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The Walking Dead

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OMG, I can't wait for this freaking show. It's the adaptation of the popular comic book.

It premiers tonight on AMC. If you don't know about it, here's a quick synopsis, and review. It sounds like the best production quality ever by a horror show:

"These days it seems that all the best stories have moved to television. Shows like "Breaking Bad", "Mad Men", "Lost" and "Battlestar Galactica" have kicked the sh*t out of everything at the multiplexes for several reasons: As Hollywood grows more bland and commercial, all the great filmmakers have run to the small screen, where they’re given more time and creative freedom to tell stories. Hell, even Martin Scorsese has a show now!

When it was announced that Frank Darabont and Gale Anne Hurd would tackle an adaptation of "The Walking Dead" for AMC, hopes couldn’t get any higher. Robert Kirkman’s graphic novels have joined the ranks of Romero and Max Brooks as the very best in zombie fiction, and a series on TV’s best and ballsiest network seemed like the perfect home. It was almost too good to be true. So how does the final product measure up? If the first two episodes are any indication, this series is already a home run! "The Walking Dead" isn’t just a killer show, it’s the best horror offering we’ve seen all year, period.

Both the graphic novels and the series belong to the George A. Romero school of thought and could easily take place in the same universe. It all starts in the middle of Georgia, where officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) takes a bullet during an intense police stand-off. But poor Rick faces something worse than death: He wakes up in the hospital after an unknown period to discover that the world around him has been destroyed by a zombie plague (and before another moron screams 28 Days Later, remember that Day of the Triffids did it first. Moving on...). The first act of this epic survival tale finds Rick on the road through the wastelands as he tries to find his family, while encountering fellow survivors and battling through the undead hordes that have claimed Atlanta.

As it stands, the extended first episode (written and directed by Darabont) is arguably the single greatest television pilot since "Twin Peaks", not to mention the best zombie "movie” in almost a decade. With sweeping and stylish direction, Darabont captures the oppressive atmosphere of an honest-to-God apocalypse and, for the first time in a long time, makes zombies scary again. Kirkman’s world explodes in breathtaking detail thanks to lavish cinematography, KNB’s make-up effects and a beautifully understated score by Bear McCreary. The scope feels as large as a big-budget Hollywood film, and if any expense was spared, it certainly doesn’t show it. And all you cynical horror fans who screamed about television censorship, fear not; this show has serious bite! In fact, the first two episodes alone are gorier than Romero’s last three Dead films combined.

AMC's The Walking Dead (click for larger image)But the show has soul, too. Amid the splatter there lurks the real emotion and tough moral decisions that define the very best of horror. This is in no small part due to the rock solid cast led by Andrew Lincoln, who perfectly embodies Rick Grimes. He’s edgy and intense, and series readers will be thrilled knowing what dark paths this character will eventually take. Particularly good are Rick’s early scenes with best friend and rival, Shane, played by the equally great Jon Bernthal, who fleshes out and elevates his character far beyond the comic pages. And while these first two episodes are very Rick-centric, first impressions of other series regulars (Lori, Dale, Carl, etc.) are generally strong.

The series takes several detours from the source material but stays true to the characters and overall arc of the book. Without diving into spoilers, Darabont throws in a lot of extra characters, plotlines and set pieces into the first two episodes, but nothing feels superfluous. These additions only serve to expand the universe and help pacing while giving die-hard fans something new to chew on. There are even several welcome moments of gruesome black humor, which is extremely welcome given the overall humorless nature of the books.

Hats off to Darabont, Hurd, Kirkman and AMC for creating another winner! "The Walking Dead" is a milestone in television and, in many ways, the first A-level horror series. It’s classy, epic and old school in the best ways and makes you realize why you originally fell in love with this genre.

Score: 5 out of 5 "
http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/walking-dead-tv

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And the Trailer:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1v0uFms68U[/ame]

Replies

  • Wahlgren
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    Wahlgren polycounter lvl 17
    I saw the preair one. As a huge "walking dead" fanboy I don't feel slighted one bit... and it's gorey as fuck. It's a miracle you can send the level of nastiness they have on tv...

