'Unbreakable' WARNING SPOILERS

TwoShedsJackson · 30-12-2000 5:05pm #1

Posting this here as I don't want to put spoilers in the other thread.

Tough to know what to make of this one. Strange script, decent acting, stylishly shot, very gothic tone. Very slow moving and I don't think a lot of people will get past the decidedly odd comicbook/superhero angle.

***WARNING ENDING GIVEN AWAY BELOW***
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The scene where Brucie goes to the house and rescues the two kids from Orange Suit Man was a masterly bit of suspense - like a small self contained subplot, outstanding.

As for the resolution, the twist that Jackson caused the disasters was odd, on the one hand it works on another it somehow... doesn't. Going to have to mull this one over for a while I reckon.

yellum · 30-12-2000 6:00pm

I thought the ending/resolution was brilliant. Makes things for Brucie a whole lot more complicated. It was suggested that this could be a trilogy, but its not gonna be. Thank god.
Better than most other crap this year in the cinema.

plastic membrane · 01-01-2001 6:59pm

I enjoyed it much more than The Sixth Sense even though it had the same basic structure. Mostly because Bruce Willis gave a really terrific performance, and the whole theme of the film itself. The ending was a surprise, but it ended far too abruptly, and kind of took the shine off the film. But highly reccommended nonetheless.

And Bruce's get-up as he finally became a superhero....masterful touch.

Im going to the bear fights tomorrow, want to come with ??

Figment · 02-01-2001 2:37pm

What a great film! The first 'real life' superhero film. Realy clever. I thought it was really well done the way he(director) played with the mood and set up generated from sixth sense to manipulate you into thinking one way then reveling it to be a totally different film. And it works. All the elements were there and obvious to see that it was a comic book superhero movie. I got a great sence of fun from the movie and im sure he enjoyed making it.
Cast was first class and tone was just right i think.
Im looking forward to his next movie.

whitetrash · 02-01-2001 10:39pm

thought it was quite good. weird script and well-acted; my mate on the other hand just left the room muttering 'sh!t' under his breath repeatedly. but its cool, he didn't even like fight club.

I Live

[This message has been edited by whitetrash (edited 02-01-2001).]

TwoShedsJackson · 02-01-2001 10:43pm

I recommend a severe beating for your friend.

Ph33R M3!!!!!

[IAR]Nevermind · 02-01-2001 11:34pm

****in **** **** **** why did i read it .

Shiminay · 03-01-2001 12:58am

Loved it!
I has a sneaking feeling that Jackson was the mastermind after the thing his mother said to Willis at the gallery when the expo was on (the bit about the soldier enemy and the thinking enemy which was the worst).

However after watching the trailer, it was NOTHING like what I expected! I was wondering WTF it was going on about when it starts mentioning comics at the start. I was expecting a 6th Sense type thing, but this caught me off guard! I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a more drawn out ending with a more impressive "fight" between good and evil, but in retrospect, I think it did work well. I'm not sure about a sequel - it could be enough to leave well enough alone at that.

All the best,

Chubby · 03-01-2001 3:02pm

Thrasher:
the fight with the looney in the orange outfit when Bruce was throw around the room was to demonstrate that he is unbreakable. The imprints on the wall when he was thrown against it shows the force of the impact he was recieving. His unbreakable nature was used to to hang on to that maniac.

No big OTT explosions helps to keep it realistic as they want to portray a plausible character. And we weren't told Bruce went back to a normal life. If anything, he kept on fighting the forces of evil by turning in Samuel L Jackson's character.

TwoShedsJackson · 03-01-2001 3:06pm

Uh, I think the fact that he survives the train wreck without a scratch shows he's unbreakable, no?

I will agree that the text bit of the ending was very silly - that should definitely have been left out.

