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kurzbeschreibung |

131 Todesopfer fordert ein verheerendes Zugunglück vor den Toren von Philadelphia. Nur David Dunne (Bruce Willis) überlebt - ohne eine einzige Schramme. Geplagt von Eheproblemen sucht der einfache Mann nach einer Erklärung, nach einer Bedeutung des Wunders. Doch erst als Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), ein Mann mit Knochen aus Glas, in sein Leben tritt, bahnt sich eine unglaubliche Erklärung für Davids Unzerbrechlichkeit an... (moviedata)


meine meinung |

Bevor ich dieses Review geschrieben habe, las ich einige andere Kritiken zu "Unbreakable". Jeder einzelne Kritiker hatte an diesem Film etwas auszusetzen. Im nachhinein gesehen war schon fast jede Kritik vernichtend. Der Film wäre zu langweilig konnte man sehr oft lesen. Die Story nichts neues, an den Haaren herbei gezogen. Der Schluss nicht überraschend genug, sondern eher enttäuschend. Zu lange Dialoge, die nichts aussagen. Und in jedem Review wurde "Unbreakable" mit Shyamalan's ersten Film "The sixth sense" verglichen. Während alle anderen Meinungen noch auf den persönlichen Geschmack zurückzuführen sind und vielleicht teilweise sogar ihre Berechtigung haben (auch wenn ich dies nicht so sehe) so kann ich den Vergleich mit "Sixth Sense" nicht verstehen! Bitte! Was soll denn das eigentlich? Nur weil es sich um den selben Regisseur und Hauptdarsteller handelt, muß ich diesen Film doch nicht mit einem anderen Werk messen! Man vergleicht doch auch nicht "Titanic" mit "Terminator" nur weil James Cameron bei beiden Regie führte. Ganz ehrlich gesagt bin ich über all diese Kritiken ziemlich verärgert. Denn "Unbreakable" ist ein besonderer Film. Und wenn wir schon einen Vergleich anstellen müssen, dann bin ich der Meinung, dieser Film ist sogar um einiges besser als "The sixth Sense".

Leider gehört "Unbreakable" zu einem der Filme, über die es besonders schwer ist, seine Meinung darzulegen, ohne dabei wichtige Details preiszugeben. So darf man lediglich erfahren, daß es um einen ganz normalen Familienvater geht, der ein Bahnunglück ohne Kratzer überstanden hat, während über hundert andere Fahrgäste ums Leben gekommen sind. Das Unglück selbst wird nicht gezeigt, was eine vollkommen korrekte Entscheidung war. Denn "Unbreakable" braucht keine aufgeblähten Actionszenen, gespickt mit Special Effects, nein, er kommt wunderbar ohne diese aus.
Ich kann mir durchaus vorstellen, daß es sehr viele Kinobesucher gibt, die auf solche Szene warten! Für die ein Film ohne großartige Explosionen und Materialschlachten sofort als mies eingestuft wird. Kein Wunder, für diese Art von Filmliebhabern ist "Unbreakable" natürlich das falsche Werk. Und genau diese Zuschauer werden es wohl sein, die diesen Film als langweilig bezeichnen. "Da passiert ja überhaupt nichts!" wäre wohl ein passendes Urteil.

Nach dem Unglück erzählt uns Shyamalan die Geschichte des Überlebenden. "Sind sie bereit für die Wahrheit?" konnte man immer wieder auf Plakaten lesen. Und genau zu dieser Wahrheit führt uns der Regisseur mit kleinen Schritten. Stück für Stück kommen wir der Auflösung der Geschichte näher - und dies geschieht äußerst geschickt und mit einer fast erschreckenden Ruhe. Und was andere als langweilig bezeichnen, war für mich fantastisch. Denn wie schon erwähnt, vollkommen ohne großartige Effekte, schafft es Shyamalan eine unglaubliche Atmosphäre, ja geradezu einen Sog aufzubauen, aus dem man sich nicht mehr entziehen kann. Unsere Hauptperson Dunne (Willis) trifft auf Elijah Price, den Besitzer einer edlen "Comic Galerie". Durch diese undurchschaubare Person, gespielt von Samuel L. Jackson, erfährt Dunne stückchenweise Dinge aus seinem Leben, über die er selbst niemals nachgedacht hätte.
Von Price selbst erfahren wir in Rückblenden, daß er an einer schwerwiegenden Knochenkrankheit (er hat Knochen, so zerbrechlich, als wären sie aus Glas) leidet, bei der schon der kleinste Sturz fatale Folgen haben kann. Wenn wir Price agieren sehen, wollen wir ihm oftmals "Vorsicht!!!!" zurufen. Auch dies erzeugt eine Art von Spannung, von der man nur sehr schwer losgelassen wird. Ohne ein Spielverderber zu sein, sei noch zu erwähnen, das Comics, deren Helden und Bösewichter, eine entscheidende Rolle in "Unbreakble" spielen. Mehr möchte ich aber wirklich nicht verraten! Man muß den Film erleben und sollte sich selbst überraschen lassen.


