jmichaelnu
I was absolutely blown away with the mini-series. I have really enjoyed reading the novels and then viewing the mini-series, including IT and 11.22.63. I feel that the only true way to represent a Stephen King novel is to do a mini-series. You just need a great deal of time to capture all the important details of a King novel, let alone the 1000+ pages of the Stand. I do believe the movie watered down some of the more horror scenes in the book but Randall Flagg was spot on. Also, Gary Sinise was a perfect choice for Stu Redman. Even Stephen King, the legend himself, appears in the movie. Oh how wonderful it is to see him interact with the characters his imagination created. Wonderfully done and I can't wait to watch it again!
dewwy321
The first time I saw this was back in 94 when I was 12 years old. At the time I thought it was great. It wasn't until the 2000's before I saw it again and I have re-watched it from time to time. The first two hours holds up well for me. I always enjoy seeing the start of any plague movie or TV miniseries. It's interesting to see what unfolds in the story. By today's standards, The Stand might seem too timid or slow to build to anything. For me, I enjoy watching what happens around these characters and how they react. Seeing entire society crumble before you is pretty cool. Where the Stand starts to fall apart is when more focus is put on good vs evil. Good vs evil is really the main plot of the story. It really all goes down hill around the two hour mark. That's when the plague story ends. Not only that, the story starts to fall apart, characters begin to get annoying, the acting seems to get worse and worse, jumps in the story start to happen, continuity is poor and the excitement is over. It started out as a story that could have gone anywhere and then pigeon holes itself. Overall, I think it's worth a watch, but don't be surprised if your interest in the miniseries wanes.
abloke36-158-984501
I have read the novel numerous times and had never seen the TV miniseries .Noticed it was on The Horror Channel , read the reviews and thought fantastic .Wonders if The Horror Channel had edited it and cut things up because it did not make any sense . Unless you had read the novel then abrupt cuts from one scene to another would have left you perplexed.Great first 5 minutes or so and then rapidly down hill .Has none of the subtly or detail of the novel . Badly acted and nonsensical drivel . Did I see another version to the great reviews given here ?Has been led to believe a new series of movies based on the novel are being planned .They can not be worse than this stinker . Gave up half way through .
BA_Harrison
A virulent man-made strain of flu accidentally escapes from a top-security army facility and rapidly spreads around the world, killing millions. A small percentage of immune survivors find themselves courted by the forces of good (lead by aged Mother Abigail Freemantle) and evil (commanded by the devilish Randall Flagg) in a final battle for dominion over the Earth.At nearly six hours long, Mick Garris's TV mini-series of Stephen King's chunky post-apocalyptic epic is an arduous journey to undertake, maudlin sentimentality and religious pondering frequently making the road very hard-going; many, mayhaps, will fall by the wayside. It all starts off promisingly enough, with a terrific, truly chilling first half in which the last of the living—a wide ranging group of well-drawn characters performed by an impressive cast—are left to wander a world strewn with corpses, looking for fellow survivors; however, it all goes a bit awry in the latter half, which is laden with corn (and I'm not talking about the crops surrounding Mother Abigail's home!).Increasingly hammy performances (worst offenders: Jamey Sheridan as Flagg and Matt Frewer as Trashcan Man), moments of unintentional hilarity, and a sense of the absurd proliferate matters, with a ridiculous anti-climax that sees God himself saving the day, obliterating his enemy by reaching down a giant sparkly hand to detonate an atomic bomb. No, really! 5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.