The Walking Dead: Season 1

I WOULD FIRST LIKE TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM SOME ARE HAVING WITH EPISODE 2, "GUTS." IT APPEARS THAT SOME ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY WITH THE ENTIRE FOOTAGE (3+ MINUTES OR SO) CONCERNING THE GROUPS TAKING INDOORS "WAYNE DULAP", THE DEAD, WALKER. THIS FOOTAGE OF GORE AS THE GROUP HACKS AWAY AT HIM WITH AN AXE IN GRAPHIC DETAIL. I TOO HAVE SEEN THIS DELETION. BUT, YOU CAN SEE IT ALL! A SIMPLE CHANGE AS TO HOW YOU BEGIN WATCHING THE FIRST DISC IS KEY. SIMPLY VIEW EACH EPISODE AS A SINGLE EPISODE IN ITSELF. RATHER THAN CLICKING "PLAY ALL." TO VIEW EACH EPISODE AS A SINGLE PLAY, YOU WILL SEE EVERY FRAME OF INTENDED GORE AND BLOOD! OR AS REAL AS IT WAS INTENDED! I HOPE THIS CLEARS THE MISCONCEPTIONS OF "MISSING FOOTAGE."As a Verified Amazon Purchased item, I can attest to this with my honesty and heart. Growing up on the original "Night of the Living Dead", that movie scared me for years. To this day, it still sends shivers down my spine. In fact, the only thing that truly gets my heart pounding in fright, is the dead coming back to life! For decades hundreds of movies have imitated, but never duplicated that 1968 low-budget film. One man's view took others with him and the select few became giants in the industry in their own right. Tom Savini was Romero's make-up & special effects artist on NOTLD and he branched off to make the dead more real in his views. Another man, Greg Nicottero, followed Savini, and in time, along with Howard Berger, became the predominant forces when it came to bringing the dead to life. Fast forward to 2010.When I heard whispers at Horror Conventions that the Graphic Novel I loved, "The Walking Dead" would be picked up by AMC for a single, 6 episode season, I knew my dreams of NOTLD had come full circle. Having met Mr. Romero on several occasions, I had asked him of his thoughts on the TV jump? He just said, "If anyone can pull this off, Greg can." That was golden for me. But how does one take a comic of sorts and turn it into a TV series?AMC gave the go-ahead for an unprecedented attempt to where TV had not gone before. No different than Star Trek and the realms it charted. Wow. Was I shocked and happily worth the 50 year wait!Robert Kirkman's take on the "Undead" was and is breathtaking. While there are certain differences between the Graphic Novel & TV show, some subtle, others much more outright, "The Walking Dead Season 1" was absolutely brilliant! Sure, the first episode mirrors "28 Days Later" as Rick Grimes awakes from a coma to find the world has turned upside down, he remains true to his Sheriff's law abiding ways. As well as a man seeking his wife and son. Only to find every BODY he passes is either "put down" or NOT! As he arrives to his home, his life, you see what I believe any of us would do. Collapse. He breaks down as he realizes that all he knew is no more, but with a grip on "maybe?" He patrols outdoors to his former neighbors home. Only to be whacked with a shovel by an even more scared Duane. Only a child himself trying to deal with DEAD PEOPLE NOT STAYING DEAD! As Rick regains his wits for a sec, he sees Morgan with a muzzle in his face. Wait? Isn't Rick the Sheriff? No wonder he passes out! We as the audience do not need the growing ensemble cast yet. Rick needs to learn about the new reality first, first hand. The brief cut-aways at his prior gun shot are necessary for US to learn about him. Rick learns of the world from Morgan and Duane. All the while Morgans pathetic wife mopes just outside because Morgan himself still hasn't come to terms yet. And he is 1 month into this insanity!All in this first episode, the 3 members must deal with this together. Yet prepare to go separate ways. An amazing moment when Morgan has his new rifle that Rick gave him. One full month on of his morbid wife lurking outside the front door, and the Human Element keeps him from putting her down. He knows she is dead. It is the right thing to do. But the LOVE keeps him from pulling that trigger. Duane knows the moment is near and covers his ears and cringes with fright! Morgan hesitates. He is not ready to deal with the "Walking Dead." Fore his wife is not his wife anymore. Given the chance, she would tear into his flesh in a sec! Rick drives off in a Sheriff's car in search of Lori and Carl. He KNOWS they made it. He hangs onto this simple yet strong notion. If not, then all hope is truly lost! All in the first episode!I shall not go on about the remaining 5 