    It will be interesting to see how they handle future incidents that were in the comic that was truly shocking. If you don't know what to expect. My god are you in for a ride! (and a little bit of you will die each time) :D
  • Skamberin
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    Skamberin polycounter lvl 13
    First ep was amazing. Not read the comic, not sure if I want too, as I want to leave myself spoiler free :P

    This is my Trueblood.
  • Rico
    Yeah, this is basically the only thing I've looked forward too the whole week! Don't know anything about it though, saw the commercials and thought it might be pretty sweet. Definitely tuning in tonight.
  • Marine
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    Marine polycounter lvl 18
    Can't wait for it, but I've got two issues, everywhere refers to it as being based on a graphic novel, they act like comic is a dirty word, and the fan opening beats the crap out of the official one
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TWCXE0hsbQ[/ame]
  • Cyrael
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    Cyrael polycounter lvl 10
    that was a killer open. they should of went with that one.

    I saw the pilot, but am planning on watching the first ep tonight! very excited. It's crazy what makes it to tv now..
  • Bigjohn
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    Bigjohn polycounter lvl 11
    Really can't wait for this one. Seems like it may be awesome. Only downside is that I don't get AMC here in HD. Oh well.
  • Barnstable
    It seems it already leaked if anyone can't wait, and doesn't mind poor quality video.
  • haiddasalami
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    haiddasalami polycounter lvl 14
    Don't have AMC but will watch online tommorow. Thank god for streaming episodes. Down the road will definitely pick up a blu-ray season dvd (please do it.)
  • Seaseme
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    Seaseme polycounter lvl 8
    Freaking incredible.
  • Esprite
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    Esprite polycounter lvl 9
    Yeah it was pretty good. Roommate and I watched it while eating the leftover halloween candy.
  • Klumpmeister
    I watched it. Pretty good but not totally accurate but does add more realism that the graphic novel had.
  • Lamont
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    Lamont polycounter lvl 15
    Not out here. AMC is blocked. Hello Bitorrent.
  • JacqueChoi
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    JacqueChoi polycounter
    Haven't read the comics, but WOW!

    Now THAT's a TV show!
  • vcortis
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    vcortis polycounter lvl 9
    Wow was that good.

    That's horror done right! It had me squirming in my seat at times. I love how the characters are already being developer too. Looks like I'm going to have to read this series.
  • Barnstable
    Very impressed with this first episode even though I think I kind of ruined the surprise by reading so many reviews. I kind of knew what was going to happen for the most part... but still, great acting, writing, and make up.

    I really like how the zombies aren't just shambling, slow and stupid. They can try to open doors, crawl under things to get at you, run, seem to have vague memories compelling them to act (the little girl picking up the teddy, and the mother trying to get in the house), and even climb to an extent. Now that's terrifying.

    This first season is only 6 episodes long, but they already confirmed that they green lit a second season before this first episode even aired. That's how good the reviews have been.
  • jimmypopali
    I have never actually heard of this series or the graphic novels.

    Zombie animals?
  • BeatKitano
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    BeatKitano polycounter lvl 16
    I have never actually heard of this series or the graphic novels.

    Zombie animals?

    Don't know, but animal picknick, yes.
  • Striff
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    Striff polycounter lvl 18
    I have never read the graphic novel or even heard about this show until I saw them advertising it at Comic-Con. I defiantly was not disappointed! Very awesome.
  • Rico
    Yup, was definitely awesome! The only thing that sucks now is that I got to wait till next sunday to see the new episode =(
  • danshewan
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    danshewan polycounter lvl 8
    Yep, definitely my new favorite show. I was a little skeptical about Lincoln in the lead role at first, but I came around by the end of the episode.

