IMDb user comments for
The Sixth Sense (1999)

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43 out of 52 people found the following comment useful :-
You'll be knocked for six, 26 November 1999

Author: Jo Houghton from London, England

This is an incredibly powerful film. Awash with emotion but never stooping to sentimentality this is the story of one frightened little boy you will never forget. All your worst childhood nightmares: the noises in the attic, the intruder in your house, that cold breath that makes your hair stand on end are here and then some.

Bruce Willis gives one of the best performances of his career as the child psychologist trying to get himself back on track after a violent encounter with a former patient and it would be a crime if Haley Joel Osment were overlooked at coming awards ceremonies for his powerful performance here. It has been a long time since a child actor displayed such maturity in a role. Cole's innocent little face hidden behind his absent father's large-framed spectacles betrays a child coming to terms with a terrifying secret in the only way he can.

You don't need to go and see this film again to realise why the end is such a surprise but you will rush out to watch it again purely because it's an almost perfect example of it's genre.

Laugh, cry, jump a mile out of your seat, sigh with relief - but not too early... We did!

44 out of 54 people found the following comment useful :-
A movie that will not be outclassed in its genre for years to come, 4 December 1999
Author: jayp-5 from Logan, Utah

When I first saw The Sixth Sense, I didn't know what to expect. I guess I was looking forward to a good scary horror flick. I was very surprised. I found that the purpose for this movie was far greater than just trying to scare the audience. I found this movie was showing not only the emotions of fear, but also faith, commitment, sadness of loss, and love. The end was so surprising, I had to see it again. The second time I watched it, I did it from a totally different perspective (this is a very rare quality for any movie), and I enjoyed it just as much, or maybe even more. I also, as many viewers have, tried to detect fallacies in the story. I couldn't find one. In addition, for those that appreciate great soundtracks, the music only helps to heighten the experience of the movie.

I believe that a great movie is one that helps the viewer perceive life and the world differently. The Sixth Sense is one of those extraordinary movies that does that to me. This movie reflects on some difficult subjects that will make the viewer walk away asking eternal questions. Questions about death, about letting go, about eternal love and commitment, about the love between parent and child, and between husband and wife. Maybe I read too much into this very wonderful film, but I believe it will be difficult to find a movie that has touched on these subjects so poignantly and so well for years to come.

33 out of 40 people found the following comment useful :-
Brilliant, 23 March 2000

Author: talbain from New Jersey

The Sixth Sense is a brilliant film, plain and simple. It is unique in that it relies on imagination and psychology to scare you and make you think twice about the world around you. The director did a fabulous job constructing the imagery of the film, and I genuinely did not know about the ending until it was revealed. Quite a shock! The Sixth Sense goes in my book as the single greatest psychological horror film I have ever seen. Anyone who bashes it are simply not giving it a chance or don't fully realize the complex dialog and imagery around them. Brilliant

34 out of 43 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the films of the Nineties, 8 December 1999

Author: Readster from London

This is perhaps my film of the decade so far. The reasons are too numerous to go into in such a short critique. Surely there have not been too many films that can take you through the range of emotions that the Sixth Sense does. The prime emotion; fear, is a difficult emotion to generate in a modern audience that has seen it all before, but this film succeeds where others fail, praying on your imagination and generating suspense from subtle devices rather than blatant horror.

It is such a relief that the performances of Willis and the excellent Osment live up to an excellently directed quality storyline. I will be disappointed if the youngster doesn't receive at least an academy nomination.

I seldom go to the cinema twice to watch a film, in fact I cannot remember when I have done it before. Tonight I am taking an old friend to see this film as it will be a tragedy if he doesn't see it on the big screen. He has heard so much about it that he is reluctant to go, as I am when something is over-hyped. Just for a change though, here is a film that lives up to its billing and has you thinking about it for weeks to come. As for the twist at the end? Well it totally disorientated me, my mind spinning back throughout the whole film. A fantastic punchline to my film of the year.

28 out of 32 people found the following comment useful :-
Wanna See Dead People?, 6 August 1999

Author: Bill Stoll (bill@billstoll.com) from Tampa FL

"I see Dead People!" Sixth Sense is well worth the ticket price. It's a tight story and the acting is outstanding. There are a couple of good scares, rendered more effective because I dropped my guard. My sixth sense says such was the Writer/Director's express intention. :-)

It's a ghost story yet doesn't rely on special effects and computerization to chill your bones as the Haunting tried to do. The scares come from the sliver of possibility "what is happening may be true." Well that, and the dropping your guard thing.

