Unbreakable (2000)

A man learns something extraordinary about himself after a devastating accident.

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

Writer:

M. Night Shyamalan

Stars:

Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright

2 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Willis	...	David Dunn
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Elijah Price
Robin Wright	...	Audrey Dunn (as Robin Wright Penn)
Spencer Treat Clark	...	Joseph Dunn
Charlayne Woodard	...	Elijah's Mother
Eamonn Walker	...	Dr. Mathison
Leslie Stefanson	...	Kelly
Johnny Hiram Jamison	...	Elijah Age 13
Michaelia Carroll	...	Babysitter
Bostin Christopher	...	Comic Book Clerk
Elizabeth Lawrence	...	School Nurse
Davis Duffield	...	David Dunn Age 20 (as David Duffield)
Laura Regan	...	Audrey Inverso Age 20
Chance Kelly	...	Orange Suit Man
Michael Kelly	...	ER Doctor

Storyline

Actor Bruce Willis and writer/director M. Night Shyamalan reunite after the surprise success of The Sixth Sense for this supernatural thriller. David Dunn (Willis) is taking a train from New York City back home to Philadelphia after a job interview that didn't go well when his car jumps the tracks and collides with an oncoming engine, with David the only survivor among the 131 passengers on board. Astoundingly, David is not only alive, he hardly seems to have been touched. As David wonders what has happened to him and why he was able to walk away, he encounters a mysterious stranger, Elijah Prince (Samuel L. Jackson), who explains to David that there are a certain number of people who are "unbreakable" -- they have remarkable endurance and courage, a predisposition toward dangerous behavior, and feel invincible but also have strange premonitions of terrible events. Is David "unbreakable"? And if he is, what are the physical and psychological ramifications of this knowledge?

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Plot Keywords:

supernatural power | train station | train crash | superhero | comic book art | 

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Taglines:

Some things are only revealed by accident

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements including some disturbing violent content, and for a crude sexual reference

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 November 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

No Ordinary Man

Filming Locations:

Ontario Street Comic Book Shop, 2235 E. Ontario St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$30,330,771, 26 November 2000

Gross USA:

$95,011,339

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$248,118,121

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Blinding Edge Pictures, Barry Mendel Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX SDDS DTS-ES

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer and Director M. Night Shyamalan always had Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson in mind to play the roles of David Dunn and Elijah Price.

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Goofs

In Elijah's gallery, original comic book cover art is shown to be colored, when in reality, the production work is always in black and white.

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Quotes

Elijah Price: Why is it, do you think, that of all the professions in the world you chose protection?
David Dunn: You are a very strange man.
Elijah Price: You could have been a tax accountant. You could have owned your own gym. You could have opened a chain of restaurants. You could've done of ten thousand things, but in the end, you chose to protect people. *You* made that decision, and I find that very, very interesting.

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Crazy Credits

The producers wish to thank: Miramax Films

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Alternate Versions

Early previews of the movie didn't have the superimposed text ending, leaving a more open ending. This version was released in France in theaters, but the text was next included in TV, video and DVD.

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Connections

Referenced in FanboyFlicks, Bad Movies!: What's Wrong with Signs??? (2013)

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Soundtracks

Pride and Joy
(1983)
Written and Performed by Stevie Ray Vaughan
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Moving - in its most original sense

The final plot twist in "The Sixth Sense" made me wonder whether its director could repeat such a stunt, in "Unbreakable". Force us to follow the path he wants us to take, by telling his story, slowly, subtly leading us. Make us start to believe we know what will happen next, make us love the characters, then make us *want* things to happen next. Yes, tonight when seeing "Unbreakable", all that happens, again. And then, exactly like in "The Sixth Sense", he pulls the carpet right from under us, in the final seconds of the movie takes away everything, every expectation, he first gave us. Many people will be so disappointed by this that they will end up hating the movie. So did I, for about five minutes. Now I know the movie will make me think, literally move my thoughts, for a long time after tonight. I want to see it again, right now. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Hollywood has a new master storyteller. His name is Manoj Night Shyamalan.