Real life superheroes walk among us in M. Night Shyamalan's UNBREAKABLE
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UNBREAKABLE

Once again, the DVD proves the perfect tool with which a director can defend his/her rather lackluster film. When a movie hits theaters, the filmmaker has no choice but to succumb to audience and media response after all, in the dog-eat-dog world of Hollywood, box office dollars rule. However, the relatively new and rapidly evolving technology known as DVD has provided directors and producers alike with a "virtual" soapbox with which to defend their films. By packing discs with commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, etc. filmmakers are given a second shot at convincing audiences that, "Hey, my movie's not half bad."

I must admit, after churning through all the bells and whistles found on the Buena Vista Home Entertainment, two-disc, "Vista Series" release of UNBREAKABLE, I found myself repeating the above-mentioned mantra... albeit, for just about five minutes.

UNBREAKABLE is writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan's follow-up to his Oscar nominated THE SIXTH SENSE. The film tells the story of David Dunn (Bruce Willis), the sole survivor of a devastating train wreck. While searching for the answer to his rather philosophical question of "why me?," Dunn comes in contact with Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), a comic book art dealer suffering from a debilitating disease that makes every bone in his body as brittle as glass. The man poses to Dunn a rather bizarre explanation as to why he escaped the train wreck unscathed: modern day superheroes walk among us and David just might be one of these "gods among men."

What follows is perhaps the best onscreen adaptation of a Frank Miller/Alan Moore-styled comic book to date. Little by little, Dunn comes to the realization that he is indeed a superhero. However, the secret surrounding his mysterious "mentor" Price is even more revealing.

What can be defined as a classic Shyamalan film, UNBREAKABLE is filled with the unique camera angles, deliberate pacing, and obligatory twist ending audiences have come to expect from the young filmmaker. However, these same elements are what lead to the film's eventual downfall.

The director's unique approach to cinematography is clearly evident in the feature. The use of odd camera placement (i.e. the camera creeping around a corner and onto a taking head sequence in progress, an overhead shot as the scene plays out, a shot through a window and onto the action) provides a birds eye perspective, which in turn generates the feeling that we, as an audience, are spying in on the action. Unfortunately, distinctive camera techniques are not enough to carry a film.

The intentional use of a slow and gradual buildup in the story worked perfectly with Shyamalan's previous film THE SIXTH SENSE. However, in this go-around it caused the film to drag, proving yet again that filmmakers cannot/should not rely on copying past successes. While it can be (and is, as you'll see below) argued that the film's pacing closely follows that of an "origin issue" comic book (i.e. hero discovers power, hero uses power to fight crime, hero comes face-to-face with supervillain), it merely proves, as many films that have come before it, that this sort of pacing works perfect for a printed comic. However, when adapting for the big screen certain liberties must be taken to fit a movie's traditional structure.

Perhaps the most disappointing element of UNBREAKABLE, however, is what has become the filmmaker's rather popular calling card: his use of surprise endings. With the entire film hinging on Dunn's realization and acceptance of the fact that he is indeed a superhero, the film's conclusion, which uncovers Price's real reason for mentoring Dunn, brings the movie to a screeching halt. Two captions flashed onscreen reveal what would have better been served as a visual, albeit completely different, ending. After an intriguing buildup, the frustration generated by the film's disappointing ending serves to ruin the entire movie going experience.

Enter the "Vista Series" DVD collection. Toted as a means for presenting top quality films with premium picture and sound enhancements, as well as in-depth supplemental bonus programming, UNBREAKABLE is given the perfect forum with which to woo back audiences disappointed with the film's initial run. While the DVD is missing an audio commentary track from the film's director and producers, it does contain a 15-minute "Behind The Scenes" featurette starring Shyamalan, Willis, Jackson, producers Barry Mendel and Sam Mercer, Director of Photography Eduardo Serra, Sound Designer Steve Arnold, Editor Dylan Tichenor, Costume Designer Joanna Johnston and Composer James Newton Howard. Broken into eight sections, the mini-documentary reconstructs the filmmaking process from each participant's point of expertise in the order of their involvement, focusing on such elements as the script, the theme, shot structure, sound and visual design, etc. This is where the concept that UNBREAKABLE is a near perfect act-for-act adaptation of an issue #1 comic is first pounded into the audience's head.

If that's not convincing enough, hop on over to the second made-for-DVD featurette titled COMIC BOOKS AND SUPERHEROES. The 20-minute documentary follows the development of superheroes in comics from their early inception (with Wil Eisner's THE SPIRIT) up until the grim and gritty 1980s manifestation that UNBREAKABLE is based on. Well known creators such as Eisner, Scott McCloud, Alex Ross, Trina Robbins, Denny O'Neil, Miller, Michael Chabon and Dave Gibbons put forth their opinions as to how the superhero archetype has evolved over time into its current manifestation of characters that are more human than super.

The last method employed by Shyamalan to successfully plead his case to a jury made up of disappointed movie goers can be found in the "Deleted Scenes" section. Introducing each scene himself and explaining why it didn't make the final cut, the director refers to the film's unique tone/pacing time and again, once more comparing it closely to that of your average comic book. With the film already a bit on the long side, one can only imagine how seven count 'em seven deleted scenes would have ultimately affected the film's pacing. Perhaps the most memorable of these is the scene where Dunn consults a priest with his philosophical "why me?" question, only to be consoled with the non-philosophical, "It's just dumb luck" answer.

The "Train Station: Multi-Angle Feature," which allows viewers to switch back and forth between the final version of the shot and an animated storyboard of how it was originally intended (I couldn't see a difference between the two), an excerpt from an early Shyamalan home movie that shows him as a grade schooler directing/acting in his first fight sequence, and signed illustrations by famed comic book artist Alex Ross round out the DVD's offerings.

Technical specifications include Dolby 5.1 Digital Surround Sound, DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound, widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio and French and Spanish Language Tracks and Spanish subtitles.

Whether Shyamalan's attempt at convincing audiences of UNBREAKABLE's integrity works will be up to the individual viewer. In my particular instance as a true comic book fan, I was taken in by his passionate pleas and by the DVD's comic-concentric offerings... for about five to 10 minutes. The discs will hold a special place in my collection as what a DVD can and should provide in terms of extras given time and money. However, after reviewing the two-disc set, my overall opinion of the film has not changed, proving once again that bells and whistles a good story does not make.