The Stand

Rating:
Summary: This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang......
Review: ...but with a whimper

Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers, Critters 2, and a Tales from the Crypt Episode: The Whirlpool) does a fantastic job of taking scrap heap actors, and turning out a masterpiece. Yes, the movie is long, as is the book. You can't take a 1200 pages and make a two hour movie, then feel you seen the whole story, because you wouldn't.

Mick Garris does what he can, and crams as much into this movie as possible. Did he leave something's out? Sure, did I mention the book is 1200 pages? The point of the story, good versus evil in a land trying to rebuild itself after an apocalyptic disease, is achieved.

The movie starts when an outbreak of a virus occurs at a military base. When a guard finds out he high tales it out of there with his family. He drives all the way from California to a little town in Texas, where he is discovered by Gary Sinise (Mission to Mars, Reindeer Games, The Green Mile, and Forrest Gump). The town is over run by the virus, quarantined, then moved to Vermont by the orders of Gen. Starkey (played by Ed Harris), and supervised by Max Wright (from Alf).

Of course, everyone in the town dies, then the world is killed off by a super flu. All the survivors choose a side, good (then they move to Boulder, CO) or evil (then they move to Los Vegas, NV). Group's form, and the story are told of their voyage to both locations. I must say this, along with the new Salem's Lot are my favorite two performances by Rob Lowe, who plays a def, mute individual named Nick.

Molly Ringwald plays the girl from Miane. She works her 80's music records into the movie some how unfortunately. In addition, Kathy Bates makes a guest appearance in the movie as a radio show host, and mentions her Stephen King character Dolores Claiborne.

Jamey Sheridan plays the villain/demon/wizard (if your reading the Dark Tower series). He did a fantastic job, and I must belief that King (who also produced the movie) very much approved him as Flagg. He comes across as very sadistic throughout the movie.

Laura San Giacomo (Suicide Kings, Pretty Woman, and Sex, Lies, and Videotape) plays Flagg's love attraction. She played her role as a conniving, backstabbing, self-destructing, naive; love to hate character very naturally. ;)

Miguel Ferrer (The Manchurian Candidate, Traffic, and loved him in: The Night Flier) stars as Flagg's right hand man, and is bailed out of prison by Flagg. As well as Matt Frewer (Max Headroom, Taken, and Lawnmower Man 2) playing the Trashcan man, another one of Flagg's cronies.

As a whole, this is one of King's better books to movie via T.V. series. I must say it does let you down at the end, very much like I.T. Nevertheless, it is very worth seeing, and a must have in your DVD collection if you are a King fan, or a epic style horror movie fan.

Grade: A-


Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Book... The Most OK Movie
Review: i'm a longtime stephen king fan, and i share the same feelings as everyone else about The Stand. it's the best book ever. in 1994 they made a TV miniseries out of it. i finally got the time to watch all six hours of it. the first dvd is kind of bland. it's solely for development of characters, most king books are similar. the actors are off, not doing well. most of the special effects will make you wince. however the second dvd is great. the actors finally get on the ball, the story picks up pace. i am a 15 year old male that had read the story, that knew what was going to happen, and i cried my eyes out. this dvd is certainly worth your time and your money!

Rating:
Summary: What a joke...
Review: I mean ... like ... how dare they? The Stand is one of the most captivatingly dark, and fiendishly riveting stories ever written, and they turn it into a made for television movie? TELEVISION? WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? You can't get away with a damn thing on TV anymore. At least not as far as Stephen King story elements are concerned. Naturally, some of the most deliciously gruesome, and wonderfully disgusting story elements had to be left out. Such as the scene where Rita Blakemoore (who's character was completely cut from the mini-series) chokes to death in her tent on her own vomit. Also, the detail of the superflu was toned down. The dream sequences cut short. The list goes on and on.

This brings an age-old question back to mind. Why in the hell does every single Stephen King mini-series have to air on ABC, huh? Why couldn't they have made this for HBO, instead? They would have had a hell of a lot more creative freedom, not to mention more time on their hands, and a more mature audience. It could have been five parts instead of only four, and all of the wonderfully crude, and ribald language could have been left in. Not like ABC, where Randall Flagg talks like a third grader. "You look like kaka!" Oh, please, give me a break!

This crap didn't quite ruin the book for me, but it came awful damn close. My advice to you folks is this: Read the book, and just pretend the movie doesn't exist. You'll be glad you did.

Peace, out!

Rating:
Summary: TV's The Stand, best treatment it'll ever get
Review: Probably one of the best TV mini-series ever. "The Stand" is based on Stephen King's mammoth novel about the end of the world. A super flu is accidentally relesed out of a government facility and quickly spreads through out America, killing 99.5% of the population. Of those who survive, they try to make it to two basic camps; the good camp in Boulder Co., and the evil one in Las Vagas. The movie is almost six hours long, and so you probably will not be able to sit through it all in one siting. It was well acted by a rather large and immpressive cast. The good guys are led by working stiff Stuart Redmond (Gary Sinies is wonderful, but actually low key for once), deaf mute Nick Andros (Rob Lowe, who is the most challengend because he can't talk, and so expresses himself wonderfully through body language; his best role I think, certainly the stand out here), and Mother Abigale (Ruby Dee, who's alright). The bad guys are headed up by the demonic Randell Flagg (Jamey Sheridan, who is alright, certainly not the best bad guy, and the mullet got on my nerves), and his right hand man Henried (Miguel Ferrier, who really dose a good job of being a conflicted villian). There are many other side characters worth mention, Laura San Gicomo's treaterous Nadine Cross and Corin Nemick as a bitter nerd. Karerem Abdul Jabar has a fast cameo, as dose Kathy Baker, Ozzie Davis, and even Stephen King has a bit role (as usual). The special effects were really nothing special (no pun intened). They were servicable, but I guess they could have been a whole lot worse. The movie is very faithful to the book (the 1978 version, not the 1990 reissue) because it was produced and written by King, and directed by his long time friend Mick Garris. This is right behind "It" as the best adaptaion of a King novel to film, and I think that is because on TV he has a lot more space to tell his story, where as a theatrical film you've only got about 2 hours or so. This really is TV at it's best, few problems aside.