Dead Zone, The - Season 1 on DVD

A customer from Glasgow , 23/01/2006

There's an episodic quality to Stephen King's novel, The Dead Zone. Thought-tormented psychic Johnny Smith awakens from a six-year coma, discovering he has the gift of second sight. Unable to reconnect with his previous life, having lost his soul mate Sarah Bracknell to another man, he attempts to find a way for himself in this strange new world. Along the way, he uses his powers to help a sensitive doctor find his lost mother and assists the town sheriff in tracking down a serial killer. His visions enable him to save a young boy from drowning and, ultimately, to thwart a diabolical politician from starting World War Three. Though it's one of King's thankfully shorter books, there's enough material there to justify a television series. But how does one compete when the material has already been adapted to perfection? David Cronenberg's 1983 film told Johnny Smith's haunting narrative with empathy, economy, and thoughtfulness. An improvement on the novel, Cronenberg tapped into Smith's psychic pain through one of Christopher Walken's finest and most sensitive performances. With television being what it is, this made-for-TV Dead Zone series becomes necessarily simplified and diluted. Amazing, considering the first season comprises almost 780 minutes and can't summon up the depth of Cronenberg's 103 minutes. But The Dead Zone can't be described as a complete failure, either. It's painted in chilly fall colors, containing that element of mysteriousness gleaned from superior shows like The X-Files and Millennium. As far as “look” goes, they're on the right track. It's less crass and murky than the many Stephen King adaptations for network television, with a distinct emphasis on mood. Piller insists that the series be viewed on its own merits, avoiding comparisons to the Cronenberg feature film. It's somewhat unavoidable, considering how effective that previous King adaptation was. He'd be better off separating himself from those lousy TV-movies like Carrie.

  7 out of 8 people found this review helpful

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A customer from Great Yarmouth , 10/03/2006

Pretty good spin-off from the Film of Stephen King's Book. Very enjoyable and well worth a watch.

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

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A customer from chesterfield, derbyshire , 17/03/2006

absolutely brilliant cant wait for the second season

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Becky from Norwich , 05/05/2006

I had never heard of this and thought I would give it a go. Not too bad but seemed to lack the umph I thought it would have.

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A customer from Glasgow , 23/01/2006

There's an episodic quality to Stephen King's novel, The Dead Zone. Thought-tormented psychic Johnny Smith awakens from a six-year coma, discovering he has the gift of second sight. Unable to reconnect with his previous life, having lost his soul mate Sarah Bracknell to another man, he attempts to find a way for himself in this strange new world. Along the way, he uses his powers to help a sensitive doctor find his lost mother and assists the town sheriff in tracking down a serial killer. His visions enable him to save a young boy from drowning and, ultimately, to thwart a diabolical politician from starting World War Three. Though it's one of King's thankfully shorter books, there's enough material there to justify a television series. But how does one compete when the material has already been adapted to perfection? David Cronenberg's 1983 film told Johnny Smith's haunting narrative with empathy, economy, and thoughtfulness. An improvement on the novel, Cronenberg tapped into Smith's psychic pain through one of Christopher Walken's finest and most sensitive performances. With television being what it is, this made-for-TV Dead Zone series becomes necessarily simplified and diluted. Amazing, considering the first season comprises almost 780 minutes and can't summon up the depth of Cronenberg's 103 minutes. But The Dead Zone can't be described as a complete failure, either. It's painted in chilly fall colors, containing that element of mysteriousness gleaned from superior shows like The X-Files and Millennium. As far as “look” goes, they're on the right track. It's less crass and murky than the many Stephen King adaptations for network television, with a distinct emphasis on mood. Piller insists that the series be viewed on its own merits, avoiding comparisons to the Cronenberg feature film. It's somewhat unavoidable, considering how effective that previous King adaptation was. He'd be better off separating himself from those lousy TV-movies like Carrie.

  7 out of 8 people found this review helpful

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kemmy from London , 19/06/2006

A nice update to the original.

I initially watched and followed this series on Channel 5. Not sure I will rent the whole set, but glad to know it’s on DVD if one has missed any episodes.

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