Steven King's 3 PART MOVIE "The Stand" (1994)

Subject: Steven King's 3 PART MOVIE "The Stand" (1994) Sun Jun 15, 2008 12:17 am

I have seen this 4 part movie, from 1994, at least 5 times and loved it every time. It is Sci Fict-Futureistic concerning the release of a military virus that kills most of the worlds population. The religious side to it is the resulting two groups of people who survive. One group is drawn by Randall Flagg (the devil) played by Jamey Sheridan and the other by Mother Abigail Freemantle (Ruby Dee) who is God's spokesperson.

The Novel and resulting Screen-play are written and directed by Sreven King. It is widely hailed by critics and fans as one of his best novels.

It has an all-star cast of

Gary Sinise who plays God's man, Stu Redman who marries Fanny, which jilts Harold.
Molly Ringwald playing Frannie Goldsmith, side of good.
Laura San Giacomo who plays Flaggs chosen child carrier Nadine Cross (wants to be on the side of good, but is the Devils chosen.
Ossie Davis who plays the Judge Richard Farris
Miguel Ferrer playing Flaggs head leader Lloyd Henreid
Corin Nemec plays Harold Lauder, the bomb making, childhood boyfriend of Fannies, who she leaves for another. He is then used by Flagg to get back ay God's group.
Matt Frewer plays Trashcan Man, who loves to set fires and blow things up. He is drawn to Flagg.
Adam Storke plays Larry Underwood, the Rock Star who is drawn to the side of good.
Ray Walston plays Glen Bateman on the side of good.
Rob Lowe is excellent at playing deaf, mute Nick Andros, a key character on the side of good.
Bill Fagerbakke who brilliantly plays the mentally challenged character Tom Cullen. Also a key character for the side of good, since Flagg can not read his thoughts. He makes a great spy. MOON, that spells spy (or whatever). If you watch the movie, you will understand!
Peter Van Norden who plays Ralph Brentner, another on God's side.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who plays the "The Monster!" shouter man who warns the world of the coming doom.
Stephen King who as usual plays a cameo part as good guy Teddy Weizak.
John Landis who plays Russ Dorr
Kathy Bates plays Rae Flowers
Ed Harris plays Gen. Starkey

Plus at least two dozen other characters!

According to Wiki:

Quote :: The Stand was also planned by King as a kind of Lord of the Rings in a contemporary "American setting".

On his official web site Stephen King included the following statements about the subject:

For a long time — ten years, at least — I had wanted to write a fantasy epic like The Lord of the Rings,
only with an American setting. I just couldn't figure out how to do it.
Then . . . after my wife and kids and I moved to Boulder, Colorado, I
saw a 60 Minutes segment on CBW (chemical-biological warfare). I never
forgot the gruesome footage of the test mice shuddering, convulsing,
and dying, all in twenty seconds or less. That got me remembering a
chemical spill in Utah, that killed a bunch of sheep (these were
canisters on their way to some burial ground; they fell off the truck
and ruptured). I remembered a news reporter saying, 'If the winds had
been blowing the other way, there was Salt Lake City.' This incident
later served as the basis of a movie called Rage, starring George C. Scott, but before it was released, I was deep into The Stand,
finally writing my American fantasy epic, set in a plague-decimated
USA. Only instead of a hobbit, my hero was a Texan named Stu Redman,
and instead of a Dark Lord, my villain was a ruthless drifter and
supernatural madman named Randall Flagg. The land of Mordor ('where the
shadows lie,' according to Tolkien) was played by Las Vegas.

Stephen King stated during an interview on NPR in March 2008, that Marvel Comics will soon be doing a graphic novel adaptation of The Stand due to the success of the graphic novel adaptation of The Dark Tower.

The three books, or parts are:

Quote :

1- "Captain Trips"

The novel is divided into 3 parts, or books. The first is entitled "Captain Trips" and takes place over 19 days, with the escape and spread of a human-made biological weapon, a superflu (influenza) virus known formally as "Project Blue" and colloquially as "Captain Trips."
The epidemic leads to the death of most of the human population in North America (and the world—it is hinted that General Starkey’s men released the virus in eastern Europe, China and the Soviet Union, and Peru and Senegal
are mentioned in discussion of post-epidemic deaths due to natural causes). 99.4% of people are susceptible to Captain Trips, and the disease has a mortality rate of 100%. King outlines the total breakdown and destruction of society through widespread violence, the failure of martial law to contain the outbreak, and eventually the death of virtually the entire population. The human toll is also dealt with as the few survivors care for their families and friends, dealing with confusion and grief as their loved ones ultimately succumb to the flu, which has inexplicably spared them.

The expanded edition opens with a prologue entitled "The Circle Opens" that offers greater detail into the circumstances surrounding the development of the virus and the security breach that allowed its escape from the secret laboratory compound where it was created.

