Video
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Audio
English: LPCM 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX... (more)
English: LPCM 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit) English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps) French: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX (less)
Subtitles
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Indian (Malayalam), Indonesian, Korean... (more)
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Indian (Malayalam), Indonesian, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Thai (less)
Unbreakable Blu-ray offers solid video and great audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Unbreakable is a riveting story shared by two men. David Dunn, a man from a blue-collar neighborhood in Philadelphia emerges unharmed as the sole survivor of a devastating train accident. Enter Elijah Price, a mysterious stranger who offers a bizarre explanation as to why David escaped without a single scratch, an explanation that threatens to change David's family and life forever.
There is a sole survivor, and he is miraculously unharmed.
I'm an M. Night Shyamalan fan in a strange sort of way, enjoying the now-legendary filmmaker's
work
after his breakthrough hit The Sixth Sense more than that original, very well-made
and
received film. For my money, and being the alien/science-fiction fan that I am, Signs is the director's
best work, followed closely by Unbreakable. This film may very well be his best-kept
secret,
and arguably his best work technically, replete with trademark M. Night direction, including his
patented twist ending. He's an auteur in the truest sense of the word, often breaking
conventions,
slowing his pace, and employing directorial styles that in the hands of any other filmmaker would
lead to
a boring, unoriginal end product. He's quite possibly my favorite director working today, and with
Unbreakable, his second major film, he spins a fine tale featuring an original, clever, well-
paced
narrative while showcasing two of the better actors today playing off of one another, and in more
ways than
one. Though The Sixth Sense is his most famous work, Unbreakable may be
the most quintessential, perhaps the film that best defines the director's still young but
undeniably important and respected career.
The pains I go through for my millions.
An old axiom of physics states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. What
if the same held true biologically, as some sort of unexplainable phenomena guided the
population, creating one man to offset another? That's the theme examined
in Unbreakable, starring Bruce Willis (Die Hard) as David Dunn, a security officer at the local Philadelphia
college,
and Samuel L. Jackson (Jumper) as Elijah Price, owner of a high-scale comic book shop and art
gallery. These two men find themselves on opposite ends of the spectrum, Elijah a successful
store
owner, yet fragile and frail due to a congenital condition with a fancy sounding medical appellation
I failed to take note of, and David a man on the verge of divorce, a
former
football star whose never been sick or injured in his life. When Elijah hears news of David's
miraculous survival of a fatal train crash, a crash killing every passenger save for David, Elijah
approaches him, hoping to finally find his antithesis, the strong man who counters his own
defects,
a man who unlike Elijah never gets hurt, a person to protect and guard the rest of us. If David is
indeed this man, and Elijah suspects he is, David will have to first convince himself retracing old
steps and taking new ones to prove his worth, showcase his talents, and become a hero in the
truest sense of the word.
I love Shaymalan's style. The opening of the film when we meet Elijah just after his birth and we
first learn of his fragile body is filmed naturally and with a first-person flair, the handheld camera
movement almost literally placing us in the scene as a concerned, somewhat frenetic observer.
The following sequence on the train where we first meet David Dunn, again frames the shots so
as to place us as a participant, as if we're watching the action from the seat in front. This time,
there is indeed a person with whom we are sharing the view, a little girl watching the proceedings
from the seat in front. At other times, the direction is as simple as setting the camera and
shooting with no movement, lingering on its subject, or letting the camera show us the action
through the reflection of an old television set. We see many more point-of-view and static shots
throughout the film, and although they would likely come off as gimmicky elsewhere, they fit in
perfectly in Unbreakable, all because M. Night Shyamaln is just such a wonderfully gifted
director with an eye for quality, framing, and scope only a very select few directors are gifted
with. Each of these types of shots are reminiscent to the works of the great directors of all time,
such as Spielberg, Hitchock, and Kubrick. This style, perhaps boring, repetitive, and lacking in
imagination in the hands of most other directors instead shines here, the entire film serving as a
showcase for the talents of arguably the most gifted director of the past decade.
All of the marvelous technical work performed by Shyamalan in this film has created more than a
few very memorable and touching scenes scattered throughout the movie. The scene featuring
David Dunn walking out of the hospital as dozens of grieving families of the victims stand silently,
awash in their personal losses, is
perhaps the most amazing in the film, and one of the best I've been privileged to bear witness to.
It's powerful
and poignant, as the bystanders wonder why he survived and their loved one did not. The
moment was captured perfectly, Dunn as shocked as the victim's families, marking the beginning
of a
journey M. Night Shymamlan is about to guide us through as we learn the secret that this event
will bring to the forefront of the lives of Dunn, his family, and Elijah. Bookending the film is
perhaps the second best sequence of the film, that depicting Dunn's discovery of who he really is
and what he's meant to do with his life. This reveal spans the entirety of the movie's final fifteen
or so minutes, punctuated by several wonderful scenes, notably a nearly wordless exchange
between Dunn and his son over breakfast. The entire climax of the film, due in large part
Shyamalan's excellent direction, the acting of the cast, and the majestic, mighty music, definitely
proved to be a most worthy payoff for a great story and a fantastic film.
Presented on Blu-ray in 1080p high definition, Unbreakable's 2.35:1-framed transfer is
definitely not one that will wow viewers looking for a slick, clean, and bright high-definition image.
