Unbreakable (US)
Click to read:
Are you unbreakable?
Certificate: PG-13
Running Time: 107 mins
Retail Price: $29.95
Release Date:
Content Type: Movie
Synopsis:
Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson star in a mind-shattering, suspense-filled thriller that stays with you long after the end of this riveting supernatural film.
After David Dunn (Willis) emerges from a horrific train crash as the sole survivor - and without a single scratch on him - he meets a mysterious stranger (Jackson). An unsettling stranger who believes comic book heroes walk the earth. A haunting stranger whose obsession with David will change David`s life forever.
Special Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Fully Produced Additional Scenes Not Seen In Theaters Introduced By M. Night Shyamalan
Behind the Scenes, Featuring Bruce Willis
Comic Books and Superheroes - Exclusive Feature with Samuel L. Jackson
The Train Station Sequence: Multi-Angle Feature
An Excerpt From An Early Film of M. Night Shyamalan
2 Collectible Alex Ross Illustrations
THX-Certified
Video Tracks:
Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1
Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 French
DTS 5.1 English
Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 Spanish
Subtitle Tracks:
Spanish
CC: English
Directed By:
M. Night Shyamalan
Written By:
M. Night Shyamalan
Starring:
Charlayne Woodard
Spencer Treat Clark
Robin Wright
Samuel L. Jackson
Bruce Willis
Casting By:
Douglas Aibel
Soundtrack By:
James Newton Howard
Director of Photography:
Eduardo Serra
Editor:
Dylan Tichenor
Costume Designer:
Joanna Johnston
Production Designer:
Larry Fulton
Producer:
M. Night Shyamalan
Sam Mercer
Barry Mendel
Executive Producer:
Roger Birnbaum
Gary Barber
Distributor:
Buena Vista
Your Opinions and Comments
I was expecting a thriller with some special effects and a great plot.
The end result, however, is none of the above. The movie is boring, slow, goes nowhere and makes no point whatsoever.
The video transfer is ok. It`s not outstanding, however. There are no compression signs at all and most of the dark scenes are rendered nicely.
The DTS and DD 5.1 soundtracks are both good. Again, not outstanding. With the exception of the train scene in the beginning of the movie, the soundtrack is rarely violent and the surrounds are only used on occasions.
The menus are all beautifully animated with music.
The extras include a behind the scenes look, a featurette about the history of comics, a scene with multiple angles (actually, the first angle is taken from the movie and the second one is the storyboard) and 7 deleted scenes. All in all, the extras are nothing special. The 2-disc package seems like another commercial trick.
Bottom line - a very disappointing movie that just goes to show how wrong a hype can be.
The truth (as always!) is somewhere in-between. The story IS captivating if you allow it to be, although the implausability of the overall concept may lessen the impact for some people. It`s along the same lines as Shyamalan`s previous Bruce Willis collaboration (you know the one). Some of the same tricks and techniques are employed again here and fans of that film that can keep an open-mind, will certainly enjoy this movie too. The manipulative elements (I`m being careful with spoilers here!) are just as effective, but the feeling you have at the end isn`t on the same revelatory scale. Watching the film a second time won`t be as worthwhile as it was with Sixth Sense because the landscape of the story remains the same, it`s just that some aspects of the narrative can be interpreted differently (come on, I gave NOTHING away there, I was vague as hell!).
Anyway, it`s a good film as long as your expectations aren`t unrealistically high. I personally prefer it to Sixth Sense because that was just daft really (80% novelty value too). Unbreakable is a complete film, not just an overlong "practical joke" and that`s how I felt about the previous offering. The direction is uncomplicated and steady, or bland and boring depending on your outlook. It`s fine for this type of film, and the score is well-suited to the visuals.
The disc(s) are good, some have criticised the splitting of the material onto 2 discs, but if it was necessary to save bit-rate for a DTS track and pristine visuals, I`m all in favour (It wasn`t any more expensive, so who cares?). As it happens, the extras aren`t particularly gripping, although the deleted scenes are excellent (anamorphic too).
Basically, it`s a good value package. You get a competent film with some superb A/V credentials. Just regard the "satisfactory" extra features as being thrown in for good measure.
Unbreakable is certainly an interesting film, and one that I did enjoy for the most part. Many people have criticised the film for being far too slow or even boring, I personally would have to differ as I found the story pretty well paced throughout, and far from boring. I imagine the people labelling Unbreakable boring are those watching the film in expectation of an action movie, seeing as the film stars two big name action film stars. If you do watch Unbreakable with action in mind, you are going to be extremely disappointed as 'action' is the one thing this film is in short supply of. What you do get plenty of is great acting. All the leads produce excellent performances throughout, especially Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price who suffers from a rare genetic disorder which results in his bones breaking easily.
Just keep an open mind and watch as the story slowly unfolds and if the finale does not make you jump then I suggest you had the volume too low.
If you like adventure films then this is not one for you. If you like thrills and spills...ditto. If you enjoy good acting and don`t take yourself too serious ( come on, it is fiction after all !! ) then you will find this film very entertaining.
As a DVD package its certainly a nice try, though given some of the other great 2 disc sets out there, such as Gladiator or SE7EN, this one is pretty short of the mark.
Still well worth picking up though if you are a fan of Willis and/or Jackson, though if you are after an action film you should think twice.
I have a new TT projector and when the image is big, you can see there is way to much edge enhancement directly on the picture. You cannot remove them without blurring all the details... Color, grain are just fine !
FRED
Shyamalan has created an interesting and steadily engrossing
story about comic book heroes.
The first title in Touchstone`s Vista Series,"Unbreakable" comes in beautiful packaging.The film is presented in 2.40:1
THX certified,anamorpic widescreen and looks stunningly
good.The picture is very sharp and features terrific clarity.
Audio comes with a very good Dolby Digital 5.1 track that remains rich and engaging.A DTS 5.1 track is also on the
disc.
Disc 2 features two well made featurettes,one about the film`s
making and one about superheroes.There is a multi-angle
feature that deals with the train station sequence.There is
a hilarious except from one of Shyamalan`s early film`s,and he
intoduces a bunch of deleted scenes.The packaging says
that there are 2 collectible Alex Ross Illustrations,but there
are none in the package I bought.I expected more extras,but
the focus seems to be more on quality instead of quantity.
Bruce Willis is cool in a understated role and the whole idea of realistic take on a comic story is good stuff.
I have no idea about the dvd extras as i have no intention of putting myself through the pain of watching this thing again.
if you are a fan of bruce willis, then you may find little to interest you here as willis goes to great lengths to underact and avoids his usual "smug eyebrow" style of acting, presumably also as a result of the sixth senses success.
although samuel jackson puts in a fair performance, even he cannot raise this film from the senseless nauseus drivel that it ends up being.