    Never read the comics (but I'm going to), and thought it was superbly done and will definitely be following this.
  • catstyle
    cant wait to watch this
  • skylebones
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    skylebones polycounter lvl 10
    Loved the comic. So I was excited for this. And it was awesome!
  • Jeremy-S
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    Jeremy-S polycounter lvl 11
    Never read the comic, but was tempted a few times. I also saw the pre-air, but watched it again last night as it was amazing, and I wasn't sure how much of the gore in the pre-air they could get away with on the actual show. It was the same from what I saw :D

    By the end of the episode I was thinking "wait, that's it? There's no endi... Oh yeah, it's a series, not a movie." :D Very well written, acted, and directed. Hope it lasts a long long time.
  • vofff
  • Mark Dygert
    My wife and I loved the comics it's one of the few she'll read, but then she has a soft spot for gore, heh. We stopped reading month to month and now pick up a trade paper back whenever they come out. If you think a week between episodes is painful try waiting a month. It's been a while since we read the first few issues so some of it seems kind of new or different. So far so good, they cranked it up and poured awesome on it.

    They did a great job at capturing those 3-4 panels of stillness then some subtle movement that is hard to do in comics. They did a great job of capturing the "they're not dangers a lone, but in packs, all riled up..." In the comics the pacing between "not so bad, they might make it" and "oh they're fucked" was amazing. That seems to be caring over to series pretty well too, but things are just getting started.

    For those that haven't read the comics, you're in for a horrifically awesome ride. If you're looking for a campy little zombie fest where the only trouble the characters get in can be cleaned off with some tide, then you should get off now. The horse was a down payment on what is to come.

    Let it be said Kirkman loves his characters but you'll probably love them more than he does. He knows it, and he plays off of that, like a sick mother fucker he plays off it... and the best part is, you'll love it.

    If the pacing of the first episode is how they are planning to move through the series then I'm going to be in happy (zombie) land for a long time.
  • Jason Young
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    Jason Young polycounter lvl 14
    Show was awesome. The only thing that sucks is there's only 6 episodes for the 1st season which I believe was mentioned already.
  • Wahlgren
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    Wahlgren polycounter lvl 17
    Hboybowen wrote: »
    Ok ok so who hides under a tank and then decides to finally get in it after running out bullets becuz u dropped 2 duffle bags full of guns and ammo and then once inside the tank....Runs to the top where a 50 CAL Machine Gun is right beside your head and dont use it. and then closes the hatch and doesnt check to see if the tank is working.
    Becuz I saw a corner full of tank rounds right behind him when he first got in. That was so stupid(Show was good).

    A guy that just got swarmed by an army of zombies and panics that's who.
  • Slum
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    Slum polycounter lvl 18
    "check to see if the tank is working."

    Who even knows how the hell to do that?
  • skylebones
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    skylebones polycounter lvl 10
    no kidding. Operating a tank isn't like operating a go-kart with a paintball gun strapped to the hood.
  • Wahlgren
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    Wahlgren polycounter lvl 17
    and even more important. That's not the kind of story this is. This is about some seriously fucked up shit and drama happening in an awful horrible world. Not zombie killing.

    That's just a bonus.
  • eld
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    eld polycounter lvl 18
    And the guy was ready to blow his brains out under the tank, I dont think he had any hope left at that point.
  • Mark Dygert
    Hboybowen wrote: »
    Ok ok so who hides under a tank and then decides to finally get in it after running out bullets becuz u dropped 2 duffle bags full of guns and ammo and then once inside the tank....Runs to the top where a 50 CAL Machine Gun is right beside your head and dont use it. and then closes the hatch and doesnt check to see if the tank is working.
    Becuz I saw a corner full of tank rounds right behind him when he first got in. That was so stupid(Show was good).

    Its hard to see the hidden under tank hatch with a face full of zombies. It's also something a bumpkin sheriff probably wouldn't know about. When was the last time you where pulled over by a cop in a tank for speeding?

    Firing up the 50 cal provided it was loaded and ready to fire, wouldn't solve the issue of picking the zombies off the tank. If the tank isn't running generating power, the motor that spins the turret won't work.

    Getting knocked 6ft to the ground isn't a easy landing. Fall off a 6ft ladder and tell me how ready you are to pick yourself up. I've fallen off a horse, he's lucky it didn't fall on him, crush him, pin him or slow him down.

