Shyamalan's SIGNS - SPOILER-HEAVY DISCUSSION

[Dr Midnight]

Sorry to start a third SIGNS thread, but one's very polite spoiler-free "Yes, it's very good" and the other has turned into a mess... with people stating absolutes about extraterrestrial life.

This thread'll be for spoiler-heavy discussion. If you're coming in here and reading below, I'm assuming you've watched the movie. If you haven't, turn back now. You're much better off watching this movie knowing as little as possible. Hell, knowing M. Night made it was all that I needed to know to buy MY ticket.

So.

SPOILERS BELOW
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I very much enjoyed this movie. Like with Unbreakable, it was hard to not hold it up to Sixth Sense. It's tough to not think of it being the newest movie by the maker of... You know how it is. I must say, I missed having the twist at the end.

The fear was terrific. The suffocating idea of this big thing happening all over the world, and knowing you'd have to fend for yourself made me twitchy. Added to that was the creeping knowledge that the invasion was happening, board up the windows... Then, the shocks. I tell you, the part in the basement with the coal grate and Morgan just crawled over me like a giant spider. That black hand suddenly twitching and grabbing made most people in the theater scream. I managed to not scream, but spent the next three seconds muttering a curse under my breath. I was absolutely taken by that one... It just wrecked me.

I'll post more tomorrow... It's almost midnight, and I need sleep.

 

[Darklance]

Why was it that the boards had much of an effect? An why could that alien not get out of the closet at the other guys house?

Anyone else connect the primitive means of fighting that proved successful in the holy land? They must have been splashing holy water...tap was just as good but hey....

 

[RogueJK]

Why was it that the boards had much of an effect? An why could that alien not get out of the closet at the other guys house?

The pantry door was barricaded. When Mel's character first walks into the room, we get a nice view of the door. It looked like the vet had pushed the kitchen table in front of the door and stacked other furniture on top.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

SPOILED MILK continues to spill...

Salutations,

Some random thoughts:

I like how the best scare of the movie you see coming from a mile away- the video of the kid's birthday party. The guy sitting in front of me tonight let out a yelp at that part- haha.

The fact that few action scenes are shown leads to a great racheting of tension:

1) The dog attacking the kids
2) What Gibson sees out the window before boarding up his bedroom
3) The alien attack on the house

The world existing beyond the movie:
1)Such as Gibson feeling bad about possibly getting in a fight with the son of his friend.
2)The colorful townfolk.

The little touches for those paying attention (or looking too hard, heh)
1) Gibson suggesting they call the doctor to look at the dog- why? Because the vet in town is the guy who killed his wife.
2) Symbolism throughout the movie-
a. The circles on the curtains of the window seen at the beginning and end of the movie.
b. The pantry scene had cut vegetables that were sprawled out a bit like the signs.
c. The birds-eye-view of the town seen when the family is riding into town- the sport field has a cross on it when seen from the sky.
3) The blood on the vet- a bit of a scuffle with his pantry visitor?

Some final rambling notes-
1) The is Night of the Living Dead- replace zombies with aliens.
2) This is a War of the Worlds movie- but seen from the view point of one family, instead of a global perspective usually used for such movies.

Respectfully submitted
FD

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Anyone else connect the primitive means of fighting that proved successful in the holy land? They must have been splashing holy water...tap was just as good but hey....

Hmm- does Islam use holy water?

Perhaps there is some middle east myth involving the use of water to ward off monsters? It would make some sense considering the importance of water in a majority of the lands.

I really REALLY hope Shyamalan does better with the DVD of this film then he did for Unbreakable. I really want to hear his commentary! Argh!

FD

 

[Furn_Darkside]

I must say, I missed having the twist at the end.

Hmm, he had to becareful not to over use that plot twist concept in his movies for two reasons:

1) He would become a cliche of himself.
2) People would spend their time looking for the twist- instead of enjoying the movie? The person I saw Unbreakable with did this- and it left him a bit dry on discussing any other aspects of the movie since that was all he concentrated on figuring out.

Also- this is a different type of movie. Unbreakable and Sixth Sense offered the viewer a concrete concept and then used that concept as the foundation for a moving plot twist.

