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IMDbPro

Signs

  • 20022002
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 46m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
359K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,128
145
Signs (2002)
CT #2, post
Play trailer1:35
2 Videos
86 Photos
  • Drama
  • Mystery
  • Sci-Fi
A widowed former reverend living with his children and brother on a Pennsylvania farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields, which suggests something more frightening to come.A widowed former reverend living with his children and brother on a Pennsylvania farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields, which suggests something more frightening to come.A widowed former reverend living with his children and brother on a Pennsylvania farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields, which suggests something more frightening to come.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
359K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,128
145
  • Director
    • M. Night Shyamalan
  • Writer
    • M. Night Shyamalan
  • Stars
    • Mel Gibson
    • Joaquin Phoenix
    • Rory Culkin
Top credits
  • Director
    • M. Night Shyamalan
  • Writer
    • M. Night Shyamalan
  • Stars
    • Mel Gibson
    • Joaquin Phoenix
    • Rory Culkin
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 2.5KUser reviews
    • 212Critic reviews
    • 59Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 34 nominations

    Videos2

    Signs
    Trailer 1:35
    Signs
    What Roles Has Joaquin Phoenix Turned Down?
    Video 3:02
    What Roles Has Joaquin Phoenix Turned Down?

    Photos86

    The lives of Graham Hess (Mel Gibson, right) and his brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix, left) are changed forever after finding an intricate pattern of circles and lines carved into their crops
    Graham (Mel Gibson, center), flanked by his brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix, left), Officer Paski (Cherry Jones, right), and his son, Morgan (Rory Culkin, foreground), soon find that they are not alone - that crop signs are appearing all over the world
    Graham (Mel Gibson) makes a chilling discovery in a neighbor's kitchen
    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.
    Graham (Mel Gibson, center) tries to calm his children, Morgan (Rory Culkin, left) and Bo (Abigail Breslin, right), who think that tin foil hats can stop aliens from reading their minds.
    A baby monitor provides a message from above for Graham (Mel Gibson, left) and his brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix, right).
    Signs (2002)
    Graham Hess (Mel Gibson, center left), along with his son, Morgan (Rory Culkin, left), his daughter, Bo (Abigail Breslin, center right), and his brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix, right), investigate the strange occurrence.
    Morgan Hess (Rory Culkin, right) shows his father, Graham (Mel Gibson, left) what's going on.
    Mel Gibson in Signs (2002)
    Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix in Signs (2002)
    M. Night Shyamalan in Signs (2002)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Mel Gibson
    Mel Gibson
    • Graham Hessas Graham Hess
    Joaquin Phoenix
    Joaquin Phoenix
    • Merrill Hessas Merrill Hess
    Rory Culkin
    Rory Culkin
    • Morgan Hessas Morgan Hess
    Abigail Breslin
    Abigail Breslin
    • Bo Hessas Bo Hess
    Cherry Jones
    Cherry Jones
    • Officer Paskias Officer Paski
    M. Night Shyamalan
    M. Night Shyamalan
    • Ray Reddyas Ray Reddy
    Patricia Kalember
    Patricia Kalember
    • Colleen Hessas Colleen Hess
    Ted Sutton
    Ted Sutton
    • SFC Cunninghamas SFC Cunningham
    Merritt Wever
    Merritt Wever
    • Tracey Abernathyas Tracey Abernathy
    Lanny Flaherty
    Lanny Flaherty
    • Mr. Nathanas Mr. Nathan
    Marion McCorry
    Marion McCorry
    • Mrs. Nathanas Mrs. Nathan
    Michael Showalter
    Michael Showalter
    • Lionel Prichardas Lionel Prichard
    Kevin Pires
    • Brazilian Birthday Boyas Brazilian Birthday Boy
    Clifford David
    Clifford David
    • Columbia University Professoras Columbia University Professor
    Rhonda Overby
    Rhonda Overby
    • Sarah Hughesas Sarah Hughes
    Greg Wood
    Greg Wood
    • TV Anchoras TV Anchor
    Paul L. Nolan
    • Mexico City Reporteras Mexico City Reporter
    • (voice)
    • (as Paul Nolan)
    Ukee Washington
    Ukee Washington
    • Off-Screen TV Anchoras Off-Screen TV Anchor
    • (voice)
    • Director
      • M. Night Shyamalan
    • Writer
      • M. Night Shyamalan
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The artwork in the book about extraterrestrials was done by writer and director M. Night Shyamalan's daughter, Saleka Shyamalan.
    • Goofs
      They nail boards on the outside of inward-opening doors. Obviously this isn't going to prevent the doors from being opened, but anything is better than nothing and they're panicking anyway. Moreover, when Merrill asks Graham how they will know if boarding the windows will work, Graham replies, "Because they seem to have trouble with pantry doors". Graham is implying that if the aliens have trouble with pantry doors, boarding them can only help. Doing so also may give everyone, especially the children, a sense of hope and/or security.
    • Quotes

