Maybe because the whole premise and the plot-twist was kind of ridiculous really. I'm not saying that I don't like the movie, in fact I love it, but there are some major weak points in the plot that sadly almost ruined the whole movie...
I didn't think so at all. I thought the story was beautifully written and it was fed to the audience perfectly. Yea the "Twist" was eh, nothing major but it didn't ruin the moment, ya know?
Yeah the human story was really beautiful indeed, but the part with the aliens was... a little far fetched at best xD Like I said, I love the movie, it's one of my all time favorites, but I get the arguments of most of the critics too. The movie would have been better if they replaced the alien threat with something less... rational.... I mean, the aliens are supposed to be really smart but their whole plan seems to be kind of nonsensical... ok granted, we never really got to know what they were up to, but no matter their motives, it seems to have failed horribly due to their lack of proper planing and proper technology to handle the obstacles in their way. And that seems to be a little implausible for a race that managed to overcome the problems of interstellar travel and the fabrication of stealth technology. I can ignore all those things because I focus on the human story, but I get why many people can't...
@@davidcurrie6955 As someone already said, yeah, most people would instinctively either fight or run away. The whole trope of someone being a huge coward, freezing up and pissing themselves is fairly unrealistic; most people don't do that. Even a generally timid person will most often fight if their life is in danger. Bravery has nothing to do with it. The scene is so badass for two reasons: because he WINS, and because this soundtrack is amazing.
Simple ending, a guy beating an alien with a baseball bat but I agree, the most epic ending to any alien movie. And what made the simple ending so epic? Howards genius music that perfectly matches the audience's emotions and the action on the screen.
Abject Horror to Epic Determinism to Redemptive Optimistic Bliss... I can't think of any other piece that moves through such dramatically different emotions so completely, and so effectively... Listen to this song, and whatever you're going through; you know what you have to do.
How wonderful that you see! The "Signs" passed beyond the movie into the world, for the life-art boundary matters rather little for the beloved Holy Spirit...
Tres notas que cambiadas de orden en el momento indicado pasan de reflejar angustia y miedo a esperanza y dicha...solo un maestro como JNH puede hacerlo
“Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? ...Is it possible that there are no coincidences?”
Since I was Born Again, the beloved Holy Spirit has been so very kind and merciful and loving as to offer both signs and gifts. His wondrous and widespread work is to fit us to be better Disciples on Earth, and then to be in heaven. He is more patient and kind than I possibly deserve, but (most of the time when lust is kept at bay), I do the best I can for Him, which means also Father and Son-Saviour...
2:36 filmmaking perfection. When Gram realizes all these coincidences set up through the movie are the true signs of fate. One of my favorite movies of all time.
Almost 20 years of movies since this one and nothing has come as close to this finale of music and storytelling, nothing as moving as this masterpiece...
Try “Dinosaur” (also by James Newton Howard) Has the same epic and beautifully moving quality and tells a story of its own. Here’s a link to the full soundtrack: ruclips.net/p/PLD2F3FE885AE738A9
The Holy Spirit REALLY knows how to inspire ... in a movie specifically designed to help people begin healing after 9/11. A supremely good cause that fully warranted - and fully received - divine intervention. So did a film about signs from God become a sign in itself, out here in the real world. (Literally) wonderful!
The music did a TON of delivering for this movie. Without it this would have been entirely different. Apparently M. Night wanted no music at first! Glad they didn't go that route!
"God" being the appropriate word. Shyamalan tells us that the film was made to give people a new sense of joy and purpose after September 11th and the film about "Signs" of God's presence has God's presence in it, and it's magnificent closing music...
When Howard has the same evil-scary music but switches the three-note melody to the lydian scale ... it's amazing what kind of emotional control he has over that three-note melody and the range he displays with it. Just look at the three-note melody scheme he only SLIGHTLY alters to achieve a plethora of emotional tones... 0:28 we start with the main creepy theme. The three-note section in particular serves as this three-note cornerstone of the soundtrack. 0:55 is its proper melody. 1:21 this is the only break in this three-note melody. The flashback understandably requires a different mood. But this is the only part of this track that is not part of the three-note motif 2:23 is soooooooooooooo CREEPY.... wow here we are back in our creepy three-note central theme. 4:03 transition to lydian mode! BUT... the SAME three-note base yet this time it sounds... MAJESTIC??? 4:23 it alters only slightly to become INSPIRING to enhance the "call to action" 4:39 I don't how he does it man. Then it switches to SCARY-INTENSE again as it leaves the lydian scale for minor but fitting of action and conflict 4:55 he somehow makes it TRIUMPHANT... 5:34 he keeps the SAME three-note melody and makes it MYSTERIOUS. 5:56 he makes it VINDICATING and REDEEMING; rising until its conclusion. James Howard you magnificent bastard....
+gsimon123 James Newton Howard is my favorite movie composer.... Waterworld is one of my favs... the music in that film makes that otherwise mediocre movie much "bigger" than it would have been.....
It's so touching. The ending segment leaves me in awe every single time, not only because of all the emotions involved, but also for how majestically and delicately crafted this scene is as a whole. I will always remember it.
The ending music from the time Merrill takes the bat to when they show the winter scenery and Graham going back to the Church is some of the most riveting and moving music ever put on film. I can never get tired of listening to this or watching the ending. It was less a film about aliens and more about one person's journey towards renewed faith.