Everyone in the cast is outstanding. Bruce Willis is at his best since Die Hard and The Last Boy Scout. His patient is 33 years junior to him ( played by Haley Joel Osment) is outstanding. Truly. I was mesmerized by his ability to get into this "sixth sense" possessed character. Malcolm and Cole helping each other resolve their problems occurs with good chemistry, and is believable, despite the heights you have to take your mind to believe the story's premise.

I am sooo tempted to give clues on when to grip the one you're with or arms rests a little more tightly; but alas, cannot in good conscience (or for fear of hate mail!) And out of respect for M. Night Shyamalan for a very good script and story thesis.

Summing: if you're "only" looking for the Chill Factor, take in Blair Witch over this one for those final 10 minutes. The reality factor is stronger, both despite and because of the low budget factors. But if you want to see one of the best Hollywood manufactured horror films in a long time, give Sixth Sense a chance. I enjoyed it.

21 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
The most careful attention to detail, 25 October 2000
Author: Steve Steckel from Los Angeles, CA

What makes this film so wonderful to watch is not simply the acting, or the terror it instills, or even the plot itself. It is the way in which the writer/director M. Night Shyamalan takes his vision from the page, and carefully crafts a tale that completely absorbs the viewer. As a result, we are treated to a wealth of emotion: fear, sadness, joy, confusion, and humor, each one a compliment to the other.

Haley Joel Osment delivers, plain and simple. By now, so much has been said about the young actor that any more would be repetition. Needless to say, his portrayal of Cole Sear is remarkable. His ability to communicate, through a simple look or gesture, the depths to which his character's soul has been thrust is what truly carries the film. He succeeds at this task beautifully, convincing us while never going over the top; indeed, by the time Cole utters his now-famous line, you not only believe him, you are chilled by the fact that Osment the actor may actually believe it himself.

Bruce Willis turns in a stellar performance, complimenting his young co-star while never overshadowing him. It is a tribute to his respect of the material in so much as he fine tunes his delivery to seem reserved, yet not too toned down.

The Sixth Sense is more than simply a wondrous two hours. It has, in effect, created a new genre of filmmaking... the film is neither drama, nor horror, nor action. Rather, it is a seamless blending of all three, a film that encompasses the best aspects of each genre, without being limited by the worst. Hollywood has taken notice of this, and one can only expect a series of poor imitations to follow. But at least they'll always have The Sixth Sense to guide the way.

16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Incredible, 10 December 1999

Author: Spirit-2 from Sheffield, England

The Sixth Sense is one of those films that rarely happens these days. In other words, I knew so little about it before sitting in the cinema that it wasn't ruined before it started.

I don't want to ramble on about it so I'll just say... absolute perfection. An incredible story that had me and my friends gripped from start to finish. The twist in the tale was totally unexpected as well.

After it finished we sat through the whole of the credits and talked about how fabulous it was. If only more films were like this. I can't remember the last time we did that!

Congratulations to all involved in this masterpiece.

22 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
A surprising masterpiece!, 3 August 1999
Author: Patrick Brogan from Glendale, Arizona, U.S.A.

Sometime Bruce Willis can make some bad films, like HUDSON HAWK and MERCURY RISING. And other times he can make some films that change the film industry and blow the audiences away (i.e. DIE HARD triology, 12 MONKEYS, and PULP FICTION). Now Willis' new film, THE 6th SENSE falls in the latter catageory, as a surprising masterpiece that will leave images stuck in your mind for quite sometime. Willis plays Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, who is quite good at his job, he has a loving wife named Anna (played by the beautiful Olivia Williams), and he just got awarded by the mayor of Philadelpia for his excellent work. Then one night, Malcolm gets a terrifying unexpected visit from one of his former patients. The visit is so terrifying, that it haunts Malcolm later on. Months later, Malcolm's job is going downhill, and his marriage is falling apart. Then his life is changed around when he meets Cole, a eight year old boy who is considered a "freak" by everybody but his mom. Cole is usually alone, scared, and has cuts and bruses on his body. The doctors and social workers think the injuries come from his mom, Lynn Sear (Toni Collette). But Lynn loves Cole too much that she wouldn't even think of harming him. The truth is that the injuries that Cole has are from other people, people that Cole only sees, people that are dead. Cole sees dead people walking around with the living, and only Cole sees these ghostly figures. Malcolm tries to help Cole with his unique gift, and to also find out what these ghostly figures want with him. When I saw the trailers for this movie, it looked like a o.k. movie. Acutally, the preview didn't have any effect on me at all, as for seeing this film. But when I saw this film, I was blown away on how excellent this was! This is a highly entertaining film that is scary, sad, funny, and even touching. The plot is brilliant, it has intellegence, and shows the personalities of the characters well enough that you feel like that you know them after the movie is over. The acting is also great, Willis does a good job as the doctor trying to help poor Cole. Toni Collette is also great as the suffering mom who's very worried and protective over Cole. Oliva Williams is good as well as the suffering wife of the doctor who feels that she's losing her husband more and more everyday. But the real surprise is Haley Joel Osment, who plays the little boy, Cole. For a child actor he's excellent! He shows potential to becomming a great actor in years to come. He's the next promising child actor that will hopefully do well like Elija Wood and Anna Panquin. Overall, THE 6th SENSE took me by surprised, and I ended up loving this film. I would have to place this film as one of the best films of the year, as well as for the summer films. And for a PG13 rated film, it's quite scary! This is one film that no one should miss!!! ***** (out of five)

