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Author	Topic: Unbreakable by James Newton Howard

BobaMike Oscar® Winner	Guess I should have put a spoiler warning! Sorry! **SPOILERS*** I just got back from seeing M. Night Shyamalan's latest film, Unbreakable. I recommend it highly, my whole family loved it. It was an intriuging look at how real-life superheroes would act. Both Willis and Jackson did great jobs as the unbreakable man and the fragile man. And it had a cool twist at the end. James newton Howard, who collaborated with the director on the 6th Sense, provides another wonderful score. If fit the movie perfectly. It is the same sort of style as the 6th sense (pianos and strings)...but it sounds more heroic. A synth/techno beat is added to some scenes (the one in the train station was superb). The main theme doesn't really come through till the end of the film, and the end credits are lovely. I went out and bought the cd ( a generous 45 min Hollywood Records release). At circuit cd its only 13 bucks. BobaMike np: Unbreakable! [Message edited by BobaMike on 11-25-2000]
posted 11-24-2000 05:33 PM PT (US)

Jeron Oscar® Winner	Boba, let's not give away TOO much of the premise, now! I must concur - it's an awesome film. But I wasn't as excited about it as much as I am now. Shaun just told me that it's the first film in a trilogy). I'm certainly looking forward to the next installment. JNH's score is certainly a testament to his talent. It's nothing beyond what he did for The Sixth Sense, but I can certainly see JNH taking the music established here, and leading it through an evolution as the storyline progresses. Even in this film, it progressed to a point. Make no mistake, heroic qualities are definitely present in his main theme! You'll hear 'em at the climax of the film. See the movie - here the music. It's a very rewarding experience! Plus, there's a cool cameo by the director... Jeron [Message edited by Jeron on 11-24-2000]
posted 11-24-2000 08:48 PM PT (US)

Alwin Oscar® Winner	Just got back from the movie, and I am in shock: it lived up to the hype, and more. JNH's score worked well in the movie; I'm not sure how it will sound as a standalone. Nevertheless, I'm buying this one as soon as I can. Might the cameo "actor" be wearing blue? That's all I'll say about that...
posted 11-24-2000 09:12 PM PT (US)

Crono/Kyp Oscar® Winner	Yeah, um HELLO?! I still have to see the movie! --Kyppy Writer/Editor NP: Hook (*****)
posted 11-24-2000 10:45 PM PT (US)

Jeron Oscar® Winner	Yeah, ummm... HELLO?! Did you have to read the thread?
posted 11-24-2000 11:17 PM PT (US)

BobaMike Oscar® Winner	Does anyone know if the score cd is in film order? I can't really tell :-) BobaMike np: The Russia House
posted 11-25-2000 10:19 AM PT (US)

Alwin Oscar® Winner	Yeah, I was wondering that myself.
posted 11-25-2000 12:44 PM PT (US)

Johnnyecks Oscar® Winner	SPOILER ALERT.... ANSWER TO ABOVE QUESTION.......... DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No, the cd is not in the order of the movie. I noticed this cause I saw the movie AFTER I bought the soundtrack (which is wonderfull). If you look at the back of the cd Track 4 happens before #3, and track #6 was used for the scene of the car wreck which was after the music used for "The Wreck" #8. If that makes any sense at all! Sorry if it dosen't. - John (new member) NP: Unbreakable....had to since I was writing about it!!!
posted 11-25-2000 01:36 PM PT (US)

Shaun Rutherford Oscar® Winner	How about the first track on the disc? That scene doesn't occur until around the end. I also thought that "Unbreakable" was the "Main Title". Anyway...... Shaun
posted 11-25-2000 02:45 PM PT (US)

TimT Oscar® Winner	Well I've seen the movie a few times Unbreakable is the main title, and Visions comes right before we meet the Orange Man. I just don't rememeber where Blindsided came in.
posted 11-25-2000 02:51 PM PT (US)

John Dunham Oscar® Winner	Well... Saw it, loved it, will buy it, how long till part II? Seriously, this was a great movie AND score (which I don't have yet, but I'll pick it up tomorrow) even though I guessed the ending. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM YET STOP WHAT YOU"RE DOING AND GO SEE IT. WHY ARE YOU READING THIS THREAD ANYWAY? IT HAS *SPOILERS* SUCH AS THE MAJOR ONES I WILL WRITE BELOW: If you're still here, you've seen the film. Otherwise, shoo! Okay, here goes. I guessed the ending for two reasons: First, a train wreck almost NEVER kills everyone, so even before I saw the film I thought someone might have caused the wreck. The only person who could have done that was Elijah, so I was already suspicious of him. Second, he went and said that the villian always has a disproportionally large head. One look at that wig, and, well... Finally, little things, like how Elijah kept calling himself David's "opposite" cemented my concerns. The clincher was Elijah's mother talking about villians who fight the hero "with their mind." Ah, well. Even if I wasn't surprised, it was still an excellent film. In fact, I'll go see it again tomorrow.
posted 11-25-2000 03:38 PM PT (US)