And, since lhe life-art boundary can be blurred (if the Holy Spirit so chooses), the movie and its music are signs for us out here in the world too. [By the way, you most likely know that the movie was just beginning to be made when the evil of 9/11 happened, so Shyamalan dedicated the piece to bringing back hope. Of course the Holy Spirit got behind a work like that, and so there are elements of the movie, and elements of the music, that transcend beyond even the acknowledged genius of Shyamalan and Howard... If we scratch the surface here, meaning and love and truth just explode out in all directions... Of course the movie is also about victory over dem*ns, so in this sense it anticipates the coming deception (see in the book "Only Man Bears His Image") that will involve apparent aliens/UAPs or whatever that are actually d*mons...
It's those key changes. Not to mention the strings. There's something about how Howard just reaches into your emotions and manages to make you feel every note. Never knew until last month he wrote the theme to ER.
Part II always tears me up. The thought of your son dying from poisonous gas could be devastating. When he said "Dad, did someone save me?" I cried almost as much as Mel did in this scene. Lol!
Mel is magic with human emotion. His acting is raw and pure. Such a good film that not a lot of people appreciate seeing as they expect more thrill. If they saw it with open eyes they’d realise it’s not a film about aliens, aliens area small part of the bigger picture! Sorry to rant on your comment; Mel is wonderful
This film is so criminally underrated. I feel like in this modern world people are forgetting that we aren't omnipotent nor omniscient. There are more things that we will never be able to understand in this universe than there are stars in the night sky. People aren't honoring the fact that America was build on religion, and find the idea of a force higher than our own ridiculous. "If God loves us or even exists then why do bad things happen?" There are reasons that you cannot and may not ever see; no one ever said life would be easy, comfortable, nor fair, and you are not entitled to any of that. That's the challenge. If you make it through with love and good will still in your heart, you win. "If God is real then why can't I see him?" Can you see the air? No? Well then I guess you just have to have *faith* that it's there. You have to see the signs. Whether you're religious or not, you should really read the bible before making your decision and *look for the signs.* Its better to live with hope for the prevalence of good then to fester with bitterness in an even more bitter and tainted world.
Love this piece. Never get tired of listening to it. It rides the roller coaster of so many emotions. Suspense...fear....conflict....hope....faith redeemed. The movie has a great message.
Because of the beloved, wondrous, inspiring, merciful, kind, cleansing, healing Holy Spirit acting in the name of Jesus to strengthen our Discipleship...
Probably the most gorgeous music I've ever heard, maybe even more so than the theme from The Village. JNH really is a genius with music and he really gets Night's movies, perfectly. He just knows exactly how to show the emotion of the scene.
No shame here, when the music switches to a major key and Morgan asks if somebody saved him, I fucking cried like a baby. In fact I’m literally tearing up just thinking about it again. That’s when you know a movie has you.
Unbreakable ,Signs, The Sixth Sense, The Vivillage,The Vist.M.Night Shyamalan and James Newton Howard will forever reign with absolute style and grace that is beyond compare. My only hope is that James Newton Howard will be on the third installment of Unbreakable.
The aliens were demons, and it was not just any water, but water touched by the innocent lips of the daughter of the family Bo (who did not cry at all when she was born and was seen by all as looking like an angel), and then left around all over the house. Made ready by her for when it was needed. An eccentric sign in a dysfunctional family hurt and hit and harmed as it seems, yet truly blessed... Congratulations for "seeing" one of the signs in music given to you and all of us in the movie "Signs" ... through the Holy Spirit, for whom the boundaries between life and art matter very little. That music does indeed open the gates of heaven, and let us feel God. Maybe you know that 9/11 happened almost immediately as they began making "Signs"??? Great, great evil had been unleashed, and M Night Shyamalan wanted to give people back a little hope. How could the Holy Spirit NOT get involved in a project like that? And of course, He did. In the movie and in JNH's transcending music (of course He is always a genius, but - for example - his beautifui music for Wyatt Earp is still a kind of con, as the beauty of the Old West was in the landscape, maybe, but not in the people). Here there is no artifice... The paradox of course being that the Holy Spirit was present in many culturally-inspired responses to 9/11 - including the stunning and immensely innovative and courageous mobilisation of the boats of New York to evacuate people from Manhattan (history's largest evacuation), and even the movie "Love Actually" - a film about love in which love is seen to be delivered by planes at airports. [More obviously also in Stephen Daldry's amazing movie "Extremely loud and incredibly close"]. But 9/11 DID go ahead, was not stopped by divine intervention. The only mercy is that evil can beget good in response, not just more evil. We are granted the discernment, given the tools we need to respond through the gifts of the Holy Spirit - including courage in love and truth beyond what can be imagined. But we have to invite the Holy Spirit, have to let that place within us prepared for Him be filled by Him. If we harden our hearts we can go on doing evil with no problem.
When Howard has the same evil-scary music but switches the three-note melody to the lydian scale ... it's amazing what kind of emotional control he has over that three-note melody and the range he displays with it. Just look at the three-note melody scheme he only SLIGHTLY alters to achieve a plethora of emotional tones... 0:28 we start with the main creepy theme. The three-note section in particular serves as this three-note cornerstone of the soundtrack. 1:01 is its MAIN melody. 1:21 this is the only break in this three-note melody. The flashback understandably requires a different mood. But this is the only part of this track that is not part of the three-note motif 2:23 is soooooooooooooo CREEPY.... wow here we are back in our creepy three-note central theme. 4:03 transition to lydian mode! BUT... the SAME three-note base yet this time it sounds... MAJESTIC??? 4:23 it alters only slightly to become INSPIRING to enhance the "call to action" (my personal fav part :D) 4:39 I don't how he does it man. Then it switches to SCARY-INTENSE again as it leaves the lydian scale for minor but fitting of action and conflict 4:55 he somehow makes it TRIUMPHANT... 5:34 he keeps the SAME three-note melody and makes it MYSTERIOUS. 5:56 he makes it VINDICATING and REDEEMING; rising until its conclusion. James Howard you magnificent bastard....
