Days Gone Bye

Had heard nothing but great things about 'The Walking Dead' from friends and IMDb reviewers. It took a while to get round to watching, both from being busy and also not being sure whether it would be my cup of tea. Finally getting round to it a few years ago and slowly working my way through it, having had a very long to watch and review list, 'The Walking Dead' turned out to be very much my cup of tea and as good as the hype made it out to be, have found it extremely addictive.

"Days Gone Bye", having now decided to review all the episodes, is an absolutely brilliant start to 'The Walking Dead', and one of the strongest reminders of how Seasons 1-5 of 'The Walking Dead' to me were absolutely brilliant and seeing the show in its full glory days (Season 6 was uneven, Season 7 was a huge disappointment and am still debating whether to watch Season 8).

Other reviewers have hailed it as one of the best first episodes ever, definitely agree with this. It still shocks me at how an intelligent, well-made (so much so that it is easy to mistake it for a film) show about zombies could be made when so many films have tried and failed abysmally to do so.

Like all the episodes of the show, "Days Gone Bye" is incredibly well made in the production values, with gritty and audacious production design, photography of almost cinematic quality, effects that look good, have soul and are not overused or abused and pretty frightening make-up which helps make the already freaky zombies even freakier. The music is haunting and affecting, having presence but never being too intrusive.

The writing is intelligent and thought-provoking, with lots of tension and emotional resonance and already showing signs of character complexity and multiple layer storytelling. The more eventful scenes are thrilling and terrifying as well as uncompromising.

It's all thrilling and tautly paced without rushing through the more important parts. The world building is already stunningly immersive and effective. Direction is smart and atmospheric while the show throughout has been strongly acted especially from the two leads playing particularly well-crafted characters.

All in all, brilliant start. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I rewatch this episode, and all this season, and it is perfect, really perfect, its the best start in any Tv series, even better start that Breaking Bad, all the episodes are excellent, but in this episode, you can see all the potencial that The walking dead have, if Darabont would have continue as showrunner this could have been another big success for AMC like Breaking bad, and seeing this 1 season again was excellent, but it also was sad, because all this great work, all the seriousness, darkness and even realistic that this season have, vanish forever in the next seasons, the second could be boring for a lot of people (for me no), but it still have that darkness, and realistic events, that the first season have, not a the same level, but still there, but in the third season, there was not more of that, it was a joke, and it gets worse and worse in every season, really so sad, because this could be an authentic masterpiece, from the beginning to the end, of course only if Darabont have been the only showrunner for The walking dead, this is for me the biggest mistake of AMC, they have breaking bad, but still being a huge mistake, not only for the fans, even for TV, but we still having this first season, if all would have end in this first season, and they wouldn't continue doing the second, the third, etc. This would be the best Tv Mini series.

Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes and his partner and best friend Shane Walsh are summoned to form a police roadblock to stop a runaway car. Rick is shot by one criminal and goes into a coma. When Rick awakens in the hospital, he finds that he is alone in the abandoned hospital and sees several bodies disposed everywhere.

He wanders along the empty streets trying to find his wife and son and stumbles with Morgan Jones and his son Duane that explain him that the world has ended and now there are only walkers, zombies that are attracted by sound and smell of the survivors. Rick heads to Atlanta in the police car to seek out his family but he runs out of gas on the road. He sees a horse in a farm and rides to the city. Out of the blue, he is surrounded by walkers that eat his horse. He seeks refugee in a military tank and he hears a message on the radio.

I have glanced at many good reviews about "The Walking Dead" and I have finally bought the Blu-Ray with the complete First Season. This first show or pilot is one of the best zombie films I have ever seen and this is my favorite horror genre. The plot is very well constructed through a good story, great performances and stunning special effects. Now I am going to see the next episode, hoping that keep the same level of this pilot. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Days Gone Bye" (1.1)

Note: On 08 April 2016, I saw this show again.

Hungry ? There's nothing as efficient as a film of zombies to fill up your belly. Yummy ! We just can't get enough of these sleepy walkers, even after 28 Days Later and I Am Legend. However I really didn't know what to expect and was wondering if Frank Darabont, director and writer of the pilot, and his team would be able to disturb us positively.

There're shows that try to introduce as many characters as possible in their pilots and there's The Walking Dead. Similarly to Danny Boyle's masterpiece this first installment covered the journey of a lonely and agonizing protagonist, Rick Grimes. Andrew Lincoln's performance was flawless and greatly contributed to make his character authentic. You should instantly care about his fate and watch his every steps. In fact we didn't have much choice considering the other characters had anecdotic roles. It's a good thing because for example I was driven to the show by Sarah Wayne Callies and as she was only featured for a few seconds I won't miss the upcoming episode. An other important element to consider is the immersion. Indeed I hadn't been so engaged by a production since 28 Days Later. From the first person visuals to the astonishing visual effects I just haven't one single complain to make. Pure perfection ! I never thought they would be able to transpose I Am Legend incredible cityscapes to a simple TV series.

The story itself is edgy, scary and unpredictable. The twists weren't numerous but absolutely exquisite. The lasts were jaw breakers ! You have been warned. All along I couldn't help being frightened by what was happening to the protagonist. An other character portrayed by Lennie James made his creepy adventure even more fearful. He was also used to tell what happened as Rick's miraculous survival is unexplained. It's even more puzzling as we have no idea when the apocalypse began nor how. As a comparison Survivors (2008) was far less intriguing so I hope it's not an other government conspiracy ! Let's now dissect the ambiance silently. Indeed we don't want to draw the walkers attention. An identical process was applied and the pace was brilliantly spread. People interested by psychology and climax should feel right at hell. Some scenes were so calm that I could hear my breath. The background music wasn't intrusive and very rare. But the best part and the most mind blowing one is that most scenes occurred in bright day life. The only night one didn't last more than five minutes ! It's very smart if you compare the concept to I Am Legend. The seams of its digital effects ruined the creatures impact in my opinion. So we aren't ready to give up on the good old make-up craft ! Anyone for a zombification ?

Still we could argue for a more original story and less stereotyped characters. But some of them definitely have potential and their connections could lead to very tensed moments. To sum things up all victorious ingredients were united for once. Even the visuals were able to convey the comics spirit it's based upon. Indeed some scenes were like frozen in time just to have a higher impact on the audience. From the crawling woman to the dark crows walking in the pages of that bestiary was fascinating !

The Walking Dead has been heavily anticipated by me and many other television fans, and we finally have it. Was it worth the wait? Definitely!

The Pilot of The Walking Dead was everything you hope for in television. It was smart, it presented some great character development, had some really great writing, and on top of that it is a zombie show. What is present here in the Pilot is how much the writers added emphasis on the humanity that is gone from these infected. Most zombie films have zombies are stupid, human-less animals, but one has to remember that these things used to be people. The Pilot definitely made me realize just how fragile they were and just how unfortunate the situation is. It was entertaining from the first second to the last, but it is not stupid gory fun. The great thing is that it was smart gory fun! The make-up looks amazing, probably the best make-up in any zombies I have ever seen.

Overall, it was a great first episode, probably the best Pilot in years. I cannot wait for the rest of the season and just wish it would be longer.