Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

What if super heroes existed in reality? It’s a viewpoint more writers and filmmakers are taking which brings the X Men and others out of their bright Spandex and gives them some of the same struggles that the average person faces. None I’ve seen so far have approached the idea like Unbreakable. David, the super hero, is more like the average working man than any other attempt I’ve seen. He has a hum-drum job, marital problems, child-rearing struggles, and thinks the idea that he has comic book-like powers is absurd.
Night describes his movie as what would normally be act 1 in an action movie - the character discovering he has super powers. The concept and story are good, but there’s a reason that it happens in act 1 of most movies; it’s awfully slow going when stretched out like this. That’s my biggest problem with the movie, it drags. I didn’t expect some flashy action movie from Night, but it could have used a quicker pace at times and more exhibition of super powers (the heroic battle near the end is not much of a showcase for the special abilities).

I was surprisingly disappointed with the main character. I loved Bruce Willis in 6th Sense, but I didn’t think he added much to David. Maybe he was too melancholy, or too disinterested in life to be on screen for as long as he was. I got more into Elijah’s quest for the meaning of his life even to the point that I would have enjoyed the movie more if he had had the most screen time. I think it’s because he really is on a quest, he has to find out what his life means so he seeks out David. The latter man is letting life pass him before picking up his own quest eventually only at the insistence of Elijah.

I don’t want to accidentally give anything away about the story so I’ll move on. The quality in most aspects is good. Like I said, it’s too slow so there’s a strike against the directing although Night does a good job with revealing the plot twists. The look of it is great. David’s “super-hero costume” is simple yet creative. Elijah’s look is every bit as odd as he is – stylish yet not quite right. The feel isn’t so much dark as dim – grim but with hope for those who search for it. The mood may add to the slow feel of the movie, but it’s well maintained all the way through. The music doesn’t feel like it permeates the whole movie enough. It does a fine job of accentuating a few scenes but feels too sporadic in its use with other scenes. Acting wise the only disappointment is Bruce Willis. He still does an average to better than average job, but he doesn’t lend much to the role. Sam Jackson does the best job of anyone in the cast, not too much of a surprise. His character could have been severely goofy but instead is likable and creepy at the same time; he’s definitely sympathetic. The young boy does an impressive job. Night has a knack for finding talented young actors. The movie is worth watching once, but is not a must-have. The DVD content may be what tips the scales for many of you that are borderline rental/purchase.

Content: While not classifiable as a “family movie” it is clean enough for parents and teens to watch together without embarrassment or worry. The worse thing you get is a little cussing here and there. There is no nudity (except in the deleted scenes, but that doesn’t fully qualify either) and the sexuality is mild. The violence is also mild with most of it being implied and the fighting being bloodless as far as I can remember.

DVD:
The first plus is a pretty package. The 2 DVD’s come in a folder with plenty of mood-setting images. There is an extra flap with nothing but artwork, 2 clear trays with art under them, and another image-laden flap that has a pocket for all the printed materials. When folded up this package fits into a box which is the cover you’ve seen in the display pictures. The broken glass is part of the folder art and shows through a window on the box. While I like the durability of the plastic cases, this one looks quite nice.

It doesn’t stop there, either. The insert is more than just a card; it’s a few pages long and contains several things including the chapter list and additional info on the bonus features. To go along with that is something I wasn’t expecting: a double-sided card featuring some very nice full-color artwork by the movie’s conceptual artist although I’m stumped as to why there was a little throw-away peel-off tag on it.

There are 7 deleted scenes. A couple of them are real short while a couple are pretty long. For the most part I thought they were good scenes with strong emotions. The weightlifting scene has some humor. In addition each scene has an intro by Night although the first intro is more about the collection that the scene. A Play All option goes through the whole presentation.

The behind the scenes feature covers many topics, virtually every aspect of the film you can think of. The downfall is that most of the segments are cursory glances, and don’t go into enough detail. About the time they really start to get interesting it’s time to swap topics.

There is a fairly long documentary on comic books: history, appeal, and purpose. I like features that take the theme of a movie further, and this one does exactly that. It includes appearances by various members of the Unbreakable cast and crew (most notably Sam Jackson) and several well-known comic book writers and artists.

The storyboard sequence features the storyboard and final version of the scene for comparison and 3 audio options: complete mix (what you hear during the movie, score only (my personal favorite aspect of this feature), and sound effects only (self explanatory).

Night likes to include clips from move he made as a kid. They are hokey, even stupid, but are fun to watch especially for someone like me who used to make his own movies. In fact, I wouldn’t mind the clips being a little longer.

So there’s your look at the DVD package. It’s worth seeing once if you like super heroes and comic books, but realize that it is not an action movie. It’s also a decent flick for fans of dark drama. This is my least favorite Night movie from 6th Sense forward (not counting The Village since it hasn’t been release as of this review), but was still worth getting to round out my Night movie collection. I debated a while on its rating, but I’ve finally decided on 3 stars. I like the packaging, the extra artwork, the documentary on comic books, and the concept of the movie. I disliked the pacing, the super hero battle (the lack of actually displaying his powers), and the cursory behind the scenes looks. I would have been more apt to increase my rating if they had included a commentary, more on the set type footage, and maybe a few other features. The collection is surprisingly light on extras for a 2 disc set.


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older