Every fan of Stephen King’s work has heard of the series Under the Dome. The viewers leave mixed reviews about it. The atmosphere in the film is conveyed quite accurately, and the actors were selected outwardly similar to the characters described in the book. If you are looking for a series that will allow you to spend evenings with pleasure for several weeks, this is exactly what you need.
Short description
The action of the book and the series "Under the Dome" takes place in Chesters Mill. This is a small town located in Maine. A cozy provincial town lives its own life - all local residents know each other well, go about their business. Season 1 begins, Under the Dome, with the mysterious dome covering the city. No one and nothing can penetrate through it. Even water and air are not able to overcome the mysterious energy field.
It was experimentally possible to find out that the height of the dome is about 6 km and the diameter is 16 km. However, this is not easier for local residents. Without external supplies of food and other important goods, the city is gradually beginning to experience great difficulties. Gradually end food, medicine, fuel. The authorities are trying to solve the problem by destroying the dome. However, lasers, explosions and corrosive chemicals are helpless against him.
In Chesters Mill, the situation is rapidly heating up. First, a fire broke out, which the locals had to extinguish on their own - fire engines could not get here. Then the epidemic begins. The matter is compounded by the fact that some people sometimes experience real seizures. At this time, they enter a trance and utter a mysterious phrase about pink stars.
Ordinary citizens are trying to maintain the rule of law, but this is becoming increasingly difficult. The last straw is the death of an old sheriff, who enjoys considerable authority. True anarchy can reign in the city at any moment. Several local residents assume the responsibility of maintaining order. Of course, the most important thing for the local mayor is to maintain his post, and not to provide real assistance to those in need. What will this development lead to?
Many people of different age categories are advised to watch the movie "Under the Dome." Reviews about him are not the most enthusiastic, since many points in the development of the plot are predictable, but in general the film is interesting. Most viewers and professional critics gave the series fairly good ratings.
When the series came out
Season 1 Under the Dome started on June 24, 2013 and ended on September 16. During this time, 13 episodes were released. In the future, this tradition has been preserved. In each of the three seasons, the creators provided 13 episodes. The second season began broadcasting on June 30, and ended on September 22, 2014. Finally, the third (last) season was launched on June 25, 2015, to complete on September 10.
According to official statistics, more than 23 million viewers watched the series during this time. However, there is nothing to be surprised at, because the series "Under the Dome" was shot based on the work of the master of the horror genre, whose works are very popular.
Main characters
Talking about the film "Under the Dome", the actors and roles cannot but be mentioned. After all, it is they who create the series, making it interesting and reliable.
The main character was played in the series "Under the Dome" by Mike Vogel. He got the role of Dale Barbara, nicknamed Barbie. In the story, he is a former military man traveling around the country. Cute, full of mysteries, he finds himself in the city by accident. He was just driving through Chesters Mill when a canopy descended on him. As a result, he was no longer able to get out of here. At first, Dale seems like a simple guy. The more you can learn about him, the more mysterious he becomes. Dale is familiar with local journalist Julia Shumway. Occasional conversations gradually shed light on the hero’s past.
Another important character is precisely Julia Shumway. She was played in the series "Under the Dome" by Rachelle Lefebvre (Canadian actress). Julia is a native of Chesters Mill, owner and publisher of Democrat, a daily opposition newspaper. Ambitious and single-minded, Julia stands at the head of the opposition to the mayor and his group immediately after the mysterious dome covers the city.
In the first episodes of the series, Sheriff Howard Perkins, played by Jeff Fey, played an important role. He was a respected man in the city, used to solve a variety of conflicts between residents. Shortly before the appearance of the dome, he conducted a very serious investigation. At Chesters Mill, someone was manufacturing methamphetamine. Howard attacked the trail of manufacturers, but could not finish the job - the city was covered with a mysterious dome, which caused the death of the sheriff. An elderly man was forced to use a pacemaker, and when he approached the dome, he simply exploded. After the sheriff’s death, local residents realized how important he played in the life of the city. The absence of the usual authoritative, wise and experienced person has led many people to embark on the path of lawlessness.
The main negative character in the series of Stephen King's "Under the Dome" was Jim Renny, nicknamed Big. Being one of the richest people in the city (the owner of a used car store), he sees the appearance of the dome not as a threat to the lives of all residents, but as a great opportunity to completely usurp power, becoming the only ruler who decides the fate of people. He does not care much that soon the threat of hunger, disease and death will hang over everyone. It is much more important for him to maintain power and strengthen it. Jim Renny was played by actor Dick Norris.
Minor Heroes
Talking about the actors and the roles of “Under the Dome”, one cannot but mention secondary characters, who also had a huge impact on the storyline.
