Movie A Day #130: Signs (SPOILERS LIKELY)

[Brian in Mesa]

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I expect this movie will get some comments. Both my wife and I liked this movie a lot. It's odd - people either really like M. Night Shyamalan's movies or they really dislike them. We've liked The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and now Signs. Looking forward to his next film The Village.

From imdb.com: A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come.

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

Featuring: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones, and M. Night Shyamalan.

Misc:

Joaquin Phoenix replaced Mark Ruffalo, who had to pull out of the film due to ill health.

Graham Hess was originally written as an older character. Paul Newman was offered the role but turned it down, as did Clint Eastwood.

Director M. Night Shyamalan cites The Birds (1963), Night of the Living Dead (1968 ), and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) as the influences for this film.

 

[thirty-two]

***(my reply has some spoilers)***


I saw this with my other X-Files loving friend and both of us were FREAKING SCARED by this movie. That scene where the alien was behind the door just about did it for me.

I liked the movie, I did - but I probably will not watch it again. The scare factor wont be there and in my opinion, that's what made the movie work. I did enjoy Joaquin Phoenix, though.

Anothe complaint is that I wish M. Night Shyamalan's role in the movie wasn't as big. Instead of me focusing on the character who killed Mel's wife, it was "N. Night trying to be an actor." Chris Carter of the X-Files appeared in one of episodes, too, and it just does NOT work!

 

[Renz]

I really love this movie! I own the DVD and I really like watching it over again. The acting is so good that it doesn't get old for me. I like how all the seemingly unrelated things in the movie come together at the end and how Mel Gibson's character's faith is eventually restored.

Great choice!

 

[arthurracoon]

Great movie!

I agree 32, the part with the alien behind the door and the part with the alien trying to grab the boy in the celler sent me flying back into the couch!


I loved this move!

 

[Suns_fan69]

******Mini Spoiler**********




The part that really got me going was when Joaquin's character was watching the TV in the closet of the footage from CNN. The footage itself wasn't that scary, but the music and sound effects coupled by Joaquin's reaction just really sold it. I was freaked out.

Great movie!

 

[Cardinals.Ken]

Originally posted by Renz
I really love this movie! I own the DVD and I really like watching it over again. The acting is so good that it doesn't get old for me. I like how all the seemingly unrelated things in the movie come together at the end and how Mel Gibson's character's faith is eventually restored.

Great choice!

Word!

 

[maddogkf]

I saw this when it came out & I thought it was OK.

I found it cheesy that the aliens travel from another galaxy but can't figure out how to break down a door or boarded up window.

I also thought that if they did not like water, then why come to a planet that's 70% water..... "Let's fly millions of miles away and try to conquer a planet which is made of %70 liquid death for our entire race."

 

[Djaughe]

Originally posted by maddogkf
I saw this when it came out & I thought it was OK.

I found it cheesy that the aliens travel from another galaxy but can't figure out how to break down a door or boarded up window.

I also thought that if they did not like water, then why come to a planet that's 70% water..... "Let's fly millions of miles away and try to conquer a planet which is made of %70 liquid death for our entire race."

I can tell yer alot of fun at the movies!

I bet you get mad matching old star trek reruns because they travel the galaxy without seatbelts!

 

[Chaz]

Originally posted by Djaughe
I can tell yer alot of fun at the movies!

I bet you get mad matching old star trek reruns because they travel the galaxy without seatbelts!

They don't need them, they have inertial dampeners...DUH!!!



While I enjoyed the movie overall.....

**Spoilers**
I found it to be a bit cheesy as well. I mean what if it rains? I hope the aliens have awesome ponchos.

 

[Chaplin]

I thought there was a little bit of the cheesy 50s type sci-fi thrown in there, but what made this different was that it was much more dependent on character than you'd expect from a sci-fi/horror hybrid.

Personally, I liked the movie--it's certainly no masterpiece, but I liked it just the same.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Originally posted by maddogkf
I saw this when it came out & I thought it was OK.

I found it cheesy that the aliens travel from another galaxy but can't figure out how to break down a door or boarded up window.

I also thought that if they did not like water, then why come to a planet that's 70% water..... "Let's fly millions of miles away and try to conquer a planet which is made of %70 liquid death for our entire race."

They were here as scouts. Maybe they had never encountered some of the things we take for granted, like wood (doors, boards, etc) and water.

 

[Cardinals.Ken]

Originally posted by Brian in Mesa
They were here as scouts. Maybe they had never encountered some of the things we take for granted, like wood (doors, boards, etc) and water.

It pretty obvious that the aliens came to this planet completely unprepared.

Hell, they didn't even bring any clothes for God's sake! Not even any aluminum-foil jumpsuits!

 

[slinslin]

This movie was mediocre at best.

I am not sure how you can get scared during this movie.

The Aliens looked like some guys on Halloween. And they are so far advanced to travel to the Earth from somewhere but can't open a door? That's ridiculous.

Or that they could be defeated by using water as a weapon. That's so stupid. I would think it is almost impossible that there are alien species that don't know water. Without water it is unlikely they could live. But that's just science fiction I can take that.