At 6:13 he usually would go down but instead of going down like we had heard so many times before making us feel fearful he goes up completely washing away the fear and tension giving us the ultimate relief.
But understand that beyond the master / maestro that is James Newton Howard; given a context by the master / meastro that is M. Night Shyamalan; there is the the Holy Spirit. This music is as it is, the movie is as it is, the boundary between life and art is as porous as it is, and things matter in the world as they do, because of His wondrous and beloved activity. The whole purpose of the movie for its characters and for us is that things are not by chance. There is meaning, and we need to ... see (just as Colleen told Graham, who could not and would not ... until an invasion of alien-dem*ns made it imperative that he did so). God is willing to go to great lengths to help us, beloved and kind and merciful and forgiving as He is.
Me too! That was my favorite part of the entire movie! And he did it in a subtle way too, not the unrefined, in-your-face way I see in most religion-based movies. (I am a Christian btw.)
That's one of the reasons why it's my all time favourite movie. And I'm not even religious. It's almost saying the two can coexsist aliens and your belief in god.
I saw this movie at cinemas and it was fantastic. Rewatched it recently and while it was a little more ‘boring’ as I remembered it’s still fantastic. One of M. Night’s good films. The ending is fantastic. Obviously.
He can use a Trinity of notes, but the Holy Spirit inspires the transcendance beyond worldly things. Sure, Howard is a genius, but all human genius can be raised higher... As here.
My mom told me I used to watch this show since I was 3. Ever since, I still get a little creeped out at certain scenes. But this is definitely one of my all time faves..
Honestly just so beautiful ..I can not desceibe just how much I love this, or the movie. This movie has been my all time favorite since I was five years old, nearly seven years ago. NEVER going to forget when I was sitting in the stands for a drum corp performance watching the Blue Knights perform their show "That One Second" and they stsrted playing tracks from this movie...I honestly cried. ...but hey 3:26 and thoes trombones amirite? xD
+Alicia Jane I had to reply to this comment! The movie has been one of my favorites since I was young as well! And I LOVE drum corps! The Blue Knights performed at my high school, and I had no idea they were playing this in their show. I was also basically in tears as soon as I heard those notes!
This was such a beautiful movie..❤️ A unique take on alien invasion through the eyes of a normal family....mixing with religion and the power of faith !!! Sad that it didn't get the love it deserved😔😔😔
It does count to wait for all the soundrack length , just to reach at this two parted gran finale which increases agony speed and volume ... James Newton Howard created a claustophobic , psychological , sci- fi thriller music background , like a genious . Proud to have baught that soundtrack . Hollywood Studio Symphony by far the greatest film scoring studio orchestra !
From 3:27 it's absolute brilliance! Especially from 4:39 to 5:32. I literally go crazy conducting my imaginary orchestra.... The ending is very beautifull as well. This whole piece shows the very best of film music: a simple three-note melody to represent an alien invasion, that can become menacing and comforting if orchestrated differently.
What a piece of music as fate and courage come together and the guy fights for his family and restores his brothers faith.Just beautiful message to us all👏👏👏👏
Indeed it is, my friend. But see, that's God right there - at least a tiny fraction of His essence brought to us through the Holy Spirit as inspirer of transcending art. This is the emergent property of the divine film about Signs that is a sign, also through its music. The life-art barrier does not over-concern the Holy Spirit. He wants us to see, which was Colleen's message for Graham. You see how intricately perfect that is? HOLY SPIRIT perfect, enigmatic, wondrous, pure, true. In a movie that was just beginning to be made when the evil of 9/11 erupted. Shyamalan wanted to give people back a little hope, and he is on camera telling James Newton Howard to tell the Orchestra to give it 10% "more love". They did, but like all of us, they channelled love that was not theirs, but God's...
seriously, one dislike? People have such an irrational hatred for this movie. You don't have to like it (though personally I don't see why not) but don't act like the score is bad.
I think people get the wrong impression of what the movie is about. Some folk see Aliens and think Star Wars, Independence day etc. It's not about aliens really, they're only a small part of the bigger picture.
As indeed you would be, my friend. The film is about the love of God, and the current activity in our world - and ourselves - of the beloved Holy Spirit. The strength and wonder and majesty and perfection of that is humbling and exhilarating and magnificent and beautiful at the same time. Yet, thanks to the same Holy Spirit, Shyamalan knew how to show (a fraction of) that in a movie, while James Newton Howard managed to make it clear in his stunning music. In both cases they were reached by the Holy Spirit for that purpose, in a self-reinforcing process that does not worry too much about the boundaries between life and art. So the film teaches its characters even as it enlightens us at the same time. How perfect is that? [All the more so in a film that was affected by the events of 9-11 almost from the moment it started, persuading Mr Shyamalan that he had to use his movie to try and do something to restore hope in people]. "Signs" is about nothing being by chance. Nothing IS by chance (well no good and beautiful thing, anyway - evil has chaos as one of its hallmarks). My writing to you likewise...