Die Schauspieler leisten durchwegs hervorragende Arbeit. So hat mich hier sogar Bruce Willis mehr als überzeugen können. Er hat sich in letzter Zeit für so viel Schwachsinn verkauft, daß er mich mit "Unbreakable" wieder davon überzeugen konnte, doch ein guter Schauspieler zu sein. Daß auch Samuel L. Jackson hier nicht enttäuscht, war mir von vorne herein klar. Er ist und bleibt ein sehr guter Darsteller.

Sollte auch die Handlung für den ein oder anderen nicht die Erfüllung sein, spätestens bei dem Style des Films müßten wahrlich Jubelrufe erklingen. (Wobei es sicherlich auch hier Zuschauer gibt, die auf solch "technische" Dinge keinen Wert legen, oder diese nicht einmal wahr nehmen.) Und von diesen Jubelrufen habe ich in den Kritiken so gut wie nichts lesen können. Unbegreiflich! Ist dies nicht ein Beispiel dafür, dass man einen Film nicht hätte besser fotografieren können? Die Kameraarbeit von Eduardo Serra gehört zum Besten was ich seit langem gesehen habe. Denn was hier gezeigt wird, ist einfach überragend! Jede, aber auch wirklich jede Einstellung des Films ist perfekt ausgewählt. Jede Kamerafahrt ist originell und strotzt nur so von visueller Kraft und vor Einfallsreichtum. Dieser Mann ist ein Genie! Und ich bin fürchterlich enttäuscht, daß Serra nicht für den Oscar nominiert wurde!
Auch die Musik von James Newton Howard passt sehr gut zur Gesamtstimmung des Films.

Wie soll ich dieses Review beenden? Allen zu raten sich diesen Film nicht entgehen zu lassen, obwohl er von anderen Kritikern wahrlich in der Luft zerissen wurde? Nein, denn einige Einwände dieser Kritiker sind schon berechtigt, und so hat "Unbreakable" bestimmt Schwächen, die man nicht abstreiten kann. Doch diese Schwächen können ausschließlich im Plot vorhanden sein. Und - in diesem Fall sie sind mir vollkommen egal.
Mir war dieser Film keine einzige Sekunde zu langweilig. Nein, er hätte nie enden dürfen! Und selbst wenn es keinerlei Dialoge gegeben hätte, so wäre ich troztdem mehr als fasziniert von der genialen Optik dieses Films, der es geschafft hat, mich regelrecht vor dem Bildschirm zu fesseln. Leider sind Filme Geschmacksache, und wie ich zu Anfangs schon versucht habe zu erklären, nicht jeder Film trifft auch jedermanns Filmgeschmack. Somit kann ich nur raten, sich "Unbreakable" anzusehen um sich seine eigene Meinung darüber zu bilden.


dvd | code 1

Die Bildqualität der US-DVD ist im Vergleich zur deutschen Leihversion um einiges besser. Ich konnte soweit nichts negatives erkennen.
"Unbreakable" ist ein ruhiger Film. Somit kann man keine großen Effektausbrüche erwarten. Allerdings gibt es eine Menge Nebengeräusche (wie z. B. Regen) die sehr gut zur Atmosphäre beitragen. Dialoge sind optimal verständlich und auch die Musik von James Newton Howard "erschallt" wunderbar aus den Lautsprechern.

Das Zusatzmaterial ist zwar nicht gerade üppig, jedoch sehr interessant. Schon der Making Of Bericht unterscheidet sich zu manch anderen als äußerst sehenswert.
Zu finden sind ca. 20 Minuten "Deleted Scenes". Diese werden vorher vom Regisseur kommentiert. So konnte ich zwar verstehen, warum einige Szenen der Schere zum Opfer fielen, war aber andererseits recht enttäuscht, daß diese nicht verwendet wurden. Egal, hier kann man sie sehen. Äußerst lobenswert ist, daß all diese Szenen im original Bildformat, anamorph und mit 5.1 Ton vorhanden sind.
Zu finden ist außerdem ein Bericht mit dem Titel "Comic Books And Superheroes" und ein Multi Angle Feature der "Train Station Sequence".
Nur schade, daß diese DVD keinen Audiokommentar des Regisseurs bekommen hat. Hier hätte man bestimmt noch einige interessante Hintergrundinfos hören können.

