IMDB Rating: 7.20, 54252 votes |
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This suspense thriller unfolds as the audience is introduced to David Dunn, played by Willis. Not only is he the sole survivor of a horrific train-crash that killed 131 people he doesn't have a scratch on him. Samuel L Jackson plays an obscure character who approaches Dunn with a seemingly far fetched theory behind it all rocketing off an enticing thriller with a sci fi twistActors
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32 Comments
not terrible but why bother seeing it
How long can you watch Bruce Willis stare vapidly at a set of weights? Good production values but my disappointment at this one after the solid Sixth Sense was acute.
I like this one, even though the pacing is pretty slow. Good story.
Very Very VEry GOOD
Average Hollywood fare
Plot: 3
Originality: 6
Visuals: 7
Acting: 5
Overall: 5.25
Premise is silly, the mood is good
comic book as high drama - very good performance from Penn
ugh I didn’t like it
Okay the story plot was really good, but I didn’t like the directing or more specifically the movement of the camera, it was too much. I felt like the whole movie was in the dark, the lighting wasn’t the best. I also thought it was somewhat confusing and the ending was cool in a way, but I think a different ending would have been better, but that’s just my opinion.
not so good. predictable. major story flaw
An intellegent, unusual take on an established formula
This movie totally caught me off guard. I knew just about nothing going into it, and was very pleasantly surprised.
I didn’t think the acting was particularly good — Willis for one is unusally wooden, even for him. But the script is interesting, and the direction is tight, as tight as the 6th Sense.
The thing I liked about it is this: Unbreakable takes a totally established formula, and then casts it in a light that is the exact antithesis of that formula…without somehow changing the underlying structure. Sound weird? Wait til you see the movie.
Well, It was very original and interesting but not as much as "The sixth Sense".
How can a movie with Bruce Willis can not be good? well, it defently can’t.. He was great and so is the other actors and the idea especially…
Go!! It’s very worth it!!
Unbeatable
Long ago, back in 1998 (it seems like light years now), Channel 6 (Philadelphia’s ABC Affiliate) ran a brief story on local product M. Night Shyamalan filming his movie in Philadelphia on some local streets. They dropped the name Bruce Willis, the film’s title (The Sixth Sense) and a sound snippet from a local, then the news brief was over with. Who would’ve known that the film would go on to be one of the highest-grossing of all time, and turn the director into an instant national sensation?
Right after the big debut of The Sixth Sense, Disney bought Shaymalan’s next film, Unbreakable. You have most likely seen the posters, commercials and trailers for this film, which seem to portray another creepy thriller from the young man now being compared to Alfred Hitchcock. If there’s one thing that Night has in common with the Hitch, it’s this: they both know how to fool us.
Unbreakable is a work of genius, a film that may not pack the shock value of The Sixth Sense’s ending, but a film that keeps itself three steps ahead of you the whole way through. Unbreakable does a have a surprise ending of its own, but it is a minute point when compared with the breath-taking film that preceeds it.
In another great, understated performance, Bruce Willis embodies a broken spirit of a man who truly doesn’t understand why he walks the earth. At the beginning of the film, Willis is on a doomed train that derails. It is a monstrous wreck that yields one survivor — Willis’s David Dunne. Dunne soon recieves a mysterious note asking him how many days he has been sick in his life. After checking in with his boss, and his wife (Robin Wright Penn), Dunne realizes he has never called out sick. Dunne finds out the mysterious note is from Elijah Price, a comic book collector who suffers from a rare bone disease that easily fractures his bones. Elijah believes Dunne might have some special power: if Elijah can easily be hurt, maybe David cannot be hurt at all. Unbreakable explores this.
If The Sixth Sense can be called one of the best thrillers of the past decade, then it is not a stretch to start referring to Unbreakable as one of the best super hero films of this decade. While Shyamalan does play with some creepy elements in Unbreakable, it is mainly the tale of a flawed man discovering the true powers bestowed on him by God. Shyamalan explores the mythos that each and everyone of us has a special gift, and it is up to us to use ours.
Hailing from Philadelphia, let me say that the town is nowhere near as dark or murky as the filters Shyamalan uses may lead you to believe. This subtle, bluish tint to the film, however, lends it a comic book-like feel. Shyamalan continues his use of dominant colors in Unbreakable with blue and purple, as opposed to using red in The Sixth Sense.
