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Cyb
Apr 30, 2004
heh
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson

David Dunn (Willis) is having marital issues with his wife (they sleep in separate rooms), and moving to out of Philly to New York, leaving behind his wife and son. After miraculously surviving a devastating train wreck that kills every passenger but Dunn (he escapes without a scratch on him), his life starts to change. He comes into contact with Elijah Price (Jackson), owner of a store that deals original comic art, who suffers from a rare bone disorder which makes his bones extremely brittle and easy to break. Price tells Dunn that he has been searching for him through many disasters, and after the train wreck he finally heard the words he longed for: "there is a sole survivor, and miraculously he is unharmed". Price then informs Dunn of his theories on how comic book heros originated and that they may in fact be based on reality. Dunn may in fact be one of those heros.

One of my favorite aspects of Unbreakable is how it's shot. If you notice, every scene is shot from a very dramatic angle, similar to how a comic book is drawn, with dynamic overhead views or slightly off center close ups. This is an excellent bit of work by Shyamalan. The rest of the movie is quite well done. Willis and Jackson do an excellent job in their Die Hard 3 reunion, Willis as the quiet brooding Dunn and Jackson as the eccentric Price. Many of the scenes in the movie are very vivid and powerful, making it very hard to stop watching once you've started. I believe this to be Shyamalan's best movie.

RATING: 4.0

PROS: great cinematography, well acted, good story overall
CONS: some parts of the story are forced

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217869/

Cyb fucked around with this message at 18:13 on May 4, 2004

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Lowtax
Nov 16, 1999

by Skyl3lazer
I loved this movie. People complained about how "slowly" it went, but that was the entire point of the film; he was an ordinary guy leading an ordinary life. It was almost an anti-superhero movie about a anti-superhero. I wished they would've made the two sequels to it that were originally planned, but of course they won't.

NADZILLA
Dec 16, 2003
iron helps us play
I thought Unbreakable was really silly. Everything reaches this super-serious, fevered pitch, and yet, it's a movie about comic books. Everything seems to wrap itself up way too convieniently at the end. Okay, so Willis has super powers, how exactly does that save his marriage? Shamalamadingdong was too enamored with the fantastical aspects of the plot to make any of the rest of it logical.

Also the kid who played Willis' son was a little wuss. I lolled off line at that scene with the gun. Willis should have beat his rear end and grounded him.

Two.

jc dracula
Nov 7, 2001
I loved it the first time I saw it but now that I know the secrets of all its mysteries I can't stand sitting through its long stretches of tedious dialogue. Worth seeing at least once.

Also it helped that if you saw this on opening day there had been no marketing to indicate it was superhero-themed at all.

toolboi
Jul 24, 2002

Classic Shamalyn. Great begining, great idea, very comic book cinematography, but really, really, REALLY weak script/plot and directing. Some of the worst lines in movie history come from this movie ("I thought we were friends? Friends dont shoot friends!"), and some really bizzare shots (camera zooms in on Bruce Willis' rear end, then zooms back out). However I loved the idea of a character study on a super hero. Unfortunatly Shamalyn just isnt a good enough writer to do this, and what you end up with is a character study on a rather bland static character. Not to mention that the plot twist comes at the VERY end by confession of the antagonist, leaving no room for conclusion of the plot, nor any kind of denouement.

2/5

LonelyKing
Feb 2, 2003

Fun Shoe
Like most of Shyamalan's movies, people go into them expecting something that they don't end up being. In this one people were expecting to see some modern-day superhero doing superheroic things. Instead we're treated to an ordinary guy who has to deal with ordinary problems and we don't even really get to see his 'powers'. And right when it seems things are 'picking up', the movie ends.

Of course, like all of Shyamalan's films, the premise is extremely misleading and in the end it's just a movie about a guy trying to come to terms with his place in the world. The acting is excellent (you can't go wrong with Bruce Willis), The pacing, while slow at times, is perfect for the execution of this movie. The cinematography is just stunning. The script itself plays out very well all the way through.

It really would be great to see some sequels for those that feel they need 'closure' or something, but as a stand-alone movie, this really shines. It's a shining example of a modern-day Hitchcock-esque drama / thriller. This is one of the only movies I've bothered to plop down the cash to own and I haven't regretted it. Even the packaging is excellent and the extras are awesome. I think this is probably Shyamalan's best work and it will be hard for him to top it, as far as I'm concerned.


5.5

janklow
Sep 28, 2001

whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent.
really, i think this movie is unfairly maligned by many people because it wasn't what they expected. everyone i talk to about Shyamalan's work doesn't like one of his films, but only Unbreakable seems to get actual hatred, and yet, the average responder doesn't have much more to say than "he was a pretty lame superhero." well, hey, what did you expect?

it's my favorite of his films, though, so maybe i'm a little biased.

4.5.

blatch
Feb 17, 2003

by Ozma
I thought this movie was very well done, until the end. Like all M. Night Shamalamalamalan movies other than The Sixth Sense, the ending ruined the entire film and made me want to shoot myself for wasting the time to see it. It was pointless, without plot, and lifeless. But I'd still recommend you to see it, so you know how awful a movie can be with a "Big Shot" director, large budget, and popular actors.

