From M. Night Shyamalan, the writer/director of THE SIXTH SENSE and UNBREAKABLE, comes the story of the Hess family in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who wake up one morning to find a 500-foot crop circle in their backyard. Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) and his family are told extraterrestrials are responsible for the sign in their field. They watch, with growing dread, the news of crop circles being found all over the world. SIGNS is the emotional story of one family on one farm as they encounter the terrifying last moments of life as the world is being invaded. "It's easy for a filmmaker to blow up the world -- but what Shyamalan does is much riskier. He tries to blow our minds. I was engaged by every inch of SIGNS." - Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper.

Everything that farmer Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) assumed about the world is changed when he discovers a message -- an intricate pattern of circles and lines -- carved into his crops. As he investigates the unfolding mystery, what he finds will forever alter the lives of his brother and children. System Requirements: Starring: Mel Gibson, Abigail Breslin, Rory Culkin, and Joaquin Phoenix. Dire

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Signs was not your typical alien invasion movie. There aren't any dazzling special effects. There's no graphic alien attack scenes. There are no images of the usual global chaos that generally accompany an alien invasion. This was no "Independence Day" type movie.

Rather than doing the usual Alien movie, Shyamalan decides to take a different approach. If you've seen The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, you should already be familiar with his directing style. Rather than making a big movie centered around a big event, he takes things to a more personal level. He takes a character living what appears to be a typical or small life and gives them some extraordinary circumstance to deal with. Its not about everyone else when it comes to his movies. The story is never REALLY about the weird events, but rather, about the character's experiences with them.

I really think some people were disappointed in Signs because it wasn't at all what they expected. They went into the movie thinking it would be all the things I listed that it was not.

Now I'll tell you what it was and hopefully you'll take the time to watch this movie and enjoy it as much as I did.

This was a movie full of both humor and suspense. Signs is about a family and how they come together to deal with the idea that not only are we not alone in the universe, but that aliens might be preparing an invasion. Shyamalan manages to make us laugh at all the right moments as well as make us jump back with surprise. He has a real way of catching us off guard which is one of the reasons why I loved Signs. Just when you begin to relax, something exciting or scary or strange will happen to put you back on the edge of your seat.

But more importantly, Shyamalan adds something new to the usual formula of alien movies. He puts the element of faith into the plot. Not only is the lead character (Mel gibson) dealing with the idea of aliens attacking, but he's also trying to deal with the death of his wife and his lost faith. The alien invasion causes him to ask the question, does everything happen for a reason? Or are we all on our own here?

But make no mistake, this is not a movie I'd let a child see. It gets pretty scary at times so if you're not one who enjoys getting freaked out every 10 minutes, Signs is not for you.

If you are one who enjoys great films... rent or buy signs. It's one of the best movies I've seen all year.

17 of 19 found the following review helpful:

Don't read these reviews if you haven't seen the movieJun 09, 2003

I'm glad I saw this movie at the theatre without anybody revealing the plot and resolution to me beforehand, which is what many inconsiderate reviewers here have chosen to do. Do yourself a favor. See the movie without reading about it or asking other's opinions. Form your own opinion after having seen it and, if you enjoy it, simply recommend it to others without explanation. Obviously, many of the people who panned the movie expected something else. They criticized what they saw as shortcomings when the movie wasn't about the shortcomings, but about something more. Yes, I enjoyed The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, but my favorite movie of the three is perhaps Signs. There is a character depth that had not been plumbed as deeply as in the previous two. I'll admit, the story was a only a slightly bit contrived (hence the 4.5 stars instead of 5), but suspend your disbelief and the entire story falls into place. And who says it could not have been any other way?

69 of 88 found the following review helpful:

THEY DO NOT COME IN PEACE...Sep 13, 2002
By Lawyeraau
This is a superlative movie on many levels, and the director, M. Night Shyamalan, proves that he is a force with which to be reckoned. After his blockbuster hit, "The Sixth Sense', the viewing audience expected great things from him. When his next film, "Unbreakable", did not draw the raves that "The Sixth Sense" did, the viewing public anxiously awaited his next film to see if Shyamalan could, once again, hit it out of the ballpark. With "Signs", he confirms that he is, indeed, one of the directorial greats.