@@sidpheasant7585 thanks for sharing this well written summary. Faith is a thing of beauty and it is portrayed quite nicely by the end of the film which took me by surprise as I am not used to seeing faith in an uplifting light.
@@fadyk85 So nice, then, that you had a chance to see it in that way. Though I never expected it in my younger life, now faith looks like that most days, or perhaps even every day! [Does not mean I don't notice the evil in the world, which is everywhere; but in the end good will prevail, that's certain].
This song has the same effect has the Rocky theme. I always feel triumphant after what seems to be defeat. To keep pushing onward and making it until the end.
An underrated musical score for an underrated movie.
Totally!
James Newton Howard deserves so much more credit for creating this score.
Literally gives me goosebumps.
I agree with you 100% !
Yup!
@@stephenkilgore9508 A truly amazing masterpiece!
Why do I get the feeling that this movie didn't get the amount of love it should've received
Because everybody loves their dopey loud action movies. This movie is great!
Maybe because the whole premise and the plot-twist was kind of ridiculous really. I'm not saying that I don't like the movie, in fact I love it, but there are some major weak points in the plot that sadly almost ruined the whole movie...
I didn't think so at all. I thought the story was beautifully written and it was fed to the audience perfectly. Yea the "Twist" was eh, nothing major but it didn't ruin the moment, ya know?
Yeah the human story was really beautiful indeed, but the part with the aliens was... a little far fetched at best xD Like I said, I love the movie, it's one of my all time favorites, but I get the arguments of most of the critics too. The movie would have been better if they replaced the alien threat with something less... rational.... I mean, the aliens are supposed to be really smart but their whole plan seems to be kind of nonsensical... ok granted, we never really got to know what they were up to, but no matter their motives, it seems to have failed horribly due to their lack of proper planing and proper technology to handle the obstacles in their way. And that seems to be a little implausible for a race that managed to overcome the problems of interstellar travel and the fabrication of stealth technology. I can ignore all those things because I focus on the human story, but I get why many people can't...
Barello Smith I know this is a year late but the aliens are supposed to be demons which is why they are hurt by the blessed water
Just a guy beating an alien with a baseball bat but it's the most epic ending to any alien movie.
@@davidcurrie6955 As someone already said, yeah, most people would instinctively either fight or run away. The whole trope of someone being a huge coward, freezing up and pissing themselves is fairly unrealistic; most people don't do that. Even a generally timid person will most often fight if their life is in danger. Bravery has nothing to do with it. The scene is so badass for two reasons: because he WINS, and because this soundtrack is amazing.
@@GigaLigma Amen. If you're cornered, you fight instinctually.
that would be an excellent "boss fight"
Simple ending, a guy beating an alien with a baseball bat but I agree, the most epic ending to any alien movie. And what made the simple ending so epic? Howards genius music that perfectly matches the audience's emotions and the action on the screen.
Oh please! That alien would have snatched him up and flung him across the room. A 7ft alien vs. a 5'8 185 pound male and the HUMAN wins? Really?!!
Abject Horror to Epic Determinism to Redemptive Optimistic Bliss... I can't think of any other piece that moves through such dramatically different emotions so completely, and so effectively... Listen to this song, and whatever you're going through; you know what you have to do.
How wonderful that you see! The "Signs" passed beyond the movie into the world, for the life-art boundary matters rather little for the beloved Holy Spirit...
Well put
Tres notas que cambiadas de orden en el momento indicado pasan de reflejar angustia y miedo a esperanza y dicha...solo un maestro como JNH puede hacerlo
Una de las películas más infravaloradas de la historia, una joya del cine
“Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? ...Is it possible that there are no coincidences?”
Since I was Born Again, the beloved Holy Spirit has been so very kind and merciful and loving as to offer both signs and gifts. His wondrous and widespread work is to fit us to be better Disciples on Earth, and then to be in heaven. He is more patient and kind than I possibly deserve, but (most of the time when lust is kept at bay), I do the best I can for Him, which means also Father and Son-Saviour...
First time I heard that my hair stood up on end
@@emw346 hairs on the back of my neck too and the tingling in my spine...
Oooooh one-of-my Favorite scenes -and lines.
I’m a miracle man.
2:36 filmmaking perfection. When Gram realizes all these coincidences set up through the movie are the true signs of fate. One of my favorite movies of all time.
Almost 20 years of movies since this one and nothing has come as close to this finale of music and storytelling, nothing as moving as this masterpiece...
Try “Dinosaur” (also by James Newton Howard) Has the same epic and beautifully moving quality and tells a story of its own. Here’s a link to the full soundtrack:
ruclips.net/p/PLD2F3FE885AE738A9
The Holy Spirit REALLY knows how to inspire ... in a movie specifically designed to help people begin healing after 9/11. A supremely good cause that fully warranted - and fully received - divine intervention. So did a film about signs from God become a sign in itself, out here in the real world. (Literally) wonderful!
The music did a TON of delivering for this movie. Without it this would have been entirely different. Apparently M. Night wanted no music at first! Glad they didn't go that route!
jerrysteve - 100% yes. Not Even One. I believe there never will be.
One of the most simplistic yet moving films ever created. A true 10/10.
This is honestly my favorite frickin movie of all time.
same
Same
4:57 was the most epic glass of water falling over EVER!
