Rick flees from the zombies and escapes the hospital. A-ha! This is how the film, 28 Days Later begins, so I thought that must be why the story seemed familiar. After a bit of wandering, he discovers that everyone is either dead or undead. He wakes up from a coma to find himself in a strangely abandoned hospital. Rick is a police officer and suffers a gunshot wound in the line of duty. However, the story at the outset seemed very familiar.
I had thought I was coming to this fresh, not having watched the show, and only being peripherally aware of it. I picked this book up at New York Comic-Con last year and just had a chance to sit down to read it recently (so much to read, so little time). Find more by Ron at his blog, Subtle Bluntness, and daily at Shaktronics and PopFi.
THE WALKING DEAD DAYS GONE BYE SERIAL
Zombies are the perfect medium for serial television. US correspondent Ron Hogan is glad to finally see zombies get to become a weekly thing, at least for the next five weeks. This was one of the best debut episodes I’ve ever seen.
THE WALKING DEAD DAYS GONE BYE SERIES
However, The Walking Dead was everything I wanted from the first tentative exploration of a dangerous new world, and some things I never expected from a television series (like gore and an unflinching eye for mangled zombie flesh).īravo, AMC. Given just how much I wanted this to be great, I was expecting to be let down. It’s one of those rare occasions when there’s literally something for everyone. Given the time freedom and budgetary restraints of a weekly series, there’s going to be a serious emphasis on relationships and how each individual character adjusts, or doesn’t, to the new law of the land. It’s not the zombies or gore (though those are nice), it’s the characters and acting. If you’re a drama fan who hates both comic books and zombies, then you’ll discover the real appeal of The Walking Dead. If you’re a zombie fan who doesn’t know the world of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead, you’ll find a familiar world with new characters that you’ll instantly be drawn to. If you’re a fan of The Walking Dead in graphic novel form, the series will be incredible, because it brings to life every image from the comic books. James is brilliant throughout the entire episode, knowing just when to play the stern father figure to son Duane (named for Duane Jones from the original Night Of The Living Dead) and when to grieve for his lost wife.
In this case, for the opening episode, it’s not Lincoln’s Frank Grimes but Lennie James in the role of Morgan Jones, a father in nearly the same position as Rick, with a son to watch over. That said, this is a show that doesn’t need a strong lead, as every episode can be handed over to a different actor to take over. I know he’s a fine actor, and I know it takes a while for Rick’s character to really get rolling, since I’ve been reading the graphic novels and trade collections for a year now. I’ll be honest, I’m not sold on Andrew Lincoln quite yet. 357 Magnum, makes a lovely splash of red. All of them look very, very cool, and so far, The Walking Dead is not skimping on the gore and splatter when appropriate. The whole thing seems to take place mostly in broad daylight, and the special effects team has done some seriously impressive work with their zombie makeup, running the gamut from full-on dismembered, rotting corpses to very subtle throwbacks to the old days of zombies, when all you needed for a walking corpse was some clown white. The Walking Dead is not shying away from the daylight scenes in its premiere. Normally, anything involving a lot of special effects is shot at night to hide the seams, as it were, and help conceal the makeup and digital tinkering. Unlike most horror movies and programs, there’s not a lot of darkness used here.
A particular shot of Rick’s ride towards Atlanta is simply gorgeous, and communicates more about Rick’s journey than any spoken line ever could. It’s a television drama, but it’s shot like a Western, thanks to its use of a well-placed horse and vast amounts of nothingness all around Frank. Whenever possible, he opts for nice, wide shots designed to highlight the desolation of the post-apocalyptic wasteland Rick must travel through to find his son. Yes, there are the requisite close-ups, but Darabont also makes great use of the camera and the scenery. It goes without saying that everything goes wrong while Rick is in Atlanta, but there just might be a silver lining for our hero.įrank Darabont, who wrote and directed this episode, has really done wonders to push the boundaries of just what television looks like. While the survivors can hear him on their radio, he can’t hear them and thus, rides into Atlanta on horseback with only a satchel of weapons on his back and a burning desire to be reunited with his family.
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