Movie Reviews for Unbreakable (Two-Disc Vista Series)

Unbreakable (Two-Disc Vista Series)

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Movie Reviews of Unbreakable (Two-Disc Vista Series)

Movie Review: Comics as a fine art
Summary: 4 Stars

M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable is very rare class of superhero film, trying to be incredibly logical, while also having plenty of absurd moments. This is okay, sense the director's other films have also followed a similar formula... But, typically with his films you find yourself taken away by the emotional drama and characters, and the films move along so quickly you never really get a chance to stop and question the logic behind the events, because if you had the chance to question it you'd realize how ridiculous the entire situation is.

We are introduced to the story with an awkward man by the name of David Dunn (Bruce Willis), a security guard, who seems to have some serious issues in regards to being social, and communicating. While on his way back to New York he winds up being the only man to survive a colossal train crash (the other is seen dying from substantial injuries, giving us a wonderful shot of Willis being counseled by the doctor as you slowly see a flailing sheet soak in blood). He emerges from this crash completely unharmed, which leads to speculation and confusion from doctors, and the media. Soon after he is given a letter from an art gallery, which displays comic book art entitled "Limited Edition". There he meets the owner, Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), a man who has suffered from multiple injuries as a result of weak bones, making kids call him "Mister Glass". Since he spent one third of his life in the hospital he has read many comic books, and takes them to a serious level of philosophy and sub textual meanings, and he believes David to be a real life hero. To Elijah, comics aren't children's tales about men in brightly colored outfits fighting menacing beings of evil seeking the destruction of good, but as one of mankind's most important visual arts.

As the plot moves on the evidence of "truth behind the panels" become clear to David and Elijah, though David doesn't want to accept this, for the already strained relationship between his wife and son has only just started to mend itself after the train crash. The audience can tell that this will ultimately end with David accepting the truth and mending relations with his family, and they can also anticipate the typical Syamalan twist ending.

Yes, this is a drama with a concept that is hard to take seriously, but Willis and Jackson do take it seriously and that's all that really matters in a movie like Unbreakable, where acting can be the saving grace of the plot's weaknesses. The two leading actors' performances are worth noting, as is the director's keen attention to details, and sense of visual style. The music score is at times rather slow, not really capturing the right emotion for the events taking place on screen and that lessens the power of the film. The twist at the end will probably be anticipated by most moviegoers, or comic book readers, but it isn't as simple as the twist in films such as The Village (Honestly, shame on you if you didn't see that one coming). This film isn't as good as `Signs', or `The Sixth Sense', but fans of Shymalan's other films will certainly accept this one with arms open wide.

The best parts for me (as a writer, and a comic reader) came from Samuel L. Jackson's character, Elijah Price. When he got in character and talked about how grand and important the story-telling history behind comic books I felt completely attached to the character. I grew attached in these moments because I do believe comics are much more than simple stories to amuse children. They are a very important way of communication, and have been for centuries. Struggles of good versus evil, right and wrong, they have modeled lots of our cultural traits, whether we believe it or not. These, philosophical speeches he gives describing comics, and the art styles characters are drawn in captures the truth behind comics, and I hope if anything people can come out of seeing this film with a greater respect for this age old genre of story-telling.

Unbreakable does suffer several problems, which is why the highest rating I can bring myself to give it is four stars. The main problems, for me, are found in the musical score and the pace of certain scenes. At times this film is incredibly...well boring. By boring I do not me it lacks action (you shouldn't expect much adrenaline pumping action in ANY of Shyamalan's films, because he lacks a visual style suited for action), but as in some scenes just don't have any compelling force to catch the audience's attention. The music, as I said is slow, and I feel it could've really improved these slow scenes if it would've had the musical score that caught your attention, not as in loud and obnoxious, but subtle and mysterious, because for me this film was a supernatural mystery tale, so I think the score should've been more mysterious, dark, and forbidding.

Unbreakable is not as good as `Signs' or `The Sixth Sense' (my personal opinion, so don't get testy if you disagree), but if you DID enjoy those two previously listed films you'll probably enjoy Unbreakable. If you only liked `Signs' and `The Sixth Sense' because of their suspense, sci-fi, supernatural, and horror aspects, well, you need to realize Unbreakable is a totally different supernatural-drama, so you might want to ignore this one if you don't want to see a superhero film where the "Hero" only takes up the task of fighting evil in the last twenty minutes of the film. If you watch Shymalan's films because of their style, and emotion, than hop aboard, sit back, relax, and enjoy Unbreakable for what it is.

Shaky, but manages to squeeze out a 4/5 from me due to all the things it did RIGHT, and for the performances by Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis

Movie Review: Movie: 3.5/5 Picture Quality: 3.5/5 Sound Quality: 4.25/5 Extras: 3.75/5
Summary: 3 Stars

Version: U.S.A / Region A, B, C
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / High Profile 4.1
Running time: 1:46:39
Movie size: 27,02 GB
Disc size: 32,21 GB
Average video bit rate: 23.96 Mbps

LPCM Audio English 4608 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 16-bit / 4608kbps
Dolby Digital EX Audio English 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital EX Audio French 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital EX Audio Portuguese 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital EX Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital EX Audio Thai 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48kHz / 640kbps

Subtitles: English SDH / Chinese / French / Indonesian / Korean / Malayalam / Portuguese / Spanish / Thai

Number of chapters: 29

#Behind the Scenes (SD, 14 minutes)
#Deleted Scenes (SD, 29 minutes)
#Comic Books and Superheroes (SD, 19 minutes)
#The Train Station Sequence (SD, 4 minutes)
#Night's First Fight Sequence (SD, 3 minutes)
#Trailer (HD, 2 minutes)

Movie Review: Comics meet life
Summary: 5 Stars

Great movie and was enhanced by the blu-ray quality.

I am not a big Bruce Willis fan but he did a great job in this movie. If you're a fan of comic books, this is a must see/own. Look for the John Buscema stance as Willis comes out of the pool.

Movie Review: Good Movie, bad Cinematography
Summary: 4 Stars

I loved the storyline, but it was constantly interrupted by what I saw as extremely distracting cinematography. The directory of photography definitely had his own style, that's for sure. I never did adjust to it.