Signs (DVD)

...no sacred cows here though, Signs is 'OK', nothing more and nothing less, if you like the X-Files then you'll like this, if not, then it's a bit pants. Whether an elongated episode of the X-Files is worthy of a cinema trip or video rental is something only you can answer... Tapping in on the ludicrous paranoia and false hope offered by those who simply must believe that aliens exist and have a corn field fetish, Shyamalan's "Signs" offers a faintly ...
...in previous thrillers and chillers. Signs may be a sci-fi movie in context, but it's tone is far more reminiscent of the horror genre in many respects and there are more times when you will certainly be sitting on the edge of your seat with your heart in your mouth than there will be those when you'll be looking for E.T. In terms of suspense, Signs is great once more, it's one thing Shyamalan is really good at. However, Signs isn't the brilliant ...

wampyrii 13.09.2002 (01.10.2002) · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

...grew more as I discovered Signs was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan who also wrote one of my favourite films 'The Sixth Sense'. I watched the trailers (which take ages to load) and decided yes - this is a film I want to see. I deliberately didn't read any reviews of the film as I wanted to make my own mind up about it. In my head it was a case of - well if it's about crop circles I'll like it. Oh dear... Well for the first half and hour ...
...that tasted of heaven and help pass the time whilst Shyamalan and characters figured out what the hell the story was actually about. We get introduced to lapsed priest Graham Hess (Mel Gibson), who lives in an out of the way house surrounded by fields and fields of corn. With him are his two young children Bo and Morgan and his brother Merril who came to live with the family when Graham's wife was killed in a car accident. The accident has shattered ...

Whitehorse 15.10.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

...of twist endings", but hopefully Signs will help peel that particular label off. Where The Sixth Sense dealt with the idea of ghosts walking amongst us, and Unbreakable with the birth of a superhero, Shayamalan here turns his attention to another modern myth - Ray Davies's favourite enigma - crop circles. Playing against type, Mel Gibson toplines as Graham Hess. Hess is a preacher who has lost his faith in the wake of the tragic death of his wife, ...
...But suffice to say that Signs delivers shocks and suspense along the way to an ending which will firmly split people into "love it" and hate it camps. Nicely understated performances from the two leads keep the whole shebang eminently watchable, and Phoenix is particularly excellent here. The only small gripe is Shayamalan casting himself in one of the film's most pivotal roles, having given himself cameos in his previous two films. He redeems himself ...

neo1138 02.10.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

...credibility about the familial relationships, Signs is as much a tale of family ties and redemption as a story of alien interferings in mortal existence. It's doubly concerning therefore that we never really get anything halfway resembling the necessary resonance. Our not so happy family are puzzled when they discover their corn field scarred by a series of mysterious crop circles, in common with many dim and distant parts of the earth and we're ...
...its glaring flaws and downsides, Signs is actually extraordinarily strong as a good, old fashioned scary movie, building up genuine fear and anticipation and all without having to rely on any ridiculously horrific monsters. I wrote recently about Final Destination 2 and its dependence on gory death scenes for its impact, and I emphasised then that really strong horror films depend on the unknown and toying with one's fears in a more subtle, isolated ...

dave27 08.02.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

...adamant that the circles are signs of an imminent alien invasion, and it's not long before their theory is proved right. When Officer Caroline Paski (Cherry Jones) comes to investigate the crop circles she tells Graham that it is unlikely to be anyone playing a prank and that there has been something strange going on in the village too – the animals are edgy and violent as if they sense a predator. That night Graham is woken by Bo who explains “There’s ...
...are using these as navigation signs for a planned invasion of the world. With sightings also been reported and lights appearing over most major cities, Graham now realises that the threat is real and he has to protect his family. Normally he would have turned to his faith to get through this, but having recently renounced his faith, Graham has to struggle to keep his family, and himself, together. They board up all the doors and windows, and as the ...

londongirl24 05.01.2004 (06.01.2004) · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

