Mel Gibson delivers a composed performance as Graham, who is forced to be strong for his kids after his wife Colleen dies, and feels responsible for protecting the family from any further harm. Gibson is calm and authoritative in group scenes, but more anxious and emotional when he's alone doing his own investigation of the events surrounding the crop circles.
His chemistry with Joaquin Phoenix is almost like a parent-child dynamic in that Merrill looks to Graham for advice, comfort, and direction, and is reacting to the situation like the children are. Bo Abigail Breslin and Morgan Rory Culkin are just as brave as their father, but they are more honest about their feelings throughout the film. The dinner scene in particular is impressive, with every family member emotionally confronting the issues that have been building up since Colleen's death.
Performances by child actors are usually hit or miss, but fear not, these kids bring youthful curiosity and can cry on cue. Given that it was filmed in , the aliens don't look as intricate and realistic as they might if the film were made today. The computer generation didn't blend the aliens into their environment very well, which is especially noticeable in the climax. To alleviate this, Shyamalan frames them in shadows, in dim lighting, and far away from the camera, like the Brazilian home video Merrill saw on the news.
Doing so also makes them more mysterious, which helps build suspense. From one of the very first shots in the film, Shyamalan sets religious undertones to represent Graham's loss and ultimate regaining of faith, one of the subplots in Signs. In the beginning, there is a prominent wide shot of a faded outline of a cross that once hung in their hallway. Later in the film, we find out that Graham used to be a priest, but lost his faith in God when He took his wife from him; however, God sent the aliens to Earth to give Graham a 'sign' that He's real and is watching over him.
In the end, Graham realizes that his wife's death was meant to be and that it saved the rest of the family's lives in the long run, giving him faith again. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below. The Last Airbender Paramount Pictures. After Earth Columbia Pictures. The Happening Lady in the Water Warner Bros. Glass Universal Pictures. The Village Buena Vista Pictures. Wide Awake The Visit The Sixth Sense The masterful pairing of sound to picture is largely what makes Signs so chilling; each terrifying shot is perfectly matched with a sound cue that ensures it packs the maximum punch.
Shyamalan understands how seemingly mundane interactions can be elevated in an instant if you throw in the right ingredients, and that is what he does. Signs does an excellent job at setting things up from the very beginning; we find out very early that Morgan has asthma, that he resents his dad for something via his body language. We know that Graham has left the church when he asks Caroline not to call him father anymore.
All these feats of filmmaking aside, however, the film truly is a scary one, and without going over the top. Perhaps the most memorable of all the scenes in the film, the Brazilian party tape speaks for itself. Again, the impact of the use of sound on this scene cannot be overstated — between the voices and the score subtly swelling underneath, the entire sequence is brought to a frenzied climax that would not be as effective otherwise. Night Shyamaian movie, which means it does a good job of hooking you into the story but doesn't always give you a satisfying ending.
They're Here -- Yet Again rmax 12 July Instead, everything began quietly, deliberately, ominously. The eponymous signs are crop circles, the first signals that something is up world-wide. Not too promising a beginning, since the circles were debunked years ago. But the nicely evoked rural atmosphere of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was charming in the same way that rural Iowa was charming in "Field of Dreams. And, then, too, I was kind of impressed by the overall tone imposed on the flick by its director.
Everyone speaks slowly and quietly, often actually whispering, although there is no reason to whisper. It looked as if it might be an unorthodox, thoughtful look at the nature of the universe, or at least our perceptions of it.
Then, alas, the blocks began to fall into place and what we have instead is a kind of Steven King horror story skeleton fleshed out with techniques derived from the X Files. Mel Gibson, in a decent performance, is a clergyman who has lost his faith after his wife's death and turned to farming. I hoped against hope he wouldn't recover his belief in God after undergoing some additional crisis.
Phoenix is his failed baseball-player brother who doesn't have much to do except help out around the house, doing such chores as whacking aliens with his baseball bat and accidentally smashing the only light bulb in the cellar when they need it most. The two kids, however, are engagingly underplayed and the little girl is given some funny lines.
Although nobody laughs, or even grins at any time in the movie. Gibson too has a comic moment when the family votes on whether to leave the house or stay and hole up there.
