TV: Stephen King's The Stand (2020 Miniseries)

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I do agree the guy playing Harold is creepy and then some. I liked the meta move of having him having his story rejected by Cemetery Dance publishing which as King fans know is owned by Richard Chizmar and started a horror boutique publisher that had a special deal with King to release collector versions of some of his best works. Since then Chizmar has also become a writer and co-wrote Gwendy's Button Box with King.

Speaking of meta... I have a question: Flagg's line where he says "I'm not a doctor, I just play one on TV", what was that about?

 

[jasonleaffan]

I do agree the guy playing Harold is creepy and then some. I liked the meta move of having him having his story rejected by Cemetery Dance publishing which as King fans know is owned by Richard Chizmar and started a horror boutique publisher that had a special deal with King to release collector versions of some of his best works. Since then Chizmar has also become a writer and co-wrote Gwendy's Button Box with King.

The actor Owen Teague who plays Harold, also plays Patrick Hockstetter in Stephen King's 2017 IT film.

 

[Perennial]

My ex worked on this film...

She said Owen Teague (Harold) was a very nice young man who would wait around the office for his mom to come pick him up

He also spent hours practicing typing on an old typewriter in preparation for his typing scenes

 

[Perennial]

I think some of you are being too harsh in your reviews of the film...

I actually liked the time jumps... learning about the backstories of characters over the course of the series rather than all upfront...

IMO, it does well up until they get to Vegas, at which point it becomes silly... in part because of the poor casting choice of Lloyd, but also the more screen time Randall Flagg got, the less menacing he seemed

Maybe The Stand is just one of those stories that doesn't translate very well to the screen...

 

[blueandgoldguy]

M-O-O-N. That spells bad The Stand remake!

 

[Warden of the North]

Im in Ep3. I really like the portrayal of Tom Cullen. It's excellent, the actor is great.

Marsden continues to be a great Stu Redmond as well.

Larry is good too.

Harold seems overacted quite a bit.

I've always pictured Nadine as having black and Fran as having blonde hair. That's throwing me off.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I was quite surprised to see Vincenzo Natali associated with this crap (he directed 2 episodes), but I guess the days where he was considered a cinéaste are long gone.

 

[alko]

Btw. this lass mass shooting in Colorado. Its the same city as in the novel?

 

[Warden of the North]

Btw. this lass mass shooting in Colorado. Its the same city as in the novel?

Yes.

I mean, I presume so. They're both Boulder Colorado. Obviously The Stand is a post apocalyptic fictionalized version

 

[Warden of the North]

Ok, so I just finished episode 4.

I think its fine. Certainly not as bad as the overall reviews are saying to this point. My main complaint is that Tom Cullen was not developed enough to have the emotional impact that sending him to Vegas had in the book. Also Flagg has had almost no development at all.

It probably should have been done over multiple seasons.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

I think a big part of the series failure it that it assumes you already know who the man in black is and have read the books.

I still have no idea what the hell happened in the last two episodes of this thing.

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

Im already finishing the Book. Should i watch the original mini-series or this new one?

The miniseries from 94 despite a lot of it being dated is honestly one of the better King adaptions in my opinion

Yeah I might have cast one or two characters with someone else but it was faithful to the source material and really powerful

The 2020 miniseries is a rushed mess told in a non linear timeline so you miss getting to care about the characters and experience the what they did

94 > 2020

Also, the 94 one did a better job of telling the story in four parts than 2020 did in 9, although the last episode is a completely new ending King claims he’s wanted to add

My ex worked on this film...

She said Owen Teague (Harold) was a very nice young man who would wait around the office for his mom to come pick him up

He also spent hours practicing typing on an old typewriter in preparation for his typing scenes

Owen Teague killed it as Harold and is easily one of the more compelling parts of it

And I completely forgot Marsden and skarsgard were in a movie together

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

I was quite surprised to see Vincenzo Natali associated with this crap (he directed 2 episodes), but I guess the days where he was considered a cinéaste are long gone.

