Rating: Summary: I saw that one coming Review: Oh dear. Surprise ending? No. You'll work out the end long before you get there. A reasonable movie with atmosphere. But a classic this ain't. I was told it was amazing and left disappointed. Don't be fooled. A good film? Yes. Worth watching? Certainly. But just be aware that it isn't as good as some may have you believe.
Rating: Summary: a pleasant surprise Review: well, what can i say that hasn't already been said? it's a great film. one guy didn't like it because it had a formulaic plot of dead guys using living people to solve their mothers...well, the movie isn't about that at all. ask M. Night Shyalaman what it is about. he said it was about communication. look at the four central characters and the lack of communication between the two couples. haley joel osmet's character can't communicate with his mother because of fear. what would she think of him if she knew his secret? she is already suspicious that something is wrong.then on the other end is malcom and his wife. we see throughout the movie that their relationship has hit a snag, and it takes the coming together of reclusive doctor and the frightened young boy to bridge the gap of communication between both couples. on this level, the movie is excellent, and this is what m. night shyalaman was attempting to do. everybody should get this movie and watch it for this. enjoy the scary parts too, but this movie is about human relations and communication.
Rating: Summary: Probably better than the other "Oscar" nominees of 1999. Review: No point in belaboring the plot of *The Sixth Sense*; just want to weigh in a year and a half later. The movie has a truly surprise ending, making you want to sit through it a second time. The question is, of course, is the movie worth a second viewing? It's arguable. I watched it a second time not because of the ending but rather because of M. Night Shyamalan's surprisingly sure-handed direction (it's only his second movie!). The scene composition, art direction, lighting, and measured pace (very pleasing, that) are almost wonders to behold in this day and age of racking noise, "kinetic" camerawork, and other excesses. With a movie about ghosts, we've come to expect over-the-top shenanigans and scares that mainly come from sudden bleats of violins and synthesizers at 50-decibel volume in your typical Dolby-sound theater. Shyamalan dares to take the genre pretty seriously, and he generates several legitimate scares. The scares work because he's earned it. The director has paid due attention to story and character development, and once the ghosts begin their visitations, we find ourselves concerned about the characters and really wishing that they don't come to harm. (Typical slasher movies don't scare because we don't care -- about the characters, the story, the villain.) Along that vein, Shyamalan wrings excellent performances from his cast. Joel Haley Osment has to be one of the discoveries of the decade, Toni Collette is, as always, great, and Bruce Willis has been restrained to the point where he actually stays in character. Not quite on the level of "great", *The Sixth Sense* is nevertheless very promising work from a director I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of.
Rating: Summary: Just a very average thriller... and I hate the New Age stuff Review: I decided I wouldn't watch this movie as soon as I heard Willis was in it (he's in my top ten of most wooden actors today), but then someone compared the movie to "The Ninth Gate" and "The Omen", so I rushed out, excited, to see if it's true. But it's not... after the Blair Witch, that's probably the most overhyped movie of the last year or two years. And the "famed" ending... well, honestly, I thought of it about 50 minutes in the movie, wondering "what if"... and didn't find it too original. That trick's been done. I was at least hoping for a decent soundtrack, but even that was disappointing. Howard seems to be repeating himself since scoring Costner's dreadful "Postman"... I give this one 65%. I'd give 70 if it wasn't for director's Shyalaman's awful cameo (as the doc) - yecch! This guy is about as good an actor at that little Tommy Tammassini character from the movie. He made Willis seem a good actor in comparison.
