(aka 'No
Ordinary Man" or "M. Night Shyamalan's Project')
directed by M.
Night Shyamalan
USA 2000
Arguably Shyamalan's most complete work to date although I felt that many
critics didn't get its subtleties, or were expecting something totally different
(most likely the case). With a zealous approach to
camera angles, obtuse shots of depth of frame, Shyamalan gives a virtual clinic
in directing a main-stream Hollywood production. His shots are attentive and yet
subtle. Repetitious use of positioning through doors, between bus seats
and distant conversations start to identify his unique and coherent style. As
far as representational of a comic book narrative, it ranks along with the X-Men
films as a textbook example of transforming the conceptual attributes of the
static animation to the large screen.
Bruce Willis (again working with Shyamalan after The Sixth Sense) plays
David Dunn. He is a security guard who is having trouble in his marriage. His
miraculous lone survival of a tragic train wreck and eventual meeting with
Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) cause David to have some suspicions about his
abnormally gifted health and survival. This is akin to a comic book origin
tale, but with strongly realistic overtones. David is an 'everyman' and the
viewer can't help but think how they might react to the self- knowledge that
he has recently obtained. How would your children react, would you
shield it from your spouse?, how it effects your choice of his
profession all become prevalent points of self-inquiry. It all works to so
very well, pieces together like a Hitchcock film with the puzzle having only
one manner of fitting together. It's unusual pace and lack of action sequences
make it not for all tastes, but I was very impressed finding it a brilliant
and gifted work from a future auteur who, I predict, will be working for the next 30 years
making great cinema.
out of
DVD
Review: Touchstone Video (2 disc) - Region 1 - NTSC
This DVD is included in the list of Top 100
DVDs of all time.
DVD Box
Cover
CLICK to
order from:
Distribution
Touchstone Video - Region 1- NTSC
Runtime
1:46:28
Video
2.37:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 8.37 mb/s NTSC 720x480
29.97 f/s
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The
Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio
English (Dolby Digital 5.1),
English (DTS) , DUB: French (Dolby Digital 5.1) ,Spanish (Dolby Digital
5.1)
Subtitles
English
(hearing impaired),
None
Features
Release Information: Studio: Touchstone Video
Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio 2.37:1
Edition Details:
• Behind
the scenes of "Unbreakable" Featurette
• Seven Deleted Scenes with
director's introduction
• Comic Book and Superheroes
Documentary
• Train Station Sequence
with Multi-Angle Feature & Sound Mix
• An Excerpt From a
Childhood Film of M. Night Shyamalan
• Booklet
DVD Release Date: February 3rd, 2004 4 fold-out
digi-pak in slipcase Chapters: 28
Comments:
Some minor shimmering and contrast flickering (frame shifts) are about
my only complaints with this DVD. It is actually quite strong with solid
audio and a 2nd discs of extras worthy of being termed "overkill".
Yellow subtitles are tacky, contrast is very good and I didn't notice
excess edge enhancement (although there is some).
I see some nice film grain. A nice package
design for a great film. Must have in the collection as far as I am
concerned. out of
out of