15 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
Strange but ultimately rewarding, 25 August 1999

Author: Sean Gallagher (naes@cgocable.net) from Oakville, Ont. Canada

First of all, I've read a few comments about the pace of this movie being too slow. I sort of agree with that, but I think it's refreshing to have a movie which takes its time and builds things with subtlety(although here, as I said before, I think it took a little TOO much time). And I think it was realistic at how long it took for the boy to learn to trust the doctor and for how long it took the doctor to discover what was really going on.

Having said all that, in addition to the pace, there were some times when I felt a little queasy, like I wasn't sure what exactly the movie was trying to say. At other times, I was caught up in it, especially in the performances of Willis and Osment. Then came the famous twist ending, and I will tell you that I was quite surprised, and it's making me turn the movie over and over again in my mind. I probably will have to see this again. Overall, while I don't think it's the best of the year, it is a good film.

13 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Death, Lfe, Fear and Hope, 14 February 2000
Author: keval from Basel, Switzerland

Review: The Sixth Sense, Director: M. Night Shyamalam

As a film which has undoubtedly caught the eye of the film going world, it was difficult to avoid the surrounding hype and publicity. Luckily most of the people I had spoken to who had seen the film did not spoil the 'twist' at the end, which, although is rather a laboured point by now in reviews, certainly adds to the "Oh, I see now" factor.

The story revolves around a child psychologist played characteristically by Bruce Willis. I say characteristically, because although his portrayal is quite real, and at times touching, there always seems to be an unnerving 'Die Hard'-ness to his speech, lending the dialogue some comical qualities. Having said that, his overall attempts at revealing the vulnerable and disturbed psyche of his character achieve good results. As the psychologist, he is plagued by a particular event in his professional life which he perceives as his personal failure, and sets out to redeem himself by righting the wrong and wiping his failure from his conscience. This opportunity presents itself to him in the form of Cole Sear, played devastatingly well by Hayley Joel Osment. Cole has a problem, he sees dead people. To the outside world he is seen as a loner, a problem child, and has become increasingly isolated. Hence the need for a child psychologist. Once we have been introduced to these two central players, we are taken on a journey of discovery, as both of these characters in the space of the film will learn a great deal about each other, themselves and human nature.

It is this particular point which the film attempts to address so strongly - human communication. That when this breaks down, an inevitable cycle of interpersonal destruction takes course, sometimes irreversible. This is framed within the context of a superbly told ghost story. The sheer truthfulness and honesty with which the concept of fear is expressed by all the characters, is breathtaking. Cole's' experience of the walking dead, appearing out of nowhere, Malcolm's fear of a deteriorating marriage, and Cole's' mother's fear relating to her own existential angst. All of these are played against the backdrop of the often difficult but finally warm relationship between Cole and Malcolm. Eventually, and against the odds, each character displays courage and bravery as they face up to their existential and supernatural fears.

There are one or two niggling problems plot wise, but in a film where the overall atmosphere created is one which encompasses death, fear, and finally hope, it is impossible not to overlook incongruencies. Superb direction, acting and ambience lead me to think that M. Night Shyamalan has really succeeded in telling a chillingly touching story about the triumph of the human spirit.

February 14, 2000 Harshad C. Keval

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