If there's anything that Hollywood loves to do, it's to go back to the well. If someone was successful once, then it will probably be successful again. And if people are already familiar with it, then it may not cost as much to advertise. We see so many projects like this, the lingo can get confused. If a new version of an old movie is being produced, that's a remake. If a project features an new take on a previously established character, this can be called a reboot. But, if something like a novel has been adapted into a movie, and then someone decides to go back to the book to make another movie, this technically isn't a remake. It should be called a re-imagining. Robin Cook's 1977 novel Coma was made into a theatrical film in 1978 and now it's been re-visited in two-part television mini-series.

Coma introduces us to Dr. Susan Wheeler (Lauren Ambrose), a medical student who is beginning her residency in a hospital. Her instructor is Dr. Mark Bellows (Steven Pasquale) and she's paired with other students like Fairweather (Joe Mazzello) and Goldberg (Natalie Knepp). On her first day at the hospital, Susan realizes that an inordinate number of patients have lapsed into comas during surgery. She begins to investigate this with the assistance of her roommate, Jen (Katie Kneeland), a fellow student who has access to files. As Susan looks into the bizarre occurrences, she learns of The Jefferson Institute, a facility which treats coma patients. She eventually tells Mark of her findings, and he agrees to help her. However, he has a lot on his plate, as he deals with the politics of the hospital. Dr. Agnetta Lindquist (Geena Davis) is trying to help Mark get on the ethics board. Dr. Nelson (Joe Morton) learns that Susan has been looking at old files and attempts to have her removed from the hospital. Chief of staff Dr. Stark (James Woods) meets Susan in the ED and becomes her liaison to the executive branch of the hospital. But, as Susan' investigation goes deeper, those around her begin to disappear and more and more people want to see her gone.

I have not read Cook's novel and I have not seen the 1978 film in its entirety. But, like many, I'm familiar with the iconic image of the bodies hanging on wires and I knew a little bit about the plot. Given that, I went into Coma with an open mind and a desire to see what the movie had to offer. And I was immediately drawn into the story, as the first act is very well done. The movie opens with a patient unexpectedly going into a coma during surgery. We then meet Susan, as she slips on the edge of a pool, hits her head, and falls into the water (as we don't know the whole story as this point, we immediately assume that she is going to be another coma patient). Luckily, she's saved by Mark, and this is how they meet. Susan then begins her first day at the hospital and we meet the characters there and Susan first learns of the coma issues. It looks like things are going to fall nicely into place, even if there are a lot of characters.

However, once the movie should be ramping up, it begins to slow down and many unimportant things get dragged out and some scenes don't gel with the reality presented in the rest of the film. First of all, we must swallow the idea that a med student, while on her first day at work, notices a pattern which no one else has. Yes, a cover up is going on (no spoiler there), but surely someone not involved in the criminal activity taking place at the hospital would have picked up on something. In addition, the scene in which Susan looks for clues as to what could have happened in the operating room borders on ludicrous as she traverses behind the walls of the building. Susan's clues come very quickly at first and then things grind to a halt during the middle section, as we wait for everyone else to grasp the knowledge which we, the audience, have already been shown. We see the inner workings of The Jefferson Institute early on, and then we see the same shots again later in the film. (If felt as if someone had paid for those shots and they were going to get their money's worth.) Things pick up again somewhat in the third act, but the story gets very cliched here. Even for something which has already been made into a movie once, you're really going to feel like you've seen it all before. The oddest part of the movie involves Peter Arno (Michael Weston), a maintenance worker at the hospital who is also a patient of Dr. Lindquist. He is also a murderous stalker who pursues Susan during one of the most criminally over-prolonged sequences which I've ever seen. I used my DVD player's "Fast Play" feature during this (where you can still hear the dialogue, it's simply moving at a faster pace) and it still seemed like it took over an hour. Basically, the movie came to a screeching halt here and that's the last thing a movie needs when it already feels as if it's prolonging the inevitable.

Going back to a popular novel like Coma isn't a bad idea. The original story dealt with black market organ transplants. This new movie has updated the idea to focus on genetics, experimentation, and research and development. This is an organic step forward and it makes perfect sense. Again, not having seen or read the other versions of the story, I had assumed that this three-hour-plus mini-series approach was necessary to really bring the novel to life, but having now seen it, I know that they could have easily cut huge chunks out of this. The basic idea here is still interesting (although we've now seen it copied many times) and based on a synopsis of the novel I read, enough has been changed to either draw in or enrage fans of the book. However, all of the hospital politics, while realistic, feels very unnecessary to this story. We get it, everyone jockeys for power in a hospital and no one can be trusted. I didn't need multiple scenes to get that idea. Director Mikael Salomon appears to be carving a niche in the "going back to the novel" sub-genre, as he also directed the TV adaptations of 'Salem's Lot and The Andromeda Strain. But, he clearly didn't learn anything on those projects as this one squanders an exciting opening and some nice ideas to becoming something which will try the viewers patient. The irony shouldn't be lost on everyone that Coma could possibly put you to sleep.

Coma featured a patient conveyance system which looked a little too much like a roller coaster for my taste on DVD courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The DVD contains both Part 1 and Part 2 of the mini-series. The movie has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is sharp and clear, showing on notable grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look good and natural. The picture is slightly dark in some shots. The level of detail is acceptable, but not what we would have seen on a Blu-ray Disc release. In short, this rivals HD broadcast quality. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which provides clear dialogue and sound effects. For the most part, this is a straight-forward track which delivers audible dialogue. However, the mix also knows when to take advantage of sounds in the hospital or the institute and bring the stereo and surround channels in on the action. These effects are never overwhelming, but they do add to the experience.

The Coma DVD contains no extra features.