Ich habe mich für die US-DVD entschieden, schon alleine der Verpackung wegen. So finden wir die zwei Scheiben in einer wunderbar gestalteten Karton-Verpackung im Schuber. Außerdem wurden zwei Zeichnungen des Zeichners Alex Ross beigelegt.






film talk | film analysis by bernd and harold.


WARNING! Do not read this film talk if you haven't seen the film!!!


BERND |

Before I watched this movie, the only thing I known was that "Unbreakable" is the second film by Director M. Night Shyamalan. I liked his first film "The sixth sense" very much, so I wanted to see his new work. After watching this movie, I read a lot of reviews. Most of the critics dislike "Unbreakable". But some others love it. And I think "Unbreakable" is some kind of movie you could love or hate... There is nothing between. Some of my friends watched the movie too. And they have the same thoughts. Some love it, some say its bad. Nobody mentioned that its just ok... What do you think?

HAROLD |

To be honest with you I have read that many people say that this film is weak, that the story is mediocre. All over the net and in some magazines I read they give it very low points when it comes to rate it. Now that I see the film I understand why. There is not a linear path, the director tries to go back and forth in story as he barely focuses inmaking a difference if either this is a comic epic, or simply a neorealist piece of human life. I found myself not knowing what to look for in the movie for the first 30 minutes of playing.

This film is not your casual Classical Hollywood Cinema type of thing, meaning that the main character doesn't know what his goals are in the movie. It is all twisted around; In many movies we see we find that the character has to resolve something, and he knows how to. In this case Bruce Willis has self-esteem problem caused by external factors that may include the constant pressure his has on him to prove himself as strong in front of people, and also caused by the difficulties he is living in his marriage. This is one of the few times that Bruce Willis is seen playing this type of character, so I understand why many people were disappointed.

I loved the whole concept of the movie as a whole: I love intensity, and tension in a film which is extremely enhanced by the silence, and by the handheld shots that increase extraordinarily the importance of the crucial scenes. Ex. When Samuel L. Jackson was following the guy in the escalators, that whole scene was absolutely awesome. The close-ups are being done with a handheld camera. The whole cutting scene and then the tilted and distorted shots of him on the floor…Talk about capturing a moment buddy! On the other hand, I believe that whoever chose the score lost the grip of what had been tried to portray. I mean, why a postmodern track in the scene of the train station? Silence was working fine with me man!...why that absolutely ridiculous contrast?

Like you said, there are people who loved this movie to death, like the people I watched it with, and some others who just regret that they bought the DVD and advised me not to waste my time seeing this film. I have a thing with saying if I like movies or not, nonetheless, this specific film could had been worked out in many ways and could had become a film whose sequel could had been expected from the audiences. What exactly did you like about the film? Because there are so many things that attracted me for good they were, and others that I was amazed that they did not fix that I simply don't know how to start.

BERND |

I must confess - I like this film very much! But why? Because of the story?
Hmm - I don't think so! The story is nothing really special. I don't say its bad (some critics say that!). No - I like the idea. If we think about the plot - "Unbreakable" is some kind of "Comic Movie". But not like "Batman" or "X-Men". Sure it is a "fight" between good and evil, but we don't know this, before seeing the end.

I love this film, because of his great atmosphere, style and cinematography.
If we think about the story - there is nothing special happening! The whole movie is silent and slow. Do you know what I mean? This is a "comic movie", but it has no special effects. It begins with the train crash. We don't see this crash. And I think that was good. "Unbreakable" doesn't need big "BOOOOMS" and special effects. The whole thing is working without effects. Nevertheless the film isn't boring! (Some of my friends say that). No - the whole film has such great suspense!

Ok - there are some scenes in the film that are not that good. For example I dislike the "weight lifting" scene. Or think about this: Dunne (Willis) doesn't remember if he was ever ill in his life. Another person has to write him a note before he thinks about this... There are some other small things that are not so good, but I don't care in this case. Sure you could say - Hey you dislike "The Cell" because the story was bad and in this case you don't care... Maybe you are right. But it IS that way in this case... I don't realize this - maybe because I was so much fascinated about the cinematography!!!

I'm not a expert in shooting a film, but I LOVE the cinematography for "Unbreakable". This is such great work by Eduardo Serra! Wow!!!!! I love every single picture. There a so much fantastic angles, camera positions and moves...
Remember the talk in the train at the beginning. The camera moves from one person to another... We see the whole talk without one cut. That's nice. By the way there are a lot of scenes like this. I like that!