This film is about many things. It is about loss of a loved one. It is about family. It is about relationships. It is about things that we cannot control. It is about the inexplicable. It is about destiny. Yes, it is most certainly about alien invasion. It is also ultimately about one man's crisis of faith.

The film is a wonderful, scary, and amazing film. It centers around the Hess family, who has recently sustained the loss of Colleen Hess (Patricia Kalember) in a terrible accident one night. Wife to Graham (Mel Gibson), mother to Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abigail Breslin), and sister-in-law to Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), her death was felt on many levels. Graham, a minister in rural Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was so distraught over the senseless (or so he thinks) death of his wife, that he left his ministry and is now living a purely secular life with their children and his brother, Merrill. Graham simply cannot understand why God has seemingly forsaken him. The death of his wife has divested him of his faith, and he finds himself struggling in the world without it.

One morning, Graham discovers crop circles in the cornfield in front of his house. Other strange things begin to happen, all while he is trying to maintain a sense of normalcy in a world that has suddenly changed in a way that he could never have envisioned. Worldwide, crop circles are mysteriously appearing, seemingly strategically, and, before one knows it, alien invaders are here. They are creepy. They are scary. They do not come in peace. The focus of the film is not so much on the alien invaders, however, but on how the family responds and interacts in this time of crisis.

There are some very frightening scenes in this film. They are all the more frightening for what one does not see rather than what one does see. There are some aspects of "The Blair Witch Project" at work here. Shyamalan certainly understands the concept that less is sometimes more and uses it to great effect. The effective use of tension by the director is one of the great strengths of this film. Sly, subtle humor is also used to great advantage. The other important component of the film is the acting.

There is not one bad performance in this film. Shyamalan, who normally gives himself a brief cameo in his own films, gave himself the part of Ray Reddy, the man who was the catalyst for the tragedy that enveloped the Hess household. He gives a more than credible performance. Abigail Breslin is simply delightful as little Bo, a child too young to fully comprehend what is going on around her, but who, nonetheless, reacts to its shifting permutations. Rory Culkin (yes, Macauley's younger brother in real life) gives a wonderfully intense performance as Bo's big brother. A somewhat singleminded child, he immediately becomes a believer in extraterrestrials and tries to gain an understanding on his own of what is to come.

It is Mel Gibson, however, along with Joaquin Phoenix, who ratchets up the ante. Mel Gibson gives a beautifully nuanced and sensitive performance, playing it totally straight with occasional flashes of humor. It is a performance of a conflicted man who cannot bear what has happened to him and does not reach an understanding until it is almost too late. In the end, he is able to see how some of what has happened to his family has had a semblance of a greater design. Even his wife's last words to him, so seemingly meaningless before, grow rich with meaning at the end.

Joaquin Phoenix is one of the younger generation's most talented actors. He infuses the role of Merrill with a vulnerability that is, at times, heartbreaking. Yet, somehow the viewer knows that the Hess family can count on him to be there for them one hundred percent. While he is not so conflicted as his brother Graham, however, he seems to need validation.

As the film barrels towards its climactic ending, scenes leading up to Colleen's last moments are woven throughout the film. This serves to show the viewer that the events of the present have meaning when grounded in the context of the past. It will come full circle in the end. This is a wonderful, beautiful, suspenseful, and scary film that is well worth seeing, and I eagerly await release of the DVD.

8 of 8 found the following review helpful:

Better than AverageJul 28, 2003
By D. W. MacKenzie
At one level, Signs is just average. There are many alien invasion films out there, and this one is not all that special. It does not have the suspense of Alien. It is not nearly as scary as Invasion of the body snatchers. It lacks the sense of wonder developed in Close Encounters.

At another level, Signs is surprisingly good. This is not a film about space aliens. This is a film about faith and seeing how everything in life fits together and has purpose. Though it is not obvious from the outset why things happen the way they do, the pieces all fit together.

This is not Mel Gibson's best performance, but his acting (and that of the other actors) is good enough to make this story work. The elements that come together at the end might be a bit contrived. In retrospect, it seems like the author of this screenplay thought up the ending, and worked backwards to get it all right. It does, however, have its' moment at the end, when Graham (Gibson) figures everything out. It also has some decent suspense prior to that. Unlike most movies these days, it is not entirely predictable. This one is definitely worth watching.

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