...review. SIGNS ----- Signs is the third major film from director M Night Shyamalan. You may remember his first film, some film about dead people, followed by superhero flick unbreakable. Shyamalan tackles more supernatural aspects here with a tale of alien invaders and the loss of faith. Graham Hess (mel gibson) is a retired reverand who lives on a farmhouse with his two children, Bo and Morgan. Living in the Barn next door is Grahams younger ...
...is that bad opinions of signs are like ar**holes, everyone has one. Maybe it's the hype created by the masses, Shyamalan refused to have the sixth sense mentioned in the trailers as he didn't want people to go and see it just because of his 'dead people' film. It could be the comedy elements that dominate the film, some people believe that this being a hilarious film is a bad thing but these comedy elements are intentional (the captain laughed so ...

pablodiabloescobar 10.04.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

...bent into patterns? The film Signs suggests we should, so doing my best Mulder and Scully impersonation I went to investigate! Signs which comes from the director of the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable (M. Night Shyamalan) tells the story of a farming family (who never seem to do any farming work!) who wake up one morning to discover that they are now the proud owners of crop circles! The family is made up by Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) his former baseball ...
...the crop circles are the signs of an imminent alien invasion and when lights are seen hovering in the sky he is proved right and unfortunately for us humans, the aliens are hostile (Yikes!) and the battle against them begins! ---possible spoiler--- Although I have just spent ages describing the plot of the movie, I wouldn't really say this is the real plot, but rather the backdrop to the real plot, which is that of Graham regaining his faith by ...

Sara82 07.08.2003 (08.08.2003) · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

...world, and they are telling signs of the impending alien invasion. There are several parts near in the first half of the film where the camera zooms in on close ups of characters as they deliver witty lines and verbally spar with each other. The only problem is, they forgot to give them the witty lines. The result of this is that the actors are forced to deliver poorly written lines that seem as though they are meant for characters of much lesser ...
...do not work. It could be poor writing, poor directing, or just trying to rush through a scene while the actors were still uncomfortable with thier lines. Whatever the reason, these scenes are terrible and drew me completely out of the movie. In one example, Graham and Merrill are on the couch watching the alien invasion on T.V. while the two kids sleep on their laps. Merrill asks Graham to help give him some comfort regarding the invasion. Mel Gibson ...

azeltroth 31.08.2002 (03.09.2002) · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

...theme, suggesting that maybe the signs are there and that something sinister is about to begin. This is an above average performance by Mel Gibson, who plays the part of (Father) Graham Hess, a widowed Pennsylvania farmer, bringing up two young children, with the help of his baseball-burnout brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), since the tragic death of his wife six months earlier. So affected was he by the accident (which we later discover was the ...
...by M. Night Shyamalan, falling asleep at the wheel) that he decides he cannot continue as their reverend. The townsfolk, however, still address him as “father”. Strange circles start appearing in Bucks County, Pa., 45 miles outside of Philadelphia, which continue to occur throughout the world over the next few weeks. Either this is an elaborate and highly organized hoax by thousands of individuals, or something else is afoot. Maybe aliens? Story ...

Luigi 08.08.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

If you like UFO films or interested in Crop circles then this could well be a film you’d enjoy. Starring just a handful of actors including: Mel Gibson as the ex-priest who is having strong doubts about his faith: Joaquin Phoenix as Merrill Hess the distracted priest’s younger brother: priest Graham Hess’s children are played by two very bright and talented children: Rory Culkin plays Morgan Hess the vicars son who has asthma while Abigail Breslin ...
...a mention are Cherry Jones who plays Officer Caroline Paski, who is not only the local bobby but a friend of the family and the person who had to share the news of his wife death with the priest. Patricia Kalenber plays his wife in what must be one of the shortest main roles in film ever. Her part last for a bout a minute, but is needed to clarify the story. The story is set in Pennsylvania; following the death of Graham Hess's (Mel Gibson) wife, ...

dabmim 06.05.2003 (14.05.2003) · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

...DVD Extras: » Making Signs - featurettes on making the movie. ¤ "Looking for Signs" M. Night Shyamalan talks about making Signs and his ideas behind the main themes of the story. (6 mins) ¤ "Building Signs" An eight minute feature showing the details of the creation of the farm set including the house, the barn and the field of corn. ¤ "Making Signs" M. Night Shyamalan and the cast members talk about the making of signs. The director talks ...
...scenes, plus his role in the film. (22 mins) ¤ "The effects of Signs" A short feature (8 mins) describing the creation and implementation of the special and visual effects within Signs. ¤ "Last Voices" A look at the creative process dealing with the soundtrack and how the composition of the music and film making combine. Narrated by M. Night Shyamalan and James Newton Howard. (8 mins) ¤ "Full Circle" What happened after the film was released? ...

