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Summary: The Stand is one of my favorites
Review: Stephen King's book THE STAND was wonderfully adapted to film in the made for tv miniseries. I bought the DVD as soon as it became available - it is one of my favorite films. I loved the performance of Jamey Sheridan as Flagg (he has such an evil handsome grin) he was perfectly cast. Gary Sinise as Stu Redman and Rob Lowe as Nick Andros were also wonderful choices to fill the large shoes created by Mr. King- not everyone could have done it so well. There are more Ruby Dee, Ray Walston, Molly Ringwald (I like her performance, contrary to many people) and Laura San Giacomo (?) but you can't mention them all. (Oh- don't forget that King makes several appearances in this one- not just a brief glimpse.) The Stand is a book which is so long and detailed that there is no way it could have all been put into the film but Mr. King did an extraordinary job of compacting it into the time constrains of t.v. The nice thing about owing the DVD is that you can jump to favorite scenes or past ones you may not like so easily. As I said this is one of my favorite movies, I have watched it a several times and read the un-cut verion of the book twice and the short version once. It is worth the time and money. Tom would say M-O-O-N that spells BUY IT!
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Summary: "M-O-O-N", that spells "The Stand"
Review: If you read the book, you noticed that the above spelling was character Tom Cullen's spelling for any word or phrase, and King kept that in for this film. Say what you want--this miniseries came out quite awhile after the viewing public got bored with epics like "Roots", "Shogun", "V" and "Winds Of War". Actually, the viewers had lost their taste for any TV movie that ran more than two nights. As a matter of fact, that's the current definition of the term "miniseries": a two-part movie. The fact that this one is twice that and still ran--indeed that it's still in print--is a testament to its quality. There's some miscasting to be sure--I can't see Molly Ringwald as Frannie--but Ruby Dee as Mother Abagail more than counterbalances it. As does Ray Walston as Glen Bateman. And Matt Frewer has always been good at playing wackos, so he is a natural for Trashcan Man. Some scenes had to be trimmed from the book or it would have ended up as a twelve-parter--after "War and Remembrance", I think they must have passed a law or something. Some characters have been combined (like Rita Blakemoor and Nadine Cross) for brevity, but all in all, Stephen King films have always been among the closest to the book version as you can get. After all, as a contrast, only a few James Bond movies have even been close to their print counterparts. With that in mind, who would scrap a scene as powerful as the meeting of deaf mute Nick Andros and Mother Abagail? When Nick's comment about not believing in God is relayed to the devout old lady, she laughs and says; "That doesn't matter--He believes in you."
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Summary: You got to be kidding!
Review: Good review Lauren. I agree completely. Considering King is such an enormous phenonmenon you'd think they would take a book like The Stand, which is amazing, and do a grand movie production with good acting, good special effects, and good directing. This movie has none of that. It's a sappy, corny piece of junk that does nothing but degrade the book. The book was so powerful and the movie was so boring! I was looking foward to a good relationship with Stu and Franny and got zip. Molly Ringwald (?) was a LOUSY Franny!One thing about this story (book or movie). Did anyone notice that in the midst of the whole "good versus evil" thing that the heros of the story had nothing to do with vanquishing the evil? It was merely an insider (Trashcan Man) and the "hand of God". The heros from the Free Zone did nothing whatsoever! Strange.
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Summary: a update from 2000
Review: I reviewed this a year ago, I think this is a good film, the commentary is good. So go buy this.....
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Summary: Possibly the Best Movie ever Created
Review: With an all star cast and a strong story there is no way to go wrong.Stephen King is known for suspence but this Movie has suspence,love,hate,and the bitter tale of the world ending.Only sparing a few lives these people stumble across eachother and are instructed to rid the world of the evil that remained.And as God's workers a select few set out to stop the evil in the world by destroying Randall Flag who is symbolic of Lucifer himself.This movie is remarcably close to the best selling novel by Stephen King.And although Stephen King help to direct and wrote the screen play the movie is an exemplary reminder that one simple thing can bring the world to distruction and someday it will.