I would love to compare and contrast Unbreakable to The Sixth Sense, but it would be near impossible. The only "category" these two have in common is pure entertainment, and I would say whole-heartedly that Unbreakable wins out when compared with The Sixth Sense. The Sixth Sense was a great film, but it was that because of the ending. Throughout the whole film, you don’t know where the film is taking you. I will always remember when Shyamalan reveals the mother as the one who killed her daughter, I thought that was the much-hyped surprise ending. Needless to say, it infuriated me because the whole film lead up to something that was not very true to the story. The real ending, of course, lived up the film and then some. But with Unbreakable, Shyamalan slowly pieces together the story, leading to a thrilling super-hero climax where, for once, you don’t know how it will end.
Samuel L. Jackson played a bad mutha (Shaft) this past summer, but he really displays his range in Unbreakable. Jackson perfectly plays the torturous soul of Elijah without giving away too much of what Shyamalan wants to slowly feed through the camera. Along with Willis, they confuse the audience enough so that while you want to believe Dunne really may be a super-hero, there’s enough to doubt to just sit back and see what Shyamalan throws us next.
Robin Wright Penn and Spencer Treat Clark round out the main cast, which is relatively small. Penn plays Megan, whose marriage with David is slowly falling apart. Shyamalan keeps this subplot very low-key, and Penn plays it perfectly. It isn’t a major part of the main point of the film, and Penn’s low-key performance flies completely under the radar. As for Clark, Shayamalan may have found another boy-wonder. Clark’s roles is nowhere near the magnitude of Haley Joel Osment’s in The Sixth Sense, but it is perfect for what the role calls for. Clark plays Jeremy, David’s son, the one person who sees the power in David just as much as Elijah does. Clark portrays the wild emotions of a child much better than the annoying, g-shucks cheerfulness of J. Michael Moncrief in The Legend of Bagger Vance. The cast of Unbreakable, though small, is the perfect defintion of continuity. They all stay low-key, with the lead role of David Dunne being just as important as Robin Wright Penn’s Megan.
As for Shyamalan, the man has a bright career ahead of him if he lives up to his first two major films. And just to address one of the Hitchcock comparison, Shyamalan does pop up in this film as well, just as Hitchcock did in his films. Shyamalan, however, actually gets lines. While you may recognize him as M. Night Shyamalan at first, Night has the grace and sense to play his roles very delicately. His roles aren’t too significant, but important enough for you to forget who he is and listen to what he’s saying.
Judging by the love-or-hate reactions from people who have seen Unbreakable, Oscar buzz for this film is not as strong as it was for The Sixth Sense. But if any justice is served, Shyamalan will eventually receive his due for such a great film, and hopefully more great films to come.
what a crapola!!!
This thing was just out right stupid. Freakin’ retarded plot. Why not make it like a Batman! …this was just too chessy, Mr Glass … realistic superhero movies or just a f*ckin lamea$$ waste of my time.
Noone ever smiles!! but interesting
Wonderfully engrossing movie
WOW!
I really didn’t know what I was getting into with this movie. As is typical of the director, the preview does enough to get you to the theater and then twists in such a way that the movie is nothing like the preview leads you to believe. This story has multi-levels and left me at the edge of my seat at times.
I only have two small conplaints. I didn’t really enjoy all the imaginative camera angles. Seeing scenes from in between seats and from TV reflections didn’t impress me. Also I wanted to see more ways Willis helped people (as i did with the little boy in 6th sense). It was almost like you could tell that he had filmed more scenes of this kind but they ended up on the cutting room floor for pacing purposes. BUT at least the director is generous with his dvd cut scenes. I am looking forward to this dvd’s deleted scenes!!!
Good, but not as good as The Sixth Sense.
Completely Entertaining!
For those expecting another "Sixth Sense", this movie is not it. However, I found "Unbreakable" very enjoyable. The ending is unexpected (and super), although some summary text thrown in at the very end is extraneous, and if left out, would have made the film almost perfect. Overall, you should definitely make point to see it.
Much darker than I anticipated.
This movie is alright, not great though
Great comic adaptation brought to the screen!
This movie could have taken place in Philadelphia, PA today. This does not have extraordinary special effects, a $100 million budget or any over-the-top performances; it is just a great rockin’ movie. No way in hell did I ever see the ending coming because I thought I was only halfway into the movie. It really picks you and drags you along for the ride. Go see it!
!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!
DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU DO NOT WANT A SPOILER!!!
People are mad at the ending, but it is actually supposed to be part 1 of 3, so the ending really makes sense.
!!!END SPOILER!!!
Keeps you wondering - but not as much as 6th sense
It’s not a bad movie - not quite as surprising as 6th sense. If only the ending had been better …
Pretty Good
Even though I didn’t it was much of a psychological thriller, I liked the low-key way the plot unfurled. The couple next to us didn’t see the end coming and were surprised. Not as good as The Sixth Sense, but worth seeing.
