The Dead Zone
| The Dead Zone | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | David Cronenberg |
| Screenplay by | Jeffrey Boam |
| Based on | The Expressionless Zone past Stephen King |
| Produced by | Debra Loma[i] |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Mark Irwin |
| Edited by | Ronald Sanders |
| Music by | Michael Kamen |
| Product | Dino De Laurentiis Visitor[1] |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures (Due north America) De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (International) |
| Release appointment |
|
| Running time | 103 minutes[ane] |
| State | United States[ane] |
| Language | English |
| Upkeep | $7.1 million[2] or $10 million[1] |
| Box office | $16.three million[two] or $20.viii million[iii] |
The Dead Zone is a 1983 American science-fiction thriller flick directed by David Cronenberg. The screenplay, by Jeffrey Boam, is based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Stephen King. The film stars Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Martin Sheen, Anthony Zerbe, and Colleen Dewhurst. Walken plays a schoolteacher, Johnny Smith, who awakens from a coma to find he has psychic powers. The moving-picture show received positive reviews. The novel too inspired a television serial of the same name in the early 2000s, starring Anthony Michael Hall, the 2-hr airplane pilot episode of which borrowed some ideas and changes used in the 1983 picture.
In the novel, the phrase "dead zone" refers to the role of Johnny Smith's brain that is irreparably damaged, resulting in his dormant psychic potential awakening. When some information in Johnny's visions is beyond his perception, he considers that information as existing "in the dead zone." In the movie accommodation, the phrase "expressionless zone" is that part of his psychic vision that is missing — a bare area that he cannot see. This "dead zone" refers to an outcome that is non yet determined, meaning Johnny can change the future.
Plot [edit]
Subsequently having a headache following a ride on a roller coaster in Castle Stone, Maine, schoolteacher Johnny Smith politely declines when his girlfriend Sarah asks if he wants to spend the night with her. As he drives dwelling house through stormy weather, he has a car accident that leaves him in a coma. Awakening nether the intendance of neurologist Dr. Sam Weizak, he finds that five years have passed, and Sarah is now a married female parent.
Johnny discovers that he can now learn aspects of a person's life through concrete contact. As he touches a nurse'due south hand, he sees her daughter trapped in a fire. He also sees that Weizak's mother, long idea to have died during World State of war Two, is notwithstanding alive and that a pushy reporter's sister killed herself. Johnny's female parent has a heart attack and dies later on Johnny visits her in the hospital.
As news of his souvenir spreads, Sheriff George Bannerman asks Johnny for help with a series of murders, merely he wishes to be left alone. Sarah visits with her infant son, and Johnny and she accept sex, though she declines a further relationship. Having a change of centre about the murders, Johnny agrees to help Bannerman, and, through a vision at the offense scene, he discovers that Bannerman's deputy Frank Dodd is the killer. Before they can arrest him, Dodd kills himself. Dodd'southward mother shoots Johnny before being killed by Bannerman.
Disillusioned and barely able to walk, Johnny moves away and attempts to live a more isolated life. He tutors children, working from home, until a wealthy man named Roger Stuart implores him to come up visit and tutor his son, Chris. They form a friendship, but Johnny soon receives a vision of Chris and two other boys drowning in a local swimming during an ice hockey game that Stuart was going to coach. He implores Stuart to change his plans, simply he refuses. He smashes a vase with his cane to brand his point, and is terminated. Despite Stuart'due south skepticism, Chris believes Johnny, and stays domicile; however, the other ii boys drown, profoundly shocking Stuart. Johnny realizes he has a "dead zone" in his visions, where the future is changeable.
Johnny attends a rally for Greg Stillson, a superficially charismatic third-party candidate for the United States Senate, for whom Sarah and her husband volunteer. Johnny shakes Stillson's hand, revealing Stillson as a ruthless demagogue, who, every bit President, orders what appears to be a pre-emptive nuclear strike. Johnny seeks out Weizak'due south advice, request, for case, if he would accept killed Adolf Hitler if he had the run a risk, knowing beforehand the atrocities Hitler would commit. Weizak replies that he would have had no option merely to impale him. Johnny leaves Sarah a letter, telling her that what he is virtually to do will toll him his life, but is a worthwhile sacrifice.
Johnny loads a rifle and takes aim at Stillson at a rally, with Sarah in the audience. His shot misses the target, only Stillson grabs Sarah'southward baby and holds him as a human shield. Johnny refuses to risk striking the child. A photographer snaps a picture of Stillson holding the baby. Sarah retrieves her baby, but, earlier Johnny attempts to fire again, he is shot by Stillson's babysitter. Confronted by Stillson, Johnny grabs his hand and foresees Stillson's reputation and political ambitions being ruined; later on the photo of his cowardly act is published, Stillson will commit suicide. Johnny lies dying, satisfied that the holocaust has been averted. Sarah embraces Johnny, and tells him, as he dies, that she loves him.
