The Dead Zone: Collector's Edition - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Dead Zone: Collector's Edition



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
I remember about a year ago (a little less actually) when The Stephen King 5 Movie Collection from Paramount came out. I had all the movies in the boxset, and the only thing "new" was their release of The Dead Zone. As such, it was naturally a worth while purchase considering the very VERY low price to get the set just for that, but I did complain that I wish a standalone release for The Dead Zone was put out instead. Well, fast forward 10 months and my wish is fulfilled, albeit from Scream Factory instead of Paramount, but with an added benefit of having a brand new remastered scan instead of the VERY aging master Paramount put out with the boxset.

Ahhh, David Cronenberg and Stephen King, a match made in heaven. Luckily the first disc out of the boxset happens to be the ONE film in the set that has never been released on Blu-ray domestically. Filmed at the height of 1980s thriller careers, The Dead Zone is one of the less creepy Stephen King adaptations. Instead of being horror or creepy thriller, it’s more of a character study of a many who comes into enormous powers, and the responsibility he feels towards other.

The story revolves around Johnny Smith, a high school teacher in Castle Rock, New Hampshire (yup, that city name comes up again in Stephen King’s works as you well know), has it all. He’s got the girl of his dreams, a good job, and soon to marry said girl of his dreams. That is until a freak accident lands him in a coma for 5 years, in which time his girlfriend moves on and marries someone else, leaving him with a crippled right leg and a lot of therapy to work through. However, it has also left him with a bit of a gift, as his sudden brush with death has given him the power to see into someone’s past/present/future simply by touching their hand.

After to coming to grips with his new power, Johnny uses his abilities to track down a local serial killer, but due to the negative press moves out of Castle Rock and turns to private tutoring to pay his bills while he fades from the limelight. While there he runs into the biggest conundrum of all. Touching the hand of a politician (played by Martin Sheen) who just may be future “Hitler” (in a way), leaving him with the conundrum of having to decide what to do. Does he allow the future to play out? Or does he step in and try to change the future with his own actions and save countless lives.

The Dead Zone is barely a thriller, and more of a dramatic mystery. It takes elements from Cronenberg’s work with Scanners and tames it down just a little bit, as he takes on King’s “shining” character (Stephen King has made a point of saying that ALL his novels and movies and characters are in the same universe, and those special “magical” moments/people/events that happen in each story are a variation of “the shine” that we learn about in The Shining). Christopher Walken is great as the tortured Johnny, giving him a sort of semi unhinged, semi sweet tone that makes him a very sympathetic protagonist. Martin Sheen is perfectly adept at playing the sleazeball politician, and overall I feel that this is one of Stephen King’s more forgotten GOOD works. The movie is very laid back and even tempered, but also has just enough creepiness and adventure to be exciting. It may have a slightly weak ending that feels truncated, but overall it’s a great film and I’m extremely happy to see it finally hit Blu-ray.




Rating:

Rated R by the MPAA




Video:

Struck from a camera negative in 2021, The Dead Zone gets the white glove treatment, which is especially nice considering how worn down the older master Paramount was used looked. The new encode is a night and day type of situation, with the film looking stunningly clear and natural looking. Facial details are more robust and the grain issue has been cleared up. No DNR appears to have been used at all, and the colors really do pop off the screen (sometimes a bit TOO much, as the reds tend to be a bit hot in my personal opinion). Black levels are deep and inky and I didn’t notice any crush or grain swarming. Grain is very natural and even looking, and doesn’t show any signs of digital manipulation. This new master is well worth the upgrade alone, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen The Dead Zone look this clean and immaculately free of major print damage. Bravo Scream Factory.






Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track for the disc is rather good for an old Stephen King flick from the early 80s. The mix is decidedly front heavy and the surrounds are only used for ambient noises (such as snow crunching under foot, or the rumble of cars in the distance), but everything else is well done. Dynamics are pretty good and the front sound stage is lively and well balanced. Dialog is crystal clear throughout and ambient noise from Johnny using his powers adds some wallop to the low end as well. It may not be a wild and wooly action track, but it certainly is very pleasant and clean listening.









Extras:

• BRAND NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
• NEW Sarah's Story – an interview with actress Brooke Adams
• NEW Cold Visions: Producing The Dead Zone – featuring interviews with production manager John M. Eckert and associate producer Jeffrey Chernov
• NEW Audio Commentary with director of photography Mark Irwin
• NEW Audio Commentary with film historian Michael Gingold
• NEW Audio Commentary with film historian/author Dr. Steve Haberman and filmmaker/film historian Constantine Nasr
• NEW Audio Commentary with film music historian Daniel Schweiger with isolated score selections
• Trailers from Hell – Mick Garris on The Dead Zone
• Memories from The Dead Zone
• The Look of The Dead Zone
• Visions of The Dead Zone
• The Politics of The Dead Zone
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• Behind the Scenes still gallery

Final Score: ​

It's nice to see The Dead Zone not only get a standalone release, but also a new remaster as well. My only confused gripe is that it pretty much makes Paramount's release of the 5 film boxset a complete non necessary thing, because you KNOW they knew in advance that they were going to outsource the film to Scream Factory who would give a nice new scan for the title. Ah well, what's done is done, and this new collector's edition is rife with Great extras (the paramount disc had nothing on board, this has a mix of legacy and new extras specifically created for this edition), a GREAT video encode, and the same solid audio track that we got from the Paramount disc. As someone who owns the 5 film boxset, this new scan is a completely new experience, and how the film SHOULD have looked back then. If you haven't bout the 5 film set just for this film like many others, than this is the one to get. if you DO own the 5 film set, it's still worth the upgrade to get this one. Highly recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt
Directed by: David Cronenberg
Written by: Jeffrey Boam, Stephen King (novel)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DD 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Scream Factory
Rated: R
Runtime: 104 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: July 27th 2021

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

 

[Asere]

Thanks for the review. This one is one of my favorites. It is up there with the Shining and Christine.

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I can't remember this one but I will check it out.