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The Village [2004]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Even when his trademark twist-ending formula wears worrisomely thin as it does in The Village, M. Night Shyamalan is a true showman who knows how to serve up a spookfest. He's derailed this time by a howler of a "surprise" lifted almost directly from "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim," an episode of The Twilight Zone starring Cliff Robertson that originally aired in 1961. Even if you're unfamiliar with that Rod Serling scenario, you'll have a good chance of guessing the surprise, which ranks well below The Sixth Sense and Signs on Shyamalan's shock-o-meter. That leaves you to appreciate Shyamalan's proven strengths, including a sharp eye for fear-laden compositions, a general sense of unease, delicate handling of fine actors (alas, most of them wasted here, save for Bryce Dallas Howard in a promising debut), and the cautious concealment of his ruse, which in this case involves a 19th-century village that maintains an anxious truce with dreadful creatures that live in the forbidden woods nearby. Will any of this take anyone by genuine surprise? That seems unlikely, since Emperor Shyamalan has clearly lost his clothes in The Village, but it's nice to have him around to scare us, even if he doesn't always succeed. --Jeff Shannon


The Village..That Nobody Knows About
Review date: 2008-09-13 Rating: 2 out of 10

On a scale of 1-10, 10 being good and 1 being utter s***e I give The Village a score of minus 6.
DO NOT WASTE TIME OR MONEY WITH THIS FILM!!!!!! I've made that mistake already so you don't have to.

The plot is wafer thin, you'll see the so called twist long before the end. By the time you've guessed what is going on stop the film and eject it because at this point you'll only be 5 minutes into the film and you can watch something else instead.


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Reviews


Predictable
Review date: 2008-08-28 Rating: 2 out of 10

From the outset this film had an interesting idea that had potential; unfortunately the execution seemed to waste the chance for what seemed the makings of a good movie. Shyamalan failed to live up to his earlier success in `The sixth sense' and I found the plot twists were predictable and unsurprising. The film has a kind of `Scooby-doo' adolescent feel to it (it starts off ok till "those meddling kids" go to investigate and discover it's a guy in a mask.)

The ending is a complete anti-climax too in which the director appears to milk it for all its worth. By this point I found myself willing something to happen so that I didn't feel I had wasted 107minutes of my life watching something that had already put the rest of my family to sleep. If you want an alternative to counting sheep before bed this is the film for you...


Village Or Prison?
Review date: 2008-08-12 Rating: 6 out of 10

The plot has been largely summarised in the other reviews and of course it is very difficult to comment on aspects of the movie without giving away the denouement.

A good, visually stunning movie with a compelling music score, but to be honest I saw the "twist" coming less than half way through. This type of story telling is very much "one shot" as with MNS's other efforts. Subsequent viewings are seen in a rather different context. In fact, I found myself railing at the Elders, in that no matter how much they may wish to preserve a way of life does that give them the right to with-hold medical treatment, deny children a sophisticated education or choice whether they leave the community or stay, etc? And if a criminal act has been committed then surely the person responsible is still culpable to the relevant authorities (unless they were planning to "suicide" Noah anyway)?

In fact, the more times I watch (and admittedly still enjoy) the movie, the more plot holes there are. I find I empathise rather less than with MNS presumed sympathy toward why the founders created the village and more to the suppressed rights of the residents. Besides, there is no way a community so small could be truly independent of the outside world, whatever the time period. Things break and need replacing, raw materials and equipment would need to be brought in etc. etc. Where did all those plush furnishings come from?

I think The Village is still superior to Signs (which was never quite the same after Scary Movie 3 lampooned it) or indeed Unbreakable. I hope it eventually gets a Blu-Ray release as the visuals would really benefit from a HD transfer but that doesn't mean you can quite overcome the implausabiliy of it all.

Not the best M. Night Shyamalan film
Review date: 2008-08-10 Rating: 6 out of 10

I bought this film after watching Signs and the Sixth Sense and I have to say it is not in the same league.
Set in an isolated village in the middle of a forest, this story is one of a community living a life in fear of the monsters in the wood.
The setting is good, and so are the characters but changing the main character half-way through was not a good move by Shyamalan. It messed up the flow of the story and from there, the film was only heading downwards.
The twist at the end spoiled the film and left me feeling that there was no point to the last hour and half i spent watching it.
I gave this film a 3 star because of the averagness of the film. It was bearable but not one i would watch over and over again.

Not so quiet a life
Review date: 2008-07-20 Rating: 6 out of 10

Fans of the writer/director M. Night Shyamalan will not be disappointed by this movie, as The Village uses many of the themes familiar to his work. Beautifully designed and photographed this is a twisting tale of lost innocence that takes place in and around an isolated, Amish-like village. There is much to keep the viewer both intrigued and entertained here. Enjoyable, even if the ending, which seems to satisfy at first, soon becomes implausible on retrospection.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Sigourney Weaver
Joaquin Phoenix
Adrien Brody
Bryce Dallas Howard
William Hurt

Creators:
Sigourney Weaver (Primary Contributor)
William Hurt (Primary Contributor)
Roger Deakins (Cinematographer)
M. Night Shyamalan (Producer)
M. Night Shyamalan (Writer)
Christopher Tellefsen (Editor)
Jose L. Rodriguez (Producer)
Sam Mercer (Producer)
Scott Rudin (Producer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
EAN: 5017188814119
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2005-01-31
Number of discs: 1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 107 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2004-07-30
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)

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