    He also was in shock that everyone was a zombie. He was told the city was safe. He saw a helicopter fly over, there had to be actual people around right? Not everyone was a zombie? It's not an easy thing to pick out the living from the undead at first glance. It's not like hallmark makes a card that says
    "I'm sorry I gunned down your loved one, he really should pick up his feet when he walks... Opps guess he doesn't need to worry about that! hahaha..."

    He also later looks back on that encounter as an incredibly noob-ish thing to do. I think he even says something like "I should of known when the roads leading in where clear, but the roads going out where packed".
  • moose
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    moose polycount sponsor
    i was pleasantly surprised, if not shocked of how fucking awesome that first episode was. I can't wait for more!! My fianc
  • aesir
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    aesir polycounter lvl 18
    I thought it was fucking great.

    But I love to chat about things, so here are a couple thoughts.

    Wtf was with that scene under the tank where he apologizes to his wife and son, puts the gun to his head for all of ZERO POINT ONE SECONDS, and then climbs up into the tank. Was he just scratching an itch on his head with his gun and apologizing for no reason? We got no scene where he notices the hatch... It was very confusing when I saw it.

    Also, who else thought the black family was going to die after the sheriff left?
  • Mark Dygert
    aesir wrote: »
    Wtf was with that scene under the tank where he apologizes to his wife and son, puts the gun to his head for all of ZERO POINT ONE SECONDS, and then climbs up into the tank. Was he just scratching an itch on his head with his gun and apologizing for no reason? We got no scene where he notices the hatch... It was very confusing when I saw it.

    He thinks they're still alive (talk about photo albums in his house). He feels a need to find and protect them (a total boyscout cop). He's letting them down that he wasn't able to do anything other than get eaten. Then he looked up and saw the hatch.

    That part could of been more clear I guess... Maybe they should of had him look up sees a "emergency hatch" label and then climbs up in. It wasn't really clear that he closed the hatch either, which was a pretty stupid thing not to do too.

    But yea everyone makes mistakes their first day on the job...
  • Slum
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    Slum polycounter lvl 18
    aesir wrote: »
    I thought it was fucking great.

    But I love to chat about things, so here are a couple thoughts.

    Wtf was with that scene under the tank where he apologizes to his wife and son, puts the gun to his head for all of ZERO POINT ONE SECONDS, and then climbs up into the tank. Was he just scratching an itch on his head with his gun and apologizing for no reason? We got no scene where he notices the hatch... It was very confusing when I saw it.

    Also, who else thought the black family was going to die after the sheriff left?

    I think that was a great decision they made, to emphasize how frantic the situation can be. He was going to off himself, then had a "Oh holy shit, nevermind" moment, so fast the camera couldn't even catch up. That was my favorite part of the episode.
  • moose
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    I dunno, apologizing and reassuring the dead bike-girl was the most powerful thing i've ever seen in any Zombie-genre type media. It was shot and acted flawlessly... it was like he was saying goodbye to an old friend or loved one, but instead saying good bye to their humanity and life. That was my favorite part, they're actually characterizing the dead, and having the living characters actually still show emotion and some empathy toward them instead of just blatant fear, or 'omg i must kill it' type reactions.

    I'm really excited to see where this goes, I've never read the books, and i dont want to have it spoiled for me :)
  • VPrime
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    VPrime polycounter lvl 9
    Never read the comics, but wow.. I loved this show. I think it is one of the best on TV right now. Up there with Battle star Galactica in my books.
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    at the tank scene I thought "holy shit, tanks have hatches in the bottom!?"

    I wonder if that scene was an homage to the original Dawn of the Dead ending where Peter almost offs himself.
  • aesir
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    aesir polycounter lvl 18
    Slum wrote: »
    I think that was a great decision they made, to emphasize how frantic the situation can be. He was going to off himself, then had a "Oh holy shit, nevermind" moment, so fast the camera couldn't even catch up. That was my favorite part of the episode.

    I guess I just feel without one extra camera shot of him actually noticing the hatch, that it didn't make sense to me. I mean, I got it, but there was a moment of confusion that threw me off.