Kynetx
Jan 8, 2003


Full of ignorant tribalism. Kinda sad.
This has a firm spot in my top three WORST movies. Ugh.
I was loving the movie until all the stupid cliches started to kick in, the silhouette scene in the doorway where it looks like he's wearing a cape is a prime example. Then when Sam Jackson's character turns out to be a supervillain, I LOLed. It seemed like Shayamalan was deliberately trying to come up with an unexpected plot twist like he so often does, and instead assfucks the preceding 80 minutes.
This gets a one from me.

batwingedloony
Feb 1, 2001

by Ozma

quote:

NADZILLA came out of the closet to say:
Shamalamadingdong

"Hey guys making fun of names of a different ethnicity from mine is the pinnacle of comedy! LOL! Guys..?"



Anyway, this is one of my favorite movies. Bruce Willis does a fine job of portraying an average joe trying to do some good with the gift he's been given, and Sam Jackson, well... he's crazy. Of course, I also love slow-paced comics like 100 Bullets and Watchmen, so seeing one of them come to life like this is fantastic for me. It's not about Dunn's super powers, it's about the man behind the mask(or green security poncho, as the case may be). The big climax (getting up out of the pool and strangling that motherfucker) is just loving beautiful; I clench my teeth and ball my fists every time I see it.

5.5/5

Moosk
Nov 15, 2003
When I saw this movie, I had NO IDEA at all what it was about, I just knew he survived a train wreck.

Because of this, it was a total surprise to me. This movie is probably one of my favorites.

It just makes him seem like a real person, not a super hero.

It just fit right.

5.5/5

Debbie Metallica
Jun 7, 2001

I was quite let down by this movie after seeing 6th Sense, and I think lots of other people were. 6th Sense is probably his best movie, and I think that Unbreakable had a lot of wasted potential. It's still quite good and was very enjoyable. The plot was unique in my opinion, and I've never felt that the pacing was a problem.

3.5/5

Cold Fusion
May 27, 2001

I loved this movie; to me, it was superior to Sixth Sense in mostly every ways. Particularly because the characters and the hero himself were much more poignant and touching. I even liked Sam Jackson's character; I found him sufficiently despicable by his stubbornness and excentricity without knowing straight away that he was the villain, and yet I had to feel sorry for him.

One scene I really liked, besides when Bruce Willis goes to save the family, is the subsequent sequence where his son finds out the truth in the newspaper and looks at his dad.

4.5

Technogeek
Sep 9, 2002

by FactsAreUseless
I've always asked myself what a "real" superhero would be like. This movie does an excellent job of answering that question. Both Elijah and David were right -- he may be a hero, but he's just an ordinary man as well.

4/5

brylcreem
Oct 29, 2007

by FactsAreUseless
Suspension of disbelief is something movie goers have to deal with constantly. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard.

This time it was hard. The movie almost takes a meta-approach to suspension of disbelief, when it asks us to believe in comic book super heroes in a movie.

I really enjoyed the directing, the camera work, the performances, but the plot (or lack thereof) really sealed the deal for me.

This is an extremely boring film that goes nowhere.

2/5

StickySweater
Feb 7, 2008
I liked this movie a lot. I always enjoy the exploration of various themes and I actually prefer it when things tie together in the end. This does at least a decent job with that.

No, things don't always make logical sense and there are some odd choices in the exposition of the narrative. (For example: How could he not know that he had never taken any sick days? I think you'd know if you've never taken any ever, right?) But that stuff really isn't important.

Off topic: It also helped me develop the now commonly used phrase "justice jaw" as described by Jackson's character when looking at comic art.

You might not like the twist ending (I thought it was OK), but it's not as bad as some of the other reveals in his movies and it can easily be ignored.

I'd say definitely see it.

4/5

Crows Turn Off
Jan 7, 2008


This is my favorite Shyamalan movie (which isn't saying much these days, I'll admit). People often complain about the forced twists in his movies, but in this movie, the twist totally fit within the comic book-type story he presented.

No matter what you think of his recent movies, Shyamalan movies definitely show off some good directing and cinematography and this movie is no different. Also of note is the very good score by James Newton Howard.

Good movie with a lot of good scenes. It is slow but it's very interesting.

5/5

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Rubies
Dec 30, 2005

Live Forever
Die Every Day

:h: :s: :d: :c:
This movie hasn't been reviewed in a while, but I just heard of it for the first time last week and watched it today. I had no idea it had anything to do with superheros, super powers, or anything at all so I really enjoyed it. I don't really watch movies so I didn't know that M. Night Shylamans(sp) "thing" was to have a twist ending, and I didn't know that he always does a cameo. Expecting either of these things would have really put a damper on the whole experience, but since I was in the dark going into it I really really enjoyed the whole film.

The pacing is slow but that's perfectly ok in my opinion. I think it works with Bruce Willis being a moody and dark person who's not comfortable with the information he gets from SLJ. If I wanted heros doing fast-paced action stuff I'd put in one of those new Marvel movies. This movie isn't about action, it's a slow story about a gradual realization. Even the big "action" scene at the end is slow, dreary, quiet, and sad, and I think it works wonderfully.

I really enjoy the way that the idea of colors popping and dramatic angles start to peek through the grim Philly setting, making it seem more like a comic book as time goes on without being too obvious (but then again I've never read a comic book in my life so maybe I missed some obvious clues).

I just generally dig Bruce Willis and especially Samuel L Jackson so I liked both performances. All the minor characters seemed to be done well and even though I hate child actors I thought little bowl cut kid was good enough (especially in the breakfast table scene).

So really I encourage everyone to check this movie out at least once. The only advice I have going into it is to forget about the (justified) notions you'd be looking for about the director and the subject matter.

Also, in the final scene don't read the text that appears over the ending. It ruins the movie and adds nothing. Once SLJ has his final say just turn it off.

4/5

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