Chubby · 03-01-2001 3:57pm

Yeah CT, the train crash shows he's unbreakable but Thrasher was saying he didn't use this to his advantage and to fight crime. And yes I agree with everyone, text ending is lame

Thrasher · 03-01-2001 5:15pm

Accepted - surviving the train crash did imply his invulnerability. But at the same time, was the audience not supposed to sympathise with Bruce throughout the film, wondering whether or not it was just co-incidence, whether he ever got sick etc.? I dunno, maybe I was just in a bad mood when I saw it..........

yellum · 03-01-2001 6:54pm

I think the story was mean to be about normal family life and how an ordinary guy reacts to this situation. Sam Jackson says in the movie that a comic superhero would be an over-exaggeration anyway.

I thought it was good the way Sam Jacksons character is the reason for Brucie acknowledging his powers. I don't think it was about him fighting crime or using his powers. It was meant to be revloving around a man who finds out something astonishing about himself and his reaction to it.

However it was marketed to those that saw Sixth Sense and were probably expecting some sort of Unbreakable stuff. I still liked it.

Him using his Powers will be in the sequel: "Unbreakable with a Vengenance" and possibly in part III.. "Unbreakable III: A view to a No Kill"

Miguel_Sanchez · 03-01-2001 9:20pm

Hmmm... myself I liked it but wasn't blown away or anything.

Check out this review for another opinion:

www.castlebar.ie/cinema/critics/

[IAR]Nevermind · 03-01-2001 11:48pm

i just went to see it i just thought it was ****in trip in all fairness the ending was fúckin cool

Thrasher · 04-01-2001 12:27am

I don't want to sound cranky, but I thought with all the praise you guys were giving the film, I had to add my opinion!

I was really disappointed with the film... if you think about it, the Bruce Willis character never got to use his "powers". We never got to see if he ever was truly unbreakable. Considering the entire film revolved around him (& his family) questioning this, I thought it would have been clarified a lot more.

Although stylishly shot, the production team also cut every corner to save on their budget. Although usually Hollywood overdoes big bangs and explosions, I felt here that one or two (!) might not have gone astray. After all, it was a superhero we were supposed to be identifying with. How come during his only outing as a "hero", the Bruce Willis character was pushed into water - his only weakness, while the rest of his "unbreakable" nature was completely unused. (Does the tussle in the bedroom really count?)

And Castor Troy, I agree with you when you that the "double identity" of Samuel L Jacksons character doesn't work. The ending suggests in more than one way that Bruce Willis's hero exists only because Samuel L Jackson created/discovered him, thus giving the sickly comic-book collector a reason to exist as he does. Yet then (with the horrendously timed "text ending") we are told that he is imprisoned and Bruce returns to his "normal life" - any purpose is lost, and considering so many co-incidences and the twist itself and dependent on this "purpose", (i.e. that Bruce Willis is unbreakable), the film makes no sense.

In my opinion, the film was strung together as a suspense piece which keeps the audience waiting for a twist - when it finally does arrive, I think most people are left disappointed.

[This message has been edited by Thrasher (edited 05-01-2001).]

neuro-praxis · 04-01-2001 9:02pm

eh, the movie never implies that he returns to his normal life at all - we are allowed to decide for ourselves what the outcome is. i don't think we can really argue here about whether or not we found out if Willis was unbreakable - surely the whole point was the fact that Jackson's character BELIEVED that he was unbreakable? and the same with Willis' son. i thought this movie was superbly paced. i felt that the basic structure was absolutely nothing like 6th Sense - whoever said that simply associated the 2 movies because they both contain Willis and a little boy and the director was the same. the tension was deliciously high-strung. i can understand (grudgingly) that somebody might not like this film, but come on, to pull it apart the way some have done is just being pretentious. i say - one of our finest cinema experiences in 12 months. yay for brucie!

Do your limbs ever get tingly, eh? eh?

Draco · 05-01-2001 9:57am

The twist at the end did sit well with me either. There was something not quite right about it. I was waiting for Bruce to say something like "I'm Batman!" to his son at the end...

