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The Stand

A review by Mike Shea   Movie Rating: ( * * * * · )    DVD Rating: ( * * * · · )

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The Stand was one of my favorite books of all time. I read the entire 1000 page reprint in a week and a half, spending almost two whole days on the last 500 pages alone. The characters grabbed me like few others ever had, and the story had me in tears at an age where I fought very hard not to admit it. Rarely are movies of books very good, but Stephen King novels seem to go pretty well on the screen. This one is no different. What we are given is a six hour story that includes the end of the world, the wandering of souls in a ghost town the size of earth, the organization of good and evil, and a final confrontation. The characters in the movie dont come across as cleanly as they did in the book but not bad for a TV mini-series. By the end you treat them as old friends, which is something that a two hour movie cant do. The first and last chapters are excellent, with the middle two slowing up only a little. The budget of this show come out in places, but overall the story is done very well. It doesnt hold up to the book, but rarely are we given such an epic tale in one show. This DVD is the entire six hour mini-series one one disc (unfortunatly two sides). It is presented in the native 1.33 to 1 aspect ratio and has a Dolby Pro-Logic soundtrack. There is a directors commentary that includes Stephen King as well as some of the actors and producers. It does a decent job overall but some hiss in the soundtrack at points takes away from the overall mood. Overall while not coming close to the book, this story does very well on its own. An excellent story and a decent disc.