John Dunham Oscar® Winner	Double post. All gone now. [Message edited by John Dunham on 11-25-2000]
posted 11-25-2000 03:39 PM PT (US)

Crono/Kyp Oscar® Winner	Um...yes Jeron I had to read the post because I thought it was about the SCORE, not the damn movie. --Kyp Writer/Editor NP: The 6th Day Suite
posted 11-25-2000 11:34 PM PT (US)

Jeron Oscar® Winner	If it looks like it's gonna be a spoiler... u have control over if u continue reading! No excuses. hehe
posted 11-25-2000 11:38 PM PT (US)

Shaun Rutherford Oscar® Winner	SPOILER????????????????????????????????? "Blindsided" is probably the cue that involves the swimming pool. The strings toward the end are from Outbreak. Shaun
posted 11-26-2000 12:21 PM PT (US)

Ellen B Edgerton Oscar® Winner	I seem to be in a minority here (although at the theater I went to, I didn't sense I was - the general buzz in the exiting crowd seemed to be that the movie wasn't very good), but I found this movie to be deadly dull, inert, a bit pretentious, overwritten with bad dialogue, nowhere near as good as THE SIXTH SENSE, and (alas) terribly overscored in some scenes. I don't blame James Newton Howard, but rather the director for any excesses.
posted 11-26-2000 01:23 PM PT (US)

John Dunham Oscar® Winner	MORE SPOILERS. IF YOU HAVEN'T YET SEEN THE MOVIE, GO AWAY!! Ellen, I thought the film was scored perfectly, and, while it was a little slow in places, the film itself was excellent. I guess that some people will dislike this movie for various reasons. Perhaps you don't like comic book movies (which this was, in a way) or perhaps you don't like the voyeuristic style Shyamalan used. Perhaps you have other reasons for not liking the film (sometimes, a film just hits you the wrong way). I expect Unbreakable will be something of a cult hit, with a lot of people liking it, but also with some vehement detractors, unlike The Sixth Sense which, no one seemed to speak ill of. For those of us who liked it, though, Unbreakable is a highly enjoyable film, and I think it has already cemented Shyamalan's position as one of the great film creators. It may also signal the beginning of another VERY successful Composer/Director collaboration and I definitely look forward to what JNH will come up with for Shyamalan's future films. NP: Unbreakable, JNH ****
posted 11-26-2000 03:27 PM PT (US)

boswell Oscar® Nominee	I just saw Unbreakable earlier today and was wondering about the music at the close of the film. Parts of it sounded very familiar like I had heard something similar in another movie. I was wondering if anyone could help me out. Thanks
posted 11-26-2000 06:17 PM PT (US)

Brad Wills Oscar® Winner	I agree with you, Ellen. Relentlessly dull, horrible dialogue in which the characters all talked each other to death with pretentious rhetoric, a sleepy performance by Willis, Jackson in Eddie Murphy's old Buckwheat wig, reeeeeeally irritating camera work that did nothing but call attention to itself, and a pretty stupid story. The Shyalaman who crafted an intimately scary tearjerker with "The Sixth Sense" was nowhere to be seen in this bunch of claptrap. Sorry.
posted 11-26-2000 07:34 PM PT (US)

JJH Oscar® Winner	**MAYBE some spoilers** actually, he was to be seen.. ya know, at the football game in the concession line... obviously, I saw this today, and thought it was pretty decent and interesting. Nothing that bored me, and it's certainly nothing to get in a tizzy about, mainly cuz the whole superhero thing is rather lame. didn't really mind the talkiness of it. Seems that's what the director tries to use to establish some sort of supernatural quality: philosophizing. but then again, from the opening subtitles, you had to know where this movie was going: and the whole "opposites" thing.
posted 11-26-2000 08:53 PM PT (US)

Ellen B Edgerton Oscar® Winner	I actually never saw THE SIXTH SENSE until after I saw UNBREAKABLE, so it's not like I was having too high expectations for the latter. I rented SIXTH SENSE after I saw UNBREAKABLE because my friend assured me that the former movie was much, much better. And it was pretty good. Watching THE SIXTH SENSE it just seemed to me that Shyamalan (I'll never learn to spell this guy's name right) has a few stock tricks (camera work, long long silences, "cute" little kid crying, over-expository dialogue, "twist" ending, etc) which he moved from one picture to another. Even the family kitchen in both films looked the same. I've been accused of "liking only explosions and car chases" because I didn't like UNBREAKABLE. Anyone who knows me knows that isn't true. :-) I just like films where a writer/producer/director is able to tell a good story without explaining everything in the dialogue (or in superimposed titles, as at the end). I found the end very deflating -- IMHO it would have actually saved the movie for me if we didn't have to read the info that Shyamalan deemed necessary to put in the onscreen aftertitles. That way, we could have at least let our imaginations run and think that the Samuel L. Jackson character and the Bruce Willis character could have future comic-book adventures. But, I guess if Shyamalan couldn't make those movies himself, he didn't want us to see them in our heads. :-(
posted 11-27-2000 03:20 AM PT (US)

