From Anchor Bay Entertainment comes the much touted adaptation one of the most groundbreaking comic books of the new millennium. A thinking man’s horror comic book and teeming with literary value and mainstream appeal, “The Walking Dead” was a series begging to be made in to a big screen version from issue one. Thankfully AMC Networks latched on to the Frank Darabont led production and turned it in to a television series.
What began as a gamble on the horror genre and on a mostly underground comic book, has become a juggernaut that has benefitted the horror community for the better. The highest rated AMC network premiere of all time, and charged by a plethora of seasoned character actors from Jeffrey DeMunn, Laurie Holden and Andrew Lincoln and up and comers like Emma Bell, Jon Bernthal, and Steven Yeun, “The Walking Dead” has been an unstoppable pop culture force.
As a series it works wonders mainly because while it holds true to the narrative of the comic books, it also veers off in to its own tangent. Essentially, it’s an adaptation while taking liberties both dramatic and dubious. I for one am a hardcore fan of the comic series. I have been since issue one and have followed the narrative for every single issue for literal years since its introduction to fans, and as a fan “The Walking Dead” provides some welcome changes to the source material. While “The Walking Dead” is a superb book, the television series takes what needed some re-doing and completely expands both on characters of the minor and major, and extends sub-plots and character arcs to where the series can progress more smoothly and provide a much needed impact to continue as an on-going enduring television series. In the comic books you could run through seven arcs in a matter of thirteen issues.
With “The Walking Dead” AMC bides their time, and season one plays like a prologue to the more stressing storylines yet to come, and more harrowing characters yet to be introduced. At only six episodes “The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season” plays like an introduction to this universe and guides us along with Rick Grimes. Who would have thought that the day Rick Grimes stepped outside of his car to confront bank robbers, he would be shot nearly dead and end up in the hospital. Little did Rick ever realize he’d awaken back in his hospital bed after a long coma to a whole new world. A horrifying world. A world filled with cannibalistic walking corpses feasting on the living.
When emerging from the hospital abandoned and teeming with the walking dead, Rick is guided by his own survival instincts and small bits of know how to combat the walking dead, and is intent on finding his wife and son. Convinced they’re still alive, even after the carnage, he goes looking for them across Atlanta, and is given a first hand tour to this entirely new wasteland where law and order are meaningless. And the living are given to an unbiased unforgiving infection that transforms them in to hungry monsters. “The Walking Dead” is a superb six episode mini-season and one that takes quite curious turns with the source material.
While I’m not the biggest fan of the path the final two episodes take, Robert Kirkman and Darabont had to work within the parameters that they’d end the series on this note, but also leave it open for season two. Now with season two a guaranteed, Kirkman and Darabont, as well as AMC, can work outside the limits and really grab audiences by the throats. The performances all around are marvelous with Andrew Lincoln perfectly embodying character Rick Grimes, while Jeffrey DeMunn is a living and breathing Dale, the wise old trailer owner who spouts gems of wisdom and is weary of the land around him.
Folks plagued with dreck involving nothing but cardboard cut out heroes shooting zombies for ninety minutes will find a refreshing change of pace with this series that focuses on character first and foremost, and then considers the zombie carnage later on, only if detrimental to the story and or episode. What I love about “The Walking Dead,” in spite of its faults inherent in season one with the convenient prophecy from Jim and final half of the season, is that it’s character based drama first and horror second.
Among the bevy of special features, we’re given “The Making of “The Walking Dead”,” the featurette exploring the inception of the comic book and the transfer to the big screen in a format of a serialized version that’s never been done on television. You get a real sense of the enthusiasm behind the making of this series, and you also garner a wonderful insight in to Frank Darabont’s thoughts on the series as he ponders back to “Night of the Living Dead” and tries to emulate that masterpiece with every episode of the first season. There’s also the six episode “Inside the Walking Dead” you could find on the AMC website now for consumption on the DVD. There’s “A Sneak Peek with Robert Kirkman,” a look at the show’s upcoming episodes of season one with the creator of the original comic book series and executive producers of the television series.
There’s “Behind the Scenes Zombie Make-Up Tips” a fun featurette with Gregory Nicotero as he guides us through the transformation of his cousin Mike in to a walking corpse with special effects materials you can get at any supermarket or hardware store. As with most of masters chances with the fans, Nicotero has a lot of fun with us turning Mike in to a zombie and torturing every so slowly with every turn of the screw. I love it. There’s also the Comic Con Convention Panel with the producers, and of course the official trailer to season one that stormed the web with a bootleg, and then the official AMC version, now for consumption. Disc Two also comes with Extra footage and small featurettes. There’s “Zombie School,” a guide on how the producers and creators made the zombies stand out among one another and garnered individuality for each and every zombie.
There’s “Bicycle Girl,” the manifestation of the infamous bicycle girl from the comic books that inevitably made her way on to the big screen, and the time lapse process of turning the young actress in to the decrepit monster we see in the pilot. There’s “On set with Robert Kirkman,” and “Hanging with Steven Yeun” a hilarious segment where Yeun guides us through the doldrums of working in the Atlanta summer sun, and life in the Atlanta camp that involves makeshift showers and rooming with the dead. “Inside Dale’s RV” is a peek in to the unofficial character of the show: Dale’s RV! Finally, we get a peek at the set with star Andrew Lincoln, preparing for his performance in the episode “Vatos” and his display of excitement for his shoot out in the final moments of the episode. And you have to love his enthusiasm.