4:23 and 4:57 Absolutely bloody orgasmic. Chills and tears almost every time. Thanks you James.
EPIC COMMENTARY! I HAVE THE SAME FEELING! GOD, IT'S SO POWERFULL!
@@netsfera Same here :)
"God" being the appropriate word. Shyamalan tells us that the film was made to give people a new sense of joy and purpose after September 11th and the film about "Signs" of God's presence has God's presence in it, and it's magnificent closing music...
I've been coming back to this part occasionally, about once every two months, for 15 years. it's brilliant.
When Howard has the same evil-scary music but switches the three-note melody to the lydian scale ... it's amazing what kind of emotional control he has over that three-note melody and the range he displays with it. Just look at the three-note melody scheme he only SLIGHTLY alters to achieve a plethora of emotional tones...
0:28 we start with the main creepy theme. The three-note section in particular serves as this three-note cornerstone of the soundtrack. 0:55 is its proper melody.
1:21 this is the only break in this three-note melody. The flashback understandably requires a different mood. But this is the only part of this track that is not part of the three-note motif
2:23 is soooooooooooooo CREEPY.... wow here we are back in our creepy three-note central theme.
4:03 transition to lydian mode! BUT... the SAME three-note base yet this time it sounds... MAJESTIC???
4:23 it alters only slightly to become INSPIRING to enhance the "call to action"
4:39 I don't how he does it man. Then it switches to SCARY-INTENSE again as it leaves the lydian scale for minor but fitting of action and conflict
4:55 he somehow makes it TRIUMPHANT...
5:34 he keeps the SAME three-note melody and makes it MYSTERIOUS.
5:56 he makes it VINDICATING and REDEEMING; rising until its conclusion.
James Howard you magnificent bastard....
+gsimon123 James Newton Howard is my favorite movie composer.... Waterworld is one of my favs... the music in that film makes that otherwise mediocre movie much "bigger" than it would have been.....
It's so touching. The ending segment leaves me in awe every single time, not only because of all the emotions involved, but also for how majestically and delicately crafted this scene is as a whole. I will always remember it.
The guy is a genius, when the music changes I almost cried...it brings chills up my spine...amazing
He's a genius...5:56 always gets me.. kinda emotional
gsimon123 I’m here for this
A movie that left my jaw on the floor. A climatic ending that was so refreshing and new for the time. Terribly underappreciated piece of cinema.
Very true.
And now M. Night makes pure shit, well Old was a step up, sort of
Anyone still listening to this piece of art in 2019?
09/02/2020 Representing.
John Doe glad to see someone else had the same idea today
No, but I am in 2020
2021....still here
@@theguy3129 me too, man 😎
This is one of the most beautiful musical pieces ever written for a movie. Definitely my fav from JNH
Still here on 2021, who else is getting the chills with the bat, the swing and the glass with water.
Still am always lol. Saw this movie when I was just a kid, gave me major chills then still does year later. Amazing score!
now in 2022 I'm still excited about this masterpiece of cinema and score
the scene with the alien on the roof staring from a distance used to keep me up at night
You were not the only one...
Didn't happen to me, I made sure I kept my blinds closed. Lol
For some reason it didn't scare me that much. I have no clue as to why.
For me it was that one and the hand under the door before getting its fingers chopped off
I loved that scene bc it was it was actually creepy asf
The ending music from the time Merrill takes the bat to when they show the winter scenery and Graham going back to the Church is some of the most riveting and moving music ever put on film. I can never get tired of listening to this or watching the ending. It was less a film about aliens and more about one person's journey towards renewed faith.
And, since lhe life-art boundary can be blurred (if the Holy Spirit so chooses), the movie and its music are signs for us out here in the world too. [By the way, you most likely know that the movie was just beginning to be made when the evil of 9/11 happened, so Shyamalan dedicated the piece to bringing back hope. Of course the Holy Spirit got behind a work like that, and so there are elements of the movie, and elements of the music, that transcend beyond even the acknowledged genius of Shyamalan and Howard... If we scratch the surface here, meaning and love and truth just explode out in all directions...
Of course the movie is also about victory over dem*ns, so in this sense it anticipates the coming deception (see in the book "Only Man Bears His Image") that will involve apparent aliens/UAPs or whatever that are actually d*mons...
It's those key changes. Not to mention the strings.
There's something about how Howard just reaches into your emotions and manages to make you feel every note.
Never knew until last month he wrote the theme to ER.
8:14
Part II always tears me up. The thought of your son dying from poisonous gas could be devastating. When he said "Dad, did someone save me?" I cried almost as much as Mel did in this scene. Lol!
Gio Vidrio I know that scene gets to me everytime.
Mel is magic with human emotion. His acting is raw and pure. Such a good film that not a lot of people appreciate seeing as they expect more thrill. If they saw it with open eyes they’d realise it’s not a film about aliens, aliens area small part of the bigger picture! Sorry to rant on your comment; Mel is wonderful
Any runners out there? This song is awesome to run to. Play 1 and 2, stretch to the first minute, and then...go! Perfect.
"Dad...? Did someone save me?..." TT_TT
Trust James Newton Howard to turn water spilling from a glass jug into the most epic thing you've ever seen!
