TCG

I just rented this 6 hour miniseries because I also read the book recently. the book was decent, but disappointing because I've heard that many people love it.

anyway, the movie sucked badly. most of the actors had no clue. it was horribly miscast, especially randall flag, nadine cross, trashcan man, lloyd henreid, fran goldsmith, the list goes on and on. and dont forget KAREEM as the crazy guy!
the only decent acting came from the guy who playd Larry and Glen Bateman. it left out important things from the book - and not big things, just small things like harold trying to shoot nadine, the ledgers, leo rockway (who served no purpose in the movie), mother abagail leaving (they barely mentioned it in the movie).

i understand its a made for TV movie, and that puts limitations on it, but it obviously had a pretty big budget, considering the cast and the length.

the movie actually made me realize how bad the book was.

how in the hell did campion ever get the flu in the first place? he wasnt even near the contaminated building.
and the stupid firery hand of god? awful.

stephen king writes good books, but has serious problems writing screenplays.

i guess you know how i feel about it. how would you rate the movie and/or book?

PS: i forgot to mention the soundtrack. that sucked more than anything else! i'm serious when i say it's quite possibly the worst soundtrack i've EVER heard.

scott shelton

I really liked the miniseries. But then again, I didn't read the book.

The miniseries has a lovely scope to it that normally doesn't translate on television.

MScottM

I was stationed in Japan in the Marine Corps when this movies first came to VHS. I had just gotton off a 12 hour shift and it was about 8o'clock in the morning when I visted the base exchange for a snack before I hit the rack. I stopped by the vidoe rental section and saw this movie for rent. They had broken it up unto 2 two tape sets. I saw that it would be really long soI decided to just rent the first half then and if I liked it, I would rent the second half some other day.

I got home and started to watch the movie, I watched the first two tapes and liked it so much that I immediately went back to the store and rented the others. I watched the whole thing in one sitting after a 12 hour shift.

I thought then and still think that they did a terrific job on the movie. After watching the movie, I bought the book and read it. Yes there are a lot of thing left out in the movie and there are even some "big" characters left out, but overall they did a fine job with the movie.

FYI I have yet to ever see a movie that was actually better than the book it was based on. Most of the time, the director's ideas (about characters especially) are very different than mine. Case in point, while I do like Wilhelm Defoe as an actor, I would never have cast him as John Clark in the Clancy movies. He is totally different from how I picture Clark in my mind.

P.S. Gary Sinise did an excellent job as Stu Redman. I think this was the first thing I ever saw him in and I knew he would be in alot more after this.

Daytrip

Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile are two movies i liked better than the books.

I agree with you on the Stand. i read the unabridged edition(somewhere around 1600 pages) but i still very much enjoyed the movie

marty888

Another for this miniseries. Of course things were left out, but the scope and feel of the book was still captured on film.

GoldenJCJ

I also enjoyed the miniseries. And to me, most of the actors were good choices. It obviously has that low budget feel, but all in all I thought Mick Garris pulled it off well. Much better than The Shining miniseries he directed.

P.S. I heard rumors a while back on IMDB that Mick Garris was directing Desperation. I enjoyed that book as well so I'm curious if that will ever happen.

BJacks

The opening sequence featuring Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" is excellent. I enjoyed the miniseries overall.

silentbob007

I enjoyed the miniseries overall ... in fact, it is what motivated me to actually finish the book (to be fair, I was like 12 at the time).

Michael Corvin

I agree with every post so far except the original.

- Some of the acting was bad, but I thought the casting choices were great, other than Trashcan man, I will give you that one.

- The intro to Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" was inspired and one of the best intros to a miniseries, IMO.

- A LOT, probably 60% was cut out, including major characters, but it still was epic and captured the scope of the novel.

- Shawshank the film is leaps and bounds better than the novella. Green Mile is close but I have to give the edge to the serial, there were some things that were changed for the film that I wasn't a fan of.

I should read the book again this summer. Haven't read it since about '93.

Julie Walker

I loved the miniseries as well. I tried reading the book and only got 50 pages into it,since it wasn't doing much for me.

I've since gotten caught up in other books,and will try to get back to The Stand sometime when I am in the right mood. Maybe I will actually like it?


I loved the book Desperation and hope the miniseries turns out good. I have a bad idea how it could turn out being made for tv and all. But supposedly they will aim for an R rating,cut it for tv,then release it uncut on dvd. A clean version of the novel just would'nt work in my opinion.


Anyway back to The Stand,I remember a friend of mine and myself catching each part of the miniseries for the four nights it aired. Left with a cliff hanger each time,it was just an awesome feeling. This big epic story,you don't want to end,but want to see where it leads.

I've since caught the whole thing when it reaired on Sci-Fi Channel years later and still greatly enjoyed the film. So I'll definitely pick up the dvd sometime.

