Signs

Theatrical Release Date: 2002 08 02 (USA)

UPC: 786936197594

Studio: Walt Disney Video

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Sci-Fi Violence, Children in Peril, Suitable for Teens]

Summary: Following the smash hit The Sixth Sense (1999) and the under-performing follow-up Unbreakable (2000), directing phenom M. Night Shyamalan returns to the summer box office landscape that served as the backdrop for his cinematic breakthrough. In Signs, another paranormal outing for the writer-director, Shyamalan explores the eerie implications of a 500-foot crop circle that mysteriously appears on the Bucks County, PA farm of reverend Graham Hess (Mel Gibson). As Hess and his family (Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin) try to take stock of what the sign means, and how its message incorporates into their faith, they start to get the feeling they are not alone in the fields behind their house. Shyamalan re-teams with producers Frank Marshall, Sam Mercer and Kathleen Kennedy, and produces the project in association with his Blinding Edge Pictures banner and Touchstone Pictures. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Category: Science Fiction

Features: cc Deleted scenes
Night's first alien film
M. Night Shyamalan takes you on a journey of filmmaking in an exclusive, six-part documentary exploring Signs from the birth of the idea, to writing the script, to building the sets, to realizing the creature and other effects, to the scoring and innovative marketing of the film
Storyboards: multi-angle feature
Widescreen (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 televisions
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
THX-certified
French language track

Signs

Format: DVD

Release Date: 01/07/2003

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, THX THX-Certified Mastering

Runtime: 106 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Opening [2:09]
2. The Crops [5:18]
3. Contaminated Water [4:25]
4. A Monster Outside [8:41]
5. Breaking News [5:05]
6. Probing [3:35]
7. "Is That Him?" [1:22]
8. Bo's Baby Monitor [4:42]
9. Evidence [4:10]
10. Fourteen Lights [9:21]
11. Research [4:12]
12. Ray's Confessional [4:12]
13. Disturbing Footage [1:34]
14. One Trapped in the Pantry [6:53]
15. Invasion [3:44]
16. Family Meal [3:10]
17. "It's Happening" [2:25]
18. Locked in the Basement [3:37]
19. Distant Memory [7:13]
20. Swing Away [9:50]
21. Winter/Closing Credits [6:57]

Derek Armstrong

It's kind of amazing that no one had previously attempted a spooky movie about crop circles, given the ominous portent of these unexplained phenomena. M. Night Shyamalan harnesses that unrealized potential and then some in Signs, his fifth and most mainstream release, which makes the much-revisited topic of alien invasion freshly eerie, yet also showcases a heretofore unseen strength in the director's dour oeuvre: humor. Shyamalan actively bucks the trend of films like Independence Day, shunning pyrotechnics and scenes of chaos in the world's capital cities. Instead he focuses on one rural Pennsylvania family, in turn keeping with his trademark emotional intimacy -- which, when it doesn't consume him, allows the audience to experience the crisis with an equivalent sense of mounting anxiety. Shyamalan makes sublime use of news footage as a means of imparting chilling glimpses of alien avidence, rendered hyper-real through the medium; in fact, the director deepens the impact by drawing a visual link to September 11th, in the form of engrossed viewers huddled around televisions, absorbing the unspeakable. Though Signs is certainly an original vision, boasting a full complement of clever yet unobtrusive camera tricks by Tak Fujimoto, it comes with a price. Namely, Shyamalan travels so deep into the psyches of his characters that he sometimes loses the big picture, dwelling on a past tragedy at the expense of the imminent emergency, and becoming a little too touchy-feely. There's also considerable effort to bear fruit from all the foreshadowing -- as a wise musician once sang, it's "signs, signs, everywhere signs." Still, Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix contribute some of the most naturalistic acting of their careers, and Shyamalan has created a gripping cinematic experience that reminds viewers of when being scared was a kind of intoxication. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: James Newton Howard  Composer (Music Score) 
Kathleen Kennedy  Executive Producer 
Frank Marshall  Producer 
Sam Mercer  Producer 
M. Night Shyamalan  Director 
M. Night Shyamalan  Producer 
M. Night Shyamalan  Screenwriter 
Mel Gibson  Actor 
Joaquin Phoenix  Actor 
Cherry Jones  Actor 
Rory Culkin  Actor 
Abigail Breslin  Actor 
Patricia Kalember  Actor 
M. Night Shyamalan  Actor 
Ted Sutton  Actor 
Merritt Wever  Actor 
Lanny Flaherty  Actor 
Marion McCorry  Actor 
Michael Showalter  Actor 
Rhonda Overby  Actor 

Country: USA