First of all I rate the pilot episode of 'Under the Dome' as a clear 8.0. I am an admitted avid Stephen King fan and bought a copy of the book in Picton Ontario in January 2011 during the festive season vacation. It is not one of King's best novels but it is far from being his worst. For the horror genre his works are pretty mild and I have never found them spine tingling. In general I like King's works mostly because of his style and the small town characters in them. From such an amazingly prolific writer there are bound to be some duds. I think that the all-time best Stephen King book and mini TV series was the apocalyptic 'The Stand'. Until now the most recent of King's made-for-TV movies I watched and enjoyed (having read the book) was 'Bag of Bones'. I enjoyed 'Under the Dome' as a novel but cannot recall many details, just the general situation and plot. The book version of Under the Dome contains a map of the fictional Maine town of Chester's Mill (most of the Maine locations in Stephen King novels, such as Castle Rock, are fictional. In 'Stand by Me' - aka 'The Body' -Castle Rock is moved to Oregon!) The map of Chester's Mill was helpful in reading the novel to follow where the diverse action was happening outside and inside the dome. Chester's Mill is a small country town. The two North Carolina towns where the series is shot are not unlike Picton itself so I was able to enjoy the book by a blazing fireplace in my son's rambling house and sprawling acres overlooking Maine-like woods and a lake. During the 42 minute of the pilot I watched enthralled. I do not remember enough of the book I read two years ago to tell from the pilot to what extent King may have diverted from his novel but surely the poet himself is the one who is allowed poetic license in such cases. A TV family den audience is different from a one man-reader seated by a fireplace. The action was continuous from the start and the special effects were brilliant (I would not recommend reading the sour puss and nit picking comments on this site). Unlike in many other Stephen King screen works there are no big name film stars but several familiar faces from other TV series and a few young newcomers. Nevertheless, the standard of performance is pretty good. I wonder if King himself will make a cameo appearance in the series as he has often done in others... CBS promises 13 episodes and I am looking forward to all of them purely as light entertainment.
Review of Under the Dome
