Unbreakable (2000)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

Writer (WGA):

M. Night Shyamalan (written by)

Release Date:

22 November 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Shattering cinemas soon.

Plot:

A suspense thriller with supernatural overtones that revolves around a man who learns something extraordinary about himself after a devastating accident.

Plot Keywords:

Comic Book | Survivor | Train | Sole Survivor | Superhero

Awards:

2 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Bruce Willis	...	David Dunn
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Elijah Price
Robin Wright Penn	...	Audrey Dunn
Spencer Treat Clark	...	Joseph Dunn
Charlayne Woodard	...	Elijah's Mother
Eamonn Walker	...	Dr. Mathison
Leslie Stefanson	...	Kelly
Johnny Hiram Jamison	...	Elijah Age 13
Michaelia Carroll	...	Babysitter
Bostin Christopher	...	Comic Book Clerk
Elizabeth Lawrence	...	School Nurse
David Duffield	...	David Dunn Age 20
Laura Regan	...	Audrey Inverso Age 20
Chance Kelly	...	Orange Suit Man
Michael Kelly	...	Doctor Dubin

Also Known As:

No Ordinary Man (USA) (working title)
Untitled M. Night Shyamalan Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements including some disturbing violent content, and for a crude sexual reference.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX | SDDS | DTS-ES

Certification:

Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Brazil:12 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Philippines:PG-13 | Japan:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-14 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIA | Hungary:16 | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 (re-rating) | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #37802)

Filming Locations:

Franklin Field - 235 S. 33rd Street, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

The stadium that David Dunn (Bruce Willis) works at is actually Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania. It is the oldest stadium in the country and the first to have an electronic scoreboard, an upper deck, and the first site of a live radio and television broadcast.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The burglar which David incapacitated is supposed to be dead according to the newspaper article. But after he was strangled and lying on the floor he was still visibly breathing. So either David killed him later or he died from the chocking later or the article was mistaken. All of these make little sense.

Quotes:

Audrey Dunn: No shooting friends, Joseph!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Soundtrack:

Fugue in C major, BWV 952 (from 'Klavierbuchlein fur Wilhelm Bach')

An extremely underrated movie (Minor Spoilers)

M. Night Shyamalan. One of the new directors with most potential in the late nineties and the beginning of the new millennium. He gave us 'The Sixth Sense'. Then he gave us this one, 'Unbreakable'. And then came 'Signs'. And his latest movie is 'The Village'. I liked three of these movies and I still think he has some great potential in directing. However, he needs to fine-tune his writing. Some of his ideas are new and original, but he has to take care of it. Not everyone likes his fresh and interesting ideas. Me included. I didn't like 'The Village', because mostly the whole movie builds up a storyline and breaks it in his trademark; the twist ending.

But in this movie everything works just fine. His direction is original as always. The plot is exciting and new. And there's something one can always count on in a Shyamalan movie. The score. In this dark story James Newton Howard's wonderful score is able to move and stir one in this movie. It is absolutely amazing. I own the score and I can enjoy it while doing something in the meantime.

The story. The main story begins with a train crash. David Dunn is the sole survivor of this terrible disaster. His family is waiting for him. But not everything in his marriage is working out. He and his wife, Audrey, are getting separated.

Later David is contacted by Elijah Price, a man whose life has not been easy because of a disorder called osteogenesis imperfecta. It's a disorder that makes his bones break very easily. Because of that he's used a lot of his time on hospitals where his only interest is reading comics. So he figures that there must be a superhero out there somewhere.

Most of this movie deals with the David's development and Elijah's constant attempt to convince David that he is a man with supernatural powers. David is reluctant to this idea from the beginning, so will Elijah succeed?

The acting in this movie is quite remarkable. Bruce Willis plays a convincing David Dunn as the insecure and doubtful person he is. Samuel L. Jackson plays the weird Elijah Price, the guy you can't help feeling sorry for.

So, all in all this movie has made my "favorite top 25 list". It's very good, but people argue that this is a dull and slow-paced movie. They were probably thinking that this would be another "Sixth Sense". But it's far from that. The only two things this movie has in common with that movie are Bruce Willis and the director.

I'll recommend this to everyone who likes Bruce Willis, M. Night Shyamalan, comic books or just an exciting, suspense-charged movie.

My rating: 8/10