When he is outvoted, he abruptly claims to have "two votes" because he represents two parents. The plot has just about every cliche you can think of. Does the reverend regain his faith? Actually, it's not clear whether he does or not. Are there awed newscasters on TV reporting crop circles and lights in the sky from all around the world, saying things like, "God help us all"? Is there a sick kid who, in order to survive, must have medicine that has been left behind in a place of danger and must be retrieved?
Is the family trapped in the cellar, as in "Night of the Living Dead"? Do they spend half the movie fumbling around in the dark with only two flashlights between them, as in The X Files?
Is the house hastily boarded up with planks nailed over the windows and doors, as in "The Birds"? Do the aliens try to creep into the house through neglected openings such as a coal shoot, as in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"?
Are they finally defeated by something found all around us in everyday life, like harmless bacteria "The War of the Worlds" or water "The Day of the Triffids," "The Wizard of Oz"?
The answers are yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Still, I admire the attempt on the part of the people responsible for this flick, the director in particular, to breathe some life into these moribund elements of the plot. At least they tried. Tweekums 16 November Protagonist Graham Hess is a former priest who lost is faith after the death of his wife; he lives in rural Pennsylvania with his brother Merrill and children Morgan and Bo.
Strange things start to happen straight away; overnight a series of giant crop circles appear in his corn field and his dog suddenly becomes violent. At first he assumes the crop circles were the work of local youths but soon the TV reports that similar patterns are appearing all over the planet.
It isn't long before everybody becomes certain that they are a precursor to the appearance of aliens; the question is will they be friendly or will they have sinister intentions. Night Shyamalan's best film it is still entertaining. There are plenty of other things to wonder about; why does the young girl Bo leave glasses of water around the house and do Graham's wife's enigmatic last words have any real meaning to mention just a couple. While the film isn't really scary there are plenty of tense moments as well as some pretty funny ones.
The cast does a decent job and it was nice to have child characters that weren't overly precocious. Some people will have a problem with the ending but I think if it is possible to accept a plot involving invading aliens it shouldn't be impossible to accept a resolution with a religious dimension.
It was interesting to see an alien invasion film from the perspective of a small family group that decides to batten down the hatches at home rather than following those involved in fighting the aliens or a family caught up in a mass exodus fleeing the aliens; this gives the film a more intimate feel as for the most part it concentrates on just four characters. Overall I'd recommend this to any fans of Shyamalan's other films.
Strange and eerie storytelling about an isolated , quiet farm in Pennsylvania stalked by mysterious creatures. At first glance, this family seems happy , but this close-knit family lives with a tragedy. After his wife's death in a freak accident , Hess and his family try to figure out what the sign means and how its message incorporates into their faith. Later on , they discover a gigantic crop circle in his yard and they have frightening knowledge that creatures reside in the surrounding and subsequently at home.
As they get the feeling that they aren't alone in the fields behind their house. Graham's children Rory Culkin , Abigail Breslin think it's aliens, his brother Joaquin Phoenix thinks it's pranksters, and Graham doesn't know what to think.
Similar happenings occur all around the world. As more and more strange events occur, they realize something big is coming and it probably won't be friendly. The Signs Of LifeA message.
A warning. A sign The first sign you can't explain. The second sign you can't ignore. The third sign you won't believe. It's happening. Don't see it alone. Another paranormal entry for writer-director Shyamalan , this is an eerie and mysterious movie depicting the tale of an isolated home , confronting the surprising mystery that lies just outside its farm , as a family lives under the control of some bizarre beings , until a revelatory twist.
It explores the strange implications of a foot crop circle that mysteriously appears at the location. Night toys with religion and other thoughtful ideas , but at times , he buries them under an illogical and rather unpredictable tale.
Night Shyamalan got a good feel for the intriguing as well as terrifying , at times , story. Focusing here is on security , self-preservation , frightening to unknown and conservatism , as revealed in the tale of a rural location.
