Signs on DVD

Mel Gibson is a fallen priest in writer/director M. Night Shyamalan’s creepy tale about alien invasion. It’s really a good old fashioned “B movie” made state of the art and, despite huge lapses in logic and disappointing-looking aliens, it’s a nice popcorn cruncher.

Gibson is Graham Hess, who awakes one day to find a huge crop circle in the field behind the house. It has to be a hoax, of course, except that this time there were innumerable similar instances happening around the world at the same time.

Is it real, or is it Memorex? Hess, who lives with his kids (Rory Culkin, and Abigail Breslin) and brother (Joaquin Phoenix), sees nothing spiritual in the events, falling back on the cynicism he’s used as a shield since the horrible death of his beloved wife. But whatever’s happening out there it appears that life on earth is about to change fundamentally forever because besides the crop circles, UFO’s are also showing up around the world and it looks as if there’s going to be an alien invasion of "War of the Worlds" proportions.

We won’t spoil the story for you here, but rest assured that there are some deliciously creepy moments in Signs that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat. Yet it’s never too scary and even when things get tense there’s some humor nearby to take the edge off the experience.

Writer/director Shyamalan has given us a 1950’s style sci fi thriller with up to date themes and enough supernatural overtones to add interest and some spirituality without getting excessively metaphysical – though the ending was just a tad too neat for our liking.

One section of the movie sees the Hess family barricaded in the house in a manner reminiscent of “Night of the Living Dead” and this part goes on a bit too long, but despite that the movie never drags and even with its flaws it’s still a ripping yarn.

Gibson, as usual, is terrific and the supporting cast are all very convincing (except, as mentioned, for the actual aliens – though on the other hand the cheesiness of the ET’s does add to the overall “50’s” feel).

So if you’re looking for a few well crafted chills with no real violence or “gross-out factor,” this isn’t a bad place to start.

The THX-certified Vista Series DVD is outstanding. The picture, which is presented in anamorphic widescreen (16x9 TV compatible) fills the widescreen TV fully and is nothing short of superb, with nice and sharp images and beautiful, rich color. Audio, which is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, is also excellent, with nice use of the surround channels and good dynamics.

There are some good extras, too, including a very interesting six part documentary where the writer/director explores the film’s gestation from idea, through scripting and preproduction right to the marketing of “Signs.” There’s also a multi-angle storyboard feature (we wish more DVD’s would exploit the multi-angle feature of the format), some deleted scenes and even a clip from M. Night Shyamalan’s first alien film, a short that appears to have been done at home with home video equipment. If nothing else, it shows that the director’s heart was in the right place when it came to this movie!

Signs, from Touchstone Home Video
106 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
Starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix
Produced by Frank Marshall and Sam Mercer
Written and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

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