I've seen a lot of zombie movies, and I gotta say that there is nothing that has been done that compares in style, acting, drama, make-up to The Walking Dead. I often jokingly say that most realistic zombie movies are the comedies, the ones that don't take themselves seriously, Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, but this is by far the most realistic representation of the zombie genre I've ever seen.
You have actors that have been in movies that have been nominated and won oscars, tv shows that have won emmys, I really don't see were we have seen a zombie movie/show with this caliber of actors. You don't hear people complain about how awful Andrew Lincolns(rick grimes) american accent is, as a matter of fact, I believe that most people probably don't even realize that Andrew Lincoln is English. Now, that's good acting.
The plots, the scenes, the make-up, it's all very realistic and believable to me. I hardly ever find myself shaking my head and questioning whether a scene or situation is believable as occurs with many other zombie representations in other movies. Beyond not questioning the realism of the show when you can find yourself watching something over and over and over again, then you have something special.
I love this show, I hope it runs for many seasons. It's a shame that AMC had to cannibalize The Walking Dead budget to sign Matt Weiner to a 25mil-30mil deal and to keep The Killing alive. AMC cut the budget for season 2 from 3.4 million to 2.75 million per episode. I just hope AMC realizes what a gem it has and doesn't cannibalize the budget to cut back any more.