ADDITION: Touchstone - Region FREE Blu-ray September 2017': Touchstone's new Blu-ray was at the earlier edge of the format's production - notice it takes awhile to  load. It's dual-layered with a supportive bitrate and does advance over the SDs. The orange-ness of the flesh tones on the DVD convert to warmer, more realistic flesh tones on the 1080P. So colors take a positive shift - there is more information in the frame as compared to the Region 1, North American DVD. There is a shade more depth - it's not a dynamic upgrade but it is an upgrade, although it has imperfections and could look sharper. I'd love to see a 4K transfer.

I don't believe I've ever seen a linear PCM 5.1 surround before - it is transferred very robustly at 4608 kbps - but only16-bit. As I've said the fledgling days of Blu-ray production. There is also a lossy Dolby Digital EX 5.1 that does sound quite different - not as  bass heavy - in fact a shade more hollow beside the LPCM but the separation might be more noticeable. The, many, effects are well supported and it's good to have an interesting choice of track selection. James Newton Howard (8 Millions Ways to Die,, 2005's King Kong, Batman Begins, The Bourne Legacy, I Am Legend, The Lookout etc.) did the excellent score and it's one of his most memorable methodically building tension and mystery. There are also some lossy foreign-language DUBs. There are optional subtitles (see sample above) offered and my Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE Blu-ray disc.

Supplements are duplicated from the SD edition (and in 480) - The Making of Signs - is an exclusive six-part documentary exploring the movie from idea to marketing . Divided as follows - "Looking for Signs" (6:11), "Building Signs" (8:02), "Making Signs" (22:33), "Effects of Signs" (8:31), "Last Voices: The Music of Signs" (8:26) and "Full Circle" (4:48). There are 5 Deleted Scenes (7 minutes in total): "Graham and Merrill," "Flashbacks #1 & #2," "Dead Bird," and "Alien in the Attic." A Storyboards: Multi-Angle Feature and M. Night Shyamalan's First 'Alien' Film.

I'm very glad to have this title as part of my Blu-ray library and it will get it's fair share of replay. I've watched it with my sons at least 1/2 a dozen times. Shyamalan even hides the violence (of Merrill's most viscious bat swings) as it is masked through an empty water glass.

As I stated in the old DVD review - I feel very alone in extolling this film, and Shyamalan in general, but his cinema isn't derived from a 'fluke' - he knows exactly what he is doing and I always feel transported back to the fantasy/adventure/thriller/sci-fi films that had me riveted to a Saturday or Sunday matinee. Hopefully he will continue this trend for the next 30 years. I'm keen to see this Blu-ray re-issued - it may be my favorite from this director. I've contemplated owning the steelbook too...

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ON THE DVDs: Although the Region 1 DVD is called 'Vista Series' and the Japanese Region 2 is labeled 'Collector's Edition' - they are virtually identical - sharpness, colors - both anamorphic and progressive. The extras, as far as I can tell, are duplicated. The only differences I see in the two DVDs are:

1) The Region 2 is brighter.

3) The Region 1 is slightly cropped on both side edges.

4) The Region 1 offers a French DUB option, the Region 2 - a Japanese one.

I feel very alone in extolling this film, and Shyamalan in general. As he matures he continues to veer further away from creating mass-market Hollywood blockbusters - this is strongly to his credit because it is my belief that he already is fully aware of that process. He is approaching narrative structure cinema and as he is such an accomplished plot/script writer that his abilities can only sharpen. Trust me folks - this guy is one of the futures of modern cinema as we know it. The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs and The Village are just scratching the surface of his potential.

Gary W. Tooze