Unbreakable [Blu-ray]
Starring: Richard Council, James Handy, Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Lawrence, Eamonn WalkerStudio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Format: Color, Widescreen
Running Time: 106 minutes
DVD Release: April 1st 2008
Buy DVD:
DVD Review
When Unbreakable was released, Bruce Willis confirmed that the film was the first in a proposed trilogy. Viewed in that context, this is a tantalizing and audaciously low-key thriller, with a plot that twists in several intriguing and unexpected directions. Standing alone, however, this somber, deliberately paced film requires patient leaps of faith--not altogether surprising, since this is writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's daring follow-up to The Sixth Sense. While just as assured as that earlier, phenomenal hit, Unbreakable is the work of a filmmaker whose skill exceeds his maturity, its confident style serving a story that borders on juvenile. However, Shyamalan's basic premise--that comic books are the primary conduit of modern mythology--is handled with substantial relevance.
Willis plays a Philadelphia security guard whose marriage is on the verge of failing when he becomes the sole, unscathed survivor of a devastating train wreck. When prompted by a mysterious, brittle-boned connoisseur of comic books (Samuel L. Jackson), he realizes that he's been free of illness and injury his entire life, lending credence to Jackson's theory that superheroes--and villains--exist in reality, and that Willis himself possesses extraordinary powers. Shyamalan presents these revelations with matter-of-fact gravity, and he draws performances (including those of Robin Wright Penn and Spencer Treat Clark, as Willis's wife and son) that are uniformly superb. The film's climactic revelation may strike some as ultimately silly and trivial, but if you're on Shyamalan's wavelength, the entire film will assume a greater degree of success and achievement. --Jeff Shannon
User Reviews
I love Bruce Willis and Sam Jackson... - Rating: 3/5
But the rest of the movie SERIOUSLY LACKED!!! It has a slow plot and when you feel like you're finally getting somewhere, the movie is 3/4 over! The end was anticlimatic. I would have rather watched an episode of HEROES or the cat pooping on the lawn.
Not one of M. Night's better movies, but not bad - Rating: 3/5
I was a little disappointed in this film. Not as good as Signs or Sixth Sense, but worth watching at least once.
Unbreakable, unbeatable - Rating: 4/5
Hit show "Heroes" became a big hit with the premise "what if ordinary people found that they had superpowers?" B
ut they weren't the first to use that -- M. Night Shyamalan tackled in in "Unbreakable," an intensely geeky, eerie thriller about a man who discovers that he is a superhuman. It's full of solid acting and writing, but has a big fat letdown of an ending.
A train derails, killing everyone on board -- except everyman David Dunn (Bruce Willis), who survives without a scratch. As he tries to deal with this, he is contacted by crippled comic book dealer Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), whose "glass" bones made him speculate: what if there were people at the opposite end of the spectrum -- real superheroes with great strength and powers, REAL "men of steel"?
Realizing that he has never been sick or endangered (except when exposed to water), David begins to explore his newly-discovered strength and second sight, despite the harm it does to his fragile marriage, even saving others from criminals. But there's a sinister side to his discovery and the accident that caused him to explore his powers...
"Superhero movie" usually makes you think of loads of colourful action and young hunky heroes. But Shyamalan takes the opposite approach -- a middle-aged Everyman hero with wife and kid, and the movie is cloaked in shadowy camerawork, not much action at all and eerie, overquiet dialogue. Still it's very geeky, and very intelligent.
Instead of action, "Unbreakable" devotes itself to the mythic qualities of superheroes, and David's slow awakening to his own abilities. Rather than his usual suspense, Shyamalan uses atmosphere to keep the plot captivating, giving it the feeling of a creepy intense dream. And since every superhero has to fight the baddies, he weaves in some tightly-choreographed, grimy fight sequences as David finally makes use of his superstrength.
So what's the problem? Quite simply, the ending is a huge letdown -- while rationally it makes sense, David's actions at the climax leave you feeling, "That's it? That's all the 'unbreakable man' is going to do? What the?" And somehow it feels odd that a "supervillain" wouldn't really have any superabilities (or compensation for them) himself. Slight stumble there.
Bruce Willis gives an excellent, understated performance as David, who longs for an indefinable something in his life, and slowly grows to realize that he is "unbreakable." Nice ordinary guy who turns out to be very extraordinary. But Jackson is even better as Elijah Price -- intense, passionate, and somewhat detached from the real world. His powerful personality balances out his frail body.
Shyamalan goes into comic-book geek mode in in "Unbreakable," a slow-moving, suspenseful movie about a hero's awakening... that only stumbles in the final scenes.
Great Movie - Rating: 5/5
One of M. Night's best movies. If you have not seen it, I highly suggest you watch it. If you like M. Night's movies then you will love this one.
This movie sucks - Rating: 1/5
I watched this in the movie theater and boy was it boring. If this was a thriller, I wasn't thrilled. This is the type of movie you'd show your kids if you wanted them to sleep because it starts of slow and the ending isn't worth waiting for. This is almost like Blairwitch project where they build up the hype and the product ain't tight. I recommend you skip this and buy yourself a homestyle melt in Burger king, its much better.
