Images
right out of the news. LEFT: Times Square in the aftermath of the superflu
epidemic. RIGHT: “Bring out your dead,” wails Kareem Abdul Jamar as “The
Monster Shouter” in Stephen King’s adaptation of his own novel, “The
Stand.” The book was originally published in 1978 and the DVD was released
earlier this year.
An essay / DVD review of Stephen King’s “The Stand”
by Michael F. Nyiri,
Inspired by a need to quell my fear
and agony inherent in trying to adjust to a world so easily subject to
biological warfare, a subject dealt with in Steven King’s monumental novel, and
miniseries, “The Stand.” Which begins with a single person escapes from the
government lab testing the “superflu”
virus when it first gets out in the air.
I guess we’ve all been thinking about anthrax lately, and what
it means if things get anymore out of hand than they seem to be already. In anticipation for the worse when the number
of people who had been subjected to the anthrax bacteria ticked up to twelve
the week of October 14th, I put on a copy of the DVD edition of Stephen King’s
“The Stand” on Sunday, and thought it really gave a great impression of what
life might be like during the end of the world, and the subsequent last stand
on Earth. The book was written by King in 1978, and made into a mini series in
1994. The DVD has been available for some time, and I watched it for the second
time on DVD this last weekend. I meticulously taped this mini (editing out the
commercials) when it originally aired, and have watched the mini about 15 times
since. I’ve read the King novel twice, when it originally was published, and
when the expanded edition was published in 1989.
“The Stand” is a vast tapestry of a novel, which deals, in the
first vivid and horrifying scenes, with the outbreak of a Superflu, developed
as a biological weapon in a remote government lab. A guard at the lab, alerted to the disaster, and the sight of the
dead technicians in his monitors, is supposed to close down the facility.
Instead he, and the flu, escapes. This domino is the first of many that will be
set one against the other, as the reader is introduced to about ten major
characters, who will connect, disconnect, and reconnect, as the only survivors
of the outbreak, who are fated to begin a final stand for humanity, with the
forces of good, characterized by an elderly black woman, and evil, by King
villain Randall Flagg, also known as the devil to some…….. engaged in the final
battle.
The flu spreads quickly, but spares many souls, some who will
turn to good, and some to evil. We are introduced to these, the novel’s
characters, in vivid scenes from their disparate lives, and then we see how
they, and how we, might, have to cope with the prospect of a world methodically
being ravaged by a biological bacteria, bred to kill, just like anthrax, which
has had me “shaking in my boots” since hearing of the outbreak at NBC in New
York on October 12.
The novel’s leisurely, well written, and horrifying yarn
encompasses a large amount of characters determining the final outcome of
mankind against the backdrop of a ravaged America, filled with rotting corpses
who fall where they die. The final tale is that of the survivors, their
choices, and the eventual outcome. The book is a broad mythology, and the third
act didn’t hold me like the first, which deals with “The Plague”, the actual
vision of how the world ends, until the second reading.
The DVD is mastered on one disc, yet contains the complete full
screen NBC miniseries from 1994. The image quality is sharp and the sound is
well done, although my copy has occasional “floating pixilation”. Mick Garris (who directed the miniseries of
King’s “The Shining” (not the Kubrick movie) and the theatrical adaptation of
King’s “Sleepwalkers” and some Tales of the Crypt and Freddy’s Nightmare
television episodes, does a credible job of framing the fullscreen images, and
always composes his shots magnificently.
As I prepared to send the incomplete “review” up to the web for
the second time after writing some more, I noticed, on October 17th
2001 at 10pm pdt, that the number of people testing positive for anthrax was up to 26. An epidemic could spread, just
like the superflu. Personally, I am ready for all life gives me, and I’m not
altogether “frightened” of dying. I came down with a cold last weekend, and
despite the presence of the “anthrax scare”, the cold didn’t last long, but it
sure felt weird watching this mini again at this particular time and under
these circumstances.
One of the
first casualties, a technician in the underground biological weapons
testing laboratory.
In both King’s novel, and in the miniseries, the government
(which released the plague in the first place) first rounds up all those who
first spread it, then silence and hide the bodies of the mounting dead to keep
the populace in the dark about what is really happening. By the time the world
“finds out” the government and most of humanity is dead, and the only ones
left, to clean up and to fight to the finish, are the survivors.
Gary Sinese is Stuart Redmon, who will be a leader of the force for good, but is merely one of the Texan good ol boys at Hap’s gas station, hanging around, when the car belonging to the dying guard crashes into the pumps. Among the first to be rounded up by the government, who try to cover up the deadly mistake, Stu spends most of the first part of the first chapter in the Center for Disease Control, as a guinea pig for the dying scientists.
Gary
Sinese is Stu Redmon, a no nonsense, practical Texan who is among the first
people to be exposed, and rounded up by the government.
Molly Ringwald, who has been underused in movies since she stopped making those John Hughes movies in the eighties, is suitably naïve and beautiful as Frannie Goldsmith. Each character in the book, and in their introduction in the miniseries, is a fully fleshed human being, and the acting is top notch. Mick Garris is not a very well known director, but can be called upon to envision a world as seen by the warped imagination of Stephen King, who has been known in the past to condemn video and movie versions of his novels.
