Customer Reviews

The Dead Zone (Widescreen)

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2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Dead Zone is one of my favourite shows. I'm surprised that no one else has reviewed it before, although that may be because it can speak for itself. The Dead Zone is one of those rare occurances where the show is not only based on a book, it also follows the plot line of the novel rather than just stealing the characters. It's based on a Stephen King novel and ends up with an amazing mix of horror and humour to stop it from having an atmosphere that is too heavy all the time. The show itself is one of the most visually stunning I've ever seen. The cinematography pulls the viewer along and the special effects are used so skillfully that sometimes you don't even notice that they're there. The acting is really good and the show often tackles current and/or controversial topics, from school shootings, to politics, to witchcraft. I highly recommend this show to anyone who is interested in current events and the unusual or paranormal. Anyone who likes modern SciFi and continueing stories will love this.

When it was released in 1983, many people thought 'The Dead Zone' was a sell-out for director David Cronenberg. Up until that point Cronenberg had stayed faithful to his auteur vision, writing and directing all his own films in Canada, each one with a strong concentration on original and spectacular special effects (usually based around the body). 'The Dead Zone' proved to be unusual for Cronenberg in that he didn't write the script, it was made in the U.S. with mostly American money and it doesn't feature his trademark gorey effects. In fact this film is the inverse of the usual Cronenbergian theme of the body rebelling against the mind. As Christopher Walken's visions become more and more intense, his body ages faster and he moves closer and closer to death.

Instead of spine-chilling special effects, most of the terror here is realized through the stength of the actors' performances. Compared to previous Cronenberg movies the acting here is more interior, more emotional and a deep sense of melancholia prevades throughout.

This may have been a conscious choice on behalf of the director whose previous movie 'Videodrome' wasn't such a success at the box office. He wanted to stay within the horror genre he knew but wished to reach a wider audience. What better way to do that than to adapt a story by the self-styled 'Big Mac of literature', Stephen King. Many regard 'The Dead Zone' as the finest cinematic adaption of a Stephen King story.

Oh and by the way, did anyone notice that at the beginning of the movie when Walken is teaching his English class he asks them to read 'The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow'? He would eventually play the headless horseman in Tim Burton's version of the tale.

For some reason, The Dead Zone has always been one of my least favorite Stephen King novels, but I have to say this movie adaptation of the novel is first-rate indeed, one of the most underappreciated of all the movies based on the work of the king of horror. The film's success is due in large part to Christopher Walken; with a less capable actor filling the role of Johnny Smith, this movie could have turned out as flat as a pancake. Walken, the consummate actor, is mesmerizing here. It's a complex role to play, as Johnny Smith has not exactly been blessed by the kind hands of fate. When we first meet him, he is a happy English teacher preparing to marry the woman he loves; a stormy night and a runaway milk tanker later, he wakes up to find that five years have passed, his girl has married someone else, and he is all but incapable of even walking. If you think this is a film about eliminating a politician of great and destructive evil, you're not even half-right. While that is of course the focus of the concluding minutes, the movie itself is all about Johnny's struggles to come to terms with his new life, a new life which includes a frightening power to see into the past and future of those whom he physically touches. The first manifestation comes in handy, as he helps save a nurse's little girl from dying in a fire, but traumatic, soul-draining visions of horror take a lot out of a guy as time moves on.

Johnny first comes to terms with his power when he agrees to help the police discover the identity of an elusive serial killer walking the streets of Castle Rock (which, for some strange reason, is supposedly located in New Hampshire rather than Maine). This experience only makes him retreat farther into himself, compelling him to move to another town and try to begin a new life within the comfort of his own protective walls. A traumatic vision concerning one of the students he is tutoring leads him to discover a new aspect of his power, and this discovery comes just in time for him to make a difficult decision as to whether or not to sacrifice his own life in order to prevent a truly cataclysmic event from taking place in the future.