This film is so criminally underrated. I feel like in this modern world people are forgetting that we aren't omnipotent nor omniscient. There are more things that we will never be able to understand in this universe than there are stars in the night sky. People aren't honoring the fact that America was build on religion, and find the idea of a force higher than our own ridiculous. "If God loves us or even exists then why do bad things happen?" There are reasons that you cannot and may not ever see; no one ever said life would be easy, comfortable, nor fair, and you are not entitled to any of that. That's the challenge. If you make it through with love and good will still in your heart, you win. "If God is real then why can't I see him?" Can you see the air? No? Well then I guess you just have to have *faith* that it's there. You have to see the signs. Whether you're religious or not, you should really read the bible before making your decision and *look for the signs.* Its better to live with hope for the prevalence of good then to fester with bitterness in an even more bitter and tainted world.
Love this piece. Never get tired of listening to it. It rides the roller coaster of so many emotions. Suspense...fear....conflict....hope....faith redeemed. The movie has a great message.
Faith redeemed was what the movie was all about, IMHO.
If M.Night had to get any of his productions right, this was the one.
his best by far imo
This music, Hand of Fate part II is the most beautiful piece I've ever heard.
Because of the beloved, wondrous, inspiring, merciful, kind, cleansing, healing Holy Spirit acting in the name of Jesus to strengthen our Discipleship...
Without a doubt James Newton Howard's music rocks big time! We need more of his scores!
Lol, "big time."
That part right after 8:15 gives me chills....such a beautiful score
Makes me emotional
Me too pal...
Me too.
swing away Merrill........Merrill......Swing away....(dun) (dun)
Is it weird to get the chills at the scene...Like every single time??? lol
probably not I get chills when the alien puts his fingers under the door
Probably the most gorgeous music I've ever heard, maybe even more so than the theme from The Village. JNH really is a genius with music and he really gets Night's movies, perfectly. He just knows exactly how to show the emotion of the scene.
Hipstershy Signs and Lady in the Water are my fave of his M.Night scores.
The musical beats really took me on a journey, 4:22 when that creepy music since the beginning does a 180 and becomes heroic!
I play this music when I'm taking someone downtown in a paddywagon.
Haha yes!!!! Love it
😂😂😂
Perfect😂
Lol xD
It took this comment 8years to reach me and if you ever read this just know, it has retained its punch 😂
it is amazing how the music fluctuates at times. It is a work of genius.
Such drama and triumph over a spilled glass of water. Funny and epic at the same time.
Love the music at 5:58 to the end. so beautiful, gives me chills.
There are no adequate words for how excellent this music is - it leaves me shaken every time.
Tell Graham....Tell him to see.
Swing away...
I don't know what it is about these particular two themes, but they're one of the most beautiful things ever to ever enter my ears.
4:22 my fave part. EPIC. Those TUBAS.
No shame here, when the music switches to a major key and Morgan asks if somebody saved him, I fucking cried like a baby. In fact I’m literally tearing up just thinking about it again. That’s when you know a movie has you.
Unbreakable ,Signs, The Sixth Sense, The Vivillage,The Vist.M.Night Shyamalan and James Newton Howard will forever reign with absolute style and grace that is beyond compare. My only hope is that James Newton Howard will be on the third installment of Unbreakable.
4:55 - sometimes I pretend I’m the alien in the shower and hear this music in my head as I look up at into the water lol
The aliens were demons, and it was not just any water, but water touched by the innocent lips of the daughter of the family Bo (who did not cry at all when she was born and was seen by all as looking like an angel), and then left around all over the house.
Made ready by her for when it was needed.
An eccentric sign in a dysfunctional family hurt and hit and harmed as it seems, yet truly blessed...
Congratulations for "seeing" one of the signs in music given to you and all of us in the movie "Signs" ... through the Holy Spirit, for whom the boundaries between life and art matter very little. That music does indeed open the gates of heaven, and let us feel God.
Maybe you know that 9/11 happened almost immediately as they began making "Signs"???
Great, great evil had been unleashed, and M Night Shyamalan wanted to give people back a little hope.
How could the Holy Spirit NOT get involved in a project like that?
And of course, He did.
In the movie and in JNH's transcending music (of course He is always a genius, but - for example - his beautifui music for Wyatt Earp is still a kind of con, as the beauty of the Old West was in the landscape, maybe, but not in the people).
Here there is no artifice...
The paradox of course being that the Holy Spirit was present in many culturally-inspired responses to 9/11 - including the stunning and immensely innovative and courageous mobilisation of the boats of New York to evacuate people from Manhattan (history's largest evacuation), and even the movie "Love Actually" - a film about love in which love is seen to be delivered by planes at airports. [More obviously also in Stephen Daldry's amazing movie "Extremely loud and incredibly close"].
But 9/11 DID go ahead, was not stopped by divine intervention.
The only mercy is that evil can beget good in response, not just more evil.
We are granted the discernment, given the tools we need to respond through the gifts of the Holy Spirit - including courage in love and truth beyond what can be imagined.
But we have to invite the Holy Spirit, have to let that place within us prepared for Him be filled by Him.
If we harden our hearts we can go on doing evil with no problem.
@@sidpheasant7585 sir this is a Wendy’s
@@XiangYu94 meaning of that response unknown to me...
Always goosebumps when i'm listening to these tracks.. JNH is a magician with the vision of Night.
One of best endings I've ever seen. I love it.
When Howard has the same evil-scary music but switches the three-note melody to the lydian scale ... it's amazing what kind of emotional control he has over that three-note melody and the range he displays with it. Just look at the three-note melody scheme he only SLIGHTLY alters to achieve a plethora of emotional tones...