Molly
Ringwald stars as Frannie Goldsmith, of Ogonquit, Maine, whose idyllic
exsitense is destroyed when the flu hits her home, but later finds she is
the fulfillment of an age-old prophecy.
There is a “blue eyed soul singer” in New York, in the person of
Larry Underwood, played by Adam Stoark. With each little vignette introducing
another of the major characters, the setting, usually photographed on location,
and the situation, is frightenly familiar, and serves to make the audience
truly care for these people. The collective feeling is of watching the world
slowly choke on it’s own pleghm, and we are right there with the protagonists.
Larry, Frannie, Stu, and a host of others, will soon be given
their “marching orders” by Abby Freemantle, played with rare gusto by Ruby Dee
as the “godhead” or “good” figure. As the tapestry unfolds, each character is
brought together with others, as the main “chosen ones” gather small bands of
humanity, and travel to Boulder, Colorado, where the forces of good will create
society again.
Adam
Stoark, who was an unknown when the series was made, and still is, to the
best of my knowledge, does a credible job portraying “blue eyed soul”
singer Larry Underwood.
The commentary track on the DVD is supplied by members of the
cast, director Mick Garris, and screenwriter Stephen King himself. King
outlines the theme behind his mammoth work in a very erudite and informed
manner.
“As people are becoming infected, the government is becoming
aware that their dirty little secret is out there and it’s killing people.
Their first concern is not stopping the plague or helping the people but rather
covering the whole thing up.
“The crucial element in the early part of the story is that the
government would try to cover this up rather than to put out a public response
saying there is a problem we have to face.”
The always
wonderful Ed Harris plays General Starkey, in charge of the government
cover up, who ends up questioning his commitment to insanity in the face of
a global meltdown of propriety.
An uncredited Ed Harris
is the “voice of the government” and goes so far as to assassinate members of a
TV news crew who know too much. In the end, though, no amount of coverup is
going to work, and soon the government perishes along with everybody else.
Everybody, of course,
except those chosen to choose both sides of the standoff.
I always thought Rob Lowe could be a pain at times, but as Nick Andros, a deaf mute who can “speak” to Abby when called for, performs in a way I have never seen. He actually “acts” in this miniseries, and gives some clever insights into his characterization on the commentary track. His is one of the major parts in the book, and in 1994, I almost thought his presence would ruin the mini. After watching this repeatedly, however, I must say that his acting is thoroughly captivating.
Rob Lowe
plays Nick Andros, a deaf mute in a small town who confronts his tormenters
and survives the flu, later to become an integral part of the force for
good.
I have basically only begun the explanation of the plot, and the
introduction of the characters. Of mention are Ray Walston, Miguel Ferrar,
Laura San Giacomo, Corin Nemec, and Jamey Sheridan as Randall Flagg, one of
King’s most insidious villains, and another benchmark performance in the
miniseries.
The DVD, while only on both sides of one disc, unspools the
complete miniseries, which lasted about a week if I remember correctly. The
best scenes, as mentioned, are those which detail the first days of the
superflu epidemic, when, as the tagline to the mini proclaims, “The end of the
world is only the beginning.”
One really gets the sense of what a massive biological attack could
cause, and this seems like a rather prescient and disturbing miniseries in
light of current events.
Randall
Flagg, played by Jamey Sheridan is one of those guys you just love to hate.
He is charming, has a great sense of humor, and is the very personification
of evil.
“The Stand”, my favorite book
by Stephen King, is also one of the best miniseries ever filmed. The
production design, acting, direction, and most importantly the script, are all
first rate, and this is a well mastered title as well.
I hoped for more features, and perhaps there will be a more
comprehensive offering with stills and documentaries in the future, but for
now, this is an A title DVD.
MIKOMETER RATING: 10 of 10
See it before anybody else inhales anthrax. This is a chilling
title for a chilling time.
MFN 10/14 and 10/21 2001
Cast Details and links are from imdb.com, the Internet
Movie Data Base. Here is a
link to the expanded cast and credit page from Imdb.com.
"Stand, The" (1994) (mini)
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.... |
Stu
Redman |
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Frannie
Goldsmith |
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Randall
Flagg |
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Nadine
Cross |
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Mother
Abigail Freemantle |
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Judge
Richard Farris |
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Lloyd
Henreid |
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Harold
Lauder |
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Trashcan
Man |
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Larry
Underwood |
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Glen
Bateman |
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Nick
Andros |
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Tom
Cullen |
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Ralph
Brentner |
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.... |
Rat
Man |
The cast links and movie link above are to the Internet Movie Database entry for the title.
Full Cast and Crew, courtesy IMDB
All of the images accompanying this article/review are captures taken from the DVD itself, and adapted in the MGI Videowave and Micrografx Picture Publisher software. The DVD is copyright 1994 Republic Pictures Home Video. All the images taken from the mini are copyrighted images.