M-O-O-N that spells: a man-made "superflu" virus escapes from a military base
and before you can say Constant Reader it's started spreading across the country
killing everybody. After the initial clusterfuck, a handful of survivors around
the country begin hearing messages in their dreams. Either a good message from
some Jesus-loving Prophet in Nebraska or a bad message from the evil ass Randall
Flagg in Las Vegas. Eventually the two armies gather and a party of four men are
sent to Las Vegas to make a stand.I really enjoy reading Stephen King books, but one thing that always drives me nuts is his reliance on the supernatural and aliens. It's pretty easy to write a story when if you ever write yourself into a corner you can just have God or a ghost or an alien fix things for you. "The Stand" is a very good example of this. "Desperation" is another...and I'm not even going to start talking about "Under the Dome". Strange thing is I still like "The Stand". At least the story idea and the outbreak part, but then when the Prophet bitch shows up and starts all her psychic God love bullshit I checked the fuck out.
But we're not here to talk about the book, we're here to discuss the movie...the extremely toned down, made-for-network-TV movie (ABC, May 8th through May 12th, 1994). With that in mind, it's passable and that's about it. Huge tracts of story are removed and for some unknown reason other portions of the book are just completely changed. The most painful to me was the toning down of Harold's jealousy and the complete removal of The Kid and the tornado. Another thing I found extremely confusing is Rita is completely missing and her character replaced by Nadine but not really. It was fucked...I was also upset with some of the casting. The guy who played Randall was completely wrong. David Warner from TIME BANDITS would have been perfect.
If you're a fan of the book, then you'll most likely want to see the miniseries, but I found the whole thing watered-down and almost painful to get through all 359 minutes of it. Honestly, your time would be better served reading Robert McCammon's superior "Swan Song".
THE STAND drinking game: every time somebody mentions God. You'll be passed out in your own feces by the third hour.
Adaptation 2 - The Stand (2020)
Hahaha! What the fuck?! That's the dumbest shit ever.