Jeron Oscar® Winner	You know, Ellen - this might be a long shot, but... those titles might not have been Shyamalan's idea. Often times the director's vision is skewed by test screenings and what the producers think would work better. Sad but true. Just something to consider. Jeron
posted 11-27-2000 07:14 AM PT (US)

Quill Oscar® Winner	If you think about it...for a reality-grounded superhero story (a fantastic-fresh idea I might add) the movie ends perfectly. It ended how any crime-thriller would, but the villian ended up in a mental institution (where they usually go if they're not killed) much like a classic superhero story. The movie might not do well, because I don't think most people will "get it."
posted 11-27-2000 07:44 AM PT (US)

Lancelot Oscar® Winner	The fascinating thing about this movie, (stylized direction aside), was that it wasn't really a "comic book" movie--not in the way that "The Mask", or "RoboCop", or your choice of the Batman films would be. It really pushed the audience to believe that it was being set up as a comic book movie...but despite what could be written off as bizzare coincedence, it remains grounded in plausible reality. No blasphemy intended, but I think Shyamalan, with a few more films under his belt, is going to be the next Hitchcock.
posted 11-27-2000 07:45 AM PT (US)

Shaun Rutherford Oscar® Winner	Getting back to the music, I thought that Elijah's theme was great (the piano motif), but the majority of the score was another---for me---more of the same from JNH. The opening of the album (it's elsewhere on the album, as well) is pretty much Snow Falling On Cedars, and the rest of the score is either reliant on older material (Outbreak is a main source), or just boring. Not exactly a scholarly review, I know, but JNH just isn't JNH anymore. And it bugs me. Shaun
posted 11-27-2000 08:08 AM PT (US)

Ellen B Edgerton Oscar® Winner	<i>You know, Ellen - this might be a long shot, but... those titles might not have been Shyamalan's idea. Often times the director's vision is skewed by test screenings and what the producers think would work better. Sad but true. Just something to consider.</i> Well... that would sound more plausible, if only for the fact that I noticed the same sort of "bash the viewer over the head" thing at the end of THE SIXTH SENSE, where various key snippets of scenes were played back in flashback as the climactic secret was revealed, <i><u><blink>underlining</blink></u></i> everything for us. If Shyamalan wants to be considered the next Hitchcock, he's going to have to stop repeating himself. Also... no slam on JNH really, but he's going to have to get a better composer than JNH. Not sure that we have one today who compares to Herrmann, but JNH, who I usually do not mind at all in a film, was surprising obtrusive in this film (but NOT in the THE SIXTH SENSE). I was sitting there watching UNBREAKABLE and thinking, "That just isn't like James Newton Howard to be so loud and overbearing." So I blame the director.
posted 11-27-2000 04:22 PM PT (US)

Ellen B Edgerton Oscar® Winner	Sorry, I don't know how to use UBB code on this thing. [Message edited by Ellen B Edgerton on 11-27-2000]
posted 11-27-2000 04:24 PM PT (US)

JJH Oscar® Winner	you have to use [],[/] instead of <>, </>
posted 11-27-2000 07:08 PM PT (US)

Racerprose Oscar® Winner	Since you are talking about the film a lot- it now seems the film Unbreakable is a trilogy. So expect two more movies.... -Racerprose
posted 11-27-2000 07:12 PM PT (US)

Observer Oscar® Winner	I, for one, very much enjoyed the movie. I even thought the twist was a nice touch (although I hope Shymalan doesn't rely on those too much in the future). Newton's score was absolutely wonderful. I never really thought the movie or the score was pounding me on the head, Shymalan created a very good film the slowly develops as the it progresses. Newton's theme was beautiful, I thought. It perfectly complimented what was up on the screen. As for the trilogy, I wish I could know more about it. Shymalan does leave it wide open for a sequel, and the Mr. Glass character just begs to be further continued. I remember from a movie review that commented that Unbreakable was like a comic book super hero origin story. There are many homages to the comic book style. The hero always sends the villian to the prison or asylum or such, and the villian always escapes. This may have been what Shymalan was setting up at the end with the captions.
posted 11-27-2000 08:55 PM PT (US)

robin4 Oscar® Winner	I went in knowing virtually nothing about the story (unlike The Sixth Sense) and was blown away by the opening about comic books. I loved this movie, and Willis was amazing. He was so strong and creepy with that rain coat on. And the score was perfect. Easily one of the best films of the year.
posted 12-01-2000 10:03 PM PT (US)

Justin Oscar® Winner	I completely agree with Robin. Though people keep calling this a "Superhero" movie I beg to differ. I think the movie is much more deeper than that and the next two will explain it. The fact that he used comics and Mr. Glass was to get our brains assuming that is what he is getting at. Lot of you said it yourself that The Sixth Sense was deeper...remember that. I don't think Night is implying this movie is about a superhero. In my opinion anyway. Though I can see how the idea came about cause he hinted at it quite a bit but still, I think it was for a reason in the other upcoming films. We'll have to see what Night has planned for our viewing pleasure. I feel a lot, if not all, of our theories will be blown completely out of the water
posted 12-02-2000 08:54 AM PT (US)

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