2- "On the Border"

Intertwining cross-country odysseys are undertaken by a small number of survivors, including:

a pregnant college student and an overweight high school outcast from Ogunquit, Maine (Frances Goldsmith and Harold Lauder, respectively);
a factory worker from the fictional, tiny Arnette, Texas (Stuart Redman);
a disillusioned pop musician from New York City (Larry Underwood);
an insightful deaf-mute wanderer originally from Nebraska (Nick Andros);
a virginal kindergarten teacher with a dark secret from New Hampshire (Nadine Cross);
a savage, amnesiac, and telepathic boy (Leo "Joe" Rockway);
a quick-witted, pessimistic sociology professor from New Hampshire (Glen Bateman) and his dog, an Irish Setter named Kojak (or Big Steve as he later reveals himself as)— one of the very few dogs immune to the plague;
a jolly, easy-going farmer from Oklahoma (Ralph Brentner); and
a kind-hearted mentally retarded man from May, Oklahoma (Tom Cullen).

They are drawn together by their shared dreams of a 106-year-old black woman from Hemingford Home, Nebraska, whom they see as a refuge and a representation of good in the struggle of good versus evil. This woman, Abagail Freemantle (known as "Mother Abagail"), becomes the spiritual leader of this group of survivors, directing them to Boulder, Colorado, referred to as "the Free Zone" (officially "The Boulder Free Zone"), where they begin to reestablish a democratic society; much of this section of the book involves the struggles to create an orderly society more or less from scratch. Boulder is found to have considerably fewer plague victims than other cities due to a mass exodus following a false rumor in the early stages of the plague that the outbreak originated in the Boulder Air Test Center. While many corpses are present there, they number far fewer than any other major city in North America.

Meanwhile, another group of survivors includes

Lloyd Henreid, a not-too-bright common thief;
Donald Merwin Elbert, known as "the Trashcan Man", a schizophrenic pyromaniac;
Whitney Horgan, an ex-Army cook and butcher;
Julie Lawry, an unstable, oversexed teenager;
"the Rat Man", a pirate-like hood; and
Barry Dorgan, a former detective of the Santa Monica Police Department

They are drawn to Las Vegas, Nevada by Randall Flagg (known as "the Dark Man," "the Hardcase," and "the Walkin’ Dude"), an evil being with supernatural powers; he represents the evil, opposite side of Mother Abagail's survivors. Flagg’s rule is tyrannical and brutal, using crucifixion, torture and other torments as punishment for those who are disloyal. His group is able to quickly reorganize their society and rebuild the city.

The Free Zone's democratic society is not without its problems. Mother Abagail, feeling that she has sinned, disappears on a journey of reconciliation. Meanwhile, Harold's bitterness over his unrequited love for Fran and Nadine's secret commitment to Flagg lead the two of them to detonate a dynamite bomb at a meeting of the Free Zone committee. The explosion, which kills several people (including Nick Andros), takes place at the same time that Mother Abagail is discovered, severely weakened by her time in the wilderness.

3- "The Stand"

The stage is now set for the final confrontation as the two camps become aware of one another, and each recognizes the other as a threat to its survival, leading to the "stand" of good against evil. There is no pitched battle, however. Instead, at Mother Abagail's behest, Stu, Larry, Ralph and Glen set off on foot towards Las Vegas on a scouting expedition. Stu breaks his leg en route and drops out. The rest soon encounter Flagg's men, who take them prisoner. When Glen rejects an opportunity to be spared if he kneels and begs Flagg, he is shot by Lloyd Henreid, on Flagg's direct order. Flagg gathers his entire collective to witness the execution of the other two, but before it can take place, Trashcan Man arrives with a nuclear warhead and a giant glowing hand—"The Hand of God"—detonates the bomb, destroying Flagg's followers and the two remaining prisoners.

Stu, with the aid of Kojak and later Tom Cullen, survives injury, illness, and a harsh Rocky-Mountain winter. The three of them arrive back in Boulder soon after the birth of Fran’s baby. Although the baby falls ill with the superflu, he is able to fight it off. In the end, Stu and Fran decide to return to Maine, and the original edition of the novel ends with the two of them questioning whether the human race can learn from its mistakes. The answer, given in the last line, is ambiguous: "I don’t know."

The expanded edition follows this with a brief coda entitled "The Circle Closes," which leaves a darker impression and fits in with King’s ongoing "wheel of ka" theme. Randall Flagg arrives on a beach and begins recruiting adherents among a preliterate, dark-skinned people. The outcome is unspecified but would leave an opening for a sequel.

I GIVE THIS MOVIE A 97/100!

I've wanted to watch this for a very long time, but I always seem to miss the first part or the first and second parts when it's on TV. I'm going to have to break down and rent it. I'm always being told what a great movie it is.

This is probably my all time favorite Stephen King story aside from The Dark Tower series and this movie is pretty well done. It was cast extremely well. I don't think I've ever seen a movie cast so well. Every single one of them are perfect for their roles.

I give it 95/100 thumbs up

kharmon wrote:: I've wanted to watch this for a very long time, but I always seem to miss the first part or the first and second parts when it's on TV. I'm going to have to break down and rent it. I'm always being told what a great movie it is.

You definitely need to see "The Stand." It is long, but since they broke it into 3 parts, you can see it as you have time. I have recorded it so I can see it over and over again!

Cat, you need to add the two ratings to your listing.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:: Cat, you need to add the two ratings to your listing.

I see you've done that. Seeing as this was a TV miniseries and not released in theaters (to further my point it won 2 Emmys I am going to move this to the not eligible for ranking category along with The Toll of the Sea (which was only 54 minutes long).

i am gonna go rent it this weekend

The HBO series "Carnivale" reminded me of this mini-series.

Good vs. Evil and a great and strange cast of supporting characters.