Absolutely the worst movie.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I had a few problems with this movie from the beginning. I didn't think Christopher Walken was a great choice for the role. He doesn't emote all that well, and his weird delivery doesn't play well in a dramatic role. I think the movie could have been written better. If the character had stuck with the "hunt for the serial killer" aspect, for the entire movie, it would've been more compelling, and would probably have made the movie a classic. What we got though were three separate cases, which don't really lend themselves to each other. No case Walken's character works on seems to segway another. By the time we get to the end of the film, it feel as though it could have been a better climax. The story arches in the wrong places, the character doesn't progress very well, and you kind've get sick of trying to watch Christopher Walken fake a really bad limp. I also had to yell at him when in the end he stood up to shoot the rifle. He had a perfect shot while he was knelt down, why would he stand up? That all being said, I did enjoy it for its simplicity and mystery. The light sprinkling of violence throughout the movie kept me going too.

There are a number of similarities between David Cronenberg and Stephen King. They both created fictional scientific phenomenons out of thin air for their respective stories. Their respective stories tend to be suspended in the area where they certainly flirt with the supernatural elements, but for the most part remain planted in reality. 'The Dead Zone' involves these two creative heads coming together. Christopher Walken plays the character of Johnny Smith who meets with an accident that forces him to slip into a state of coma for five years. When he wakes up, his life has changed, but he also discovers he has superpowers. The character of Johnny, certainly has a Christ figure vibe to it. This certainly is a morality tale to a great extent. Johnny constantly gets faced with dilemmas regarding how to use the power that he has been 'blessed' with. He becomes the rage of the town when people become familiar with his powers. Although initially he feels bitter about having his life destroyed, he decides to help others with his powers. To a great extent this decision has its roots in his sorrow of having his life altered by an act of fate which makes him want to change other's lives for the better. The film is episodic in nature. The film is divided into sections which might seem unrelated, but clearly the structure is intentional as subtle elements in every episode leads to the next one. I had some problems with the way the character of Sarah gets used. Other than the opening of the film, she just appears here and there in the film, but to be honest, she remains more of a symbol than a real character. Now an argument can be made that this was the intention in the first place, but there is a crucial moment in the film where Sarah makes a big life decision, but Cronenberg to a great extent brushes over it. He should have devoted a little more time to that moment. The character of Greg Stillson also gets a bit of a rushed treatment(unlike Stephen King's book), which is a weakness too, but I guess one has to consider the time constraints in terms of making a film narrative too.When it comes to acting, Walken pretty much carries the film on his own with a very emotive performance. We feel his frustration, his anger and his dilemmas. He brilliantly portrays the character of an introvert who feels frustrated and slowly distances himself from the world due to circumstances beyond his control.Cronenberg's direction if compared to the films with his own screenplays is actually very understated. Apart from one or two moments of brutal violence, the quintessential Cronenbergian moments of body horror are in short supply. The film is shot brilliantly. There is a scene in a tunnel and the shot reminded me very of a similar shot in 'The Third Man'. Apart from some rushed treatment of Sarah and Greg, Cronenberg does well to deal with hardcore character moments which can't really be said about some of his films prior to 'The Dead Zone'. I don't think 'The Dead Zone' is a perfect film, neither is it Cronenberg's best film. However it is a solid, grounded film with elements of sci-fi and horror. It has the Christ figure of Johnny Smith at the center of it whose character is compelling and layered enough to make the film itself compelling.

Although marketed as a "horror film", it is more a character study about loss, avoidance of life and the emotional turmoil that arises from a broken heart. (Plot Spoilers) The main character Johnny Smith, a young man who is employed as a school teacher with a girl friend he loves and is planning to have a family with, has a horrible accident that, after a long period in a coma, awakes; broken of body, without the work he enjoyed and the girl to whom he loved having moved on to marry and be family with someone else.(Plot Spoilers)In addition he is able to see events of the past, of current events and of a future that may be by touching another person. Yet each time this occurs, part of his "life energy" is drained away so he comes closer to dying as a result. And he is aware of this. in order to avoid this condition he moves away yet he is forced by circumstances to face life and his impending death.The major question: If you knew that you were dying, would you do nothing and live a long time Or would you be willing to die in order to save the lives of those you care about (a definition of love). In summary: a gem that is the most human of the films of David Chronenberg and the film adaptations of the works of Stephan King. The actors are believable, the soundtrack haunting. This film would be good for repeated viewing.

Revisited this one not long ago just to see if my initial impression of it would change; it didn't. Well-crafted but oddly COLD (as are many of Cronenberg's films), THE DEAD ZONE DOES boast one unforgettable scene: the scene where Sheen snatches up the baby to use as a shield. It's a quintessential Political move- especially in this Day and Age. Like it or not, we live in what Norman Mailer, writing in CANNIBALS AND CHRISTIANS, called "a world whose ultimate logic is war, because in a world of war all overproduction and overpopulation is possible since people and commodities may be destroyed wholesale." THE DEAD ZONE suggests, too, that a Psychological Evaluation of potential Political Leaders might be in order. "Politics," wrote Mailer, "was the place where finally nobody meant what they said- it was a world of nightmare; psychopaths roved." As for World War "Three" (there've been so MANY World Wars, from Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan to what-day-of-the-week-is-it?, that it's hard to keep track), said Mailer: "One's own suicide might be lost in a national suicide."