      Graham Hess: People break down into two groups. When they experience something lucky, group number one sees it as more than luck, more than coincidence. They see it as a sign, evidence, that there is someone up there, watching out for them. Group number two sees it as just pure luck. Just a happy turn of chance. I'm sure the people in group number two are looking at those fourteen lights in a very suspicious way. For them, the situation is a fifty-fifty. Could be bad, could be good. But deep down, they feel that whatever happens, they're on their own. And that fills them with fear. Yeah, there are those people. But there's a whole lot of people in group number one. When they see those fourteen lights, they're looking at a miracle. And deep down, they feel that whatever's going to happen, there will be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope. See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?

    • Crazy credits
      The end credits are black text that rolls over a black screen with a illuminated blue circle in the middle, instead of the traditional white text on a flat black background.
    • Alternate versions
      An additional deleted scene was shown during the credits when it aired on a pay channel in the USA. Grahm Hess tells everyone they must go into the basement. He then tells the story of how he accidentally dislocated Merrill's elbow when he was 1½ years old, and that Merrill never got mad at him. The scene ends with everyone walking down the stairs and closing the basement door.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: The Best Films of 2002 (2003)

    User reviews2.5K

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Seeing The Small Picture
    During the course of the film Joaquin Phoenix's character remarks that the situation they're in seems like The War Of The Worlds. It certainly is, but the small picture of it.

    Whereas H.G. Wells wrote on the grand scale about what nations and governments were doing to fight an alien invasion, M. Night Shyamalan's Signs concerns itself with the small picture, what is happening in one tiny corner of the world, to be precise Bucks County, Pennsylvania and very specifically Mel Gibson and his family.

    One day farmer Gibson who used to be a minister woke up and found that his cornfield had been systematically decimated and a precise geographical pattern was laid out that could be seen from the air. He concluded it was some kind of prank which would have been the normal reaction of anyone. But when reports of the world wide similar crop defilings and then sitings of shadowy alien figures than the world is in a crisis mode.

    But the world is on the back-burner for Gibson. He was a clergyman but gave it up after the death of his wife who was hit by a drunk driver. He's got his own issues to deal with if he can get himself, his children Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin and brother Joaquin Phoenix through the ordeal. All this without knowing how the world in general is coping. Gibson and the family can only speculate and that's where imaginations run wild.

    I have to say that Mel Gibson does a thoroughly good job as an everyman caught up in a global crisis. When War Of The Words was made by George Pal in the Fifties, the leads Gene Barry and Ann Robinson were scientists who had vital information for the survival of the world. The globe is still at risk in Signs, but Mel and his family can't worry about that, just in keeping themselves alive.

    Signs is thinking science fiction ranking up there with the best work of Ray Bradbury and John Heinlein. It's both entertaining and engrossing, you can't ask for more from a film.
    helpful•30
    13
    • bkoganbing
    • Nov 27, 2009

    FAQ11

    • When the Aliens communicate, why do they sound like squirrels?
    • What is "Signs" about?
    • Is "Signs" based on a book?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 2, 2002 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Portuguese
    • Also known as
      • M. Night Shyamalan's Signs
    • Filming locations
      • Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA
    • Production companies
      • Touchstone Pictures
      • Blinding Edge Pictures
      • The Kennedy/Marshall Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $72,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $227,966,634
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $60,117,080
      • Aug 4, 2002
    • Gross worldwide
      • $408,247,917
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 46 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital EX
      • SDDS
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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