The Stand

It's a nine part TV adaptation of the Stephen King novel of good versus evil. It's not any better than the 1994 version. More money may have been spent but it's not better. The structure is more disjointed which leaves the characters less compelling. I don't like Whoopi Goldberg in this role. The last episode feels stretched out which leaves it without tension. After the climax, the series needs to end. It's an unnecessary update of this material. If it needs doing, it needs some better imagination to bring new life to the story.

This new adaptation of The Stand was something I was really looking forward to but I haven't been let down this badly since the last season of Game of Thrones.

Something went seriously wrong with this production and whoever greenlight the badly misjudged decision to mess about with the running order of the story, should seriously be fired from their job. It just doesn't work and just because it's a cool trend right now, doesn't mean you should try be like bloody West World. I mean who decided this? Have you even read the book? Do you understand how storytelling works? Stop embracing a trend which kills all tension and eliminates any chance of character development or emotional connections with your viewing audience.

Now look, off the bat, I enjoyed the ABC 1994 version, it was a decent adaptation for the time, a bit cheesy sure, but it was fun and had good casting with characters who had solid arcs and it was enjoyable and at least watchable, but it was, as others have rightly said, very much of its time in terms of tone, style and content. A more up to date remake was most welcome, even timely considering the subject matter.

The plot follows various American characters as an unknown virus wipes out 95% of the human race while the remaining others are immune. The survivors gravitate towards two opposing forces - one side led by Mother Abigail (the force of good and cool hair) or Randall Flag (The force of bad, but with more drugs and swingers parties taken to eleven) and eventually things are set for a showdown between them. Good vs Evil, lots of religious symbolism, none of which I have an issue with. Mixed in with this are the lives of various characters on both sides of the equation some of whom cross from one side to the other.

This new non linear approach to the story is a classic example of: if it isn't broke don't try and fix it. None of the changes that deviate from the narrative of the book work here and the casting all feels off for some reason. Listen there's some good actors in this thing, but the tone, pace and story all fail because of the disjointed narrative and the constant jumping around of timelines destroys any chance of you becoming really invested in any of them. Some of the most important progression dramatic beats and character arcs are completely lost here and it just doesn't work, at all, on any level. So many roles feel so miscast and the actors performances don't really gel nor have any emotive impact because we don't feel nor see a sense of progression. One moment we're in the past, then present, then the future, then back somewhere else, by which time I was wishing for Gary Sinse and Rob Lowe to turn up from the original.

The production design feels off too. Yeah dream sequences, can feel weird and out of place, but some of the actual scenes do too. Either one person was given too much power on this show and no one thought to rein them in or it was the extremely opposite and it was too many cooks or pulling the narrative and design all over the place. the entire production lacks a cohesive vision. I mean you can literally hear the Producer meetings 'Oh we should do this with the timeline, it worked so well in that other show... people will love it." Well I've got news for you. Stephen King has been around a long long time, and his fanbase were brought up on productions like Salems Lot and Christine, which followed traditional storytelling modus operandi and you know what - it worked.

This doesn't. What a colossal waste of talent. There's some good performances here but I honestly will not be tuning in for the future episodes, you lost me on episode three. Massively disappointing.

Hideous adaptation of Stephen King's sprawling novel stupidly breaks up the narrative into flashbacks and flash forwards, thus destroying any dramatic tension that might have existed. But I doubt there was any anyway under the lousy direction by a whole bunch of people. Was King involved in this mess?

Narrative aside, most of the cast is awful. Whoopi Goldberg and James Marsden are good. Everyone else stinks. I've never seen so much hammy overacting in one show. And all the blonde girls looks alike.

The timing of this mini-series is probably off. Showing a mini about the end of civilization in the midst of a pandemic might not have been the best idea. It leaves a sour taste.

The show runners here turned King's serious novel into a comic book.