David Cronenberg directs this bleak but absorbing film, but don't expect the kind of gore Cronenberg is famous for, as this is not a gore-mired film by any means (although the deaths we do witness are pretty satisfyingly presented). The Dead Zone is a psychological study of human nature and a suspenseful thriller, not a horror movie per se. Martin Sheen leaves an unforgettable mark on the film with his portrayal of as slimy and dangerous a politician as you would ever want to meet (and, as a side note, impersonating Elvis Presley's voice apparently goes over big among New England voters for some reason).

A lot of care and detail went into the making of The Dead Zone, and it shows. The atmosphere is dark and palpable from start to finish, and Christopher Walken commands the viewer's rapt attention at all times. There are a number of very moving scenes, particularly in relation to Johnny's new relationship with his former fiancée, so don't be surprised if Walken coaxes a tear or two out of the corners of your eyes. Many of the early movies based on King novels did not translate to the big screen very effectively, but The Dead Zone is an often overlooked and very impressive exception.

Many movies have been made from Stephen King's books. Most of them have been bad. The exceptions are "Christine," "Misery," and the best, "The Dead Zone." David Cronenberg, a master director of horror, quirky and sometimes over the top, directs "The Dead Zone" with a sure hand. Christopher Walken, playing mostly villains the last few years, wonderfully plays an awkward, compassionate school teacher, crippled and put in a coma by an auto wreck, then wakes, having lost his love but gaining insight into the future. This kind of thing has, frankly, been overdone in the movies, but here the story's line is so clear, the acting so good, that we forget that it is a supernatural thriller and we become involved with these all too human characters. There are some baroque touches,such as the Frank Dodd suicide, somewhat gratuitus compared to the rest of the film's images. Cronenberg's best work, I feel, is when he is not trying to be too far out, which means most of his films after this one. "The Fly" was another masterpiece and again Cronenberg was reined in a little. Cronenberg directs and gives this "quiet" horror film a savage beauty, so when the climaxes and surpizes come, they are all the more powerful. This is a great film of any genre and I think Cronenberg's best work. "The Dead Zone," will last longer than his more recent, "controversial" films such as "Crash." He has this obsession with the body and the machine and still makes movies exploring his own demons. Some of these explorations are interesting but ultimately boring for such a wonderfully talented director, one of the best in the horror or any genre. But stay with "The Dead Zone," a movie worth buying and merits repeated watchings.

David Cronenberg took a definite twist from his usual shock-laden films when he helmed THE DEAD ZONE. One of King's best books, this is also one of the best adaptations of his books. Beautifully filmed with an expert talented cast, THE DEAD ZONE is a heartbreaking look at Johnny Smith, a young man who loses five years of his life lying in a coma. When he awakens, the girl he planned to marry has already wed, and has a young son. He is physically handicapped and sentenced to a world he doesn't know or understand. Christopher Walken gives one of his finest performances as Johnny. Beautifully understated and poignantly touching, Walken creates a Johnny you will never forget. And what a fine cast he has to support him: Brooke Adams as his love Sarah who still loves Johnny but knows there is no hope for a future together with him; Martin Sheen as the preening, dangerous Senatorial candidate with a predicted itchy finger; Tom Skerritt as the frustrated sheriff who seeks Johnny's help; Colleen Dewhurst as the mother of a serial killer who knew his crimes; Herbert Lom as Walken's doctor and mentor, who tries to help Johnny adjust; Anthony Zerbe as the father who wants so much for his son to function normally in his world; and Nicholas Campbell as a deputy hiding a horrifying secret.
The stark winter landscapes add to the chill and there are horrors here, but they are the horrors of not belonging, of loving someone you can never have.
A brilliant film and a must for King affecionados and lovers of compelling psychological thrillers.

This is the story of Johnny Smith who has been leading an idyllic small-town life, employed as a science teacher. He is newly engaged to Sarah, a fellow teacher he's known since childhood. His life is nearly perfect... until a near-fatal car crash that leaves him in a deep coma for six years.

When Johnny finally regains consciousness, he discovers that the life he once knew is gone. Sarah has gone on to marry the local sheriff and the child they are now raising is Johnny's son. But Johnny himself is also not the same person he once was: he now finds himself in possession of amazing psychic powers which allow him to see into the lives of anyone he touches.

