MovieChat Forums > The Dead Zone (1983) Discussion > 7.3?! Are you guys nuts?

7.3?! Are you guys nuts?

posted 16 years ago by danielbaird-1
121 replies | jump to latest

SPOILERS AHEAD!

I know there's already a thread for "I didn't like it" but it was created about 4 years ago so you'll excuse me for starting another one.

I just watched this on TV tonight and thought it was terrible. It had a nice concept: guy wakes from coma to find he can tell the future etc. The whole concept was pulled off without any drama or drive though.

Basically all that happened in the movie was the main character ended up going from situation to situation using his powers until he was forced to save the future and kill a senator. This wasn't really a story. A story is when characters change, situations change, there is friction. Where was the friction in this story? There was none. They tried to add a little drama with the ex-girlfriend subplot but that never worked as you never truly care for their relationship or for the main character.

Christopher Walken's character is just so unsympathetic. You don't care for him. When his doctor says his powers will eventually kill him, you don't care. When you know he can't be with the woman he loves, you don't care. When he dies at the end, you don't care.

The events in the film were held together with coincidences and sometimes didn't even matter. At the start he helps the police track down a killer (who, coincidentally is one of the policemen) but what purpose does this have? None. It's just there for the sake of it, like the rest of the film. What purpose does the part of the movie have where he's helping the child to learn? None.

The point is, events happen in the story, but the characters never change, so there is no story, just a series of events. Usually in a proper story the events create change. Not here though.

Oh and there were a few plotholes / major coincidences / face palm moment going on:
- His ex-girlfriend ends up being one of the Senators aides and just so happens to end up at his door. Yeah right.
- They hold a parade for the senator RIGHT OUTSIDE HIS HOUSE, just so he can shake the senators hand and move the film forward.
- He gets shot by an old woman early on, the old woman then gets killed. He shook the old womans hand earlier though, surely he'd have seen her getting killed and thus would have known he was going to get shot?
- He tells his doctor that he can see into the future and thus can change the future. He then asks the doctor if he could go back in time and kill Hitler, would he do it? The doctor doesn't put two and two together and think "maybe he's thinking of killing someone."

[–] Jmc489 16 years ago

Okay, why would you list flaws like the holding of the parade right outside his door as a criticism? We're talking about a movie about a guy who can see the future, and you're going to tell me the fact that his girlfriend was one of the senators aids was too unrealistic for you!?

[–] moviegeek75-1 16 years ago

I love this movie

[–] axtonuk 16 years ago

You're right though, 7.3? people must be crazy, this film deserves an 8.0 at least! its a brilliant film! :op

[–] Snamien 11 years ago

Agreed, one of the best horror movies!

[–] mcfjr42 11 years ago

This is one of my all-time favorites, I'd say it at LEAST deserves a 7.7! This is one of Walken's best performances in my opinion.

[–] Snamien 11 years ago

Well, I gave it a 10! I'm trying to give ratings straight from the heart, and this is simply one of the best horror movies made. I'm not generally a Cronenberg fan, but still he has made two of my favorite horror movies; Dead Zone and The Fly.

[–] crgaitan 9 years ago

I gave it a 9, one of the best movies of the genre!

[–] Snamien 9 years ago

Yeah, it is, and maybe 9 is more appropriate! It's not perfect. And no movie is, so I don't give many 10's.

Sometimes I wonder if I I'm not going to give any 10's, to express that there's still so much to go on in making movies.

[–] jayanxiety 15 years ago

I liked it too. I guess it's not the typical horror/sci-fi 'rollercoaster' film, and requires one to think. It has a subtle uneasy feel throughout the film. I disagree with the original poster who thought Walken's character was 'unsympathetic'. I truly believe this was one of his more dramatic performances.

[–] chadherrella 9 years ago

this movie was awesome....straight to the point...great editing...never dragging, very professionally done

and the music was just as good - a perfect classic - just like exorcist

[–] surgecess 8 years ago

7.3 is ridiculous, I gave it a 9.

__________

"Angels to some, demons to others..... Now you must come with us!"

[–] fly4free96 16 years ago

Just rated it a 10.0! Lots of luck to you!

[–] pezoids 12 years ago

yeah, I'll give it a 10, too. cheers!

[–] gerbilstunts 9 years ago

Yep 10 from me too. This film and especially that ending has stuck with me for DECADES.

[–] MovieKnut 16 years ago

Have to agree, 7.3 rating is ridiculous. Should be at least an 8!

You can't palm off a second-rater on me. You gotta remember I was in the pink!

[–] zestywhite 16 years ago

"- He gets shot by an old woman early on, the old woman then gets killed. He shook the old womans hand earlier though, surely he'd have seen her getting killed and thus would have known he was going to get shot? "

I take all of your points and while I disagree with them, you're entitled to them.
On the point that I have quoted, Smith was seeing her past not her future, and even if he had seen her future, he can only change it if there is that dead zone that he mentions to the doctor later.

[–] moodie-1 15 years ago

What dead zone? The "dead zone" that the movie's (and book's) title refers to is the area in Smith's brain that was injured/affected by his accident and resulting coma.

