Much like many top-tier Hollywood directors, M. Night Shyamalan traces his roots to independent films. The Indian-American filmmaker made his directorial debut with the 1992 indie flick Praying With Anger, which he created while still at NYU.
He broke into the mainstream with the 1999 box office hit The Sixth Sense, which starred Bruce Willis. The horror movie was a massive success, establishing Shyamalan's status as one of Hollywood's biggest breakout filmmakers.
Building on the momentum of his first blockbuster hit, Shyamalan collaborated with Willis again for the 2000 thriller Unbreakable.
The film follows David Dunn, played by Willis, who is the lone survivor of a tragic train crash. As David comes out of the wreck unscathed, he comes across Elijah Price, played by Samuel L. Jackson, who puts David on a path to unearth his superhuman abilities.
Unbreakable was a moderate box office success. With a $75 million budget, the film grossed over $248 million worldwide.
While it is far from Shyamalan's most successful movies, the director himself considers it his "personal favorite" among all the films he's made.
M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable Named His Best Film of All Time
The critics met Unbreakable with mixed reviews. While others praised the movie for its cinematography and its deconstruction of the traditional superhero narrative, others found it lacking under the immense pressure of The Sixth Sense.
Over the years, however, Unbreakable has risen to the top of Shyamalan's remarkable filmography. In fact, British GQ named it as the director's best movie. Unbreakable ranks No. 1 on the publication's definitive ranking of Shyamalan's films, beating out the likes of Signs, Trap and even The Sixth Sense.
"Like a lot of great films, Unbreakable feels both prescient about similar movies that followed it, and, from a certain upside-down angle (a recurring visual motif throughout the film), a far better version of what it previsions," British GQ's Jesse Hassenger wrote.
While not entirely in the same mold as the more modern superhero flicks, Unbreakable also made its mark in the genre. It is widely considered one of the greatest superhero films ever made.
Rolling Stone ranks it No. 32 in its list of greatest superhero films. Esquire ranks it even higher, at No. 8 in its collection of the 30 greatest superhero movies of all time.
Unbreakable is far from Shyamalan's most successful movie at the box office, but the way it has emerged as one of his best creations validates his personal affection for it.
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/IZdRGVU
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