Unbreakable 4K UHD - Bruce Willis

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'No Ordinary Man" or "M. Night Shyamalan's Project')

directed by M. Night Shyamalan
USA 2000

Following The Sixth Sense was always going to be a nightmare for writer/director Shyamalan, even with Willis and Jackson on board. Yet this study of comic-book heroism and human destiny challenges rather than meets the audience's expectations. The miraculous sole survivor of a train crash, Philadelphia security guard David Dunn (Willis) is told by Elijah Price (Jackson) - a dealer in comic-book art with a fertile imagination and brittle bones - that he is 'unbreakable'. Like indestructible comic-book heroes, David has been put on Earth to vanquish evil. The movie then swerves into deeper, murkier territory, as the bewildered David ponders the cosmic consequences of this knowledge. Is this crazy, Biblical soothsayer right? If so, does he have a responsibility to develop and use his super-powers? Whereas The Sixth Sense left audiences surprised but surprisingly comfortable, this more mature and ambitious movie preserves its ambiguities and keeps everyone guessing. As David's wife Audrey, Wright Penn is mostly sidelined, although a brief exchange about their shaky marriage provides the film's most compelling emotional moment. If anything, the near somnambulant Willis is a little too restrained, as if to counter-balance Jackson's flamboyant, mesmerizing portrayal of the mysterious stranger Elijah.

Excerpt from TimeOut located HERE

***

The pure joy of this film is just that: discovery. So often we see movies with not one original idea (Men of Honor, anyone?), but Unbreakable is a movie with originality to spare. It's a story about lost opportunities, tragic sacrifices, second chances and the power of fantasy. All that AND you simply never know where the next scene will take you. In a Hollywood system filled with predictable and ponderous screenplays, Unbreakable shines quite brightly indeed.

Most of the negative reviews I've read of this film invariably attempt comparisons between this film and The Sixth Sense. Both are excellent films for extremely different reasons, but I think it's pretty unfair to rate a new film on in relation to one from last year. Each movie is its own entity and they deserve to be treated as such.

Even better, it's a movie that you'll probably like more the longer you think about it. I've had several conversations with friends about how this scene stood out so eloquently, while another scene was truly surprising. The package is wrapped up beautifully, in an ending that fits in perfectly with everything that came before.

Excerpt from eFilmCritic located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 21st, 1994

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Review: Disney (UK) - Region FREE - 4K UHD

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Disney (UK) - Region FREE - 4K UHD
Runtime	1:46:38.725
Video	2.35:1 2160P 4K Ultra HD Disc Size: 63,887,632,842 bytes Feature: 62,344,476,864 bytes Video Bitrate: 57.60 Mbps Codec: HEVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate 4K Ultra HD:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 3873 kbps 5.1-ES / 48 kHz / 3873 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1-ES / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit / DN -4dB) Dolby Digital Audio English 320 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 320 kbps / DN -25dB DUBS: * DTS-ES Audio French 1509 kbps 5.1-ES / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit / DN -4dB * Dolby Digital EX Audio French 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -27dB * Dolby Digital EX Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -27dB * DTS-ES Audio Spanish 1509 kbps 5.1-ES / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit / DN -4dB * DTS-ES Audio German 1509 kbps 5.1-ES / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit / DN -4dB * DTS-ES Audio Italian 1509 kbps 5.1-ES / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit / DN -4dB * DTS-HD Master Audio Japanese 4000 kbps 5.1-ES / 48 kHz / 4000 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1-ES / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit / DN -4dB)
Subtitles	English (SDH), French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Disney (UK) 2.35:1 2160P 4K Ultra HD Disc Size: 63,887,632,842 bytes Feature: 62,344,476,864 bytes Video Bitrate: 57.60 Mbps Codec: HEVC Video Edition Details: 4K Ultra HD disc • none Disney (UK) - Region FREE - Blu-ray • Behind the scenes of "Unbreakable" Featurette with Bruce Willis (14:19) • Seven Deleted Scenes with director's introduction (28:29) • Comic Book and Superheroes Documentary (19:24) • Train Station Sequence with Multi-Angle Feature & Sound Mix (4:12) • An Excerpt From a Childhood Film of M. Night Shyamalan (2:27) 4K Ultra HD Release Date: October 11th, 2021 Black 4K Ultra HD Case inside slipcase Chapters 28

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray and 4K UHD captures were taken directly from the respective discs.

ADDITION: Disney (UK) 4K UHD (November 2021): Disney (UK) have released M. Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable" to 4K UHD via HDR10. Unfortunately the 3840 X 2160 image is marred with occasional spats of nasty DNR. Egregious examples are HERE, HERE and HERE. It is particularly noticeable in the train, hospital, church (funeral) scenes, but is sprinkled throughout - less prominently in the latter half that has some remarkably crisp visuals. The softness and grain removal of the DNR is particularly bothersome as I am so fond of this film. The scenes with heavy DNR are also saturated and the image is exceeding unflattering. The 2008 Blu-ray had similar issues but this higher resolution brings them out to a higher degree. In an attempt to be positive the scenes without DNR (it is not blanked across the transfer) look quite appealing and make up a majority of the film presentation.