TheGodfather

Loved the mini-series, (M-O-O-N that spells loved) have seen it 3-5 times now. Never read the book.

obscurelabel

Not only did I think that the opening to Don't Fear the Reaper was excellent, there are two other musical moments that I enjoyed a lot:

Don't Dream It's Over plays as Molly Ringwald sews up her father's corpse in the bedsheet.

A character sings Eve of Destruction, sitting on a car hood, as thousands evacuate New York.

I read the book, (the shorter version), and thought that the mini was a very good adaption. Matt Frewer was a great choice as Trash Can Man, Jamey Sheridan was very good, Sinise, Fagerbakke, most of the cast was good. Lowe was probably the weakest, but didn't put me off of the series as a whole. Definitly some weak spots but for having such a sprawling book as a source, a strong miniseries IMO.

bboisvert

I thought that the book was fantastic, and that the miniseries (while not perfect) was about as good an adaptation as you could ever hope for... for every minor thing it does wrong, it does 20 major things right. And I thought the casting was perfect, almost across the board.

from me.

Julie Walker

Oh and I happen to this this is the best Stephen King miniseries by far. Everything else I have seen or attempted to watch have been pretty terrible or just lackluster.

For example I hate the IT adaption,which should have been a 6 hour adaption like The Stand to help flesh it out much more. But instead we get an extremely abridged choppy 3 hour film. Where even the best part of the film(the kids section) is far to rushed through. While the adult section is just embaressing.

The only other good King mini was the original Salems Lot. I have't seen the remake yet,but have heard bad things about it.

I also agree with the music choices used in The Stand. They are great,really moving and fit the tone beautifully. Speaking of which,the oldies station actually played Eve of Destruction last month. It's a really cool song,I've been wanting to hear for years(since it's sung briefly in The Doors,and The Stand).

Fok

It was a big let down from the book. I find Kings books are very anticlimatic.

Buttmunker

Nick Andros, Tom Cullen, and Stu Redman were excellently cast.

Nadine was a little annoying (oh, that laugh)

In the book, Harold Lauder was my favorite character. The movie made him quite shallow and unsympathetic, so I was disappointed by this.

Larry Underwood - why cast that guy? Stephen King envisioned Bruce Springsteen in the role, and I think that would have been brilliant.

Lloyd Henreid was absolutely superb! Trashcan Man was depthless.

I don't know about Randall Flagg. The actor Sheridan is unattractive, and Flagg was supposed to be beautiful (as all demons are).

Molly Ringwald was totally miscast in this. That wide-eyed stare was too frequent on her talentless face. Fanny Goldsmith was supposed to be a dynamic character (and was, in the book) and she wasn't in the film.

Loved the book
Liked the mini-series

Most embarrassing moment in the mini-series:

When Stu and Tom Cullen return to the Boulder Free Zone, and Stephen King's corny Teddy character gives a gay shout: It's Stu! It's Stu!

seasmoke

thought the mini series was awesome, one of my faves, i think its stephen's king's best mini series.....

paradicelost

Larry sang Eve of Destruction while Des Moines(sp?) was burning to the ground. But your definitly right about the musical numbers.
I loved the book as well, and there were events and characters cut out of the mini series, but i still think it worked.

GoldenJCJ

I'd like to see HBO do a miniseries of IT. They've done a great job with miniseries so far (From the Earth to the Moon, Band of Brothers)

Julie Walker

Yeah,I was reading up on IT and I guess Romero was originally going to direct it as a 6 hour mini-series. But at the last minute the network decided that was too risky and cut it down to three hours,so Romero dropped out of the project and Tommy Lee Wallace came in.

Interesting enough,from reading old 80's Fangoria,Romero was also wanting to adapt The Stand,but only on one condition. It must be an epic long film and not some 2 hour theatrical feature. Of course that never happened since studios didn't want to back it,and then years later we get a decent 6 hour TV adaption

I would be all for a remake of IT done properly. Sadly a remake is already in the works,but it seems like more of the same if it does get made that is.

Filmmaker

Why like THE GREEN MILE's film better than the book? Oh, it's a fine movie, mind you, but the book has everything in the film plus more. I just don't follow...

Have you seen STORM OF THE CENTURY? Hands down, my favorite King miniseries...it's the ONLY one that really seemed to capture the true horror commonly found in his books but all too infrequently evident in his filmed works. For what it's worth, THE STAND is a pretty decent piece of work, too, but it has a few sizable missteps of note. Personally, I thought Sheridan was a HORRIBLE choice for Flagg and was about as menacing as an irritating supervisor at a minimum wage job...

Julie Walker

I have'nt seen Storm of the Century yet,since after The Langoliers and other lousy King miniseries. I didn't even bother to watch it.

Filmmaker

Reconsider. Trust me.

cruzness

I loved the book but I haven't read it in about 6 years. The mini-series was OK. The casting was good but I hated the guy who played Flagg and Rinwald was a weak casting choice.

Julie Walker

Will do I'll either rent it,or catch it the next time it comes on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Speaking of which,I remember my dad raving about how good it was. Yet I never got around to it yet.