Many directors use the time-tested device of hiding key facts from their screen characters while the audience receives insight into where a story is headed: a killer concealed in darkness as a victim approaches, a bomb sitting underneath the stands of a sold-out ball game, the hidden agenda of a seemingly wholesome babysitter. These onscreen situations involve the use of a character’s ignorance to build tension in an audience that has been empowered to know better. Director M. Night Shyamalan chooses to build tension in a slightly different fashion -- he allows both the audience and his characters to discover hidden facts within the story together. In both The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable this device works to chilling effect and instills a tension that never lets up until the story’s concluding revelation.

Like The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable’s story line involves self-discovery and faith, coupled with a healthy dose of the metaphysical. The characters of David Dunn and Elijah Price are people looking for meaning within their respective lives when very little significance seems to exist. Willis plays Dunn, an emotionally despondent security guard searching for a reason behind why he was the only surviving passenger in a train collision. Jackson plays the mysterious Elijah Price, an art gallery owner with a rare bone defect who promises Dunn answers, however fantastic they may sound. Going any further in describing the plot to this fine film would be an injustice since the sum of its details goes far beyond any simple synopsis.

I was amazed at how people either discreetly loved or hated Unbreakable. Many people I spoke to were disappointed by the lack of onscreen special effects during the opening train sequence and bored by the deliberate way the film unfolded. Even more interesting was how Unbreakable was consistently compared to the entirely different The Sixth Sense. I had originally reasoned that the problem might have been with me. Maybe I gave the film too much credit after my initial viewing. Maybe the film’s suspension of disbelief was the result of a slight of hand that would fail to hold up the second time around. Maybe director Shyamalan was simply a "one trick pony" with a penchant for artificially misleading his audience. Fortunately, I found my first impression to be accurate even after watching this film four times. While it’s no Akira Kurosawa epic, Unbreakable does exhibit the story-telling prowess and originality of a young writer/director who may measure up to be the next Spielberg. As for all those who found fault with the film, I can only believe that the excesses of Hollywood and digital imagery have programmed us to forget the importance of story. Just sit back, relax, and stay a while.

The DVD is of a high quality. The images are sharp and rich, while its DTS and Dolby Digital audio are well mixed with detail-rich foley and sound effects making an especially fine showing in DTS. Particularly impressive is the clean, taut bass contained within the opening train sequence and the sparse, but wonderfully lyrical, score by James Newton Howard (also responsible for NBC’s ER theme song). Personally I find maestro Howard’s film scores to be quite impressive and sadly underrated. Using various influences and instrumentation, this talented film composer is rarely derivative and definitely making a name for himself (dare I say a name that may easily dwarf the once mighty but motif-redundant James Horner).

A comic book and superhero documentary highlighted Unbreakable’s interesting, but sparse, feature set. A "Making of" documentary and director Shyamalan’s foreword to the film’s deleted scenes did a pretty good job of providing information that mitigated the lack of a feature-length commentary. Still, while features like the multi-angle-storyboarded version of the train sequence indicated a better than average DVD effort, the shear number of delectable treats was a little unsatisfying.