Yes, I think it's my obsession
Jan. 10th, 2006 11:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gategrrlA few days ago, my mother and I went to Wal-mart to shop for Birthday presents for Little Guy (he's turning 5 on Feb 1). And there, on the discount DVD shelves, were a bunch of copies of "Stephen King's The Stand". It was only $14.00, so I bought it. Yup.
The best actors in it are: Gary Sinise as Stuart Redman, Ray Walston as Glen Bateman, and I have to say, the guy who played The Walking Dude, Flagg, was well-cast, too. Oh, and the guy who played Tom "M-O-O-N" spells it all. Everyone else in this adaption was...servicable, shall we say?
I'm not sure how much of that was due to the script, which King wrote himself. Clearly, someone else should have adapted the book to series, because there were scenes that dragged that I KNEW why King had left them in, yet they weren't good Television, if you know what I mean. The pacing was slow for a movie that had to cut out so much of the book's story and character motivations.
My favorite scene in the film? The credits. Yeah, I know, it's weird. But it focuses on a small black and white television image in a guard's hut, then the shot wanders around the base where the plague flu broke out and killed everyone within minutes. And, of course, "The Grim Reaper" is playing as the camera wanders around, showing you how quickly Captain Trips wiped everyone out. (and if you weren't sure how fast it was, in a later scene, exposition tells you that they all died within five minutes)
The rest of the movie was...meh. Very stagey. Very um, okay, not well acted. Or at least, the actors who could, rose above the direction and dialogue. Most didn't. Harold Lauder, it turns out, was mangled in this version of The Stand, but so were a bunch of other characters, and frankly, I don't know how even an extremely talented actor could have risen above the material given Harold. So, Corin Nemec gets a pass on this one. Molly Ringwald, OMG. Not worth speaking about.
Guess I'm lucky this time. The ONLY actors I could picture while reading the book are Gary Sinise and Ray Walston (who I'd pictured as Glen Bateman anyway - the character in the book just *sounds* like him).
Oh -- stupidest film moment! Glen, Stu, Ralph, and Larry are walking down a highway towards Las Vegas when Stu magically "feels" Harold getting into an accident, and then shooting himself in the mouth.
The best actors in it are: Gary Sinise as Stuart Redman, Ray Walston as Glen Bateman, and I have to say, the guy who played The Walking Dude, Flagg, was well-cast, too. Oh, and the guy who played Tom "M-O-O-N" spells it all. Everyone else in this adaption was...servicable, shall we say?
I'm not sure how much of that was due to the script, which King wrote himself. Clearly, someone else should have adapted the book to series, because there were scenes that dragged that I KNEW why King had left them in, yet they weren't good Television, if you know what I mean. The pacing was slow for a movie that had to cut out so much of the book's story and character motivations.
My favorite scene in the film? The credits. Yeah, I know, it's weird. But it focuses on a small black and white television image in a guard's hut, then the shot wanders around the base where the plague flu broke out and killed everyone within minutes. And, of course, "The Grim Reaper" is playing as the camera wanders around, showing you how quickly Captain Trips wiped everyone out. (and if you weren't sure how fast it was, in a later scene, exposition tells you that they all died within five minutes)
The rest of the movie was...meh. Very stagey. Very um, okay, not well acted. Or at least, the actors who could, rose above the direction and dialogue. Most didn't. Harold Lauder, it turns out, was mangled in this version of The Stand, but so were a bunch of other characters, and frankly, I don't know how even an extremely talented actor could have risen above the material given Harold. So, Corin Nemec gets a pass on this one. Molly Ringwald, OMG. Not worth speaking about.
Guess I'm lucky this time. The ONLY actors I could picture while reading the book are Gary Sinise and Ray Walston (who I'd pictured as Glen Bateman anyway - the character in the book just *sounds* like him).
Oh -- stupidest film moment! Glen, Stu, Ralph, and Larry are walking down a highway towards Las Vegas when Stu magically "feels" Harold getting into an accident, and then shooting himself in the mouth.
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-11 07:40 am (UTC)Still...what character did CN play in this? Harold?
And...there was another version made into a movie? I don't remember that either. (**lives under a rock**)
no subject
Date: 2006-01-11 07:45 am (UTC)As far as I know, there isn't another version out there, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was redone -- but in this case, unlike The Shining, King was directly involved (he even played a role in The Stand as a truck driver) so I think it's unlikely it'll be remade.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-11 07:53 am (UTC)I didn't know who CN was at all before Stargate and yet I know I saw this movie. Now I want to see it again--well, maybe. hehe As you said, it wasn't that good.