Night delivers a nice filmmaking and , as usual , he shows an important scene set in a basement , such as : in this Signs : The family is in the basement when the aliens attack , the same as : The sixth Sense : Malcolm is in the basement when discovering important plot information; Unbreakable : David discovers his strength in a basement ; In The Village , when they are in the cellar or basement Ivy discovers that Lucius really does care for her. Similarly , Car crashes play pivotal roles in all his films : Cole reveals his gift to his mother during a traffic jam in The six sense , David "loses" his football abilities in a car accident in The unbreakable , and a sad death in a bizarre car accident in Signs Here Mel Gibson as Reverend Graham Hess who questions his faith and even leaves the church gives a very good acting.
Main cast and support cast are pretty well , full of young and veteran players such as : Cherry Jones, Patricia Kalember , and of course , Joaquin Phoenix and M. Night Shyamalan himself. A main draw is the cast as newcomers : Rory Culkin , Abigail Breslin ; all of them put in great performances. Rousing and thrilling soundtrack by James Newton Howard who frequently works with Shyamalan for the musical score.
As well as colorful and evocative cinematography by Tak Fujimoto. The motion picture was well made by Night M Shyamalan , writing , producing and directing , though being some claustrophobic and slow-moving. Night delivers his first period piece putting the entire cast through a creepy story of extraterrestrial invasion , retelling with several surprises. Competently produced by Night Shyamalan himself , many of his films involve pivotal roles with extraordinary abilities or events happening to them and with children always having family problems.
Night usually puts in a scene from one of his childhood films that marks his first attempt at the same kind of movie. The Sixth Sense includes the ghost story Nightmare on Old Gulf, The unbreakable includes the action movie Millionaire, Signs includes the monster movie Pictures , and The Village includes an untitled period piece.
Shyalaman usually shoots in Philadelphia , this is Shyamalan favorite location. Well worth watching. Better than average. A widowed ex-minister in Pennsylvania, living on a farm with his kids and his ex-ball player brother, believes the crop circles on his land as well as the ones profiled on the news may be indicative of something other-worldly.
Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, who understands commercial movie-making these days as well as any other filmmaker, tends to get bogged down in pretensions, but where his dialogue is sometimes gummy, his characters are complicated and relatable. Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix are wonderfully convincing as the brothers unexpectedly caught up in the supernatural, never letting their lived-in relationship hit a false note. Shyamalan is terrific at staging a big scary moment, and any of the sequences involving Gibson and his family are enjoyable, but the more intimate, two-character scenes stall the momentum particularly one involving Shyamalan himself as a co-star.
Still, with all its faults--and a too-literal final act--"Signs" knows how to get reactions from its audience, and it is clever and canny if not quite hair-raising. Really nice DVD, but only an average movie.
TxMike 2 February My wife and I enjoyed "Signs" but when it was over we both said, "That's a pretty average movie. I liked "Unbreakable" much more, and even "The Sixth Sense. But the extras give a superb glimpse into Night's film-making process, how he writes, how he directs, the building of the farm set in an experimental corn field, and how the CGI alien was done.
However, there's a bit much "mutual admiration" comments at times by the actors and crew. And Night's comment, regarding design of various trailers to advertise "Signs", "We're going to show you one of the best movies ever seen", gives us an insight into the perhaps inflated view Night has of his own work.
A key theme running through "Signs" and uttered more than once is, "Is it possible that there are no coincidences? We are shown a drawing in a book of aliens where the house looks exactly like the one in this movie. The film gets its title from crop signs, made by alien beings as directions for other aliens to follow them, but also has the meaning of Gibson's character, an Episcopal priest, to get a sign from God regarding his faith, lost when his wife was killed by a car.
It turns out that the aliens here are not kind aliens, they want something which is never directly revealed. What did I not like about this movie? I find the dialog unbelievable much of the time. Also, Night wanted to inject humor into the script, which he did, but for me it did ring true in relation to what was happening on-screen. For example, near the end when the alien was in the attic, his brother got on a chair and was holding the attic door shut by extending his arms to the door, as the alien tried to push it open.
He says, "This is only a temporary solution. I believe Night tried too hard in filming "Signs" to come up with some "grand moments. However it seems that he tries too hard to "make" emotional things happen instead of letting them simply be a result of really good directing and acting of a really good script.
I believe he failed for the most part in "Signs" when he tried to create these grand moments.
0コメント