[–] Reblef 14 years ago

"Smith was seeing her past not her future."

Agree 100%. There is a hint that Smith can almost control what he sees (past, present, or future) depending upon what he needs / wants to see the most. In some cases, he 'sees' the subject's past. In at least one other case, he sees the present (something going on at the same time, but elsewhere, e.g. the house fire). Finally, we know he can also see possible future outcomes (and in both of those cases, that outcome was actually changed). With the old woman, he saw her recent past ONLY ("You knew?!?"). As a result, he did NOT see her immediate FUTURE (him getting shot but surviving; her getting shot and dying). Thus, not a plot hole. If anything, it reinforced the plot. Case closed.

[–] malana-lars 16 years ago

just saw it again after many years. and yes, 7.3 seems wrong, so i gave it a 8.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] frasay 15 years ago

I agree, 7.3 is too low, I gave it a 9. there is an eerie quality to this film, and a sense of romance that I love. I think walken's character is really cool, and unique in film. I can;t believe anyone can slag this film off, but each to his own.

[–] leon_fisher 16 years ago

"I just watched this on TV tonight and thought it was terrible."
thats your opinion, nobody needs to hear it, and nobody cares

[–] danielbaird-1 16 years ago

It's your opinion that noone wants to hear it though....you're entitled to an opinion and I'm not?

[–] donpoyoyo 16 years ago

of course you're entitled to an opinion...that is not what he said...he said that nobody wants to hear it and that we don't care for it.... and he's right.
I just rated this movie 9/10...but that's just my opinion.

[–] danielbaird-1 16 years ago

I don't care for his opinion, so why should I also have to hear his?

Like it on not I've posted on a message board which is used to discuss movies. There's no rule saying I can't discuss a negative view of the movie. I'm not trolling, I'm putting my points across as to why I think it's a bad movie in the vague hope that someone else will reply back with something other than "OMG! UR OPINION IS *beep* I DON'T AGREE!"

[–] xxTusharxx 15 years ago

"I don't care for his opinion, so why should I also have to hear his?

Like it on not I've posted on a message board which is used to discuss movies. There's no rule saying I can't discuss a negative view of the movie. I'm not trolling, I'm putting my points across as to why I think it's a bad movie in the vague hope that someone else will reply back with something other than "OMG! UR OPINION IS *beep* I DON'T AGREE!" "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of course everyone is entitled to an opinion including you.

But you are not entitled to say that everyone who likes this movie is 'nuts'
and that's the headline of your post.

So if u call names to people, u should have guts to take back some too.
'you idiot'.

(see, i called u one too !!)
:-)

I'll sleep when I am dead

[–] danielbaird-1 15 years ago

Ok, fair point.

I think from now on when I dislike a movie I'll use the title "7.3?! I can't believe it!"

But for some reason I think I'll have the same problems and people will still moan.

[–] xxTusharxx 15 years ago

well, i can assure you I won't be one of them :-)

I'll sleep when I am dead

[–] h_mason 15 years ago

I dont get why all the big fuss about the rating...I mean come on,7.3 is just a little above average,maybe you mean it deserves a 0?

[–] guilherme_veiga_ribeiro 16 years ago

I´ve got to agree with most of Danielbaird comments. I never saw the film before and even taking in count the time it was produced I found the story weak and you don´t need to have past trough a comma to predict most of it.

[–] feodoric 15 years ago

I just watched this movie and I must say that it has its moments, but it left me on my appetite. I agree with many of your comments. There are too many loose threads and the plot is incredibly naive and weak. Ill-conceived story that could have been so much greater. Take just the central character teaching to the boy at home. Once he has pre-empted the boy's death thanks to his powers, that's it. The build-up of this relationship between Walken and the boy takes too much place and has too much potential for it to be just left pending. Same thing for the ex-fiancee: she still loves him so much (as the ending makes clear), but it remains so peripheral to the central plot that it fails to make sense and really connect with the movie watcher.

Stephen King is responsible for the story, so one cannot even blame the flaws on a bad adaptation of a novel to the movie format. No, it's simply a good idea that would have deserved a much better fate.

Stuff that shouts: 'Remake' out loud .....

That being said: I love Cronenberg's movies and style big time but I have to consider 'The Dead Zone' as a quickie and a raw draft to be forgotten. From a director as gifted as Cronenberg, we are entitled to expect so much more !

Good things about the movie, now:
- The atmosphere, very Cronenberg-ian, that manages to disturb us here and there
- There is a nice poetic quality in the way this is filmed, in the settings, in the camera work. But hey! That's the Cronenberg factor again that works all the time !
- Walken does a solid job with his role. Without him, chances are this would have been a turnip.

To me, I give it a 6/10 (with deep regrets)

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] IEatWords 13 years ago

Sheen's performance is so phony - it looked like he was about to bust out in laughter after each outburst.

[–] josephwantognoli 12 years ago

10 again!!! I loved it!!!

[–] mikekaraoke23 14 years ago

yea i like this film as well why 6/10 with deep regrets?6/10 is quite good?