AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Logan
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Watchin Movies
This was very entertaining and easy to binge watch.
bsmith5552
This over long TV mini series from Stephen King is a complicated multi character story of the effects of a contained virus being loosed upon the unsuspecting American public and its after effects.It is broken down into four distinctive chapters. The first, "The Plague" is the best of the lot. It deals of the lethal virus spreading across the country killing most of the population. There are those who are immune to the virus, notably Stu Redman (Gary Sinese) whose story is the focus of this part.Part 2, "The Dream" is where things get really weird. Many of the survivors begin to experience dreams in which they emerge from a corn field to be confronted by Mother Abigail Freemantle (Ruby Dee) who is a self proclaimed messenger of God. She counsels them and invites them to come to her. This is the "good" side. On the "evil" side is one Randall Flagg (Jamie Sheridan) an agent of the devil who can change shapesat will and has a closet full of scary faces.Part 3. "The Betrayal" deals with jilted suitor Harold Lauder (Corin Nemac) who has been seduced by the evil Nadine Cross (Laura San Giacomo) into betraying his love Frannie Goldsmith (Molly Ringwald) who has become involved ...and pregnant with Redman as well as betraying the rest of the group led by Redman which includes the deaf/dumb Nick Andros (Rob Lowe), his slightly retarded Tom Cullen (Bill Fagerbakle), Glen Bateman (Ray Walston) and Larry Underwood (Adam Storke) among others. Harold builds an explosive device and........................................Part 4. "The Stand" is the final showdown between good and evil. Mother Abigail has sent four men on a pilgrimage to confront the evil Flagg. In the meantime his assistant Lloyd Henreid (Miguel Ferrer) is preparing for the confrontation. A weird ally, The Trashcan man arrives on the scene with a big surprise for all.The first part of the story concerning the spread of the lethal virus, had the most potential. When it degenerates into the supernatural, it for me, gets a little ridiculous. The climax in Part 4 is rather unlikely given the situation. And Jamie Sheridan in a Kris Kristoffersom fright wig is more than a little over the top. The rest of the large cast does what it can in an impossible situation.Watch for Ed Harris as a General and Kathy Bates as a radio announcer in the first part. The producers would have done well to have cast these two performers to bigger parts. And yes, Stephen King has a part as one of the good people.
Realrockerhalloween
The Stand is an epic tale between the forces of good and evil battling for control on the verge of civilization's collapse.While a made for television production, The Stand managed to weave a great caste into a six hour format allowing time for us to get to know the characters and watch as they develop for better or worse.As the survivors of a horrifying deadly plague gather in two camps one lead by an Antichrist like figure Randall Flagg and the saintly mother Abigal both vying for the occupation of the world for generations to come.The story isn't all black & white as their are traitors and deserters among the ranks. Two stand out Harold Lauder who's felt like a big fat loser all his life and Nadine Cross an earth child with a mysterious mystical link to Flagg.These two characters bring out a lot of morality questions like how far does free will reach over selective destiny? Are they sacrificial lambs for the slaughter or was the choice to decline offers already in place?But that's what good story telling can accomplish by making you think and feel.The music hit the mark each time and the editor better have gotten overtime for the natural flow of scene changes from beginning to end.The Stand was Stephen King's Lord of the rings that's never been topped.
ElessarAndurilS
I read the book the year before the mini series came out, so naturally I was disappointed. In time I realized all movies fall short of the books because they take you through detail and imagination where a movie never can and I should judge the series on its own merit. When doing so I realized that the mini series was entertaining, filled with stars new and old, present and past, and had a lot of entertainment value. After watching it again with a more proper perspective I realized it was an entertaining movie that I liked much more than I realized as I purchased it off of amazon and have enjoyed watching it about once a year since. The book is great and more engaging than the movie. But the Movie is still s solid 7 our of 10 that has brought me a lot of entertainment.I think when Peter Jackson did such an excellent job of making the Lord of The Rings was when I realized what an impossible task it was making a movie as good as a book. As good as I thought the movies were, and I think they are of the best ever made, still nowhere near the books. But how could all the history embedded in the books translate into a movie? He did as good a job as could be, but still no Tom Bombadil, likely because he was interesting in the book but would have added nothing to the movie but time, something Peter Jackson was challenged to keep down as long as they were. He could have made 30 hrs of film and still not captured the detail of the books because they are different media. You don't know what people are thinking in movies and do in books. History, so important in LOTR was left out other than the very good job of capturing how ancient Middle Earth was.My reason for bringing up another movie in the review of the Stand is I've learned that each must be judged separately and rated on their own merits. The stories are always slightly different, the question is given the medium it was presented how good is it, not how does it compare to the book. The stand is a solid movie that entertains and I enjoy it regularly not that I have released it from the bonds of equaling the book, something no movie has ever done. It is relatively true to the book storyline with the typical omissions caused by the media on which it the story is told. But it is solid and entertaining, and worth the watch.