0:28 we start with the main creepy theme. The three-note section in particular serves as this three-note cornerstone of the soundtrack. 1:01 is its MAIN melody.
1:21 this is the only break in this three-note melody. The flashback understandably requires a different mood. But this is the only part of this track that is not part of the three-note motif
2:23 is soooooooooooooo CREEPY.... wow here we are back in our creepy three-note central theme.
4:03 transition to lydian mode! BUT... the SAME three-note base yet this time it sounds... MAJESTIC???
4:23 it alters only slightly to become INSPIRING to enhance the "call to action" (my personal fav part :D)
4:39 I don't how he does it man. Then it switches to SCARY-INTENSE again as it leaves the lydian scale for minor but fitting of action and conflict
4:55 he somehow makes it TRIUMPHANT...
5:34 he keeps the SAME three-note melody and makes it MYSTERIOUS.
5:56 he makes it VINDICATING and REDEEMING; rising until its conclusion.
James Howard you magnificent bastard....
gsimon123 excellent post. Thank you for this detailed breakdown.
At 6:13 he usually would go down but instead of going down like we had heard so many times before making us feel fearful he goes up completely washing away the fear and tension giving us the ultimate relief.
7:08 on always gets me... You always come back to this one knowing it's a masterpiece among masterpieces.
But understand that beyond the master / maestro that is James Newton Howard;
given a context by the master / meastro that is M. Night Shyamalan;
there is the the Holy Spirit.
This music is as it is, the movie is as it is, the boundary between life and art is as porous as it is, and things matter in the world as they do, because of His wondrous and beloved activity.
The whole purpose of the movie for its characters and for us is that things are not by chance.
There is meaning, and we need to ... see (just as Colleen told Graham, who could not and would not ... until an invasion of alien-dem*ns made it imperative that he did so).
God is willing to go to great lengths to help us, beloved and kind and merciful and forgiving as He is.
Just the switch from intense to heartbreaking ughh gives me chills makes me wanna watch it again
The SWING at 4:55!\ Dammit! i love this music.
i watched this with my grandparents when i was 5, and i got the shit scared outta me when i saw the alien hand pop out from underneath the door
Nah the birthday party scene gets me everytime like that's the 1st time we actually get a glimpse of what it looks like and the way it moves😖😖😖
That scene is probably the first time I ever covered my eyes during a movie. Second was the camera scene in Mama haha
I loved how he mixed aliens and religion !
Me too! That was my favorite part of the entire movie! And he did it in a subtle way too, not the unrefined, in-your-face way I see in most religion-based movies. (I am a Christian btw.)
That's one of the reasons why it's my all time favourite movie. And I'm not even religious. It's almost saying the two can coexsist aliens and your belief in god.
Jack Lewiee, of course they can. Most people don't seem to understand that God, the angels, etc. are all extra-terrestrials. In other words: aliens.
Im not religious and this movie is the closest ive had to an answer
That's called Scientology
the intro to the movies used to scare me to death
I can kinda see why! Lol
What an amazingly gifted composer, this brings chills every time, thank God for this kind of music. Let it glorify his creation!
That's it in a nutshelll - so many of us who write here can see that so incredibly clearly...
I saw this movie at cinemas and it was fantastic. Rewatched it recently and while it was a little more ‘boring’ as I remembered it’s still fantastic. One of M. Night’s good films. The ending is fantastic. Obviously.
beautiful movie with a beautiful message as well as a masterpiece soundtrack. Thanks JNH!
Brillant movie scene together with music, allways sent chills down my spine.
One of the greatest movies ever made
Ah 2002... :)
The hand of fate. In this tumultuous 2020, this piece of fine music tells me that despite everything is happening in the world, we will overcome.
And ridiculously and so wonderfully, it is Boris's Britain that is leading the way...
So damn good!! It just exudes bravery and over coming fear
7:56 those french horns! Absolutely beautiful! ❤
This music and scene absolutely gives me chills and makes me cry everytime I hear it and see it...
Its amazing what Howard does with 3 notes and key changes, to make this so emotive.
Simply stunning.
And those strings at the end.....
He can use a Trinity of notes, but the Holy Spirit inspires the transcendance beyond worldly things.
Sure, Howard is a genius, but all human genius can be raised higher...
As here.
Swing away, Merrill.
gives me goosebumps....
I get chills listening to this music with and without the movie.
My mom told me I used to watch this show since I was 3. Ever since, I still get a little creeped out at certain scenes. But this is definitely one of my all time faves..
My favorite soundtrack.
The Brass Blare at 3:40 is awesome! I bet their lips were sore the next day!
Neal Montgomery thank you that is the part that always got me too
(Five years later, lol!) Sounds like cimbassos playing pedal tones. Quite an effect.
This is a really movie of suspence horror and drama.
M. Night shyamalan the master of suspence xD
One of the best film music pieces ! Such a great motif, and I love how it continues to change and evolve.
Honestly just so beautiful ..I can not desceibe just how much I love this, or the movie.
This movie has been my all time favorite since I was five years old, nearly seven years ago.
NEVER going to forget when I was sitting in the stands for a drum corp performance watching the Blue Knights perform their show "That One Second" and they stsrted playing tracks from this movie...I honestly cried.
...but hey 3:26 and thoes trombones amirite? xD
+Alicia Jane I had to reply to this comment! The movie has been one of my favorites since I was young as well! And I LOVE drum corps! The Blue Knights performed at my high school, and I had no idea they were playing this in their show. I was also basically in tears as soon as I heard those notes!