Most of the critics compare "Unbreakable" with "Sixth Sense" and say his first film was much better! I think thats wrong! This is two different kinds of movies! Why they are comparing the two movies? Why they are both from the same director? But that's bullshit! You don't compare "Titanic" with "Terminator" just because Cameron is the director of these movies...

What do you think? Is it necessary to compare "Unbreakable" every time with "The sixth sense"? Do you like the story? And what do you think about the cinematography?


HAROLD |

I believe that the director tried to emulate his success on '6th sense' with this movie while making the narratives fairly similar. Both of them present Willis as a weak and troubled character, (who is at the verge of a divorce) that waits for things to happen...and we only know at the end that he is just another ghost. Same thing on 'Unbreakable' some movie about super heroes, but...we only find out at the end. I love his element of surprise that made of '6th sense' a hit...but man why trick us like that again? He blended two genres in this film...so are we seeing a drama about comics? How to call that?

It has been said that the movie drags on and on. Honestly, after you are able to make the connection between Willis and Jackson, and that they are extreme opposites you know that something is going down...you just have to wait. The whole film is a non-stopping crescendo of possibilities that may or may not happen depending on how much Willis is willing to make things happen. And since he is a really undecided guy who has to be dragged by his kid, and his wife then things turn out really slow. I mean, his wife has to actually tell him 'I want to go out on a date with you, let's start over.' Let me ask you...If you get out a train accident for god's sake the first thing you should do is go home and ask that woman to remarry you man! Please! how much of a piece of junk can a guy get to be? (Women, don't answer jajjajajajajajaj)

As you say, there are some rough spots in the story, like the fact of him remembering if he has ever gotten sick. But hey, do you remember when you were last sick? I know I have been sick, but the last time? I got to think hard. These little details are all part of the mind game that 'Mr. Glass' is trying to put on the table so he can make Willis aware of his 'super powers'...(I got to to use the right terms man, these are super heroes we are talking about...I was amazed he didn't fly or something) I was really puzzled from time to time of why Jackson seemed so strange of a person...the crazy outfits, the whole purple color on his clothes, his strange ways of talking. As a friend of mine said to me the other day, "I wish they had told me this was a movie about comics; I would had understood why this man seemed so ill." As I mentioned earlier, it all builds up, every single detail plays a role in the final event of knowing what the story is about...it all makes sense at the end and this is why I wonder if the screenwriter was under the influence of some illegal substances; That kind of genius material doesn't come naturally.

Edurardo Serra just blew me away in cinematic terms...this film presents influences of dogmatic stylistics (the same style used in 'The Blair witch project) which are criticized by the pros as they think that they are rather odd at the times of making a serious film. Those tilted handheld shots had the purpose to interact with the regular shots and the music to create that sense of tension the director always pushed to embody. Then again, the music was not all that great...at least on my personal opinion. I still think a custom made score would had worked better.

So...I guess that you don't have a clue that if either I liked this film or not...right? I know you liked it Bernd, and to be honest there were many things I did love about it too. I am really tired of the same kind of movies all the time and I praise people who keep experimenting like this fellow director in terms of narrative. There will be many exciting things in the future of cinema if some others join this twisted style of making good guys win. This is sort of a new trend that people are failing to understand, something that is making films like this being stereotyped of mediocre, slow and confusing. Little by little that linear style that Hollywood has made a rule with a good guy male-problem-solver kind of guy is reaching an end. Bad buys are likely to be portrayed deeper nowadays, and the goals to be achieved in the stories are getting really confusing for good guys to achieve. I wish this guy would had defined the film either as a drama or as a film about comics on the first place, that is my only regret...now I really don't know if either shelve it under my Batman movies or under my stack of Dramas. :)

BERND |

As I said before: PLEASE DON'T READ THIS, IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM!

All right, maybe there are some similar things between "Unbreakable" and "The sixth sense". But a lot of people criticize the ending. They say, we have to wait the whole (boring) movie just to know, that Willis is a super hero and Jackson is the bad guy. Has "The sixth Sense" a better ending? They tell us, Willis is a ghost. Was that more surprising than the ending of "Unbreakable". I don't think so!

"Unbreakable" is a very very SLOW movie. If we think about it exactly, sure, there is not much happening. There are a lot of dialogs... And there are NOT much action sequences.
Ok, let's try to imagine "Unbreakable" is a Comic Movie. "Batman", "Superman", "X-Men", they all are comic movies. But they are only about the action. A lot of fight scenes, the heroes can fly or make some other unbelievable tricks. In this kind of films, its not about the characters, its only about big explosions and special effects. And I think there are a lot of viewers out there, missing this action sequences. And - maybe this kind of persons say that "Unbreakable" is boring...

