"The Dead Zone" - it could have been better
 

You can say what you will about the 1983 film by David Croninberg - good or bad - but there's no denying the fact that Christopher Walken was great (as usual).

It is unfair to compare any film against the novel it is based on, so I won't do that here. What I will do is criticize what I feel were poor ideas executed in the film, and ask for people's opinions.

Of course, to nit-pick a film you've seen almost as many times as you've read the novel can only mean that you did like the film, so keep that in mind.

#1: can they have had Sarah say the name Johnny more times than she did?

#2: how did John Smith afford that giganic house after the mountain of hospital bills he must have accrued in four+ years in a coma? (the house I speak of is the one he moved into after leaving his father's house and before he started tutoring the kid.)

#3: why did the director have the kind of balcony with spaces between? viewers seeing this for the first time (and with no knowledge of the book) always ask why Johnny just didn't point the rifle through the spaces instead of standing up, becoming a huge target. The director could have had the balcony where Johnny would have had no choice but to stand up in order to take a shot.

#4: that kid was a real drip. who the hell falls through ice without panicking?

Do fans of the book and film feel the film could have been better? To put it a better way, would fans of the book even care about the film if Christopher Walken wasn't the star?

Re: "The Dead Zone" - it could have been better
 

somebody should do a remake on this thing....

Re: "The Dead Zone" - it could have been better
 

somebody should do a remake on this thread....

Re: "The Dead Zone" - it could have been better
 

somebody should do a remake on this post....

Re: "The Dead Zone" - it could have been better
 

I think this could be my favorite Stephen King book to movie. So, no, I don't think it could have been better. I think it's perfect as is.

Re: "The Dead Zone" - it could have been better
 

Nobody is suggesting a remake. Just an honest discussion.

Re: "The Dead Zone" - it could have been better
 

While we're talking about The Dead Zone, one thing's always bugged me.

William B. Davis (AKA The X-Files' "Cigarette Smoking Man") is credited as "Ambulance Driver"...and as many times as I've seen that movie, I've never noticed any scenes where he could be hiding. Is he on the cutting room floor (and there's no deleted scenes on the DVD, so who knows?), or has anyone spotted him? This would be a good 10 years before The X-Files, so I'd imagine he'd look quite a bit younger.

Re: "The Dead Zone" - it could have been better
 

I just found out that Ramon Estevez, Greg Stillson's son, snapped the incriminating photograph shown later in Johnny's flash-ahead scene on the cover of Newsweek.

Re: "The Dead Zone" - it could have been better
 

Re: "The Dead Zone" - it could have been better
 

I got news for you: every movie could be better, even the all time classics. Enjoy them for what they are and stop being such a cry-baby.

Re: "The Dead Zone" - it could have been better
 

Agree. Kind of baffled what purpose this thread serves as any movie could be put into the thread title and have the conditions apply to it.

Re: "The Dead Zone" - it could have been better
 

I liked the TV pilot with Michael Hall better than this movie.