Plot: What’s it about?
Throughout the middle of the seventies and the majority of the eighties, Stephen King has managed to get a scare or two out of readers and in some cases double that when it comes to his feature films such as Carrie, Christine and television’s Salem’s Lot. In 1983, a up and coming Canadian filmmaker named David Cronenberg was signed on to put his unique vision to a Stephen King novel. It’s a tale of the supernatural, suspense and visions of the future, it’s left Castle Rock and has landed in The Dead Zone.
Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) is a schoolteacher. He loves his work, he loves his girlfriend and things in life couldn’t be better. That’s all about to change one night as he drives home in the rain caught in the middle of the road and falls victim to a crash leaving him in a coma. He awakens five years later and loses everything but has gained a most unusual ability. At the touch of a hand (literally), he can see the future of a particular person. This becomes helpful to authorities as they encourage him to use his power for good but he starts to realize that his power is not only his gift, it’s his curse that can do more damage to him if he’s not too careful.
Most King adaptations these days start off promising, leaves off in the middle and leaves much to be desired at the same time by the end. However, in the eighties he was more reliable than ever and this is a glowing example on how a novel should be properly adapted.
Jeffrey Boam’s script is filled with great quotes and allows for a wonderful performance by Christopher Walken. He portrays Johnny as a young man with a promising future who’s life changes unexpectedly and tries to gain back what he had lost not knowing the damage that he’s doing to himself with his new found ability. The audience feels for his character immensely, especially at his defensiveness for using his power for solving cases as well as seeing a familiar face along the way in a door to door circumstance.
David Cronenberg gives a more subdued approach than his usual fare by toning down some of the odd elements of his previous and present work to tell a straightforward intriguing story about one man’s struggle and another man’s gift holding hand and hand in this curious tale that is suspenseful without being too scary and entertaining without copping out at the end. The Dead Zone is worth entering and it’s not too late.
Video: How does it look?
Cronenberg has never done a fully widescreen movie and his common ground with the 1.85:1 aspect ratio is here anamorphically and the quality is better than most films of that early time of the decade. There are a few hints of speckliness but it doesn’t take away from the clarity and the film keeps the amount of eighties haze to a minimum, in fact there is hardly any. The colors are not over saturated and the palette, although not too vivid, is used without overuse and it makes for a good transfer.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dead Zone has been given the Dolby Digital 5.1 treatment and traveling in this zone I can tell you that audibly it makes for a good sound experience. The Michael Kamen score has never sounded better in clarity and mixed with dialogue through all channels. The sound effects are apparent more so in the rear channels but the music spread around all channels with the majority lasting in the middle. Another well done sound job by Paramount. This disc also has an English 2.0 track and a French Mono track as well as English subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Although it would’ve been nice to have a retrospective interview with cast and crew (being that many went on to be in many films and shows presently) or even a Cronenberg commentary, all we get is the film’s theatrical trailer, which is a cool bonus but leaving a sense of wishing for more.
Overall, The Dead Zone continues to be one of the great movies of the eighties, along with being a very good looking and sounding DVD that shows the recommended film in primo condition.
