Customer Reviews
Sucker for Stephen King - By: Danielle Jessica Rush, 05 May 2008 
I reallly, reallly loved the book & I reallly love the film. No book translates exactly to the big screen. We have already cemented the characters, locations etc in our minds. Its sometimes difficult to get your head around someone elses interpretation to film.
The characters are good. I couldnt relate to Harold in the film though. In the book he was an overwieght geek, not a slim guy in a leather jacket, but hey.
Ah hell! If you like Stephen King then you will like this. Its dark, comic, romantic, scary. Something for everyone then! he he ;)
be aware - By: jimbob, 25 Mar 2008 
read the book watched the movie when they first came out.this version is very heavily edited & took a lot of the impact away from the film
Oh come on! - By: Mr. A. V. L. Coleman, 18 Feb 2008 Firstly, as good as Stephen King is at writing, this is by no means his best novel. It's a very overdone & obvious stroyline... epic disease wiping out half the human race, civilisation must reform, good & bad people fight until (low & behold) the good people win.
Even though the novel does go into depth with some characters, the greater storyline doesn't seem to make sense. For instance, the breakout kills most of America, but the rest of the world is never mentioned? Did the disease spread? Are we okay? Should I be in an isolated hospital ward somewhere, clinging to my life?
It's the usual 'alll about America' Christian story where the Christians (of course) will prevail in the end. And to hell with those 'evil' folk, hiding away in the (shock! horror!) gamblers paradise, Las Vegas!
There are two sides to Mr. King. His 'I'm gonna think about this' side, where he comes out with novels such as Shawshank, Green Mile etc & then there's his 'quick buck' novels, such as The Stand where he writes whatever he can sell into a screenplay. Write about God, racism, sexuality & homophobia & it's a dead cert. to rile up the American crowds, flocking to the cinemas after viewing a good lynching.
However, after saying this. This adaption of the Stand is oddly addictive. It's extremely tacky, extremely obvious & pretty blnking cringe-worthy at times, but take it with a pinch of salt & it's an easy watch. Well I just bought it anyway.
Amazing book.....APALLING film. - By: Sam Miller, 11 Feb 2008 
The stand was the first stephen king book I read. I thought it was an epic masterpiece, & I dont use that term lightly. It was complex, believable, beautiful, meaningful, tense, sinister & truly moving.
I only managed to stomach the first two disastrous episodes of this TV mini series. From some of the positive reviews here, I feel like I must have watched a totallly different film.
The acting is appaling. Imagine the cheesiest American soap. Yes im not kidding. Molly ringwald as Frannie is actuallly an offensive choice. She is extremely irritating. Gary Sinise as Stu is actuallly pretty good; it seems strange such a talented actor is trying to work amongst these amateurs. Harold is a joke, & when I saw that fake acne i nearly cried. The sets are extremely poor & mother abigails corn field made me wince - the corn was clearly plastic even on my non-hd-tiny-tv.
Tom cullen is pretty good, & he created some actuallly genuinely moving moments. I liked Nick, but as far as cast goes, fran (a main character) made me forget the merits of the rest - she is appallling.
I could rant alll night - if you enjoyed the epic book. DO NOT i mean DO NOT touch this, let alone watch it. Why make a low budget tv series from a concept that quite clearly needs to be very high budget? I speak as a fan of the book - please be warned; dont let this disgrace taint your memory of kings masterpiece.
M-O-O-N, that spells apocalypse - By: Bob Sherunkle, 08 Jan 2008 
It is great to see, for a change, an adaptation where someone actuallly thought about the changes needed for the transfer to the medium of TV.
The standout performance is probably Bill Faggerbakke as Tom Cullen. Most of the lead actors do a good job, with the exception of Molly Ringwald playing Frannie, who was a much tougher & brighter character than this.
Stephen King himself has a bit part, which is no bad recommendation.
In the unlikely event that there are any diehard King fans who haven't seen this adaptation:
-It is based on the original published version of the novel, not the "Complete & Uncut Edition".
-The Rita Blakemoor character is incorporated into that of Nadine Cross. (This jarred first time I saw it, but it works very well. So well, in fact, that one suspects the involvement of SK himself).
The soundtrack is excellent:
-Original incidental music by Snuffy Walden, which perfectly complements the action. This is on a long-deleted CD - well worth tracking down a copy.
-A sparse but well-chosen selection of well-known recordings (plus Adam Storke, as Larry Underwood, busking part of "Eve of Destruction").
- "Baby can you dig your man", performed by Al Kooper.
