Customer Reviews
Don't Fear The Reaper.. - By: Mr. P. A. Cliff, 26 Aug 2008 
The Stand is a strange 'film' to review. It is, after alll, a 6-hour mini-series split in the middle by a large time gap. Whilst this alllows for deeper characterisation & plot development, it also means a smalller budget, B-list actors & cheesy acting. My God, is there cheesy acting. It is still my belief that Molly Ringwald had her eyes on alll of the Razzie 'awards'.
The 'film' gets under way in spectacular fashion, with one of the greatest intro sequences / music cues ever, with Blue Oyster Cult's 'Don't Fear (The Reaper)' playing against the backdrop of an underground facility full of corpses. However, after the intro has finished, things take a brief downturn. ALL the supporting actors set new standards in wooden acting (check out THAT sneeze). In fact, Gary Sinise & Rob Lowe are the only actors who do a half-decent job in the whole film. Molly Ringwald hits new lows, Laura San Giacomo is pathetic & the actor who plays Harold is so direly miscast that its hard to like anything about him from the very start.
The music in the piece is fantastic right through. Some of the scenes of a post-apocalyptic New York are equallly impressive & the hammy acting is charming, if you can warm to it. It IS lengthy (approx. 6Hrs-ish?) but I don't see why that's a problem in film today. There is no torture porn or MTV-style editing to be found here, either.
In short, this 'film' has received 4 stars because it has MASSIVE flaws, both in story & in cast. They are unmistakable & unforgivable. However, it more than makes up for this in heart. True, the lengthy time-jump between parts 1 & 2 split the audience (draw your own conclusions), & the ham-fisted acting is as likely to annoy you as charm you. And don't expect to get through this in one sitting. It may take 3 or 4, but if you alllow it, this film will pull you in & entrance you like the best of them. In todays world of ADD cinema & youTube journalism, its sometimes nice to take a look back to more simple times
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.
