bitomurder Having read the book, I can say that The Stand is a fairly decent adaptation for what it is and the time in which it came out. A good many of the cast portray their characters well including Gary Sinise as Stu Redman, Rob Lowe as Nick Andros, and the standout performance of Mother Abigail by Ruby Dee who was everything I wanted out of her. She WAS Mother Abigail. In fact, most of the actors portrayals of these characters are good enough that when I picture the characters from the book in my head, these actors are the faces of them. The story is much more dark, sexual, and brutal than what you get from a TV show produced in the mid 90's, but the key details and basic storyline of Stephen King's greatest work are still there and it is much more accessible than the 1100 page monster of a novel. While the novel would take a multitude of hours to reconquer, I can revisit the world whenever I would like in the much easier 6 hour time frame of the series. In the nearly 40 years since its release, Hollywood has tried to put together a big budget adaptation of this great American epic, but have yet to get passed the initial planning stages. So, for now, The Stand mini-series is all we have and I must say that I am fine with that.

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.

kg-57040 This is one of Stephen King's most epic stories, there are others, but this one is probably one of the first. It is the forever-told story of the battle of good versus evil but without CGI, gimmicks and unrelatable characters. This story frightens you to the core because of how real everything seems to be. It could in fact happen tomorrow, to all of us, any of us. King is not an overly religious man, from what I have read but his ability to tell stories with religion deeply ingrained, amazes me. He does it from a standpoint rarely seen, if at all, and doesn't force the reader/watcher to believe any one thing but to just, think, perhaps deeper than they ever have before. However, don't be put off by the 'deepness' of it all, it's got enough comedy, action and adventure to still be an 'easy to watch' film with mates on a Friday night.

bowmanblue 'The Stand' is a four-part TV serial which Stephen King adapted from his own book. Yes, it came from a book, which means everyone that read the book first basically doesn't like the TV version. Personally, I haven't read it, so I can't comment on that, but, when you consider how bad some of the other adaptations of Stephen King's work are when they're transferred from page to the screen, this one is one of the better ones (not that it'll be for everyone).First of all, the four parts basically total almost six hours in length, so you'll have to be prepared to invest a fair amount of your time into watching this. The story is about a highly contagious (not to mention FATAL) disease which is released from an American laboratory and basically wipes out the entire population in a matter of weeks. Only a few hundred people remain in the country - some are haunted by dreams of an old lady calling herself 'Mother Abigail' as she directs them to her farm, others see visions of a mysterious 'dark man' calling himself 'Randall Flagg' and demanding their loyalty. So, and you probably guessed this, the 'nice' people head on over to Mother Abigail and the 'bad' ones side with Randall Flagg. And it's not too long before the very real prospect of war starts to rear its head between the two factions.It's all a very good premise. The post-apocalyptic world is nicely done (considering the made-for-TV budget) and most of the actors pull off their roles. And there are a lot of roles. Having six hours to play with and two 'sides' to portray, you meet many different people. Naturally, not all of them will be 'fully fleshed out' and three-dimensional. Some don't really have the character arcs that they deserve. Gary Sinise does well as the 'hero' and both Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg are believable as their respective roles as 'good' and 'evil.' However, as with many of King's adaptations, it's also far from perfect. For a start, the (few) special effects which are there are pretty awful. But that's a minor gripe. The major one is that King makes some pretty weird choices in places to move the plot on. Sometimes you're left wondering why something pretty major has happened and offered little in the way of answers. Plus, this film should come with a warning to atheists: this tale is very 'God-heavy.' If ever someone does (or doesn't) do something, it's 'God's will.' God is mentioned all the time and some may get a bit sick of the overtly Christian messages constantly being forced upon them.But, if you can overlook the film's shortcomings and are a fan of slow-moving, multi-cast supernatural apocalypse stories, then you may like this. Although... I haven't mentioned the ending yet. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen the film, only to say that I have yet to find anyone online who actually LIKES the final 'pay-off' of the film (including those who love this film more than me). It is a bit stupid.King described The Stand as 'Lord of the Rings in America' and, if you look closely, you may see some similarities. Only don't go expecting Peter Jackson style special effects and acting quality. If you're prepared to invest six hours into a so-so tale where you may have to suspend your disbelief and not mind being converted to Christianity, then this one isn't so bad.