Disney include the 2008 Blu-ray, in this package, with the same dated files:

It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software if simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the 4K system at your home. But the framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by this simulation representation.

NOTE: 70 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE

We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages to date: Mulholland Dr. (software uniformly simulated HDR), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Hills Have Eyes (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Servant (software uniformly simulated HDR), Anatomy of a Murder (software uniformly simulated HDR), Taxi Driver (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Wolf Man (1941) (software uniformly simulated HDR), Frankenstein (1931) (software uniformly simulated HDR), Deep Red (software uniformly simulated HDR), Misery (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Silence of the Lambs (software uniformly simulated HDR), John Carpenter's "The Thing" (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Cat' o'Nine Tails (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (software uniformly simulated HDR), Perdita Durango (software uniformly simulated HDR), Django (software uniformly simulated HDR), Fanny Lye Deliver'd (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, (NO HDR applied to disc), Rollerball (software uniformly simulated HDR), Chernobyl (software uniformly simulated HDR), Daughters of Darkness (software uniformly simulated HDR), Vigilante (software uniformly simulated HDR), Tremors (software uniformly simulated HDR), Cinema Paradiso (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Bourne Legacy (software uniformly simulated HDR), Full Metal Jacket (software uniformly simulated HDR), Psycho (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Birds (software uniformly simulated HDR), Rear Window (software uniformly simulated HDR), Vertigo (software uniformly simulated HDR), Spartacus (software uniformly simulated HDR), Jaws (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Invisible Man, (software uniformly simulated HDR), Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds (software uniformly simulated HDR), Lucio Fulci's 1979 Zombie (software uniformly simulated HDR),, 2004's Van Helsing (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Shallows (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Bridge on the River Kwai (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Deer Hunter (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Elephant Man (software uniformly simulated HDR), A Quiet Place (software uniformly simulated HDR), Easy Rider (software uniformly simulated HDR), Suspiria (software uniformly simulated HDR), Pan's Labyrinth (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Wizard of Oz, (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Shining, (software uniformly simulated HDR), Batman Returns (software uniformly simulated HDR), Don't Look Now (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Man Who Killed Killed and then The Bigfoot (software uniformly simulated HDR),, Bram Stoker's Dracula (software uniformly simulated HDR), Lucy (software uniformly simulated HDR), They Live (software uniformly simulated HDR), Shutter Island (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Matrix (software uniformly simulated HDR), Alien (software uniformly simulated HDR), Toy Story (software uniformly simulated HDR), A Few Good Men (software uniformly simulated HDR), 2001: A Space Odyssey (HDR caps udated), Schindler's List (simulated HDR), The Neon Demon (No HDR), Dawn of the Dead (No HDR), Saving Private Ryan (simulated HDR and 'raw' captures), Suspiria (No HDR), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (No HDR), The Big Lebowski, and I Am Legend (simulated and 'raw' HDR captures).

This audio is not in Dolby Atmos but rather a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround that is technically less robust than their 2008 Blu-ray which had strong linear PCM surround track. It is still quite potent, and does sound richer and deeper - with the offer of a lossy Dolby stereo track in English as well as a number of foreign language DUBs. James Newton Howard's (2005's King Kong, The Bourne Legacy, 8 Million Ways to Die, Tough Guys, Batman Begins, Waterworld, Outbreak, Signs, I Am Legend, The Lookout, Collateral etc.) score is excellent. One of my all-time favorites. It is subtle and rhythmic - wonderfully building the film's sub-surface moods and superhero nobility. There are English, and multiple subtitle options. As with all 4K UHD discs, this is Region 'Free' - playable worldwide. As is the second disc Blu-ray also not region-locked.

There are no extras on the 4K UHD disc. The second disc Blu-ray duplicates the 2004 DVD (and are still in SD) with a 1/4 hour of Behind the scenes with Willis describing his initiation into the project and Shyamalan details areas of production, his drafts of the story etc. There are seven, interesting, deleted scenes with director's introduction - running just shy of 1/2 hour in total. There is a, 20-minutes, Comic Book and Superheroes documentary, the Train Station Sequence with multi-angle feature & sound mix plus a brief excerpt from a childhood film of M. Night Shyamalan.

Unbreakable is one of my most-rewatched films - I adore the Eduardo Serra cinematography with many 'upside down' shots that slowly right themselves plus the many 'long distance shots' of two characters conversing as well as sequences wavering between chairs (in the train) or in the bench-press scene. Willis is at his strong-silent best. Robin Wright is always amazingly realistic and she can't seem to give a poor performance, Spencer Treat Clark is also great - and Samuel L. Jackson's propensity for loud flamboyancy is perfectly suited Elijah Price's 'Mr. Glass' characterization. Perfect casting. The James Newton Howard score is brilliant. I tire of defending Shyamalan and the irrelevant criticisms that surface - he is a highly effective storyteller and filmmaker - this is a great film. Period. This, Disney (UK) 4K UHD image is flawed and the package offers no new extras. We can't recommend an upgrade here. I fear it will be the same DNR'ed transfer that is eventually released states-side but I can hope it is redone.

Gary Tooze