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Storm of the Century

Storm of the Century

List Price: $9.98
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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Young Goodman Brown Revisited
Review: Storm of the Century is an entertaining story with many of the basic Stephen King elements that we have grown to love over the years. The medium does have its problems, but the story is well worth the wait.

First the length: yes, yes, yes, the story does drag a little. This four hour movie could have been easily edited to three and a half or less hours with little loss. But I suspect that the story would never have been produced unless it could be formatted for a mini-series, hence the length.

As for the story, I was struck by the obvious parallelism with Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown. In each story the protagonist is confronted by the devil and the community's sins are revealed one person at a time. Young Goodman Brown's wife, Faith, is eventually shown to be a potential follower of the devil, while Molly Anderson betrays her husband near the story's end.

Apart from this parallelism, I don't see a lot of common ground between these two stories. Storm of the Century appears to have a different theme: can a community, so compromised by personal wrongs, be expected to make sound moral decisions.

One has to give Stephen King credit, he didn't flinch from this issue. The response is realistic down to the rationalizations, excuses, and even the community's behavior when the crisis passes.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Storm of the Century- a keeper!
Review: This video was recommended to me by a fellow King fan and once again I had no idea what I was in for when I pushed the "play" button. I have seen almost all of King's book-turned-movie projects and I must admit that this was the best of the lot. Unlike King's usual unbelievable and sometimes ludicrous endings, this one was believable. The special effects were marvelous, particularly the raging sea scenes and the fall of the lighthouse. The Roanoke reference was what I believe made this movie credible. I also liked the anagram as great minds think alike! This film definitely gave me something to think about (if I were in his/her shoes, would I/could I...???) as well as some points to ponder about the fate of the settlers. I particularly liked the way The King grips you from frame one and slowly twists and turns you through the plot into the eye of the storm. The last few minutes were totally unexpected and I was flabergasted. This stormy tale makes for excellent viewing during inclement weather, and I recommend this film to anyone who has a taste for the unthinkable but possible. Islanders can keep a secret- this one's a keeper!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Storm of the century - now worth the time invested
Review: This movie has a great beginning, great middle but horrid ending. So dissapointing it makes watching the whole thing a really bad experience. DO NO SPEND YOUR TIME watching this movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Must For King Fans; For The Others, Read On...
Review: At the outset I'd like to say that King's fans are gonna love this one. It's a bit slow, long, but it's spooky, scary, terrifying, nightmarish, and it delivers an unforgettable message at the end. Vintage King.

Now, for the rest...

A weird guy shows up in an island in Maine (King's favorite State), and kills an old lady for no real reason. But he doesn't go away - he waits to get arrested. In this case, however, the real prisoners are the residents, some of whom are murdered in vicious ways by the stranger, with the help of his ominous-looking cane.

Colm Feore is terrific in the role of the evil man, while Tim Daly does a decent job as the town grocer and Constable. The really cool thing about this film is that you never notice the length (close to 4 hours!), as scene after scene captures your imagination and tortures your soul.

Small town mentalities and moralities are exposed for what they are - cheap, narrow, selfish, and deadly. Each character has (or has had) a past (or present) that they'd never like the world to ever know. But the stranger (the Legion) knows EVERYTHING about everyone.

As secrets come out, and as hidden conflicts are brought out into the open, one can see the characters change faces. When the main objective of the stranger is revealed by him during a town meeting during the course of the storm, it's time for soul-searching and morals-testing. None emerges unscathed, except Tim Daly and his wife, though in completely opposite ways.

The ending is definitely not satisfactory, and seems forced to deliver some sort of closure to the viewer.

In summary- Positive things:

1. Good, strong character development.

2. Powerful storyline.

3. Intelligent, relevant screenplay.

4. Good photography.

5. Excellent acting by most.

6. Wonderful music score.

Negative things:

1. Length (some people will definitely groan!)

2. Unsatisfactory ending.

3. Colm Feore is not used very well.

4. Slow beginning, with a few scenes of really bad dialogue delivery and acting.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: "Gimme what I want and I'll go away."
Review: Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away. Gimme what I want and I'll go away.

Was that annoying? Now you know how I felt going through this film.

He wants a kid. That's what he wants. He wants a kid. There, I just saved you three hours of agonizing torture.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good movie, loses it at the end
Review: I watched Storm of the Century yesterday, with low expectations. However, it did exceed them. At 4 1/2 hours long, you need to have a lot of patience with it. The movie maintained a good element of mystery, but about two hours in the movie you'll want it to speed up. It has its quick gasps and scares, and the usual King twistedness. The movie also made some good Roanoke references. The most dissapointing part of the movie was the end. The solution to the problem was the one you expected so, it lost the element of mystery towards the end. The movie is not really scary as you watching it, but in the dark, some scenes of it come back to you. I would see it if you have a decent amount of time on your hands and nothing else to do.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Don't watch it in the dark!
Review: Storm of the century is one of the creepiest movies I have ever seen. This four and one-half hour long Stephen King story will keep you rivited to the edge of your seat. It is a story- as are many of Stephen King's works- of what happens to the citizens of a small town when an evil force enters their community. In this case, it happens during the snow "storm of the century". The film created such a chilling atmosphere that I found myself turning the heat up and fixing a cup of hot chocolate just to warm up. You will also find yourself watching this film in one sitting because you simply must find out what the villian means when he says, "Just give me what I want, and I will go away".
Tim Daly is excellent in his role as the town constable, but he is working with a first-rate case that were well selected for their parts: from the villian to the town manager's bully of a son, each actor appears well suited to the role they play.
See Storm of the Century.. but not at night, and not when you're all alone...especially not if it's snowing..

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Storm of the Century- a keeper!
Review: This video was recommended to me by a fellow King fan and once again I had no idea what I was in for when I pushed the "play" button. I have seen almost all of King's book-turned-movie projects and I must admit that this was the best of the lot. Unlike King's usual unbelievable and sometimes ludicrous endings, this one was believable. The special effects were marvelous, particularly the raging sea scenes and the fall of the lighthouse. The Roanoke reference was what I believe made this movie credible. I also liked the anagram as great minds think alike! This film definitely gave me something to think about (if I were in his/her shoes, would I/could I...???) as well as some points to ponder about the fate of the settlers. I particularly liked the way The King grips you from frame one and slowly twists and turns you through the plot into the eye of the storm. The last few minutes were totally unexpected and I was flabergasted. This stormy tale makes for excellent viewing during inclement weather, and I recommend this film to anyone who has a taste for the unthinkable but possible. Islanders can keep a secret- this one's a keeper!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: They never get it right!
Review: Instead of the actors trying to put on a Maine accent in this film, they should speak in their own natural voices because they never get it right...It is a bit funny when actors "from away" try to pronounce "ayuh". Unless you live in Maine or northern New Hampshire don't even try. This one fellow in this film tries to say "ayuh" and it comes out "Eye Yuh. Not even close, mistah.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Born In Vice....Say It Twice...Say It Twice.
Review: The Best Stephen King Movie Made to date, bar none, With tons of DVD extras. You can not go wrong at all on this purchase, it has a high rating, and deserves every bit of it.


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