Rating: Summary: Exactly 1x Better Than The Sixth Sense Review: I'm not really sure how to rate this movie, since it was so similar to M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense." The plot was essentially the same, with the same predictable twist at the end. The acting was equally overly dramatic on Willis' and Osment's part. The cinematography seems to be following in the footsteps of "The Sixth Sense," with an attempted avant-garde feel despite the expansive budget. Perhaps the worst part of this movie is its slow build to predictable climaxes. The kid's admission that he sees dead people comes over halfway through the movie, when the audience is aware of that fact from the very beginning. I don't want to reveal the "shocking" twist at the end, but let's just say that a recent poll indicated that 50% of blind rabid monkeys saw it coming. All-in-all, though, as bad as it was, I can't say it was worse than "The Sixth Sense," so I must rate it at one times better
Rating: Summary: Effective thriller with great performances Review: Last year's "The Sixth Sense" is a very unique film in that it's both a very scary supernatural tale and a sublime story of friendship. The film stars Bruce Willis as a childpsychologist with a traumatic past who decides to counsel a disturbed little boy named Cole Sear who is played by Haley Joel Osment. Cole has a special gift that most adults wouldn't want; he can see and hear ghosts. Willis then tries to help young Cole to cope with his ability and live a normal life. This film has a very interesting premise, but more than that perhaps it's strongest asset are the strong performances by Haley Joel Osment and the underrated Bruce Willis. Osment gives a star making performance showing an almost scary amount of maturity for a young child. As for Willis, he gives his most earnest and best performance to date showing what a fine talent he really is. While most of the story centers around Cole's performance, Willis doesn't try to outshine his young co-star. Instead he shows the younger actor much respect by reacting and listening to him instead of out-act him. Much recognition should go to Willis for Osment's performance, and for his own as well. Another great ability Willis has is having complete trust from the audience. He has always utilized this talent in his "Die Hard" films and other action adventures, but it has never been so useful than in "The Sixth Sense". We react to his humanity has he tries to heal this sad little boy, and we sympathize for him has he desparately tries to mend his marriage. Being as huge and important a star as Willis is, he shows restraint from turning this performance into a star vehicle. One more wonderful thing about "The Sixth Sense" is the writing by director M. Night Shyamalan. This isn't a trendy thriller with 90's gimmicks and one liners. However, this film has undoubtedly become a trend setter. Many of the films wonderful plot turns come naturally and are done with great care as to show the audience that these aren't artificial scares and suprises. "The Sixth Sense" is a film like "Ghost", an emotional supernatural tale with a suprisingly sweet heart. There are emotional responses from the audience ranging from genuine fright to overwhelming suprise and delight. It is because of these wonderful suprises and performances that "The Sixth Sense" may reaffirm your belief in movies.
Rating: Summary: One of the best, and scariest movies ever made! Review: Previews for this movie showed it off as just another stupid horror movie, which today are very common. This movie is not that way at all. Its very scary, and dramatic. The film tells the story of Cole Sear(wonderfully played by Haley Joel Osment) who is very troubled. Malcolm Crowe(Willis) a child psychiatrist helps little Cole with his problems. But he later finds out from him that he sees dead people, walking around like normal peole not knowing they're dead. Easily a classic. We get chilling scares, and a few tears as well. Earned 6 Academy Award nominations which I thought it should have won. Shyamalan is a great director! I reccomend his newest thriller Unbreakable! The dvd has lots of great features that talk about the movie and what they did with it, and also some deleted scenes. I highly reccomend this on dvd! High points:the direction, the superb acting, the scares and the drama mixed together, the surprise ending, the hauting score, and what ever else I missed. Low points:None. Rated PG-13 for some violence, scary and disturbing images and sequences, mild profanity, and some gore.
Rating: Summary: Forced Advertising Review: To be honest, I really liked the movie. What I didn't like is the advertising for coming attractions at the beginning, which cannot be fast forwarded through. They have taken advantage of technology to control what you can see. Imagine if (when?) software companies start touting their products on their CD's before they will allow you to load their software.
Rating: Summary: OK but overrated Review: Maybe it was the hype, "The greatest thriller of all time!" that turned me off, I don't know. I did guess the "surprise ending" early on in the film, and the film suffered from "Poltergeist/Steven Spielberg" wannabe touches which made me wince, so these factors also biased me against the film. But then, I have to remind myself that the film was made by a young filmmaker who grew up watching films like "Poltergeist" and Steven Spielberg kitschathons. Bruce Willis (not one of my favorite performers) was good in the film, nice and understated, and Haley Joel Osment is a talented little boy-although I found his performance not always sympathetic-sometimes downright annoying, especially the "Stuttering Stanley" scene, which reminded me of another annoying child performance-the "Redrum" mishigas from "The Shining" (another overrated, silly film directed by the once-great Stanley Kubrick). I do not think that this is a great film of lasting value-but an entertaining one by a young filmmaker who may or may not mature into a great director.
Rating: Summary: What's wrong with this movie? Review: Okay, let me start by saying that I enjoyed this movie, that I thought the acting was good, but that I ultimately regard it as an inferior Jacob's Ladder. The story is so transparent that within the first 15 minutes you've figured out the ending. After that it's just a question of how the filmmakers take us there. The script is an insult to the audience's intelligence. If you watch the interviews with the filmmmakers on the DVD you find out why. They seem so preoccupied with the rules of the film's construction in relation to the plot that they end up just giving it all away. They're so happy with themselves it's almost funny. I had only seen the trailers before and heard that the movie had an awesome surprise ending. This was negated by the beginning of the movie - literally, bang goes the surprise. Had the filmmakers left out the first scenes the movie would have worked a lot better in keeping up a level of suspense.
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