Signs does not offer a concrete concept- it offers a mystery that the viewers experience with the characters. A plot twist would not be appropriate.

FD

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Salutations,

I had forgotten another thing I wanted to ramble about-

I thought the camera angles were great:

The scene where Gibson tells his daughter about her birth- you see the scene gap between boards- the scene transitions with the board being placed over that spot.

The use of reflections- especially off the television in the end.

The Hitchcockian practice of showing a character's face, showing what they are looking at, and then going back to their face.

The final view of the bat-fight being from the view of the alien- hah, that was sweet.

What a great movie.

FD

 

[RangerWickett]

Okay, I screamed like a little girl when that hand reached out of the grate. My girlfriend just cursed, but I shrieked.

When they get out of the cellar, and go up into the living room, and you hear the cheers on the TV, and then Mel Gibson turns off the TV and wheels it into the living room, I knew something was about to happen. I was expecting it to be one of those downer endings . . . he unplugs it, wheels it in, and then plugs it back in to hear the screams as the aliens return with reinforcements, having figured out that the humans are too great a threat, or something.

Instead, you see . . . it.

I read a few reviews of the movie, where the reviewers said they didn't know why the main characters didn't panic and run. But I know. When I saw that thing in the reflection, I was too terrified. I almost couldn't move, and my whole body was tensed in nervousness. Everyone waits, trying to decide what to do, until the main character recalls his wife's last words.

And then, his brother grabs the bat. Ah, that was the most gratifying fight scene I have ever witnessed. For the whole frikkin' movie, I've been scared white as a sheet, and then at the end, I get to watch mankind beat the crap out of that alien. Whoowee!



Okay, so aside from it being a deeply pleasing beatdown, and a great culmination of all the tension throughout the movie (quite possibly the scariest movie I've ever seen), the ending was just a great fit to the rest of the movie. It wasn't so much of a twist ending; it was more like, "Oh my God, it all makes sense. . . . And we got you now, bitch!"

Y'know I can barely recall the end of the movie, after the kid revives from the shot. I know Graham Hess heads out in his pastor robes, but I can't recall if there was anything else. Also, someone above mentioned Mel Gibson seeing something outside his window (just before boarding up his room), but they didn't actually show what was out there, did they? I don't recall.

The movie was somewhat personal for me; I mean, I suppose everyone has a crisis of faith at some point, and I'm just thankful that mine only required a girlfriend for me to figure out my faith, rather than an alien invasion.

 

[RangerWickett]

One other question. . . . At the end, with the first-person death of the alien . . . that scene seemed familiar somehow. Is that an homage to some other death scene (perhaps something from Hitchcock?).

 

[LightPhoenix]

Personally, I really liked the underlying ideas about faith. To paraphrase my gf after we saw it, "it takes the entire world being destroyed for a man to regain his faith, and only one person for him to lose it." Especially nice is the varying levels of belief and faith that the characters exhibit - the children are willing to believe anything (and that was a great bit of misdirection when they're reading the book), Merril has the belief that is wasn't right not to swing, even though he struck out more than he hit, and Graham doesn't really believe in anything any more.

Few short notes, then I have to go to work...

1) Shyamalan is a master of "show the gun before you fire it". The asthma (sp?), the water, the doctor... I can keep naming them.

2) The aliens couldn't break through the door because they weren't particularly strong. Another twist on popular conceptions of aliens.

3) Ever wondered what Shyamalan looks like? He played the vet.

4) I find it amusingly ironic that the way to defeat the aliens is determined in the Middle East, a land with little water.

5) When they showed the shadows on the ground in the book, I got really freaked out there was going to be a downer ending. Another facet of faith and belief.

6) The end scene in the living room was great! Very powerful, and I was very moved.

7) Something I noted about the aliens - notice how Shyamalan never gives you a clear picture of them. Even on the shots focusing on one, it's blurry, it's usually through something (the TV, window, boards), and it's a very neutral green - leaving a good deal up to the viewer. Best fears are the ones we invent ourselves

Alright, time for work... bleh, I'll post some more in... ugh, ten hours...