From M. Night Shyamalan, the writer / director of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, comes the story of the Hess family in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who wake up one morning to find a 500-foot crop circle in their backyard.
Mel Gibson stars as Graham Hess, a former minister who lost his faith when his wife Colleen (Patricia Kalember) was killed in a tragic accident. It is because of his lost faith that the film is based in and around the farm Graham owns, as the townspeople still see him as a minister and heckle him to hear their confessions. Graham raises his two young children Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abigail Breslin) with the help of his younger brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), a has-been minor league baseball player. Graham's struggle with God and the world is thrown into turmoil when mysterious crop circles start to appear in his cornfields. Convinced it is Lionel Pritchard and the Wolfington brothers playing a prank, Graham reports it to the police. The children on the other hand are 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 a monster outside my window, can I have a drink of water?” When Graham takes Bo back to bed he sees something on the barn roof. Thinking Lionel Pritchard and the Wolfington brother are back, he wakes Merrill and they both race outside in the hope of scaring them away. Instead they see only a shadow. Trying to keep a level head and steer his family away from all the media hype, Graham takes Merrill, Bo and Morgan into town to take their mind off the strange goings on at the farm. It is at this point that we start to get flashbacks and are given an idea of what happened on the tragic night when Graham’s wife Colleen was killed. As they are eating, they spot Ray Reddy (M. Night Shyamalan). Fleeting glances are exchanged as we find out that this was the man who accidentally fell asleep at the wheel of his truck and killed Colleen. On returning from their outing Bo’s old baby monitor, which Morgan has been using as a walkie-talkie, starts picking up noises. Graham insists everyone is get too obsessed but his belief that something may be about to happen is wavering.
Over the next few days things start to take a more eerie turn. More and more reports of the crop circles come in from all over the world and it is speculated that the aliens 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 dog barking wildly in the yard gives a last sickening yelp, they prepare themselves for the invasion.
Picture & Sound
Most of the film is shot at night or in the darkness of the house. I daresay on a cinema this did not look too bad but it does not transfer well to a smaller screen at home. The shadows are not well defined so you do have to peer at the screen in some scenes. I did expect Signs to be one of these films that you have to frequently turn the sound up in parts, just to be deafened when the next scene suddenly booms onto your screen, but I was pleasantly surprised. Although there are scenes that require your full attention, and hearing, the sound is crisp and clear.
Extras
The Making of Signs Deleted Scenes Storyboard (Multi-angle Feature) Night’s First Alien Movie
The Making of Signs
Making of Signs is a multi-part documentary that covers all aspects of making the film and gives an insight into the filmmaker. M. Night Shyamalan takes us through most of the film. He is an informative speaker and I think this is a good documentary that viewers will find enjoyable and interesting.
Deleted Scenes
Here we are shown five deleted scenes that were not seen in cinemas. They include Graham and Merrill, The Flashbacks: Scene No.1 and Scene No.2, The Dead Bird, Alien in the Attic and The Third Story. You can see why a few of them were deleted but I think others would have added a great touch to this film.
Storyboards: Multi-Angle feature
This has two sequences: Graham, The Knife and the Pantry and Graham and Merrill Chase the Unknown Trespasser. You can watch each scene in various ways. On the visual side of things you can see film’s original storyboards or the final version. On the audio side, you can listen to the isolated score, the sound effects or the final mix.
M. Night’s First Alien Movie
M. Night Shyamalan made is first creature movie when he was just a “little kid”. Any fans out there should find this a real treat as it includes an excerpt from M. Night Shyamalan’s short film Pictures.
Final Thoughts
After the initial introduction, Signs is the kind of film that will have you sitting on the edge of the sofa, as well as hiding behind it. This definitely not a movie to be watch at home on your own in the dark as I did. I found it an enjoyable film with a captivating cast who bring across the story well, which, for me made all the difference from the usual cheesy alien films. Signs may not be to everyone’s liking and it does leave some questions unanswered – Do miracles exist, or is it just luck? I would definitely recommend Signs for those interested in this genre, and for those who might enjoy the suspense.
About this DVD
M. Night Shyamalan's Signs DVD £9.99 at MVC although you may find it at a variety of prices - Woolworths £15.99, HMV £9.99 and WHSmith £8.99. Signs is available at most of the major DVD/Video/Music outlets but could be a little more limited stock at this time of year with sales etc.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Willow Smith, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Charlie Tahan, Salli Richardson, Alice Braga
Director-writer M Night Shyamalan brings his distinctive, oblique approach to aliens ... more
inSignsafter tackling ghosts (The Sixth Sense) and superheroes (Unbreakable). With Mel Gibson replacing Bruce Willis as the traditional Shyamalan hero--a family man tr...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Director-writer M Night Shyamalan brings his distinctive, oblique approach to aliens ... more
inSignsafter tackling ghosts (The Sixth Sense) and superheroes (Unbreakable). With Mel Gibson replacing Bruce Willis as the traditional Shyamalan hero--a family man tr...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 6 to 10 days...
From M. Night Shyamalan, the writer/director of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, comes the ... more
story of the Hess family in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who wake up one morning to find a 500-foot crop circle in their backyard. Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) and hi...
From M. Night Shyamalan the gifted writer/director of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable ... more
comes the story of the Hess family in Bucks County Pennsylvania who wake up one morning to find a 500 foot crop circle in their backyard. Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) a...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Makes you think...and keep on thinking for ages afterwards, it has Mr Gibson in it, superb directing Disadvantages: A bit scary to be rated 12 - and all that thinking made my brain hurt
Collingwood21 12.10.2002 (12.10.2002)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Signs (DVD)
![Signs [DTS] [DVD] [2002]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/76771759.jpg "Signs [DTS] [DVD] [2002]")
very helpful by (95%):
helpful by (5%):
