Stephen King: The Stand Fans (1 Viewer)

[SaintsFanInLA]

CBS to release a new limited series made for tv rendition of The Stand in December. I have read both versions of the book and watched the tv mini-series and plan on watching this one as well. At one time, I was an avid reader of King but he seemed to lose some steam for a minute.

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Particularly with how he dealt with the end of perhaps the biggest villain in the S King Universe, Randall Flagg aka The Walking Dude aka The Dark Man with the end of his Dark Tower Series.

But I plan on watching this

The Stand – Limited Event Series Based On The Novel By Stephen King

The Stand is Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil.

www.cbs.com

 

[Wisco Steve]

Looks like interest level around here wasn't very high...
I missed it's release and stumbled upon it last night, I never read the book and vaguely recall watching the OG miniseries when I was way too young.
I watched the first 2 episodes last night and thought it was pretty decent and will likely pick it back up. I know reviews were mixed--at best. Anyone dig it?

 

[cpg]

Looks like interest level around here wasn't very high...
I missed it's release and stumbled upon it last night, I never read the book and vaguely recall watching the OG miniseries when I was way too young.
I watched the first 2 episodes last night and thought it was pretty decent and will likely pick it back up. I know reviews were mixed--at best. Anyone dig it?

Please update if you stay with it and enjoy it. I was very interested in it, but the tepid reviews kept me from committing the time to it.

 

[bigdaddysaints]

i didn't like this one as much as i did the original mini series.
maybe its nostalgia, i dunno.
i didn't read the book, so i don't know which one is closer to the source material.

 

[Zack Lee]

I had forgotten about this and I am a huge King fan. This probably would not crack my top 5 King books but I did thoroughly enjoy it.

Having said that, the reason I forgot was probably because it was CBS. I don't see too many things on the over air networks that I would not equate to mailing it in. This could have been done really right in the right hands. How off am I?

 

[Wisco Steve]

I had forgotten about this and I am a huge King fan. This probably would not crack my top 5 King books but I did thoroughly enjoy it.

Having said that, the reason I forgot was probably because it was CBS. I don't see too many things on the over air networks that I would not equate to mailing it in. This could have been done really right in the right hands. How off am I?

I am watching it on Paramount + and there's plenty of language, gore and violence. It feels much more like HBO than CBS/network TV...solid production values as well.

 

[Saintman2884]

Looks like interest level around here wasn't very high...
I missed it's release and stumbled upon it last night, I never read the book and vaguely recall watching the OG miniseries when I was way too young.
I watched the first 2 episodes last night and thought it was pretty decent and will likely pick it back up. I know reviews were mixed--at best. Anyone dig it?

The newer, revised 2020-21 Paramount series was closer to the plot, storylines in the original novel but compared to the OG miniseries in 1994, it felt less authentic, acting wasnt as good with certain characters although Whoopi Goldberg tried her best, she didnt really re-capture the "aura", that mystical " intensity " Ruby Dee brought as Mother Abigail or her character depth. James Marsden didnt capture his character the same way as Gary Sinise did, it was far worse with the musician's girlfriend, Noami.

One character they did, however do a better job explaining or giving a better perspective to his motives was the geek/techno-wizard/socially-awkward who betrayed his friends because some girl faked showing interest in him, and he wrote a letter sort of apologizing for his betrayal, that was found several months later, was how he wished he couldve owned his "outsider" geek status in spite of being bullied, or seen as weird and he dropped Sartre's famous quote about "Hell being other people". I think, compared to the 1994 miniseries, they had a much better, believable, talented actor.

I agree with you that HBO could've told a better, less-obstructed story with less interference.

 

[nolastyle]

Some things differed significantly from the book but i thought it was enjoyable. Two things that bothered me a bit though..

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Trashcan Man and the decadence and lawlessness of Vegas were both big misses from the books. Trashcan Man in particular was almost unwatchable.

 

[Saintman2884]

Some things differed significantly from the book but i thought it was enjoyable. Two things that bothered me a bit though..

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Trashcan Man and the decadence and lawlessness of Vegas were both big misses from the books. Trashcan Man in particular was almost unwatchable.

They did sort of show a more closer-to-the-novel description of lawlessness and decadence of Las Vegas, post-apocalytpic pandemic in the original 1994 TV series. But if we're being honest, nola, essentially I don't think any network or production company, no matter how free from restrictions or liberties they'd be allowed, could realistically describe the evil, completely amoral vile nature of The Stand's Las Vegas because essentially its like the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah described in Genesis, except 100x worse and on steroids.

Stephen King used and still uses a lot of Biblical allegories and metaphors in his novels, short stories, novellas, and the Stand is essentially his interpretation of the End of Days in Book of Revelations with a modern, anti-nuclear, proliferation MIC twist to it. What would happen if a Satan-like evil supernatural figure like Randall Flagg showed up and used our weapons of mass destruction as tools and means to his own ends, without nuclear war occuring. The Stand was WAAYYYYYY ahead of its time in its message that maybe nuclear weapons werent the most dangerous weapons we possessed in the mid-late 70's when he first wrote it that could end all life on this planet by using biochemical toxins or weapons.

Civilization, wasnt mostly destroyed by nukes in King's The Stand, it was Satan essentially uses our carelessness, lack of security, lax standards as these bio-chemical weapons facilities as his tool to launch Armageddon.

 

[DCSaints_Fan]

I never read the book, only saw the 1994 TV miniseries.

Part I was pretty good. But Part II got off track.

It just seemed that everything the "good guys" did was pointless. Like why they had that mission to Vegas. Without them, that Trashcan Man guy still delivers the nuclear bomb and "Hand of God" still detonates it and destroys Vegas and Flagg.

Due to poor reviews I didn't bother with the 2020-2021 iteration.

 

[Zack Lee]

was it Trashcan who called people Happy Crappy. I still call people that sometimes but I have not read the book since the early 90s

 

[Semper]

I have read the Stand 14 times. By far my favorite book of all time. Never tried this series though.

 

[Semper]

Honestly there have been very few King movies that Iliked. I loved Christine though.

 

[nolaspe]

I watched it when it came out, I remember liking how it started out but I'm pretty sure I was underwhelmed w/ the ending... I haven't read the book since I was a teen though lol...

 

[tenordas]

I watched it when it came out, I remember liking how it started out but I'm pretty sure I was underwhelmed w/ the ending... I haven't read the book since I was a teen though lol...

The end of the book is underwhelming as well. A very anti-climatic climax followed by about 100 pages of unnecessary, boring denouement. Also, the representation of southerners is cringy bad, though I guess one should expect that from someone from New England.

Other than The Shining and Salem's Lot, I don't feel like anything else I've read by King was really worth my time. IT was okay, but he put out a lot of poorly written stuff. He got so famous for his first few books that it seemed like he got to the point (rather quickly) where he could throw up into a typewriter and his agent would have it printed.