DVD: Buy Signs (Vista Series) Online

Average Rating:

What makes Signs so great isn't the cgi (which Night doesn't like to use). It's the human drama, the story of this family, their hurt, and how they mend. And it is a story of faith--having it and losing it. It doesn't matter so much what is going on outside of the farmhouse, whether it is world war 3, an alien invasion, or just a hard winter. The true story is how these four family members interact with each other. First their is Mel Gibson, who plays an ex-reverend who lost his faith when his wife died. Gibson puts forth one of the strongest performances I've seen him give. It may be his finest performance. Joaquim Phoenix definitely gives the best performance of his career, as Gibson's younger brother. He's both strong and vulnerable. Rory Caulkin plays Gibson's son, and this may be Night's true talent, finding child actors and bringing such strong performances from them. But it is Abigail Breslin, who plays Gibson's daughter, who steals the show. She's an adorable child, who gives her lines with such a deadpan grace and humor. You can bet the best scenes, and some of the best lines, are hers. Rounding out the cast is M. Night Shyamalan (who gives a strong performance) and Cherry Jones as Officer Paski. What makes the movie so great is the mood Night evokes. The entire movie feels tragic, sad--it feels like the entire movie has been tinted blue. But through the movie's sorrow, Night still brings humor and hope. It's an emotionally charged movie. Combine that with James Newton Howard's amazing score (based on a three note motiff, evocative of Psycho) that never overpowers the movie, but enhances it. And the movies sound effects and dialogue mix perfectly with the music. The two never fight each other, but work together to give the viewer one of the best movie going experiences.

The Vista Series dvd is a great value. Shyamalan's dvds always contain the bare minimum, but you never feel cheated. In addition to a great movie, the Signs dvd gives you a few deleted scenes and another of Night's movies he made as a kid. This one, his first 'creature' movie. There's no commentary, but there is a six part making of featurette (here's the real value of the dvd). I've seen a lot of making of and behind the scenes documentaries and featurettes, but none of this quality. You don't need a commentary track with these featurettes. Part one covers the writing of the screenplay, two covers the building of the sets (including the corn), three is the longest (22 minutes) and is the 'making of' documentary, four covers the effects (which really only is the creature), five is last voices and deals with scoring the movie, and the final featurette, "Full Circle", Night covers the business aspects of filmmaking--the marketing.

Signs borrows heavily from two genre-defining horror films: Night of the Living Dead and the Exorcist. It borrows its location, suspenseful moments and narrative devices from Night of the Living Dead: the cast boards itself into a farm house, is assaulted by horrible enemies with its only link to the outside world being the television. It borrows its main theme from the Exorcist as Mel Gibson struggles, and regains his faith confronting his assailants.

The first "signs" of trouble are the news broadcast detailing the alien invasion - they are so poorly acted and executed - you'll think high school students filmed them. The first broadcast is so out of place with the professional delivery of the main cast, that the viewer is immediately put on notice that corners were cut making the film - and the whole show loses credibility from that point on.

Then they make the worst mistake ever - actually showing one of the aliens for the first time in a news broadcast - robbing the film of the opportunity to have the fine cast shape this important moment, as is done in almost every horror film.