Having never seen or heard of this program, I had to do a bit of research into the history of this show. I’ll share my findings with you in case you are new to the series as well. Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall, The Breakfast Club) was involved in a car accident that left him comatose for six years. Upon waking up he has a special gift, when he touches people or things he can see into the future, and sometimes prevent awful things from happening. The name the dead zone comes from the part of his brain that normally goes unused, but because of his accident it can now be attributed to his visions of the future. In season 5 there isn’t much ongoing story arcs, but rather a collection of different stories in which Johnny solves crimes and saves unwilling victims. He deals with the logistics of saving lives and changing the outcome of the world and his own personal life.
Well this show wasn’t spectacular but I liked it enough to label it decent. It was rather hit and miss with this show; some episodes were entertaining and others weren’t. But the acting was consistent throughout and surprisingly good for a cable TV show. Well I can’t offer any comparisons to past seasons of the show, but this seasons finale was extremely lackluster. Still, I can say that in the future I might check the rest of the seasons out after being left with a mostly positive perspective on the show.
Video
Unlike most TV shows, Dead Zone is presented in 1.78:1 Widescreen which was nice to see. However, the usual problems with TV release are here. We have grain in dark scenes, compression artifacts visible and at times softness that blurs detail. This all sounds bad but these instances occur rarely and do not taint the good. Detail is surprisingly sharp, with wrinkles and hair both clearly seen on ever actor/actress. Color usage is just as impressive as we are given a large palette, each which looks vibrant and contain realistic hues. For a TV show, Dead Zone surprised me with the quality of its transfer. Fans picking this set up will be happy to hear that it does indeed look good.
Audio
Lionsgate has included a 5.1 Dolby Digital track which offers an upgrade from the one found on cable. Dialogue focused from the front channels sounds crisp and clear, with no noticeable balancing issues. Dead Zone features more action than the regular TV sitcoms I’ve reviewed as of late, offering better use of rear and sub channels as well. Besides being a bit front heavy there is very little wrong with this track.
Special Features
Lionsgate has included a handful of features worth checking out from fans. The two featurettes offer a few “behind the scenes” worth checking out, but the deleted scenes are a disappointment.
- Audio Commentary – Commentary from four episodes including “Independence Dayâ€, “Articles of Faithâ€, “Revelations†and “The Hunting Partyâ€. Each commentary track features a different set of actors, writers and other misc crew.
- Deleted Scenes – A total of 8 deleted scenes spread across the 3 disc set. These scenes were cut for all the right reasons as they add nothing worth while to the story.
- The Other Side of the Camera – A look at actors Chris Bruno and John L. Adams directorial debut. This 15 min feature follows the two actors as they learn what it takes to be a director.
- A Day with JLA – An on set tour with actor John L. Adams who plays Bruce Lewis on the show. This feature runs 14 minutes and offers a pretty interesting behind the scenes look at Dead Zone.
Final Thoughts
The show wasn’t half bad, and I just might check it out on cable in the coming season. Along with the disc comes a rather solid audio and video transfer considering it’s a cable TV show. Along with that is a halfway respectable handful of features that should please fans of the show.