+Alicia Jane I know! They also played music from "A Beautiful Mind" which is also a movie soundtrack
Yes! I love that movie too, so that whole show was just wonderful!
This was such a beautiful movie..❤️
A unique take on alien invasion through the eyes of a normal family....mixing with religion and the power of faith !!!
Sad that it didn't get the love it deserved😔😔😔
I watch the ending to this movie and it always touches me. Every time ; ^ ;
It does count to wait for all the soundrack length , just to reach at this two parted gran finale which increases agony speed and volume ...
James Newton Howard created a claustophobic , psychological , sci- fi thriller music background , like a genious . Proud to have baught that soundtrack .
Hollywood Studio Symphony by far the greatest film scoring studio orchestra !
From 3:27 it's absolute brilliance! Especially from 4:39 to 5:32. I literally go crazy conducting my imaginary orchestra.... The ending is very beautifull as well. This whole piece shows the very best of film music: a simple three-note melody to represent an alien invasion, that can become menacing and comforting if orchestrated differently.
comforting indeed - helps us reach to the Comforter, and He to us...
Especially when the horn kicks in at 3:41 - it gets me everytime!
4:23
+Zuzka 123 epic moment
Absolutely. Abso bloody lutely!
What a piece of music as fate and courage come together and the guy fights for his family and restores his brothers faith.Just beautiful message to us all👏👏👏👏
4:23 is simply incredible.
Indeed it is, my friend. But see, that's God right there - at least a tiny fraction of His essence brought to us through the Holy Spirit as inspirer of transcending art. This is the emergent property of the divine film about Signs that is a sign, also through its music. The life-art barrier does not over-concern the Holy Spirit. He wants us to see, which was Colleen's message for Graham. You see how intricately perfect that is? HOLY SPIRIT perfect, enigmatic, wondrous, pure, true. In a movie that was just beginning to be made when the evil of 9/11 erupted. Shyamalan wanted to give people back a little hope, and he is on camera telling James Newton Howard to tell the Orchestra to give it 10% "more love". They did, but like all of us, they channelled love that was not theirs, but God's...
absolutely awesome having epic music interrupted by RUclips advertisements
seriously, one dislike? People have such an irrational hatred for this movie. You don't have to like it (though personally I don't see why not) but don't act like the score is bad.
AuroraInBlue No point bitching about someone disliking it. People can dislike it if they want to, doesn't mean the score is bad or changes anything.
I think people get the wrong impression of what the movie is about. Some folk see Aliens and think Star Wars, Independence day etc. It's not about aliens really, they're only a small part of the bigger picture.
Now its 20
The movie is a masterpiece imo, the theme sends you to a different realm..
This movie is incredible
A truly amazing masterpiece!
Goosebumps
emotional masterpiece :)
watching NOPE i realised how much of the soundtrack of that film homages this one
My favorite movie score
I've actually never seen this movie, but I heard this in Blue Knights show (2014) and for some reason, just sounded like a James Newton Howard piece
no more movies like that today...
This is my shit. I love it. Brings goosebumps every time . Such a masterpiece I cant get enough of it fukc
I am with you, same here. I keep coming back to it and have for years since the movie came out.
And I though Ride of the Valkyries was powerful! This is amazing!
Only now, after 18 years of this movie, do I realize the best part of the song is the beautiful ending.
Movie came out in 2002
I love ❤James Newton
Masterpiece of OST. One of my fav movies
Watched this film for the first time only last year. For a 20+ year old film, I was impressed!
As indeed you would be, my friend.
The film is about the love of God, and the current activity in our world - and ourselves - of the beloved Holy Spirit.
The strength and wonder and majesty and perfection of that is humbling and exhilarating and magnificent and beautiful at the same time.
Yet, thanks to the same Holy Spirit, Shyamalan knew how to show (a fraction of) that in a movie, while James Newton Howard managed to make it clear in his stunning music.
In both cases they were reached by the Holy Spirit for that purpose, in a self-reinforcing process that does not worry too much about the boundaries between life and art.
So the film teaches its characters even as it enlightens us at the same time.
How perfect is that?
[All the more so in a film that was affected by the events of 9-11 almost from the moment it started, persuading Mr Shyamalan that he had to use his movie to try and do something to restore hope in people].
"Signs" is about nothing being by chance.
Nothing IS by chance (well no good and beautiful thing, anyway - evil has chaos as one of its hallmarks).
My writing to you likewise...
@@sidpheasant7585 thanks for sharing this well written summary. Faith is a thing of beauty and it is portrayed quite nicely by the end of the film which took me by surprise as I am not used to seeing faith in an uplifting light.
@@fadyk85 So nice, then, that you had a chance to see it in that way. Though I never expected it in my younger life, now faith looks like that most days, or perhaps even every day! [Does not mean I don't notice the evil in the world, which is everywhere; but in the end good will prevail, that's certain].
@@sidpheasant7585 indeed it's nice to see a touching message of a human getting in touch with their faith and having it inspire the best in them 😃
This song has the same effect has the Rocky theme. I always feel triumphant after what seems to be defeat. To keep pushing onward and making it until the end.
Such a great score.
This music is sacred
How wonderful that you see it too.
The Holy Spirit shows us the way...
this movie is a masterpiece and the soundtrack too
Best soundtrack ever!
4:54 is my favorite because thats when it starts sounding like victory lol