[Neil0r] · 05-01-2001 5:39pm

well it was much anticipated by myself.
tbh, it was nothing like what I thought it would be. Maybe this is why I found it slightly disappointing. I did think it was a good film, Bruce Willis was his usual self, brilliant. I thought that Sam Jackson was also very good as usual.

tbh to me it seems that the film was writen and then they realised it wasnt very good so instead of going in for high octane they tried to lash a clever twist on the end.

I did enjoy it but I think that the twist could have been incorporated a bit better.

N

nethousegames

Hobbes · 06-01-2001 6:36pm

I thought I was going to die of boredom at that movie... it was crap.

only good part is him looking for bad guys at the train station and chasing the nutjob. Oh and Jacksons "Excuse me?" speech to the 4 year old getting a comic book picture.

richindub2 · 06-01-2001 9:08pm

I just saw it today and i have to say i think it was class....Maybe a bit too much build up but still class, the part in the train station towards the end with all the insights into peoples lives was well done....

I agree with the script thingy at the end being lame tho, it took away some of the "Guess what happens" feel of the movie...

UP DA DUBS!!

TwoShedsJackson · 06-01-2001 10:02pm

I loved the station bit, gots to get me that soundtrack - I also thought the opening shot, the single take between Brucie and that babe he was trying to chat up, as seen from the kids level was outstanding.

The build up to the crash was good, you could hear the train's horn blaring in the background then everything slows down, cuts away to the wife & kid's house and just shows the aftermath on the tv - class.

Cake Fiend · 06-01-2001 10:17pm

Good film; I thought it ended a bit abruptly as well. I was hoping there would be more examples of his 'unbreakable' nature and superhero stuff like the orange-suit man bit, but what had me pondering at the end was when Brucie said 'Jesus Christ', then SLJ goes something along the lines of 'now that you know who you are, I know what I am'...

I'm not religious, but still, hmm...

TwoShedsJackson · 06-01-2001 10:25pm

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Sico:
but what had me pondering at the end was when Brucie said 'Jesus Christ', then SLJ goes something along the lines of 'now that you know who you are, I know what I am'...

I'm not religious, but still, hmm...</font>

The more I see in this thread the more I think I need to see this film again to pick up that sort of stuff, bit like The Sixth Sense or Fight Club really.

[IAR]Nevermind · 06-01-2001 10:48pm

lol

OSiriS · 08-01-2001 3:02pm

I personally thought it to be an amazingly well made film. I had heard absolutly nothing about it before seeing posters around Marseille, which I though was very weird because usually films take about a month or two to be translated. So thankfully I went in to see it without knowing anything about it, and without having seen any trailers (which generally tend to spoil films ... case in point the Mission Impossible trailer I never went to see that film in the cinema because I saw it's trailer the day b4 I had planned on watching it) Alot of you are talking about some text ending spoiling the film a little, but since I watched it subtitled in french, and don't at the moment speak a word of the language, I missed that ending, so probably saw it the way most of you would have prefered to have seen it. I though the pace and plot development were flawless, and the ending was perfect, if totally unexpected, although I was half convinced Bruce would drown in the swimming pool Lethal Weapon style. Tense, gripping, one of the best films I've seen in a long time

Redesigned

Dustaz · 19-01-2001 2:59am

i cant believe so many people liked this film.
Great photography and the scene with kid and the gun were the only good things about it.
Suspense? What Suspense? We know he is unbreakable from the very start, so it is his journey to acceptance which is what interests us. Except it doesnt. Theres a thing called pace, and this film has none. Ive seen open university lectures which held my interest longer. The edit is so slow you could drive a truck thru some of the gaps. The first hour felt like a double bill of titanic and titanic again. Personally i thought the structure was terrible, leaving far too many questions unanswered than mere "Thats left for you to decide' can deal with
The duality of man theme is not a new one and has been dealt with in much better ways, Cape Fear being a much more interesting example.
As for the 'twist', by the time it was revealed, either youd guessed the obvious or you didnt give a t0ss one way or the other.
ok rant mode off

'Unbreakable' ***WARNING SPOILERS***

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'Unbreakable' WARNING SPOILERS