Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

The Dead Zone Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 22, 2020

'The Dead Zone' is currently only available in a five film Stephen King Blu-ray collection with 'Silver Bullet,' 'The Stand,' 'Pet Sematary' (1989), and 'Pet Sematary' (2019).

David Cronenberg (Shivers, Videodrome, The Fly) directs this adaptation of Stephen King's The Dead Zone, a story that is right up Cronenberg's alley, though the film is not quite so envelope-pushing as one might expect of one of his pictures. The Dead Zone is less a product of Cronenberg's skewered perspective and more a product of Christopher Walken's strong performance as a man who has mysteriously inherited the ability to see the future.

Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) is a high school English teacher who is madly in love with Sarah (Brooke Adams) and plans to marry her. One rainy night he’s in a terrible accident that leaves him injured, “smashed up pretty badly,” Dr. Weizak (Herbert Lom) of The Weizak Clinic tells him when he finally awakens from a five-year coma. When one of his nurses tends to him, he sees a vision of her daughter trapped in a raging fire in her bedroom. Soon thereafter, when taking Weizak’s hand, Johnny discovers the man’s mother, long thought dead, is alive and well following a harrowing experience that separated them in the Second World War.

Johnny becomes something of a celebrity and curiosity after his heroics with the nurse’s daughter leaks to the media. It’s not a life Johnny wants. He’d rather none of it happened, particularly when he learns that Sarah has moved on with her life, married another man, and is mother to a handsome toddler named Dennis. But the word is out on Johnny and what he can do. The local police enlist his help to solve the “Castle Rock Murders,” the work of a deranged serial killer, but Johnny will soon realize that his fate is tied to something with far greater reach than a local crime spree.

The story's strengths are solidified by Walken's performance. He certainly finds a capable cadence to the character's physical limitations in the accident's aftermath but it's in the emotional toils and internal processes that the character and the film ultimately find their worth. The character slowly transforms from the panic he experiences when first realizing he possesses the power of insight, startlingly telling his nurse that her daughter is in grave danger, to a man who does not embrace the gift but does seem to embrace the opportunity to set certain things right. Walken walks a fine line between the opportunity -- perhaps even the duty -- to help others and coming to the realization that he cannot help everyone. Eventually, he winds up with a closet full of mail begging for his help, mail he doesn't even open. His powers do lead him through the perils and rigors of police work and fighting to save a child he comes to care for, but it's the ultimate revelation that leads him to insert himself into a situation in which he has no alternative but to do the unthinkable to prevent the unstoppable. Walken's work is magnificent, more so for the internal processing and less so for the role's superficial demands. Cronenberg seems to recognize Walken's work and goes with it, refusing to let style get in the way of Walken's substance.

The Dead Zone Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Dead Zone's 1080p transfer is clearly sourced from a dated and processed master which yields a baseline capable, but generally unsightly, Blu-ray presentation. Grain management is poor. It's artificial and harsh, looking as if it was flattened and smoothed. The remaining structure is inorganic, looking more like a meshy overlay rather than a faithful reproduction of the source. Details are decent enough -- look at some close-ups depicting the recently awakened Johnny and see the dryness of his lips -- but the picture generally appears uninspired. More forgiving audiences will celebrate the positive foundational textures but videophiles will certainly balk at the unnatural appearance. Colors are not in any way noteworthy. There's good depth to campaign signs, natural greens, clothes, snow, and the like. Black levels and shadow detail are adequate. Skin tones appear pasty. Some pretty severe wobble accompanies the opening titles. There are some stray fibers and speckles here and there as well as some edge enhancement in a few places. This is a very dated transfer and a disappointment in total.

The Dead Zone Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dead Zone's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack makes the most of the sound elements at its disposal. The sound design is a bit dated but there's still enough well positioned activity to serve up a relatively hearty listen, one that certainly proves to be the superior of the disc's two technical presentations. The film begins with some impressively wide and detailed music which carries throughout the film, finding positive front end stretch as well as a modestly immersive rear channel support element. A flashback to World War II brings with it some good action sounds flowing through the speakers with impressive depth and breadth as various sounds of battle -- gunfire, rumbling tanks, planes flying overhead -- create a quality din that draws the listener into the scene. That's probably the sonic highlight; a few gunshots mark critical scenes midway through and at the finale, and both deliver adequate depth to help sell the scene. The ruckus at film's end spills through the stage to good immersive effect, though clarity is a bit wanting in the aggregate. Dialogue drives the majority of the picture's sonic needs, and it presents with firm front-center placement, good overall clarity, and faultless prioritization.

The Dead Zone Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of The Dead Zone, as it ships in the Stephen King five-film set, contains no supplemental content.

The Dead Zone Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Stephen King's works often translate well to the screen, and The Dead Zone is certainly no exception. In fact, it's one of the better efforts, thanks to a story that plays well on the screen and a commanding performance from the legendary Christopher Walken. If only Paramount's Blu-ray were its match. A solid enough audio track can't rescue the disc from subpar video and no extras. The film is well worth owning, and this Blu-ray is currently the finest presentation available, but there's so much room for improvement. Sadly it's tough to recommend considering it's not available individually, especially if would-be buyers already own the other films in the set, which have all been previously made individually available.