As he attempts to reacquaint himself with a life he has been away from for six long years, he must also begin a quest to come to terms with his new abilities, which may turn out to be both a blessing and a curse.

Helping Johnny make a fresh start are his physical trainer Bruce, who also becomes a close friend, and Sarah, who must find a way to make Johnny a part of her life again without risking her relationship with her husband and son.

This show is amazing in many different levels. It is highly addictive, and you will find yourself wanting to know more about each characters and situations.

One of my wierd little pet peeves is people who instantly associate Stephen King's name with gory schlock. And I just know that these people have probably never read any of his books. King is way more than just a horror writer (and when he writes horror, it is far from schlock), but can also write touching dramas, and his Dead Zone novel is a testament to this. Cronenberg's movie also stands (alongside Carrie) as perhaps the best King adaption ever. This is due in big part to the ingenious casting of Christopher Walken as the sympathetic hero. We watch what he goes through, losing his girl and his mother and now having this new psychic talent, and we sympathize for him. You'd be surprised to discover how sweet the movie is, and we get to see Johnny Smith help a lot of people out. The movie also has a slam-bang ending which manages to tie everything together in about two minutes without seeming rushed.

Overall, you gotta love Walken and Cronenberg equals brilliance, and when they're hard at work to adapt something from master Stephen King, you get: MASTERPIECE.

Exciting adaptation of the Stephen King novel . It turns around a man who uses physic powers to solve multiple murderers and perhaps avoiding the end of the world. Christopher Walken as always , perfect for the role. Cronenberg once more in one of his most challenging works, but he wins all the way. Notice this is a little crossroad of The Green Mile fifteen years after.

Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken), a young teacher, has been in a coma for the last five years as a result of a car accident. When he suddenly awakens, he finds that the world around him has completely changed. The love of his life, Sarah Bracknell (Brooke Adams) has married another and he has received the dubious gift of second sight. Johnny finds that when he touches another person, he can see their future. Distraught and unable to bear the ramifications of his gift, Johnny retreats into himself and lives alone in a small town in the country. He tutors children in his home to make ends meet and tries to avoid physical contact when at all possible. However, as opportunities to use his gift come up, Johnny finds that he cannot resist. First there is the rapist/murderer, then there is the young boys' hockey team falling through thin ice, and finally there is an obsessed politician (Martin Sheen). In the end, Johnny must make the choice between doing what is right or continuing to endure his bleak, loveless life...

Director David Cronenberg did a wonderful job adapting this Stephen King novel. It is not a horror story like many of King's books are, but a wonderful story about a man's inner landscape. Christopher Walken was fabulous as the self-tortured lead character and I felt that I knew exactly what he was going through, even though he never said anything. He was also ably supported by other actors, including a conflicted Brooke Adams as his love interest and Martin Sheen as a characteture of a smarmy politician who takes kissing babies to a whole new level. Shot almost entirely in a bleak, gray, cold winter, the settings were perfect for this film and really let you focus on the characters. A wonderful movie to curl up at night with.

"The Dead Zone" is that rare creature, a Stephen King adaptation that gets everything right. It's not "scary" per se, but then again, most of King's best work focuses on the human aspects of a story rather than the supernatural.
Walken gives a strong, controlled performance as Johnny Smith, an everyman who wakes up from a 5-year coma blessed with the gift of second sight, a gift he sees as more of a curse. While he struggles with the question of how to handle this gift, he pines away for the love of his life, a woman who married another man in his absence. But when he catches a glimpse of the frightening ambitions of a local senatorial candidate, he can't just sit around anymore; he knows what he must do...
This movie rides a strong wave of emotion throughout Johnny's journey. In fact, it's fair to say that the movie winds up being downright depressing. But it's also impossible to turn away from. Once you're hooked on Johnny's dilemmas, you will follow him anywhere (which is probably why someone thought it would make a good TV show). He takes a fascinating, disturbing trip full of questions regarding personal responsibility, the pros and cons of being a one-man freak show, and, most poignantly, a love that just wasn't meant to be.
You will enjoy this movie. Just keep the hankies handy.