7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
When Johnny Smith awakens from a coma caused by a car accident, he finds that years have passed, and he now has psychic abilities. Heartbroken that his girlfriend has moved on with her life, Johnny also must contend with his unsettling powers, which allow him to see a person's future with a mere touch.
Starring: Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Anthony ZerbeHorror | 100% |
Supernatural | 16% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
It's been said by commentators of The Dead Zone that a great marriage ensued by pairing together Stephen King and David Cronenberg, two artists with their own conceptions of horror. The Dead Zone (novel and film) isn't really straight-up horror but has its share of such moments. Cronenberg is still able invoke his trademark body horror in his central protagonist, Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken), but in a subtler fashion than in his more nauseous-inducing films. For example, the horror is inside Johnny's body after his major car accident. The "double vision" that he's paradoxically gifted for his rebirth and second life sucks the energy out of him, as he imparts to his benevolent caretaker, Dr. Sam Weizak (Herbert Lom). Johnny performs great deeds for saving lives in the future and for helping solve crimes, but it weighs down his mental and physiological makeup.
The phrase "The Dead Zone" carries multiple meanings. It's the physical space where Johnny drives his white Beetle Volkswagen into an eighteen-wheeler milk-truck, which was caused by the driver dozing off. It's also a locus where Johnny envisions death, such as when he imagines himself in the burning bedroom inhabited by the nurse's daughter. In addition, it's also a space of the past where Johnny transports himself back in time to a grisly murder as an unobtrusive spectator. Further, Cronenberg deploys the dead zone as a space of repressive trauma. Johnny has a premonition that a group of youngsters will plunge through the ice, triggering a childhood memory in him. (Cronenberg filmed a prologue of Johnny as a young boy skating but later put it on the cutting room floor.)
I can see into the past and into the future.
This Collector's Edition from Shout! Factory comes with a slipcover (boasting new artwork by Hugh Fleming) on single BD-50 (disc size: 43.44 GB) using the MPEG-4 AVC encode. The film appears in its correct theatrical exhibition ratio of 1.85:1. (The Paramount DVDs and European BDs opened the image up to 1.78:1.) A new transfer was made in 2021 (contrary to the back covers that state last year) from a 4K scan of the original camera negative. My colleague Marty Liebman covered Paramount's US Blu-ray from the studio's Stephen King 5-Movie Collection released last year. Marty observed "a dated and processed master...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...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." That older master also reportedly had heavy ringing and smearing grain. The very recent 4K scan obliterates those abnormalities. Whereas that HD transfer had some brightness boosting and oversharpening issues, Shout!'s has a more organic appearance with well-balanced contrast and crisp blacks. There's no paste on Walken's facial skin in Screenshot #19. Shout! has encoded the main feature at a standard video bitrate average of 34000 kbps.
Shout! has provided a dozen chapter thumbnails for the 103-minute film.
Shout! has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround remix (2861 kbps, 24-bit) and the original stereo, rendered here as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix (1704 kbps, 24-bit). I primarily focused on the 5.1 track. I was surprised to hear the motor of Johnny's vintage VW produce a high-end sound along the front channels. For such an older recording, the remastered audio has has very good range and sonic depth. Spoken words are easy to hear and process. Michael Kamen wrote a memorable score that's highlighted by a great theme. The "Opening Titles" on the Milan soundtrack album showcase a wonderful blend of reed instruments, triangle, strings, and harp glissando. The music comments on the tragic elements in Johnny's life but also the warmer ones he has (however temporally) with Sarah Bracknell (Brooke Adams). Steve Haberman and Constantine Nasr state on the commentary how Kamen's score influenced Cronenberg's most frequent collaborator, Howard Shore, in his his scores for The Fly (1986) and Dead Ringers (1988). I largely agree but would add that Shore's use of woodwinds and strings in his music for Before and After (1996) also bear some of that influence. The National Philharmonic Orchestra's performance is terrific and it's wonderful to hear it in both 5.1 and 2.0 on the Blu-ray.
Optional English SDH accompany the feature and can be activated through the menu or via remote.
Shout! Factory has produced eight new extras and retained five others from Paramount's 2006 Special Collector's Edition DVD.
The Dead Zone is in the upper echelon of King adaptations and a dandy major studio debut for Cronenberg. Walken's quirks, inflections, and nuances yield a consummately flawless performance. Shout! Factory's newly minted transfer far outdoes the antiquated HD master. It's been carefully restored for this release. While the Shout! supplements are very extensive, not everything has been carried over from the Australian and German DVD/BD editions. A commentary track with authors Stephen Jones and Kim Newman from 2002 along with old interviews with King, Cronenberg, Hill, and Sheen can be found on the MediaBook and standard packages from KOCH Media. This deluxe package comes VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Unrated Director's Cut
2009
Collector's Edition
1978
1988
Collector's Edition
1988
Collector's Edition
1989
2018
2013
1972
Unrated
2016
2016
2013
1981
Theatrical Cut
2006
2013
2017
Unrated
2010
2014
2013
2021
2022