Many remember the heroine Linda Esquivel, who appeared in many series. She was played in the movie Under the Dome by Natalie Martinez. It was Linda who became the sheriff after Howard died. Alas, she failed to cope with the difficult task of putting things in a doomed town - a lack of experience and respect among the local population affected her. However, she did everything she could, even saved Dale Barbara.
A colorful and very unpleasant character was Sam Verdro, brilliantly played by Eddie Cahill. In the story, he is the brother-in-law of Big Jim, which unties his hands. For some time he worked as a nurse. Verdro has very paranoid thoughts that he must destroy all the people who communicate with the dome in order to destroy it and gain freedom.
An interesting role went to Jolene Purdy, who played Dodi Weaver. She is a radio operator in the city, thanks to which she receives messages from the outside world. Alas, Dodi did not fit into Big Jim's plans and was killed by him.
It is safe to say that a team of magnificent actors was selected who masterfully performed their roles in all the series of the film “Under the Dome”. Reviews from the audience confirm this.
TV Shooting
Initially, the shooting of the series was supposed to begin in 2009 in order to be broadcast on the Showtime cable channel. However, after long meetings, the channel’s management refused to develop the show. Therefore, the CBS television and radio network took up the project only in 2012. The popularity of the series, based on Stephen King’s book Under the Dome, was not doubted by the directors, so it was decided not to make a pilot release, but to create the first season, consisting of 13 episodes, right away.
The filming began in February 2013. The small town of Wilmington in North Carolina was chosen as the place of work. The premiere took place in June 2013, as noted above. The first season was quite successful, so the series was extended.
Musical accompaniment
Of course, it would be impossible to create such a chic series without high-quality musical accompaniment. The creators were well aware of this, so they decided to entrust this part of the work to the experienced composer Snuffy Walden.
Having worked successfully for over forty years, he managed to write great music for eighty films and TV shows. He had to create music for films shot based on the works of Stephen King, for example, the series "Confrontation". Also, his name is often associated with the series "The Drew Carrie Show", "Sweet Justice", "Relativity", "Tomorrow Comes Today" and several others.
Differences with the book
In general, the series "Under the Dome" quite accurately conveys the plot of the popular book. However, there are a number of differences - both small and fairly large, which influenced the development of the plot. Perhaps many readers would be interested to know about them.
For example, the character Rennie the Younger in the series is simply shown as a rather aggressive, not too adequate person. However, in the book he was an outspoken psycho - a brain tumor led to the fact that he showed a special craving for violence. On his account kidnapping, rape of women, murder. However, this is quite in the spirit of King. When creating the series, so sharp angles decided to smooth out a little.
Julia Shumway (the main character of the series and books) suddenly became younger. In the series, she is no more than 30 years old, and according to the book - about 40. She is a widow. In the book, Barbie has nothing to do with this, which cannot be said about the series.
The dome itself was seriously different. For example, in the film adaptation it turned out to be quite soundproof: standing on one side of it, it is quite possible to communicate with people standing opposite. According to the book, he did not miss not only objects, but also sound.
Less blood
In general, the book turned out to be much more cruel and bloody (after all, it was written by a master of the horror genre). The series was made much softer. True, because of this, reliability has partially disappeared. When reading a book, one can observe how the tension under the dome rises rather quickly. In the series, most people continue to live quite a normal life.
Environmental problems
In the book and series, you can observe a sharp deterioration in the environment under the dome. Exhaust fumes, fires, a large amount of garbage that has nowhere to go - all this could eventually destroy local residents. According to Stephen King himself, in this way he decided to show readers all the environmental problems that humanity could face. After all, the entire planet Earth (on a global scale) is a small town, covered with a kind of dome, only of a much larger size, which is why the pollution process is slow, but inevitable.
Reasons for closing the series
The first season of "Under the Dome" received different reviews. Viewed by more than 11 million people. In the second season, a serious decline was noticed. Although the series was created based on the work of King himself, the second season did not live up to the expectations of many fans. Therefore, it was watched by about 7 million people. Alas, it was not possible to rectify the situation, because of which the third season, followed by only 4.7 million people, was the last.
The series did not meet the expectations of the developers and therefore was closed.
Conclusion
We talked about the movie "Under the Dome." The plot of this series is interesting, but in many ways predictable. Many viewers write about this in their reviews. They note that the series is too stretched, you don’t feel like watching it in the third season. More advanced viewers who love science fiction and regularly watch films in this genre, in their reviews of the series "Under the Dome" write about specific film adaptation errors. So, they note that in one frame the field may be burnt out, and in the next already green, in one episode the hero limps on one leg, and in the next on the other, as if he had forgotten where he was wounded. Most criticism is about the dome itself, which in King's book does not miss anything. And in the film, everything that the directors need is passing through the energy field.