What we do see here is what M. Night Shyamalan has intended, a drab, dark, and
somewhat depressing in appearance film whose visual style plays to the narrative of the story in
perfect conjunction and harmony. As for the actual look of the movie as seen on Blu-ray, well, it
is
what it is. Flesh tones often have a reddish tint to them. The image oftentimes appears devoid
of
almost all color, with many scenes shot in low-lit locales, and sometimes during rainstorms under
overcast skies. The image often displays a very fine layer of grain, a layer noticeable yet never
intrusive. Several scenes showcased some minor imperfections, such as black splotches on the
print, but they came far and few between. Black levels are moderately good, though not nearly
as deep and dark as what we've seen in the best transfers. While clarity is often an issue thanks
to the drab look of the film, many scenes do exhibit some very good detail, but again, thanks to
the source and not the disc, the overall image doesn't really ever stand out. Only brightly lit
outdoor scenes look "good," but some longer distance outdoor shots appear soft and unfocused.
Check out a scene where David talks to his son in the playground in chapter 15. There is quite a
bit of noise in some of the colored squares on the ground. For the most part, it's hard to say
anything overly negative about the look of the movie, because we're seeing a film meant to look
bleak and hopeless. All of this seems to add up to a parallel to the story, fitting right in with
Dunn's despair
and doubt, Elijah's desperate search for his opposite (not to mention his physical condition, which
is
bleak and generally pitiful), and also in the context of the surprise revelation at the end of the
film.
Presented in an uncompressed 5.1 PCM mix, Unbreakable spans nearly the entire
spectrum of movie soundtracks, at times loud and powerful, and at many others quite and
unobtrusive, so well-placed into the film that we forget it's even there. The track can be at times
mundane, and suddenly someone bumps into David, for example, and we hear a shrieking,
frightening sound. When the situation calls for them, the track rises to each occasion,
announcing its presence with authority and vigor, as sounds emanate from all directions, and the
subwoofer is allowed to rumble a bit for good measure. For example, a car accident and
subsequent rescue causes the soundtrack to explode in an amazing celebration of sound. The
powerful, dynamic, and exemplary score combined with wonderful sound effects makes for a
great scene, one of many in the movie and one that is definitely enhanced by the soundtrack.
Scenes in both chapters 22 and 23 of the disc, the famous train station sequence and an
underwater scene, both impressed me a great deal, the latter making me feel as panicked as the
trapped character. There are many good ambient effects, such as echoes and other minor niceties
that find their way into the rear channels to make for a pleasing experience. Dialogue
reproduction is fine, though it sometimes gets lost in the music and hustle and bustle of the
ambience, noticeable in many of the football stadium scenes. Overall, this is a very good score
that proves it doesn't take wall-to-wall, or as is the case with Blu-ray, speaker-to-speaker,
nonstop
barrages of noise to make for an effective soundtrack.
I must admit to being a bit disappointed by the extras on the disc. I was hoping for a package a
bit
more substantial, but alas, we have what we have, at least on this current release of
Unbreakable. The first feature is entitled, simply, Behind the Scenes (480p,
14:17). This feature showcases the evolution of the film from script (the entire movie is
generally
the first act of your typical film), the differences in crew between Unbreakable and
The
Sixth Sense, the thematic elements seen throughout the movie, the pace and shooting of
the
movie, and so on. Like the movie, this extra is rather bleak and dull, but also like the movie, I
found it a fascinating watch nevertheless. Comic Books and Superheroes (480p, 19:22)
examines the importance of superheroes in culture, their evolution, and the new breed of
superhero
in today's world. This is a fine feature, though a bit on the dull side, and especially appealing to
those into comics and their history. Train Station Sequence: Multi-Angle Feature (480p,
4:11) allows viewers to switch between the version of this scene as seen in the movie or to view
an
animated storyboard version of it simply by pressing the "enter" button on your remote control.
Night's First Fight Sequence (480p, 2:27) is a look at a scene from the movie
Millionaire, a film from M. Night's childhood, and it makes for a good laugh. Finally, a
series of seven deleted scenes (480p, 28:29) round out the special features.
Unbreakable is M. Night Shyamalan at the top of his game. While not as popular as The
Sixth Sense, I strongly believe it to be the stronger film technically (and believe me, I love
The Sixth
Sense). Its story is right up there as well, spinning a tale that is both original and
imaginative, a simple yet elegant tale of good versus evil and the search we all must undertake to
find our true selves. Both Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson are phenomenal in their roles, Willis
playing his with a reserved caution and Jackson with an ever-so-slightly-maniacal manner that's
well hidden under a smooth, fragile (literally), yet also tough (figuratively) exterior. Released at the
beginning of the decade, Unbreakable remains one of my favorites of the past eight or so
years, proving to be both an entertaining film yet also one that shows just how one goes about
making a really, really good movie. Thankfully, Disney has seen fit to release it on the Blu-ray
format, and I am mostly pleased with the results. The video quality represents the look and mood
of the film well, and the audio is pleasing and engaging, but only when need be. While I was a bit
underwhelmed by the extras, I nevertheless think adding this Blu-ray disc to your collection would
be a wise move, and it comes highly recommended.
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has announced that they will release the M. Night Shyamalan thriller 'Signs' for Blu-ray on June 3rd. Video will be presented as 1080p AVC and be accompanied by a 5.1 PCM soundtrack. Extras include a making-of featurette, ...
Buena Vista Home Entertainment has announced that they will release three catalog titles for Blu-ray on April 1st. 'Unbreakable', 'Hidalgo', and 'Coyote Ugly' will all be presented in 1080p video with PCM audio. No extras have been announced at this time, but we ...
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