Why So Blu?

The Sixth Sense (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

All of the movie anniversaries that have happened this year have been a bit shocking to me on a surface level.  25 years here. 40 years there. Really? Time truly does fly! Now here we are 25 years from the release of The Sixth Sense. Surprisingly successful in 1999, the movie became a true cinematic phenomenon.  How does the film hold up after all this time? Take a look back at the film with me and find out more! Cole and Malcolm together again, this time in 4K! As always, we here at Whysoblu thank you for reading!

Film:

“Hollywood superstar Bruce Willis brings a powerful presence to an edge-of-your-seat thriller from writer-director M. Night Shyamalan (Oscar®-nominee for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director) that critics are calling one of the greatest ghost stories ever filmed. When Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Willis), a distinguished child psychologist, meets Cole Sear (Oscar® -nominee Haley Joel Osment, Best Supporting Actor), a frightened, confused, eight-year-old, Dr. Crowe is completely unprepared to face the truth of what haunts Cole. With a riveting intensity you’ll find thoroughly chilling, the discovery of Cole’s incredible sixth sense leads them to mysterious places with unforgettable consequences!”

Nostalgia time! Let’s go way back into time.  Remember Blockbuster Video? Me too! It was a fabulous time when Mp3s were a new thing and DVD was just starting to become the best way to watch movies at home.  Blockbuster also had those wonderful previously viewed titles.  This was a cheap way to collect movies that were often gently used and something I did often.

When I was in middle school, my grandmother gifted me my first DVD player. It was a very buggy cheap model by a bygone company called Oritron, and she gave me 2 movies, Rain Man and Frantic. You’ve probably heard that story before. On my own, I purchased my first discs, Next Friday and The Sixth Sense. My sister-in-law Kimmy took me to Blockbuster, and I put my $13 down for The Sixth Sense so fast! At this time, I didn’t have allowance and earned money randomly, which meant I didn’t get movies in droves like I do now. So, let’s just say I watched and watched The Sixth Sense to the point that I could recite lines.  Even in my viewing of this new 4K edition, I remembered quite a few lines.

I look at the film as something of a supernatural drama.  I remember advertising dictating it was something more like a horror movie. This was what piqued my interests, but going in otherwise blind, I was blown away by the maturity of the story and of the Autumnal look of the film.  We can’t deny the talents of Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment or Toni Collette here either! They have a quiet vulnerability that is so nuanced that the quiet moments are full of contemplation and comfort.  When things get tense, you also get tense, and you have emotional responses to each of their stories because one way or the other each character has some suffering in their life.

And the big reveal? A shock in the first viewing, and then showing it to others getting to see their shock.  After that, when watching alone, there was noticing those subtle ways the film could manipulate you into thinking you were seeing things differently at first. Subsequent viewings only led to more layers in the story, and this became a reason to savor the film over and over again.

As for M. Night Shyamalan as a filmmaker? This was his second feature and the one that got noticed almost immediately.  This was a buzzy film and one that people analyzed and talked about. This became the norm for his releases.  This for me is the one that may be the best film he has made, with Unbreakable being a close second.  I can’t say that other Shyamalan films have reached me the same way as The Sixth Sense, but I am grateful for the way this film has always made me take another look, and really get into the technical sense of screenwriting and filmmaking.  The nuances and the story structure here are marvelous even now, and hopefully audiences who haven’t seen the film can come to it with a new excitement and eventual appreciation as the film hits 4K UHD Blu-ray.

Video:

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Layers: BD-66

HDR: HDR10

Clarity/Detail: The Sixth Sense is a film that wasn’t necessarily begging for the 4K treatment.  It came to digital last year with a 4K transfer that was much maligned.  When I popped this disc in, I anticipated hopefully good results.  To my happiness, the same grain-filled Autumnal look accompanies this new 4K disc.  I have never seen the film outside of my trusty 25-year-old DVD, and this improves upon that in every way.  The movie has a stylistic softness to it that calls back to the films of the 70’s and even if you’re looking for the perfect crisp transfer, you would be remiss not to see the uptick in clarity and detail.  Imperfect, sure, but The Sixth Sense still looks VERY good in 4K

Depth: Depth of field offers mostly sharp focus in all forms of shots.  Softness comes mostly in the corners of the frame, but this is only in evidence a couple of times during the film.

Black Levels: Black levels and shadows look great here.  The blacks of clothes blend well with the other colors in the film and shadows look neat and defined. Thankfully there are no blobs of crush to be found!

Color Reproduction: Colors are muted as a choice.  The browns and the oranges of fall permeate the film, even in costuming and interior décor.  These colors look beautiful and give you a sense of the film looking like it’s from another time.

Flesh Tones: Grain gives the flesh tones of the actors a very real-life quality, and there’s definitely not a wax figure in any moment!

Noise/Artifacts: Grain is retained but not distracting or chunky.

Audio:

Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English Descriptive Audio, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Audio

Subtitles:  English SDH, French, Spanish

Dynamics: The film gets its first lossless mix on disc! The Sixth Sense is a film of restrained sound. Whether this is meant to be this way to create scary moments or not, the film is more centered around dialogue than anything, with music coming next on the priority list.

Height: N/A

Low-Frequency Extension: Bass is reserved for a few tense moments, but nothing much else.

Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds make James Newton Howard’s lovely score sing, but don’t have much more to do beyond the music and maybe a jump scare moment or two.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is the priority, and it sounds excellent throughout.

Extras:

Extras for The Sixth Sense are included on the bundled Blu-ray, which is a reprint with a new label of the 2008 disc. A digital code and glossy slipcover are offered with this release as well.

Special Features

• Deleted Scenes
• Reflections From The Set
• Between Two Worlds
• Moving Pictures – The Storyboard Process
• Music and Sound Design
• Reaching The Audience
• Rules and Clues
• Publicity

Summary:

The Sixth Sense was an essential part of my movie education. The film helped me start my serious film collection.  I can still remember the billion times I watched the film and showed it to others too.  As the film celebrates 25 years, this new 4K edition is more than adequate and was a treat to take in after not watching the film for almost 15 years.  Bruce Willis is at his quiet best, while Haley Joel Osment solidified himself as an actor to watch for. It’s a shame he hasn’t done a whole lot since then, but what we do have is good work! Toni Collette continues to be an exceptional actress and this film was the start of her more mainstream stardom. We are lucky to have her performances and this one is wonderful from her.  At the end of the day, fans of the film will want to add this one to their 4K collection. Newcomers are urged to check it out too, because the film is as potent and affecting as it ever was!

Order your copy of The Sixth Sense HERE!