There's a lot wrong here. Miscasting, burning the candle (or story) at both ends, where I assume we'll meet in some sticky middle ground with the characters well briefed even if the viewers are robbed of the momentum that would have built from the novels original structure. It's a journey. A horrific line to walk and SK planned it perfectly. There's a reason Dorothy and Toto didn't have cabs on the Yellow Brick Road. Some of us WANT to see the flying monkeys. FOR INSTANCE: I miss Larry's escape from NY by way of a corpse infested tunnel. I miss the sheriff who saved Nick and allowed him to become jail warden as he grew too ill for the job. And the gentle insight given as Nick took care of and fed his assailants through the bars of their prison cells, and comforted his torturers as they died. I miss Nadines hallmark red hair. It screamed for hundreds of pages. Until it didn't. Hemingford Home was in Nebraska, but-snip snip! Colorado it is. We were in the CDC for many days. Many days. Begging for info on many neighbors. Those names aren't here, and the neighborhood didn't burn away with fever in this version. THAT community of Stu's didn't ever exist in this show. . . .And the MISCASTING X 10 (take your pick). So much atmosphere from the novel excised, the leftover scenes flicker by so swiftly you realize they bit off more than they could chew in the hours allotted. Stuff it as much as you want, and maybe the characters will finally develop by the time the final battle rolls around. But. . . Judging by the time jumps, THESE characters are static compared to their novel counterparts. I can't even tell they've been on a journey. Oh that's right. There's safety in numbers and the series grouped everyone together hyper fast. Going the path solo in the black night was where I felt my palms sweat. Not in a sunlit room with 20 friends. That part DOES COME, but later. I only wish it didn't cost us each characters solo journey to that bright room. Nighttime in a dead world where you're alone and clueless makes for a terrifying journey. But our guys found an "alternate route" it seems (I say this as more and more is added weekly, but it's nothing compared to the lacking atmosphere). The book was a death march. We chose our paths and the stakes climbed with the days, while the nights were filled with horrifying and strange noises. An anxiety attack on a roller coaster with a courtesy espresso before the ride hit its stride. This series, however, is a drowsy stroll. Like waking from a car nap, you orientate yourself and see how far you've come, and then decide if you should care about where you're at or just black out again. Many separate and small altercations aren't nearly as intimidating as a dreadful marathon filled with a variety of unpredictable dangers. All tension evaporates each time the show flashes forward (or backwards). The tension bottoms out because we are provided relief at the worst time. Horror fans being given thoughtful intermissions (for the delicate viewer out there). It feels like that anyway. And it also renders this risky journey moot. When you see our guys at The Free Zone you don't fear for them in the flashbacks. You KNOW they made it safe and sound. Leaving The Past neutered and without teeth. If you skip the book even though you enjoyed the series you are doing yourself a disservice. If you read "The Stand" and "'Salem's Lot", you'll either be addicted, or once again showing your face at church on Sundays. AND FOR NON READERS of the book who feel they have the right to call long time fans whiny and our viewpoints invalid, you should just keep those opinions to yourselves. If a man could watch just ONE film during his life: "Battlefied Earth", or "Alien", but chose "Battlefied Earth". That's the predicament I see in these reviews. OF COURSE these "non-book" folks think the series is great. They have NO idea of what they're missing.

Save yourself time and watch the original or read the book.

Too much flashing around, sideways, forwards, backwards.

Whoopi Goldberg and Alexander Skarsgård are terrible miscasts.

I personally loathe Whoopi Goldberg as an actress. She strikes me as a washed up hippie in every single role. Casting her here as Mother Abagail she lacks the necessary motherly qualities for the role and comes across as... a washed up hippie. She looks the role but it isn't her.

Alexander Skarsgård meanwhile... he just doesn't have the element for Flagg. He comes across as a boring guy that would be best cast as a ride along cop in a police movie. He's not in the right element here.

Most of the other characters are mostly OK, but not stand outs.

Now split this up into 1hr runtimes. It drags out an already long story longer. Without the elements of continuity due to the flashbacks and such it's less immersive.

Read the book watch the original. Don't waste the time here.