TheDuke 21.05.2003 (22.05.2003) · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

...the anticipation I felt when Signs was first released. Signs features Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix and Rory Culkin (younger brother of Macauley, and don't pretend you can't remember Home Alone!) as the most notable cast members, and is about the story of the Hess family when earth is invaded by aliens. M. Night Shyamalan refrains from making this film into a replica of previous alien movies, and instead gives the whole piece a deeper meaning. Gibson ...
...sale for around £8. Signs features: Mel Gibson .... Rev. Graham Hess Joaquin Phoenix .... Merrill Hess Rory Culkin .... Morgan Hess Abigail Breslin .... Bo Hess Cherry Jones .... Officer Paski M. Night Shyamalan .... Ray Reddy Patricia Kalember .... Colleen Hess Ted Sutton .... SFC Cunningham Merritt Wever .... Tracey Abernathy, the Pharmacist ...

Guru-On-A-Mountain 23.09.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

I am more a fan of romantic comedies so when I lost the coin toss and was dragged to the cinema to see'SIGNS' I was not expecting to be impressed.I can tell you I was wrong, as 'SIGNS' turned out to be the best film I have seen this year. The film was written,produced and directed by M.Night Shayamalan whos first film was the Oscar winning 'SIXTH SENSE',and though his anticipated second offering 'UNBREAKABLE' failed to impress ,this latest film ...
...GIBSON (Braveheart,Lethal weapon) JOAQUIN PHEONIX (Gladiator) RORY CULKIN (You can count on me) And introducing ABIGAIL BESLIN The film centres around Graham Hess (Gibson),an ex vicar, who is experiencing a chrisis of faith after losing his wife in a senseless accident.He is left to bring up his two children, with the help of his brother Merrill.(Phoenix). As if life wasn't hard enough, he discovers a huge crop circle in his corn field.At first ...

MandyMinx 19.09.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

...and media advertising, the film Signs is not just about about crop circles. It is a film about faith, or primarily about the central character’s loss of faith. Much of the press and reviews I’ve seen about this film has got on the crop circles bandwagon. Aliens and spaceships – it’s a tried and tested format and people go flooding to the cinema to see films of this kind – but this film, although it does contain these ...
...heard a few things about Signs – the crop circle film starring Mel Gibson, so as it was about to start and it finished just in time for us to get to the restaurant, we paid our £20 (YES £20!!!) and took our seats in the cinema. Signs is a Touchstone Picture directed by M. Night Shyaman. Starring Mel Gibson as Father Graham Hess Joaquin Pheonix as his brother Merrill Rory Cukin as his son Morgan Abigail Breslin as the adorable daughter Bo ...

mrsandrewsjk 20.10.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)

M. Night Shyamalan is probably best remembered for his intriguing debut "The Sixth Sense". His latest work, "Signs", touches on an equally bewildering phenomenon: crop circles. Geometrically perfect carvings appear on crop fields for inexplicable reasons, and Man has been forced to accept forces beyond the Omnipotent Being they used to believe in. "Signs" is one story that seeks to examine this compelling influence of crop circles. I understand ...
...so I'll attempt to demystify that whilst not attempting not to spoil the story. The story winds around the life of Graham Hess (Mel Gibson), a farmer and a former pastor, and his family (consisting of his brother and his two children). Dogs started to behave weirdly one day and his entire household stand bewildered by the presence of baffling crop circles carved into his field. The work seemed too perfect to be man-made, and his family started to ...

Axis 15.08.2002 (17.08.2002) · Read full review
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Review of Signs (DVD)