    I am dissapointed that we're done with the horse riding. I think a sheriff shooting zombies from his trusty horse is awesome, and I demand more.
  • Wahlgren
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    Wahlgren polycounter lvl 17
    Umm. The hatch + gun scene I thought went like this.

    He see's the zombies coming at him.
    Wants to shoot himself.
    Rolls over before doing it and see's the hatch and thinks fuck that! and goes into it.

    But hay, I dunno! ;O
  • eld
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    eld polycounter lvl 18
    I wasn't expecting the horse buffet to actually happen, since somehow I remembered that in the dawn of the dead remake zombies were completely uninterested in animals.
  • Zipfinator
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    Zipfinator polycounter lvl 9
    Wahlgren wrote: »
    Umm. The hatch + gun scene I thought went like this.

    He see's the zombies coming at him.
    Wants to shoot himself.
    Rolls over before doing it and see's the hatch and thinks fuck that! and goes into it.

    But hay, I dunno! ;O

    That's how I saw it. He was focused on the zombies for the most part while under there and then when he was going to shoot himself he looked up because the zombies weren't that important anymore. It may be a bit of a stretch for him to not have noticed that while crawling forwards in there but I thought it worked fine.
  • moose
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    moose polycount sponsor
    her hatred was less about "wtf zombies don't eat animals" and more from an animal lover perspective :) Eating people is ok, just stay the fuck away from the animals! :poly141:
  • Barnstable
    Zipfinator wrote: »
    That's how I saw it. He was focused on the zombies for the most part while under there and then when he was going to shoot himself he looked up because the zombies weren't that important anymore. It may be a bit of a stretch for him to not have noticed that while crawling forwards in there but I thought it worked fine.

    I can totally imagine not noticing things when a hoard of zombies are like a few feet from you in both directions. That's panic time, and people aren't going to notice things.

    And about starting the tank, and firing up the gun and such,... he barely had time to close the top hatch. No way could he fire up that gun, and figure out how to shoot all those zombies around the tank before they got to him. I like how they didn't have it be like a Die Hard movie or something where everything goes right to allow you to pull off some superhero move.

    I haven't read the comics, but I doubt he's going to figure out how to start up that tank. I think it's more likely that whoever was talking on the radio makes a noise to draw the zombies allowing the main guy to get away.

    One thing I just thought about. The zombies want warm flesh, so they eat you completely if you've just died. So that must have had a large number of all the people that died from the zombies eaten instead of turned into a zombie. After all, you don't see any bodies in the street, so everyone must have either turned, or been completely consumed. I was thinking there aren't enough body remnants all over, but that would account for it.
  • MattQ86
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    MattQ86 polycounter lvl 14
    Amazing amazing show. I didn't quite know what to expect but I'm glad this first episode layered on the depressing reality of the zombie apocalypse right out of the gate. That said I'm not as shocked at the gore as most people seem to be. I'm a big Breaking Bad fan and I highly doubt anybody's liquefied remains are going to be poured down a toilet this season.
  • Zipfinator
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    Zipfinator polycounter lvl 9
    Barnstable wrote: »
    One thing I just thought about. The zombies want warm flesh, so they eat you completely if you've just died. So that must have had a large number of all the people that died from the zombies eaten instead of turned into a zombie. After all, you don't see any bodies in the street, so everyone must have either turned, or been completely consumed. I was thinking there aren't enough body remnants all over, but that would account for it.

    Do they eat all of the bones and teeth and such though? That would be silly.
  • moose
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    moose polycount sponsor
    Zipfinator wrote: »
    Do they eat all of the bones and teeth and such though? That would be silly.
    OT :P
    http://www.foodwithlegs.com/?p=1084
  • Zipfinator
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    Zipfinator polycounter lvl 9
    moose wrote: »

    That's just the tasty goop inside of the bones! There would still be the shells (I don't know the correct term for it) all over the place.
  • Jeff Parrott
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    Jeff Parrott polycounter lvl 19
    I'm so happy a new show is actually good. Lost going off the air last year and Heroes going off the air after season 1 (there never were other seasons) it's nice to have a great drama show. I wish it was a longer season than 12-15 episodes. But I'll take awesome any way I can get it.
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