But even if they didn't know water why would they send SO MANY scouts and be agressive before they even checked out the planet?
If an alien race can travel to the earth and have invisible space ships why are they not exploring the planet first without showing themselves?

And why don't they wear simple protection suits? No they are space invaders that travel naked. They act like monkeys but have spaceships.

The whole story line about his wife death was cheesy and not very believable.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by slinslin
This movie was mediocre at best.

I am not sure how you can get scared during this movie.

The Aliens looked like some guys on Halloween. And they are so far advanced to travel to the Earth from somewhere but can't open a door? That's ridiculous.

Or that they could be defeated by using water as a weapon. That's so stupid. I would think it is almost impossible that there are alien species that don't know water. Without water it is unlikely they could live. But that's just science fiction I can take that.

But even if they didn't know water why would they send SO MANY scouts and be agressive before they even checked out the planet?
If an alien race can travel to the earth and have invisible space ships why are they not exploring the planet first without showing themselves?

And why don't they wear simple protection suits? No they are space invaders that travel naked. They act like monkeys but have spaceships.

The whole story line about his wife death was cheesy and not very believable.

I agree on most accounts. I was completely letdown by this one, IMO it just wasn't that interesting.

Yeah, the character's were better developed than most sci-fi movies, but the special effects were pedestrian at best, and the horror scenes were predictable. IMO that's what did the movie in for me; I watch Sci-fi movies for plot and special effects, and Signs failed miserably in both aspects.

I'm glad I didn't shell out the five bucks to watch it in the theaters, and I definitely won't see this one again.

 

[Cardinals.Ken]

Originally posted by Krangthebrain
I agree on most accounts. I was completely letdown by this one, IMO it just wasn't that interesting.

Yeah, the character's were better developed than most sci-fi movies, but the special effects were pedestrian at best, and the horror scenes were predictable. IMO that's what did the movie in for me; I watch Sci-fi movies for plot and special effects, and Signs failed miserably in both aspects.

I'm glad I didn't shell out the five bucks to watch it in the theaters, and I definitely won't see this one again.

It's obvious that you didn't get the point of this film...

 

[Yuma]

I loved the movie and bought it on DVD. I have a son attending catholic school. This was a great way to talk about what exactly "faith" and "signs" are. These are concepts that are difficult for 9 year olds to grasp. This movie opened up a great dialogue for me and my son!

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by Cardinals.Ken
It's obvious that you didn't get the point of this film...

I did get the point of the film, I just didn't find it that interesting.

Signs are everywhere, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I watched it hoping to see a good sci-fi movie, and came away seeing a horrible sci-fi movie with "depth". Screw Signs!

 

[Ryanwb]

Originally posted by Yuma
This movie opened up a great dialogue for me and my son!

My dad chose "Porkys" to talk to me about sex, way to go dad!

 

[Ryanwb]

Porky's factoid of the day, as of 2003 it is still the highest grossing movie for a Canadian movie...ever!

Damn Canucks!

 

[Cardinals.Ken]

Originally posted by Krangthebrain
I did get the point of the film, I just didn't find it that interesting.

Signs are everywhere, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I watched it hoping to see a good sci-fi movie, and came away seeing a horrible sci-fi movie with "depth". Screw Signs!

How long have you been reading this board Krang?

Either not very long, or you just don't read my posts. I have been a huge critic of M. Night Shyamalan when it comes to spending, increased production values, script continuity, directing, etc.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by Cardinals.Ken
How long have you been reading this board Krang?

Either not very long, or you just don't read my posts. I have been a huge critic of M. Night Shyamalan when it comes to spending, increased production values, script continuity, directing, etc.

Honestly, I haven't read your opinion on it.

I guess that Signs was just not what I expected. I expected it to be a little more creepy and a little more sci-fi. I understood all the symbolism, and the faith aspects of the movie, it just wasn't what I was looking for.

 

[Cardinals.Ken]

Originally posted by Krangthebrain
Honestly, I haven't read your opinion on it.

I guess that Signs was just not what I expected. I expected it to be a little more creepy and a little more sci-fi. I understood all the symbolism, and the faith aspects of the movie, it just wasn't what I was looking for.

You just didn't get it...or if you did, you're ingoring it to spite me...I thought we were friends...now...you owe me an apology, or we're not friends any more...

 

[Krangodnzr]

Originally posted by Cardinals.Ken
You just didn't get it...or if you did, you're ingoring it to spite me...I thought we were friends...now...you owe me an apology, or we're not friends any more...

I apologize man! Snap out of it! Where, oh, where has the easygoing Ken gone? Or am I just being gullible enough to believe that I've actually offended you?

 

[Cardinals.Ken]

Originally posted by Krangthebrain
I apologize man! Snap out of it! Where, oh, where has the easygoing Ken gone? Or am I just being gullible enough to believe that I've actually offended you?

I'm just kidding around...you posted a serious response to my "copycat" post...I'm only messing around...

 

[maddogkf]

Originally posted by Cardinals.Ken


I'm just kidding around...you posted a serious response to my "copycat" post...I'm only messing around...

phew! I thought something crawled up yer ass & made you a cantankerous old man!!!