Under the Dome

Adapting a Stephen King novel to either the small or big screen always seems like a tricky proposition. Luckily with his 2009 novel "Under the Dome," network TV has created a winner. The summer hit is here on Blu-ray featuring 13 episodes and 2 hours of special features.

Instead of cramming in all of the action of King's monstrous and sometimes bloated novel, the writers of "Under the Dome" have crafted a mini-series that will hopefully last a few seasons. The plot in a nutshell concerns the citizens of small town Chester's Mill and their dealings with a sudden dome that surrounds the town. Like the best "Twilight Zone" episodes, the situations on the show feature the struggle to figure out the meaning behind the force field.

Characters from King's book come to life: there's the mysterious drifter Barbie (Mike Vogel), corrupt Big Jim (Dean Norris), his son Junior (newcomer Alexander Koch), and Angie (Britt Robertson), whose character was very minor in the book. "Under the Dome" also nicely features a lesbian couple with a daughter.

The amazing part about "Under the Dome" is that it is hard to categorize. This is talked about in "The World of Under the Dome," and also takes the viewer on the filming locations of the show. "Filming the Pilot" shows how the many special effects were created, including how the infamous cow-cutting scene was done. King pops up on set for the pilot and is also featured in "Stephen King and Under the Dome," where he discusses how he came up with the story for the novel. Deleted scenes are also included in the dome-shaped Blu-ray box set.

"Under the Dome"
Blu-ray
$76.99
www.paramount.com