‘Signs’ 4K UHD Blu-Ray Review – A Top-Tier Alien Tale From Shyamalan

From writer/director M. Night Shyamalan, comes the story of the Hess family in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who wake up one morning to find a 500-foot crop circle in their backyard. Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) and his family are told extraterrestrials are responsible for the sign in their field. They watch, with growing dread, the news of crop circles being found all over the world. SIGNS is the emotional story of one family on one farm as they encounter the terrifying last moments of life as the world is being invaded.

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Video Quality

Signs makes its eagerly anticipated 4K UHD Blu-Ray debut with a tremendous 2160p HDR10 transfer that is a revelation for this title. The old Blu-Ray was released in 2008 with a dated scan, but this disc offers necessary improvements on all fronts. While not as poor as The Sixth Sense Blu-Ray, the original Signs release was lacking thanks to noise, milky black levels, and other various issues. The UHD disc contains a rich color palette that is much more warm and nuanced than many in the Shyamalan catalog. The implementation of HDR really shows its might in the cornfields and other landscapes. There are also improvements in the contrast. Black levels are now deep and allow the picture to maintain an impeccable amount of depth and detail in darker environments. Highlights are more brilliant and offer greater stability without succumbing to blooming.

This new 4K scan has a lovely amount of natural film grain that unlocks so much texture and detail to the transfer. For the first time on home entertainment, you can clearly read some of the scribbles and other minute flourishes in the production design. The command over contrast and overall clarity is a welcome sight, especially when observing the production design and the costumes. The image presents an exceptional amount of depth that makes the house and farm at large more spacious than ever. Skin tones appear more natural and the clarity of the transfer gives you a distinct amount of detail in the makeup effects. This transfer is the essential way to watch this film at home. 

Audio Quality

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray comes with a fantastic DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio lossless audio track that represents this dynamic soundscape perfectly despite the lack of a new Dolby Atmos presentation. From the opening moments of the James Newton Howard score, you know you are in for a treat in terms of clarity and fidelity. Music complements the narrative effectively throughout the presentation while dialogue and other key information takes prominence. Exchanges come through clearly and never stumble with any digital nuisances. The sound design conjures up an unsettling soundscape that accentuates the narrative well. The movie provides plenty of thrills for the track to show off. Rear speakers get a worthwhile amount of activity throughout, especially as aliens creep around the screen. The low-end comes to life when called upon. The film has been cared for properly here. 

Special Features

• Making Signs: A 59-minute featurette that takes you through the production of the film from the initial script and beyond. There are some decent insights from the cast and crew about the creation of the film. 

• • Looking for Signs (6:12)

• • Building Signs (8:02)

• • Making Signs – A Commentary by M. Night Shyamalan (22:34)

• • The Effects of Signs (8:32)

• • Last Voices – The Music of Signs (8:26)

• • Full Circle (4:48)

• Deleted Scenes: Five scenes totaling nearly eight minutes of unused footage is provided here. 

• Storyboards – Multi-Angle Features: An option to view two scenes in storyboard or final form which allows you to see how the scene evolved from concept to execution. 

• Night’s First Alien Movie: A nearly three-minute scene from a childhood film made by Shyamalan which is good for a laugh. 

Final Thoughts

Signs was released during the prime stretch of M. Night Shyamalan’s output, and it remains one of his best films to this day. The focus on character throughout so much of this screenplay really pays off as all the pieces come together in the end. All of the performances are very strong including the young performers. This one improves the more you watch it, which you cannot say for all movies. Disney Home Entertainment has released a new 4K UHD Blu-Ray which features a staggering A/V presentation and a nice array of legacy special features. We are so grateful to have such a great release for this one finally. Recommended 

Signs is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray and Digital. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Disney Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.