100 Greatest Superhero Stories Ever
By Steve Lam
Image Courtesy of Touchstone Pictures
#92. Unbreakable
Medium
Live-Action Feature Film
Release Date
November 22, 2000
Credits
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Bruce Willis as David Dunn, Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, Robin Wright as Audrey Dunn, Spencer Treat Clark as Joseph Dunn, Charlayne Woodward as Mrs. Price, Eamonn Walker as Dr. Mathison
The Reason It’s Great
When we hear the phrase “superhero movie,” we think of action-packed sequences, super-feats, and massive destruction. Unbreakable pretty much breaks away from these notions (pun intended).
It’s a superhero origin story where the audience doesn’t even know it’s even about a superhero. As the film progresses, we’re only given subtle clues that David Dunn is impervious to certain things and is extremely strong. Then, in comes Elijah Price—a person who’s the complete opposite of David. Elijah, unlike David and the audience, sees a bigger picture.
In the end, we get the twist (customary for all of M. Night Shyamalan’s films): David is the superhero to Elijah’s supervillain. Elijah has been searching for David all his life. A super villain needs his opposite—the superhero—in order to have meaning.
It’s a great reveal, and looking back at the whole movie, it was staring at us in our faces all along. Unbreakable is another film that turned the genre on its head.