Review by Gary Tooze

Studio:

Discs:

Video:

Audio:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (uncompressed), DUBs: French, Spanish, (48 kHz/ 24-bit)

Subtitles:
Spanish, English, French, Dutch, none
 

 

The Film:

 

"Sixth Sense" is certainly a nervy film, one that director M. Night Shyamalan ("Wide Awake") has made so disarmingly eerie it's virtually guaranteed to rattle the most jaded of cages. Set in Philadelphia--hometown of its director and, coincidentally, near-home to New Jersey native Bruce Willis--the film concerns Malcolm Crowe (Willis), honored child psychologist and husband to Anna (Olivia Williams of "Rushmore"), who's confronted in his home one night by a patient who slipped through the cracks: Vincent Gray (a convincingly unhinged Donnie Wahlberg), blaming Crowe for the "possible mood disorder" that's still plaguing him, puts one bullet in the doctor and another through his own brain. 

 

  Excerpt from John Anderson at Calendar Alive located HERE
 

Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

A pretty competent, if not brilliantly stellar, Blu-ray of Shyamalan's blockbuster hit. The Sixth Sense in 1080P improves drastically from previous SD-DVD editions. Image quality is consistent with tight lines, true colors and the only thing that really separates it from more recent film transfers is the detail which never reaches the highest levels we have seen before. I don't think it's a flaw of the high-definition rendering - I think the film looked this way originally. So while not displaying the more extravagant attributes of some recent productions on dual-layered Blu-rays - I expect this will be very satisfying. The feature tales up 24 Gig of space. The image has a true quality that brings the film's 'emotional bridge' just that much closer. Noise is quite minimal and I don't see any DNR used but maybe there is a tinge of edge enhancement. It's only real complaint would be that detail is a notch below what some have come to expect from a Blu-ray image - but it still towers above any SD counterparts. I suspect fans of the film will be very satisfied with the visual appearance of this Blu-ray.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

Audio & Music:  
The Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 is, like the image, competent. It's clean, decently defined and has some separation. Dialogue, even whispers - are crystal clear. James Newton Howard's score compliments the eerie revelations of Shyamalan's intelligent script. English, French, Spanish or Dutch subtitles are offered - which might indicate this release is region free and probably a duplicate of the UK edition releases HERE.

Extras:
Supplements are duplicated from the previous SDs - and are all in standard definition. No commentaries but we are offered Reflections From The Set which gives almost 40 minutes with director Shyamalan and sound bites from just about everyone. It's a decent 'Making of...' if not particularly probing the production depths. Between Two Worlds is almost the same length and has the likes of The Exorcist author William Peter Blatty and others expanding upon the theory of 'ghosts' as a viable concept in our modern world. Moving Pictures: The Storyboard Process is 15 minutes are gives some overview on this facet of production and Shyamalan's involvement. the next three are short (Music And Sound Design, Reaching The Audience, and Rules And Clues). There are also some in effectual deleted scenes. Nothing new but the previous extras seem enough although a commentary on this Blu-ray would have been appreciated.

Bottom line:
I enjoyed The Sixth Sense on Blu-ray more than I was anticipating - with some competence in the transfer. The film itself gets a big thumbs up. It was well crafted and touching - I was both surprised and impressed with my response this time around. The image and audio shouldn't disappoint anyone and many may be quite taken with the thriller/chiller aspects of the film - especially in this Blu-ray transfer.