Stephen King's The Stand (1994)

After a government-spawned "superflu" wipes out more than 90 percent of the earth's population, the devastated survivors must decide whether to support or resist the advances of a mysterious stranger from way down South (heh-heh) who wishes to claim this new world order for himself. Although the six-hour length makes it nigh-impossible to digest in one sitting, this well-paced adaptation of Stephen King's apocalyptic magnum opus ranks among the best adaptations of the author's work, with strong performances from Gary Sinise, Miguel Ferrer, and especially Jamey Sheridan as a good-old-boy version of Old Scratch. The opening scene, set to the strains of Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper," is one of the most chilling things ever shot for television. Director Mick Garris is no stranger to King's world, having also helmed Sleepwalkers, the recent television remake of The Shining, and the upcoming Desperation. --Andrew Wright Amazon.com

Pop Culture Wars

There are forces at work in the universe that defy rational understanding or explanation. Thats why Steven King novels are so popular.

You probably already know the plot but here it goes: Superbad superflu is accidentally released (while BOC's "Don't Fear the Reaper" plays) and randomly kills all but a few hundred survivors who are immune to the superflu. The survivors come in two varieties: the good and pure souls played by likable folksy folk like a no-nonsense Gary Sinese, a deaf and dumb Rob Lowe, a flirty (but relatively innocent) daddy's girl Molly Ringwald, a wise old white guy Ray Walston, a wise old black guy Ossie Davis, and these pure souls all collectively dream of a front porch sittin' and guitar pluckin' witchy woman played by Ruby Dee who telepathically leads them to the promised land in Boulder, Colorado; and then there are the bad souls played by no-name actors who are led to Vegas by an old scratch who looks like a really bad and really coked-up eighties rock star (complete with tight jeans and mullet). The two tribes then go to war.

The good are those communitarians who care about other people; the bad are the selfish who only care about themselves. Simple as that. But the really interesting thing here is that King doesn't have nature or some supernatural force sort things out for the survivors; rather the survivors have to sort things out for themselves and some of the survivors are not certain which master they serve and which town they belong in (a very sexy Laura San Giacomo plays one of these undecideds). Ruby Dee might have special powers but these powers come and go and though they have the ability to gather people together and inspire them they cannot be relied upon to make every decision. The people must empower themselves. This is a very nice touch on Kings part.

King provides us with a great Andromeda Strain-style drama AND a clever piece of American social satire AND an interesting meditation on character, religious prophecy/determinism, and free will all in one. If you don't like Steven King because he is not highbrow enough for you well its your loss because King is a crowd pleaser extraordinaire and these characters and this plot please at an exceptionally high level.

I love the examination of various geographies and psychologies and psychogeographies. King is a master at portraying regional types without resorting to stereotypes; I guess you could say that he invents his own pantheon of American archetypes for each project and this pantheon of archetypes is one of his all-time best. Plus his diagnosis of American ills c. 1980's is right on. Eighties excess never looked so deserving of ...exactly what it gets. This film is six hours of extremely satisfying characterizations and plotting. And it provides the perfect antithesis to the "greed is good" eighties.

Only one flaw: The last hour is perhaps the weakest of the six but thats maybe because King isn't satisfied with the big comeuppance scene and tries to deliver a lesson about faith and sacrificing the one for the many that feels forced when everything else feels so natural and right. After five hours of excellent and inspired rock-fueled (I already mentioned BOC's "Don't Fear the Reaper" but Crowded House's "Don't Dream Its Over" is another song that is used to great effect) mini-series I think most people want a complication-free resolution. But thats a minor flaw in an otherwise excellent adaptation.

Highly recommended. November 24, 2008

Good Movie

I really enjoyed this movie. My husband had wanted to buy this DVD for a while, but couldn't find it. The product was delivered before we expected it to be. November 23, 2008

May as well be one of the best Stephen King flicks ever! I wonder what the Blu-Ray version will be like?

The Stand is impressive in many ways possible! I know the movie is 6 hours in length put it pulled me in after the first episode. It had a great apocalyptic opening where it can possibly happen in real life with the virus and all. The second half jumps into this supernatural realm where people dare not go and I find that fascinating. I got this movie from a 5 movie collection by Artisan (also had Cujo, Golden Years, The Langoliers, and Thinner) and I received the 2-disc version which is good but its probably better than the flipper disc. I despise flipper discs because they get scratched and broken so easily that its not funny. Lucky me I guess. This would be a great DVD title to come out on Blu-Ray. Imagine the entire 6-hour film on one disc with no flipping or changing. The Golden Years was an amazing disc to me since the 232 minute film was on a single, non-flipper disc. Go figure. Yeah it takes off a lot of room on your shelf, since the VHS version of The Stand was 4 tapes. The DVD is either one or two discs. DAMN! Overall this movie is a must-see and I strongly recommend that you get a comfy chair and caffeine pills to get through this film. I didn't though. I sat through the whole 6 hours with no problem. I think you all can too. This movie is screaming for a Blu-Ray release. I'm not saying that I'm gonna get it (I'm happy with the 2-disc version just fine, since its 6 hours), but a Blu-ray release would be interesting. As for the movie, Stephen King deserves a pat on the back for an amazing film that pulls the reader of the book and the viewer of the movie into a world that we dare not exist in and one that we absolutely must survive in. October 13, 2008

best 6 hour movie ever

alright the acting is subpar, (it was a made for tv mini series), The Stand still remains one of my most favorite Stephen King movie adaptions ever. It kept to the basic outline of the book, but it's impossible to take everything from King's epic novel.
June 3, 2008

Good movie adaptation of a great novel

Of course there had to be modifications to the lengthy story when it was adapted for the screen, and mostly they work for the movie - I wouldn't have combined the characters of Rita and Nadine, but that didn't mess up the flow of the story. The casting, however ranged from brilliant (Gary Sinise as Stu Redman, Miguel Ferrer as Lloyd Henreid, Rob Lowe as Nick Andros, and Bill Fagerbakke as Tom Cullen) to disastrous (Molly Ringwald as Frannie? Are you kidding me? How she ever became a professional actor is beyond me and she was not at all equipped to play the role of Frannie Goldsmith. She was stilted and unnatural - and Laura San Giacomo as Nadine - not only is she not beautiful, she played the character as if she was insane, not conflicted and ultimately repentant, which is what I got from the novel) I completely disagree with the reviewers that thought the movie was amateurish - it was well done, and the story was complete. I don't like horror movies in general because they are too graphic for me, but this movie, although I wouldn't let my 7 year-old watch it, gets the point across about the horrible effects of the disease and the violence of the Dark Man and his followers without being too gory. I would recommend this movie. May 24, 2008

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