episodes of Season 1. By now, I'm sure most of you have either seen them or know about them. Many on here have written much as I. Yes, some hate the premise of Zombies altogether. I say to them, just don't watch, don't read this and change the channel. As Bruce Springstien sang, "500 channels and nothing to watch." I'm sure there is. As for myself and Millions of loyal Undead fans, THIS is exactly what we have been waiting for.All thanks to George A. Romero and his original vision of "NIGHT OF THE FLESH EATERS." I'm so glad that name never took!I am highly recommending this set in Blu-Ray! To watch this in the best possible clarity and sound is like nothing else! I have also purchased "The Walking Dead Seasons 2&3" on Blu-Ray as well. I shall be leaving follow-up reviews for them as well. By far, aside from the original "Star Trek Series", AMC's "The Walking Dead" is the BEST thing on cable television...

What is it about Zomebies that makes them so appealing nowadays? As one that loves the classic monster movies, Zombies are the new kids on the block. They became a hit with the cult-classic "Night of the Living Dead" back in 1968. Back then, Zombies were reanimated dead people that had an insatiable craving for human brains. They were slow fumbling "simple" folk. As other people made Zombie movies, each writer, director, and producer added their own twists on what it was to be one of the undead. Of crouse the biggest inside joke was that in all the movies, they are never called "Zombies".Today, Zombies have a cool factor about them. They have even starred in extremely hilarious cult movies such as Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, and Fido. Now the cable channel AMC has brought back an entirely new Zombie story and for the first time, they are at the heart of an episodic television show. The first season of "The Walking Dead" was truly landmark TV and something TV viewers are so desperate to have. It's unique, compelling, and highly entertaining. My only lament is that the first season was only six episodes long.So what makes it so special? Well for one, like all good science fiction, it's about the human condition and our society set in a fantastic fictional setting. A sheriff is shot in action and slips into a coma. When he wakes up, the hospital has become a wild abandoned haunted house with things that go bump in the night locked behind chained doors. When he gets up and gets out, he discovers his home town almost deserted. He makss a bee line to his home where he discovers his wife and son have packed up thier most precious belongings and fled, He then meets a man and his son that have been surviving the "zombie-pocolypse" that bring him up to speed on what's gone on. There has been a deadly virus that once it kills you, it reanimates your body into a mindless flesh-eater. The rumor has it a lot of people have fled to nearby Atlanta for sanctuary, so our Sheriff goes to his local precinct, loads up for bear, and heads for Atlanta. Once there, he meets up with a reg-tag band of survivors and this is where the great dynamic begins.The survivors are a cross-section of Americana, complete with all its flaws. The only thing they have in common is that they want to survive. This is what makes Walking Dead stand out amoung all the other zombie stories. It reminds me of what I thought made the recent version of Battlestar Galactica so great. Its not about the Zombies, its about the human condition. The Zombies are there to present an on-going crisis that compells tha central characters on to confront their frailties and issues. The stories and scripts are so well written, I am going to be quite upset if this off-beat show is not nominated for an Emmy for its writing.Also, it's writers are not afraid to take risks and just like Battlestar, everyone is at risk. People die and they have made it quite clear that no one, even its central characters, are safe from death or zombification. Another thing I quite liked is that so much was packed into these six episodes, it seems like a series that had twice the number of episodes. The pacing is extrordinary and while it's never overpwoering, it moves at a brisk pace. Also, when the last scenes have played out in the final episode of the season, it is a great ending that not only leaves the door open for Season 2, but it clears the slate so that anything can happen.This is must-see TV and I highly reccommend anyone that can get past the concept of Zombies to watch this series. I can not wait until Seaosn 2 airs.