I like your description "Comic Drama". That's good! In the beginning we could read about "comics", but we don't think about it. There are comics in the whole movie. The young Jackson becomes a comic book from his mother, then he has a own "Comic Gallery". But we don't imagine this in the beginning, just at the end.

I think you are right. "Unbreakable" is a kind of drama. All characters are having problems. Willis, his wife - they are nearly divorced. His son wants to be like his father, he thinks his dad is something special, and he's not. And Jackson has a rare genetic disorder, which makes his bones especially fragile. And sure, it is a comic film. It's a film about good and evil. We see this with the "Train station sequence". Willis can see, what's with bad people happening, what thy have done forbidden. That's all. And I think that's enough. So he follows this guy to the house, in which he has a whole family as hostages. And Willis saves them. And this isn't a big action sequence too. Everybody could save those people. So Willis is not a super hero like "Superman" who can fly. And I liked that. He only has these visions, and he is stronger than others. Nothing more.

You say, you dislike the music in the "Train Station" Sequence. I can't agree. It's the first time, something big is happening. Come on - isn't the family rescuing the highlight of the movie. Willis learns that he hast special skills - this is a kind of CHANGE. And so the music is different... I loved this whole sequence, and I haven't something about the music..

You know, I loved this movie really much!! Sure there some things in it, I dislike. You ask me, if I can remember when I was ill the last time. YES - I can. But this its not the point when it was! I dislike that he can't remember if he was EVER ill. That's unrealistic! And I dislike the ending a little bit. Why has Jackson to sabotage all this accidents? There are so many accidents every day - he only has to wait... And by the way, he has such an bad disorder. Isn't he more save at home?

"Unbreakable" is one of stylish movies I ever saw. I LOVED the cinematography! We discuss about the Oscars all the time! Why was Eduardo Serra not nominated for the Oscar this year! For me that's unbelievable!!!

As you say - "Unbreakable" is a "Comic Drama". Shelve it between your "Batman" movies and your dramas.

What do you think? Is there something left to say? If not - then please tell me your final ratings: Film: ?, Cinematography: ?, Music: ?, Actors: ?

HAROLD |

Ratings you are talking about? now that can be tricky...I really don't feel like giving A's or Stars to films like this where the audiences are so broken far apart. As you said there are not that many people who said, I liked but...most people say they liked it, or they did not. There's not in between and that's why rating this film can be troublesome... (Anyway folks, you can always post in the forum for this review) I would give a 9/10 to this narrative (the film) I love being surprising, I loved the whole sense of growing up into something larger at every sencond that this film hooked me into.

Cinematography was used at its best with this exotic blend of conventional shots and Dogma stylistics of handheld moving cameras. It all clicked right, in fact, I wonder if it was all planned, or if they just came up with it on the spot. Hand a 10/10 to that rank of this movie. Music? I don't even want to talk about it, you say the music on the train scene was good, I really can't agree without knowing why. It's like it would not make sense to me how you can drag pop music into a drama this deep. Then again I believe that a custom made score would had worked better with a main theme for the movie and some variations for different crucial scenes.

The actors were great man...Willis is not an action hero any longer. I think the audiences should get used to him doing this kind of films. Samuel L. Jackson's performance was really confusing while seeing the film, but my opinion changed when I discovered what the movie was about. He was awesome; it does remind me of The Joker in Batman; ill, sick, but most of all, fragile.

Note that I have ranked the film in categories. But now my opinion of the film as a whole is that, don't go see it if you don't feel like watching something new in terms of narrative. If you think that movies should stay being done in the same way they have for more than a century, and are not able to have an open mind about new approaches to narrative then this film is not for you. I have noticed many people (my friends included, I mean, guys with degrees in film studies) reject things they do not understand without giving a reasonable explanation of why they stayed watching the damn movie other than saying that they HAD to see the ending. Don't let that happen to you, this film is full of details that could keep you attached to the seat as they will get you hooked...details that if they had been enhanced I could had expected Unbreakable II.

Although that I have the belief that this movie could had been worked out even further, I do respect this effort from the screenwriter/Director...and keep wondering where did he get such twisted idea. This film as a whole can be a 9/10 or a 1/10 depending how well you understood what wanted to be portrayed in the film in such an unconventional way. YOU READERS BE THE ONES TO JUDGE.

BERND |

I fully agree with you - in the case of "Unbreakable" it is hard to make realistic ratings. But anyway I rate the movie with a "A", because I liked and enjoyed it very much.

You are right - some will rate the movie with "A" some others with "F"...


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