Had an interesting story, good build-up, but a really sucky ending.
excellent sophomore showing
Uhm, er, I don’t really know what to say about this film, since I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone. It’s a great flick, and I actually think it appeals to the kid in all (well, at least, most) of us. It builds tension quite nicely throughout, and of course, there are some cool twists and turns, as you’d expect from the writer/director of the Sixth Sense.
Watch for director Shyamalan’s cameo as the drug search guy at the Football stadium.
Not quite the Sixth Sense, but better than the Sixth Day
I heard some jeers from some people in the audience when it’s made immediately clear that the story has a strong comic book influence.
I felt that the movie dragged on slower than Sixth Sense did. It didn’t hold nearly the suspense that Mr. Shyamalan’s previous effort had, but in many ways it was better that the subject matter wasn’t quite as in-your-face as the other movie.
Movies like this make a great case for strong storyline instead of trying to visually attack the audience with special effects.
The twist? There has to be a twist, right? And of course there is a solid twist. Another patented zinger, M. Night Shyamalan style.
In the end they make it seem like it’s based on some true story. Weird. I’m not sure I like the way they ended it. Seemed almost like a cop-out but what the hell. You already got The Twist(tm) so the rest would be anti-climactic anyway. Just like this review.
M. Night Shymalan does it agian. the less you know about it the more you’ll like
Nice Second Effort
This was a nice second effort by director, whatever his name is…heheh…..but seriously, he could have done a "way over the top, overly complicated" movie, but instead decided to go in the opposite direction, and make a fairly straight forward psychological thriller
.All in all, i enjoyed this film
Go see it before somebody spoils it!
Very Engaging film!
This "superhero" film has the least action of any you could think of but still is totally engaging and riveting. The developement of the story adn characters are exceptional. The camerawork and lighting are unique. I’m not that much of a Willis fan but he’s very good in this.
Loved it!
Haley does not see dead people this time around…
This contains NO SPOILERS.
The movie, as you all know from the trailers, is about a sole survivor (a key phrase you’ll want to keep in mind as the movie progresses) of a horrible train accident. David Dunne (Bruce Willis), the only survivor, comes away from the accident without a scratch and comes to realize that he has never been sick, injuried or otherwise at any time in his life. As the news of this mirculous event spreads, David is sought out by Elijah Price (Sam Jackson), called Mr. Glass by his childhood contemporaries because his bones were so very brittle and would break with a minimal of impacts. Elijah believes that there much be someone who is the exact opposite of him, and he has made it his life’s goal to find this person.
The movie explains this concept much better than I, but I am leaving this vauge on purpose. To tell too much would be to destroy your enjoy of watching the movie.
I will end by saying that if you have the Sixth Sense DVD you need to watch the chapter wher M. Night Shyamalan discusses the RULES he set when he made the movie. He does the same thing in Unbreakable in terms of having a solid set of rules that he follows. The fun part of watching Unbreakable was finding the rules, which really is the key to understanding and solving the movie’s riddle as it unfolds.
Shyamalan is a master at delivering a confusion wrapped within an enigma. You will enjoy this movie if you liked the Sixth Sense, though Unbreakable’s ending (in my opinion) did not have the same impact as The Sixth Sense.
Of course, you will have to judge that for yourself.
Charles
http://www.charleswoodruff.com
i thought this movie was very cool, but the average joe prolly won’t
this movie was pretty damn cool in my book. it was so different than anything else i’ve ever seen that i have to kind of like it. the more i think about it, the better it gets.
unbreakable has a way of creaping up on you. you build up to a laugh without knowing it. you build up to the whitest of knuckles without knowing when you started the death grip on your knee.
i started out indifferent, and ended up loving it without knowing why.
i figure you’ll either love this movie, or hate it. one thing’s for sure, it’s a movie that will be freash to you. whether you find it to be freash flowers, or freash poop is the question that you must answer on your own.
here’s to flowers…
M. Night Shymalan once again provides movie-goers with top-rate entertainment.
"Unbreakable" is a film very much "Hitchcockian" in Shymalan’s story-telling. The narrative of the film is a bit weak. It centers around two polarized characters: The white unbreakable (Bruce Willis) and the black fragile (Sam Jackson). These two work together and their chemistry is reminiscent of that of Willis and Haley Joel Osment in "Sixth Sense." The reason you get drawn into this film is how the viewer can relate to Willis’ character, a man who does not know his place in the world. The film moves a bit lethargically but the end either grabs you or makes you think about it and settle on an obvious result after thinking about the film. This is another movie you’ll want to talk to others about, just like "Sixth Sense." It seems quite clear that if Shymalan can continue to produce such amazing camera angles and shots to convey the magnificent worlds he creates on paper, he is a lock for multiple Best Director awards in years to come.