Bandage [edit]
- Christopher Walken as Johnny Smith
- Brooke Adams as Sarah Bracknell
- Tom Skerritt as Sheriff George Bannerman
- Herbert Lom as Dr. Sam Weizak
- Anthony Zerbe every bit Roger Stuart
- Colleen Dewhurst every bit Henrietta Dodd
- Martin Sheen every bit Greg Stillson
- Nicholas Campbell equally Deputy Frank Dodd
- Simon Craig as Chris Stuart
- Géza Kovács as Sonny
Production [edit]
Development [edit]
After King'southward novel The Dead Zone was released in 1979, Lorimar Film Entertainment began developing a film adaptation. Producer Carol Baum gave the book to screenwriter Jeffrey Boam and asked him to write a screenplay. "I saw it had great possibilities and agreed to do it," Boam said.[4] He developed a script with director Stanley Donen, who left the project before the film had reached production at Lorimar.[5] Lorimar eventually closed its pic division afterwards a serial of box-part failures, and before long after, producer Dino De Laurentiis bought the rights to The Dead Zone. He initially disliked Boam's screenplay and asked King to adapt his ain novel.[4] [6] De Laurentiis then reportedly rejected King'south script every bit "involved and convoluted";[vii] however, David Cronenberg, who ultimately directed the pic, said that he was the one who decided non to use the script, finding it "needlessly brutal".[four] De Laurentiis rejected a 2nd script past Andrzej Żuławski, somewhen returning to Boam.[8] The moving-picture show was finally on track to exist made when De Laurentiis hired producer Debra Loma to work with Cronenberg and Boam.[iv]
Boam abased King's parallel story structure for The Expressionless Zone 's screenplay, turning the plot into separate episodes. Boam told writer Tim Lucas in 1983, "King'due south book is longer than it needed to exist. The novel sprawls and information technology'due south episodic. What I did was apply that episodic quality, because I saw The Dead Zone equally a triptych."[four] His script was revised and condensed four times past Cronenberg, who eliminated big portions of the novel'south story,[9] including plot points well-nigh Johnny Smith having a encephalon tumor.[4] Cronenberg, Boam, and Hill had script meetings to revise the screenplay page past page. Boam's "triptych" in the screenplay surrounds three acts: the introduction of Johnny Smith before his car blow and after he awakes from a coma, a story about Smith profitable a sheriff in tracking downward the Castle Rock Killer, and finally Johnny deciding to confront the pol Stillson. Boam said he enjoyed writing character development for Smith, having him struggle with the responsibility of his psychic abilities, and ultimately giving up his life for the greater good. "Information technology was this theme that made me like the volume, and I particularly enjoyed discovering information technology in what was essentially a genre piece, a work of exploitation," he said. In Boam's first draft of the screenplay, Johnny does not die at the end, but rather has a vision about the Castle Stone Killer, who is still alive and escaped from prison house. Cronenberg insisted that this "trick catastrophe" be revised. Boam submitted the concluding draft of the screenplay on November viii, 1982.[4]
King is reported to have told Cronenberg that the changes the director and Boam made to the story "improved and intensified the power of the narrative."[7]
Before Christopher Walken was cast as Johnny Smith, Pecker Murray was considered for the role[x] as it was King's showtime choice.[11] Cronenberg initially wanted Nicholas Campbell to portray Johnny, but the director wound up casting him as the Castle Stone Killer instead.[12] Cronenberg besides wanted Hal Holbrook to portray Sheriff Bannerman but De Laurentiis objected.[12]
In addition to Donen, both John Badham and Michael Cimino were likewise considered to straight.[thirteen]
Filming [edit]
Shooting started in early on Jan 1983[14] and took place in the Greater Toronto Area and the Regional Municipality of Niagara of Cronenberg's native Ontario, Canada. The so-called Screaming Tunnel, located in nearby Niagara Falls, Ontario, was also used as the backdrop for ane scene. The gazebo was congenital by the film crew and donated to Niagara-on-the-Lake.[ane]
Co-ordinate to a David Cronenberg interview on the DVD, The Dead Zone was filmed during a relentless deep freeze in southern Ontario, which lasted for weeks, creating an authentic atmosphere of subzero temperatures and icy, snow-packed terrain, which made for smashing natural shooting locations, despite information technology beingness about as well cold for bandage and crew to tolerate at times. Canada'south Wonderland, a theme park 30 km n of Toronto's urban center limits, was besides used every bit a filming location.