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Summary: reading these reviews made me write one
Review: Okay, seriously people come on. "the best Stephen King movie ever!", "Great acting", etc. Look I am a huge Stephen King fan, always have been, but don't you think your being just a bit ridiculous? First of all, The Shawshank Redemption was the best Stephen king movie, it managed to follow the book to a tee and not lose sight of the story. What about Stand By Me? Are you seriously telling me that this made for t.v. movie with the guy from Coach in it is better than Morgan Freeman and company? I'm not saying that the Stand was terrible or anything, in fact it happens to be my favorite book written by Mr. King. But come on I am begging you, Molly Ringwald was not that character and if you read the book you have to agree. The love story between her character and the Gary Sinese charater was so heart warming and believable in the book. Everytime I read it I cried at the thought of him dying from being left with his broken leg because I felt for the characters. Molly Ringwald and Gary Sinese (who I thought was wonderful in other things) have about as much chemistry as two wet rags. I agree it did well for what it was, and the basic story was there. Beyond that I would highly recomend the book because it was so great, and the movie makes that great book seem like a sappy, choppy, bubblegum read.
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Summary: "The Stand" -- A Stephen King "Must See"!
Review: Of all the movies I've watched, adapted from one of Stephen King's novels, this one has to be one of the best! What made it even better was the fact that Stephen King wrote the screenplay for the movie -- something which he has not been able to do very often. All the movies, from his works, which he has written the screenplay have contained all the most important aspects of his work. The evidence is plain to see, here in "The Stand". Although he couldn't incorporate all the sub-plots from his original story, he had selected the most important of all -- thus making it the most even-handed display of the story. The direction, casting, FX, and, for me, most importantly, the music, was superb! Gary Sinese as "Stu Redman", Ruby Dee as "Mother Abagail", Rob Lowe as "Nick Andros", Ray Walston as "The Professor" -- I could go on and on -- all portrayed their parts with obvious feeling, giving depth to their characters. The haunting melody of "Mother Abagail's Theme" never fails to bring a tear to my eye! Further, I would recommend reading the book before you see this movie; it will "fill in the details and sub-plots" which could not be represented. Also, I would recommend that you look at the movie as a work in its own right -- to compare the movie to the book would be the same as comparing apples to oranges. Finally, I would recommend this movie, most highly, to anyone!
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Summary: A secular view of the Book of Revelations(if thats possible)
Review: I first watched The Stand when it was presented in the 4 part miniseries back in '94. Having recently purchased the video package and watched it in its entirity I had to look at what other people thought of the film. I wasnt surprised to see a somewhat polarization acceptance of the film. In any film adaption of a book you have a chance of disillussioning some readers. However I have just 1 word for those of you who absoulty hate this film and think its one of the worst Stephen King films ever.....Langoliers...*shudder*...Well simply put some books arent made to be translated into film (The Langoliers for example)...and others like The Stand is epic in scope, and by the shear size of the task is difficult to undertake. The Stand does well under these circumstances and especially for being made under tv standards. I'm not a relgious person by any deffinition but by Kings own admission The Stand was his view on the end of the world and barrowed heavily from themes of the Bible. Its hard not to see these items (Flaggs "gifts" of dark beads and the way the beast marks his followers etc etc). However it isnt as heavy handed nor preachy as some other end of the world televangists movies like "Left Behind" . Not that theres anything wrong with these movies however they obviously have a message while The Stand is more of entertainment with some insight into a living breathing "end of the world". Excuse the pun. However there are some flaws to it. Namely the ending. As most of the moderate reviewers have noted. However all in all it is worth your 20$ and 6 hours of your time. This movie tries to tackle an enormous task by taking on the the book. It does the best it can do under the circumstances. All in all it captures both the ideology and feel of the book. Which is quite an accomplishment.
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Summary: Laura San Giacomo
Review: First of all, let me say I have yet to read the book. All this proves is one can enjoy the movie without reading the book as one who has read the book. The Stand is one of the only King adaptions that didnt bomb, It being the other. The acting was truly rich, and you felt for the characters. But one person stood out. One person stole the scene every time she was on. One person truly made an already great movie a pure masterpiece. Laura San Giacomo. She played Nadine Cross, a bitchy yet lovable character who pratically radiated on the screen. If you buy this video, keep your eves peeled for her. Her talent is endless as she fits perfectly in her role, satisfying every scene she's in. Her last scene is a touching one as she stands up to Flagg and has the last laugh. The cast was excellent, but Laura stood out of the crowd. I highly recommend you buy this video, and 5 stars isn't even half what this movie deserves.
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Summary: NO STARS FOR THIS AWFUL TV MOVIE
Review: this was one of the worst acted, casted, directed movies EVER. the movie was painful to watch, did bob from down the street direct, did the actors try to act. i was embarrassed to even watch the movie. "what did you do last night" "i watched competitive ballroom dancing." i don't know what the budget for this movie was but i know it wasn't over two dollars. the actor that played the randal flagg character was by far the worst, i had to laugh at this guy, what was with his hair. absolutaly horrible. DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE, READ THE BOOK.
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