Blu-Ray Review: AMC’s Brilliant ‘The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season’

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CHICAGO – The series premiere of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” was the best horror movie of 2010 and the best single episode of television that year. Director Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption”) brilliantly distilled a lifetime of zombie fandom into one beautiful character-driven piece that not only provided the chills of the genre but proved that the series would be dramatically rich as well. The living were as interesting as the dead. And now the first season, only six episodes long, is available in a beautiful 2-disc Blu-ray set. Don’t miss one of the best shows of 2010.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

Based on a truly remarkable comic series by Robert Kirkman (that you should read if you haven’t yet), “The Walking Dead” feels more like a multi-part film than a TV show, not unlike “Mad Men,” “Boardwalk Empire,” or the best programming on Showtime or FX. AMC continues to surprise with their production values that look more like theatrical film than basic cable television.

Andrew Lincoln, deserving of an Emmy nomination in a few months, stars as Officer Rick Grimes, a man who we first meet after the zombie apocalypse as he shoots a girl in the head. We then flash back to a shoot-out with Rick and his partner Shane (Jon Bernthal) in which Officer Grimes is critically injured. Not unlike the opening act of “28 Days Later…,” Rick wakes up in a hospital and realizes that things have gone very, very badly in the world outside. In a wonderful series of reveals, Rick makes his way out of the hospital and into a much-more-dangerous world.

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season was released on Blu-Ray and DVD combo pack on March 8th, 2011
Photo credit: Anchor Bay

From here, “The Walking Dead” becomes more about the survivors than the creatures trying to eat them. Who does the title refer to? The zombies or the people who have given up hope and are merely waiting to die? Darabont and his team brilliantly weave themes of humanity around a very inhuman situation, no more expertly then in Lennie Harris’s brilliant cameo in the first episode as Morgan, a character protecting his son who we barely met in the book but made a significant impact. Darabont dedicates nearly half of the first 90-minute episode to this minor character and brilliantly expands his tragic arc.

The series slows down after the premiere and that threw off some viewers expecting a “Dawn of the Dead” experience every week. Yes, it gets a little soapy, but it fits within Kirkman’s world view perfectly and, while I agree that the final arc at the CDC feels a bit rushed, I also found it emotionally resonant. Did I want more “Walking Dead”? Of course, but that doesn’t detract from what we got.

And what we got is presented in striking HD from Anchor Bay with an even better audio track. Fans will love the detailed special features, including episode-by-episode featurettes. The only thing missing is a commentary track from Darabont, a great speaker who could offered true insight on an audio track. It’s also worth nothing that most of the featurettes are very short and could have been more wisely organized into one longer one. It’s still worthwhile material even if it could have been organized a bit better.

Special Features
o Making of “The Walking Dead”
o Inside “The Walking Dead”: Episodes 1-6
o A Sneak Peek With Robert Kirkman
o Behind the Scenes Zombie Make-up Tips
o Convention Panel with Producers
o “The Walking Dead” Trailer
o Extra Footage

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com