BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: Hollywood superstar Bruce Willis (Armageddon, The Siege) brings a powerful presence to an edge-of-your-seat supernatural thriller that earned six Academy Award nominations. Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Willis) is a distinguished child psychologist haunted by the painful memory of a disturbed young patient he was unable to help. So when he meets Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment - Forrest Gump)... a frightened, confused eight-year-old with a similar condition... Dr. Crowe seeks to redeem himself by doing everything he can. Nonethless, Malcolm is unprepared to learn the truth of what haunts Cole: terrifying, unwanted visits from the restless inhabitants of the spirit world! With a riveting intensity you'll find thoroughly chilling and utterly unforgettable, the discovery of Cole's incredible sixth sense leads them both to mysterious and unforseeable consqeuences!

FILM REVIEW: What "The Sixth Sense" does so well is that it became a mainstream blockbuster that relied on old-fashioned storytelling with great performances rather than relying on high tech special effects sequences that are devoid of drama or feeling. It also taps in to the human perception that there is something else beyond our world that we can't see or access, but nevertheless so many of us believe is there. In many ways, the idea of ghosts in the film is almost beside the point; it's actually a film about relationships and human perception. It's also a film that features one standout performance from child prodigy actor Haley Joel Osment who absolutely commands the screen, even over the film's supposed main star Bruce Willis who almost has to take a back seat to this kid's brilliance. The twist ending has become somewhat legendary now, but it works well because it's not forced, and nothing about the film really suggests the twist is coming which makes it all the more enjoyable when you watch it (and makes you watch the film a second time to see how the ending changes the meaning of everything you saw). Overall, this is a great film that reminds us that you don't need high tech wizardry or whiz-bang action sequences and effects to make a really good film.

The film opens by introducing us to the life of Dr Malcolm Crowe (Willis) who is celebrating with his wife on an award he has been given in recognising his work with children. However, that night, their house is broken in to by one of Crowe's previous patients; a patient he couldn't help. Upon confronting him, this ex-patient shoots Crowe with a handgun, but not fatally (or so it would seem). Flashforward to the present where Crowe introduces himself to eight year Cole (Osment), who like is ex-patient, is disturbed by some very frightening visions of the spirit world. Crowe is sceptical, but decides to help Cole anyway. As the two go on their journey, Crowe comes to discover that maybe Cole is telling the truth and this is not a figment of his imagination. And together, they help solve each other's problems, with Crowe coming to a startling realisation to what has actually happened to him.

"The Sixth Sense" takes its time in telling its story, or at least it seems to. In today's day and age a 103 minute film would usually breeze by in an instant but this film is told in a slow-paced, unfolding fashion which is actually quite refreshing. The result is that you are slowly enveloped in the world of the characters, and this leads me to the film's biggest strength, its performances. Bruce Willis does one of his best performances in this film, and it's largely due to the understated way he plays Dr. Crowe. It's very quiet and subdued, and is a markedly different performance for someone who made his name making big, noisy action films. The performance everyone was talking about though when the film came out was that of Haley Joel Osment as Cole. He really is a genius, born-actor who commands the screen from start to finish. He really sells the fear he lives in every day and its through his performance that this film works as well as it does.

Another big selling point of the film is the twist ending. Usually these types of endings can be very contrived, but in this case it's handled particularly well, and there's nothing leading up to it that suggests that Crowe's character was actually killed in the opening scene, especially as almost every film convention and technique is employed to suggest that this didn't happen. When you do see the ending, it comes as quite a surprise and actually makes you want to watch the film a second time to see how it works knowing the Crowe is actually a ghost throughout the film. Some people were able to guess that the ending was going to happen much earlier, particularly in the scene where Cole tells Crowe that he sees "dead people", but I still don't think this detracts from the whole experience.

This film looks fabulous. Director M. Night Shyamalan doesn't do anything fancy with the shots, instead frames each of his pictures as if each picture is telling a story in itself. His use of colour is particularly noteworthy, especially red which is used to denote anything which has been touched by the spirit world. The film is also slower paced than most, but this gives the film a slow building tension and allows you time to get enveloped in the plight of the characters, and the intelligence driving the story. You're not going to be bombarded with detail-rich images and fast paced editing in this film, and it's a welcome relief. Sometimes good story and good character are what we really want from a film.

"The Sixth Sense" is an excellent film, using old-fashioned story techniques and eliciting spectacular performances from its cast.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: This film looks fabulous on DVD. Despite some jittery motion over the main title sequence, the video transfer is perfect; the visuals are crisp, clean with rich and vibrant colours. The soundtrack is particularly effective, given the thriller aspects of the film and the atmospheric sounds really put you in the middle of the proceedings and you almost feel like you're in the spirit world. Overall, a great transfer.

EXTRAS REVIEW: This single disc edition contains a solid collection of extras, largely broken up in to a number of making-of featurettes. These include a storyboard-to-film comparison, the cast, music and sound design, reaching the audience, rules and clues, deleted scenes, a conversation with the director and publicity material including cast and filmmaker notes. These featurettes are great, offerring quite a good overview of the making of the film, particularly in the discovery of Haley Joel Osment as Cole, how clues were left throughout the film that point towards the twist ending, as well as director Shyamalan talking about his background and how he got in to making films. Perhaps one point to make is that it's a bit preachy and self-absorbed in parts, particularly with Shyamalan talking about how the film seemed blessed from the beginning (a point he hammers home with his description of the film as a cultural phenomenon); I guess in hindsight that's how it looks but there's something to say about staying modest. Overall however, this is a solid collection of extras.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth having in the collection.