Nah the episodes he directed had amazing cinematography

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Owen Teague killed it as Harold and is easily one of the more compelling parts of it

Pretty sure you meant repelling.

Nah the episodes he directed had amazing cinematography

The cinematographer is a guy named Thomas Yatsko and he's a bottom-level-TV journeyman (well, he was second assistant camera operator on Halloween 5) - he did 6 of the 9 episodes of The Stand, real far from what I'd call amazing.

 

[ManwithNoIdentity]

Should have stuck with the two movie idea they were originally going for

 

[Flukeshot]

It was alright. I haven't read the book. I did watch the original mini series so I expected it to be a bit cheesy.

Given that I'm still pretty much stuck at home, it was a solid week's worth of mindless content.

That and anything with Alexander Skarsgard gets the wife "interested" and I reap the benefits if you know what I mean.

 

[jasonleaffan]

It was alright. I haven't read the book. I did watch the original mini series so I expected it to be a bit cheesy.

Given that I'm still pretty much stuck at home, it was a solid week's worth of mindless content.

That and anything with Alexander Skarsgard gets the wife "interested" and I reap the benefits if you know what I mean.

Should have dragged it out longer than a week if it gets the wife that interested.

 

[alko]

Saw also the old mini-serie. But now, when i think about it, i cant understand, why the Old Woman send the quartet do Las Vegas? They did actually nothing important. This freak playing with fire did.

 

[Primary Assist]

Saw also the old mini-serie. But now, when i think about it, i cant understand, why the Old Woman send the quartet do Las Vegas? They did actually nothing important. This freak playing with fire did.

Well, on a symbolic level their journey to Vegas shows that they had the faith in God and perhaps that humanity was worth saving. That's the titular Stand the characters are making; Mother Abagail atones for her excessive pride by speaking directly for the Lord, and the chosen four represent humanity's best characteristics as proof that this crazy species called Man is worthy of continuing on, even after a near-apocalypse. If the four didn't make their stand then New Vegas probably finds a way to blow up Boulder before eventually blowing up themselves.

On a practical level, the murder of Glen Bateman causes Flagg to start doubting himself even more which makes his powers more unstable. If he had a better grasp on his magic then he possibly could have prevented the lightning he summoned from being used against him. Ralph and Larry's public execution also gives a reason for everyone in New Vegas to gather around in one spot. If the sentries were still out on patrol as opposed to witnessing the supposed execution, then they would have killed Trashcan Man on the outskirts of Vegas and the Hand of God probably would not have been able to detonate the nuke.

Trashcan Man could also have been an envoy of God. The Lord works in mysterious ways, at least so the old saying goes, and many of his actions from torching the fighter jets to bringing the nuke to Vegas directly benefitted Boulder and humanity. His "My life for you" catchphrase could actually be a red herring; instead of being in reference to Flagg, it could actually be something he repeats to God, whether he is aware of it or not.

Edit: One last thought - the three spies that the Free Zone sent over also caused Flagg's confidence to erode. The Judge's execution shows that Flagg doesn't have full control over his minions and followers, Susan Stern's defiance of Flagg and her suicide show him that he isn't able to use his powers completely to his own whims, and Tom Cullen's presence shows Flagg that he isn't able to read everyone's mind and makes him lose trust in his followers since he thinks anyone could be the last spy. These all contribute to his downfall once he starts over-extending his use of magic and loses control of the people of New Vegas.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

The Lord works in mysterious ways

Sums up pretty well how dumb that show was.

 

[Primary Assist]

Sums up pretty well how dumb that show was.

Fortunately I was spared having to watch the whole show after watching just 2 minutes of Ezra Miller as Trashcan Man. It's a shame since the book is such a classic, but the 94 mini-series sucked and the 2020 one seems completely unwatchable.