Product Description

A boy who communicates with spirits that don't know they're dead seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist.
Genre: Horror
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 6-MAY-2003
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1482 in DVD
• Brand: WILLIS,BRUCE
• Released on: 2000-03-28
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 106 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
"I see dead people," whispers little Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), scared to affirm what is to him now a daily occurrence. This peaked 9-year old, already hypersensitive to begin with, is now being haunted by seemingly malevolent spirits. Child psychologist Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is trying to find out what's triggering Cole's visions, but what appears to be a psychological manifestation turns out to be frighteningly real. It might be enough to scare off a lesser man, but for Malcolm it's personal--several months before, he was accosted and shot by an unhinged patient, who then turned the gun on himself. Since then, Malcolm has been in turmoil--he and his wife (Olivia Williams) are barely speaking, and his life has taken an aimless turn. Having failed his loved ones and himself, he's not about to give up on Cole.

This third feature by M. Night Shyamalan sets itself up as a thriller, poised on the brink of delivering monstrous scares, but gradually evolves into more of a psychological drama with supernatural undertones. Many critics faulted the film for being mawkish and New Age-y, but no matter how you slice it, this is one mightily effective piece of filmmaking. The bare bones of the story are basic enough, but the moody atmosphere created by Shyamalan and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto made this one of the creepiest pictures of 1999, forsaking excessive gore for a sinisterly simple feeling of chilly otherworldliness. Willis is in his strong, silent type mode here, and gives the film wholly over to Osment, whose crumpled face and big eyes convey a child too wise for his years; his scenes with his mother (Toni Collette) are small, heartbreaking marvels. And even if you figure out the film's surprise ending, it packs an amazingly emotional wallop when it comes, and will have you racing to watch the movie again with a new perspective. You may be able to shake off the sentimentality of The Sixth Sense, but its craftsmanship and atmosphere will stay with you for days. --Mark Englehart

From The New Yorker
A delicate, emotionally attentive, but very scary ghost story. In a Philadelphia drained of color and life, a shrink (Bruce Willis) who specializes in childhood anxieties becomes obsessed with one of his patients, a suffering nine-year-old boy (Haley Joel Osment) who "sees" dead people. The movie, written and directed by the young, Indian-born M. Night Shyamalan, consists mostly of long conversations between Willis, who is usually silent and very patient, and Osment, who may be an acting genius. Osment has the terrified face of an orphaned child of war; he is very moving. Despite an occasional hackneyed moment and too much of John Newton Howard's overbearing music, the movie is an admirable attempt at injecting some honest feeling into a curdled commercial genre, and it pays off in the end with a genuine shock that leaves one amazed. With Olivia Williams as the doctor's wife and Toni Collette, whose face often mirrors Osment's, as the little boy's loving but baffled mother. Tak Fujimoto did the somberly beautiful cinematography. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Excellent film
I saw this film in the theaters back in 1998/1999 and at the time I thought it was a good film, but I had no intention to watch it again. Since that time I have seen bits and pieces of the film, but had no desire to watch it again. I thought it was a great film, but it was just not for me.

Well yesterday and today I watched the film in full for the first time since 98/99 and saw it from a different perspective that I failed to see in 98/99. I liked it so much, I decided to buy myself a used copy and await its delivery.

Excellent film and superb acting by everyone involved. My only wish is that the film would have explained to the viewer what happened to that mother that poisoned her daughter. The film leaves us in suspense...

Why I love this movie
I saw this originally at the movies, and was amazed at the incredibly believable performance by young Haley Joel Osment who plays a child terrified for too long on the verge of losing his fragile young mind. Just before the end of the story I was very frustrated feeling that the Director had cheated on the mystery of the story, until it did actually end, then of course it was "Oh, I see!", my wife who left at the beginning to call the kids at home was very angry, and feeling cheated until I explained it to her.

Later when we got to see this on DVD and saw the extra features that let you see how the director not only didn't cheat you, but gave a clue in every scene, I almost felt dumb for not getting it in the first place.

Now, I would like to address some of the other criticism leveled at this film; specifically that only Cole's character is three dimensional. The story is Cole's story; the other major characters are unaware of anything that is going on in Cole's story, so for them to be full fleshed as it were would take away from the actual story line, and take you away from the destination of the plot.

Now one last thing, I am glad that I saw the screen version first, to have the gotcha moment in the end, but I do prefer the longest directors cut for all subsequent viewings, and we in my house have watched it many times.

The Original M. Night Movie..................
M. Night Shyamalan is the master!

This movie is excellent! As every M. Night movie is.

Great characters, great acting and a unusual, never been done before story!

Never pass up the chance to see a M. Night Shyamalan classic!