Music [edit]
The music soundtrack, composed by Michael Kamen, was recorded past the National Philharmonic Orchestra, London, at the famous EMI Abbey Road Studios. Michael Kamen conducted the recording sessions; the orchestra was contracted and led by Sidney Sax. This is the just Cronenberg film since The Brood (1979) for which Howard Shore was non composer.
Reception [edit]
The Dead Zone received very positive reviews on release.[i] It holds an approval rating of 90% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 48 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "The Dead Zone combines taut direction from David Cronenberg and a rich functioning from Christopher Walken to create one of the strongest Stephen King adaptations."[xv] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 69 out of 100 based on 8 reviews, indicating "more often than not favorable reviews".[16]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sunday-Times gave the film three-and-a-half stars, describing The Expressionless Zone as by far the best of the one-half-a-dozen cinematic adaptations of King's novels to that date. He praised Cronenberg's management for successfully weaving the supernatural into the everyday, and noted believable performances by the unabridged cast, especially Walken: "Walken does such a proficient job of portraying Johnny Smith, the homo with the foreign souvenir, that we forget this is science fiction or fantasy or whatever and only accept it as this guy'south story."[17] Janet Maslin of The New York Times referred to the film as "a well-acted drama more eerie than terrifying, more rooted in the occult than in sheer horror."[eighteen]
Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader was more disquisitional of the film, describing it equally "By no means a bad moving-picture show, only a disappointingly bland and superficial one ... in which manager David Cronenberg relinquishes the one thing that had always set him autonomously from his Canadian colleagues: his willingness to follow his intuitions rather than the logic of a script."[xix]
See besides [edit]
- List of American films of 1983
- The Dead Zone (Idiot box serial), a television serial also based on the novel
- "The Ned Zone", a segment of The Simpsons ' "Treehouse of Horror XV" episode that parodies the novel and film
- "Ed Glosser, Trivial Psychic", a Saturday Night Live sketch featuring Christopher Walken that parodies the moving-picture show
References [edit]
- ^ a b c d east f m "The Expressionless Zone (1983)". AFI Itemize of Feature Films . Retrieved January xix, 2018.
- ^ a b KNOEDELSEDER, WILLIAM One thousand, Jr (August thirty, 1987). "De Laurentiis PRODUCER'S PICTURE DARKENS". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "The Expressionless Zone". Box Role Mojo . Retrieved January xix, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lucas, Tim (December 1984 – January 1984). "The Dead Zone". Cinefantastique. xiv (two): 24–35.
- ^ Ferrante, A.C. (May 1, 2013). "Exclusive Interview: The Last Crusade of Screenwriter Jeffrey Boam". Assignment X/EON Magazine. Midnight Productions, Inc.
- ^ Collings, Michael R. (Baronial thirty, 2008). The Films of Stephen King. Borgo Press. p. 91. ISBN978-0893709846.
- ^ a b Wiater, Stanley; Golden, Christopher; Wagner, Iank (May 2001). The Stephen King Universe: The Guide to the Worlds of the King of Horror. Renaissance Books. p. 139. ISBN1580631606.
- ^ "AFI|Catalog".
- ^ Magistrate, Tony (2003). "Defining Heroic Codes of Survival". Hollywood'due south Stephen Male monarch. New York City: Palgrave MacMillan. p. 120. ISBN0312293216.
- ^ Locke, Greg W. (August 26, 2011). "The Top 25 Roles Beak Murray Didn't Accept". Archived from the original on November 25, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
- ^ Evans, Bradford (February 17, 2011). "The Lost Roles of Neb Murray". Archived from the original on May 20, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
- ^ a b Mell, Eila (2015). Casting Might-Have-Beens: A Film by Picture Directory of Actors Considered for Roles Given to Others. McFarland. ISBN9781476609768. pages 66-67
- ^ Lambie, Ryan (February 21, 2015). "Why The Dead Zone Is One of the Best Stephen King Films". Den of Geek. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- ^ Lucas, p. 24
- ^ "The Dead Zone". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved August 15, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "The Dead Zone". Metacritic . Retrieved August 15, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Ebert, Roger (October 26, 1983). "The Dead Zone". Chicago Sun-Times . Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- ^ Maslin, Janet (October 21, 1983). "Moving picture: 'DEAD ZONE,' FROM Rex NOVEL". The New York Times . Retrieved September 14, 2016. [ dead link ]
- ^ Kehr, Dave (Oct 26, 1985). "The Expressionless Zone". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on July 22, 2010. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
External links [edit]
- The Dead Zone at IMDb
- The Dead Zone at AllMovie
- The Dead Zone at the TCM Movie Database
- The Dead Zone at Box Office Mojo
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Zone_(film)
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