mathematically ludicrous. it makes no sense - either in its conception or in the fact that it ACTUALLY worked out from the character's perspective!! but .......... if you keep in mind that this is basically a comic book on film, then the ending may be a bit easier to swallow.

on a positive note, i am forever grateful to M. Night Shyamalan for only taking 1:40 minutes to tell this story. if this had been stretched out to 3 hours like *the green mile* or *magnolia* i would have to write a seriously disparaging review and subtract stars, etc., etc. but as it is it's a two-star movie with a lame ending that only wastes 1:40 minutes of your life and offers a few interesting ideas as compensation (unlike *the green mile* or *magnolia* which had no redeeming qualities at all - can you tell how much i hated these movies? ...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Thin line between good, bad and boring
Review: Im going to start off by saying that Unbreakable is a deasent movie not something that could win an award but interesting I must admit. Im only going to talk about the two main charecters David and Elija. David once a promising football player turned now a security guard who is on the brink of divorce. Then there is Elija a sad charecter who has suffered from a desease that makes bones very fragile, and who was teased by children at school, Now a comic book store owner who beleives that David is some kind of superhero who is immune to illness and cannot be broken. Now let me say a few words about something common in comic books usally the unsusspecting hero is lets say a bored,down on his luck security guard who suddenly finds out he has superhuman strength and usally there is a villian who usally is the exact opposite of the hero. There is a very similar(in my opinion sort of silly) storyline in this movie. A man(Bruce Willis) and his new freind (Jackson) who have a powerful bond that has played its role in fairytales,stories, and even comics. I advise people to give Unbreakable a chance it isnt a big blockbuster hit but it deserves a chance.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Too slow...
Review: This movie could have been sooooo much better. The concept is phenomenal. Shyamalan is able to introduce complex philosophical concepts in a "Philosphy for Dummies" way.

In Unbreakable, Shyamalan asks: If people are built with disabilities that render them physically inferior to the general public...do other's posses abilities that render them physically superior (superhero-esque).

Unfortunately, this brilliant concept is delivered in a tediously slow package. Shyamalan gets mired in the minutia. After having watched the featurette on the DVD, I understand he wanted to delve into the human psyche. In Sixth Sense, he delved just deep enough and left enough to the audience. In this movie, Shyamalan comes off as unconfident of his abilities to tell a story and vastly underestimates the intelligence of the audience.

As far as the DVD is concerned...yes it does come with 2 DVD's, but DO NOT be fooled. It has the same features as most movies have on 1 DVD. It's a gratuitous marketing ploy. The sound is adequate and pucture quality is standard.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: If you like the sixth sense, you might not like unbreakable
Review: Unbreakable is far different from the sixth sense. Unbreakable is told as a comic book: A superhero learns of his powers & has his weekness, & his enemy. If you watch the film, & sorry if im spoiling the film, you have to watch the beginning to discover the hero. the middle to discover his powers & weekness, & the end to discover the enemy. It's quite suprising but i did not like it but in order to understand this film you have to understand the concept of a comic book. In the beginning a man named david dunn gets into a train wreck, killing over a hundred, except him. Then a lonely man notices him who runs a comic store discovers he has the story of a superhero as the film progresses. and as you will see this man is unbelievable. Some what unbreakable. I recommended it for fans of comic books, but not really for fans of the sixth sense.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good Story/Bad Cinema
Review: The tendency to have an honest literary ending is one reason I like UNBREAKABLE. It ends where it is supposed to end. It ends where it would have ended in a short story. We do not need to see Willis scrap it out with arch villain Jackson, though I think that might have made it a more successful movie.

The film does not ... as some reviewers claim. In fact, it is quite good--as a story. And the acting and direction are competent. Call me a fool, but I am a big Bruce Willis fan (except for LAST MAN STANDING). Maybe the problem with the movie is that with its honest ending, it had no business being a movie. Perhaps it ... as cinema, at least for those who like their car chases and explosions at the end. In that sense, then, I agree that there is no "cinematic" payoff.

Nevertheless, in the Twilight Zone/O Henry/Guy DeMaupassant tradition, it works marvelously. There is a cerebral payoff. You thought you knew what was happening, but you were wrong. To make this movie good cinema, in the pop sense, the director would have had to include a bigger EXTERNAL story than the one he ultimately chose (psycho kidnaps/cohabits with family), and thereby allow the newly revealed hero to SAVE THE WORLD. A bigger story might be a terrorist bombing of a major city, a dam's bursting, or the kidnapping of a First Lady. He might also have allowed Samuel L. Jackson to give the fledgling hero a WORTHY PHYSICAL challenge, now that he (Jackson) has been revealed as a wheelchair bound Lex Luthor.

I have heard that the thing is the first in a trilogy. I am certainly going to go watch them as soon as they come out.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I Just Wanted Something To Happen
Review: I have browsed briefly through the reviews of this film. This will be a short review on the contrary of what 95% of the viewers have given the movie (four to five stars).

From what I gathered, the movie is about one hour and forty minutes of Bruce Willis' character realizing just what he is...a seemingly immortal, "unbreakable" human being.

Along the way, it's almost as if it's a search for an arch enemy. When you watch this movie, you will understand, I guess.

The reason i give this film two stars is that nothing really happens in the film. It's a really good idea that misses out with it's slow and methodical tempo. I won't necessarily say it's "unwatchable," but I was disappointed with the anticipation I had for this movie. Boredom and bedtime is really what pops through the mind once you reach the first hours end.

Aside from the general idea of the movie, the only good thing I can say about it is that it looks pretty ... good.

I realize I am in the minority in this review...but there are two sides to every story. Don't buy this DVD if you've never seen the movie before...rent it first.


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