Stephen King's The Stand Movie Review

Quite good made-for-TV adaptation of the apocalyptic Stephen King epic (King adapted the screenplay himself) should be ghoulish enough for most. Cool opening featuring Blue Oyster Cult's “Don't Fear the Reaper” as the camera reveals death and more death at a top-secret government lab where a killer virus has escaped. Around the world millions die, and confusion and chaos take over. The few survivors have one thing in common…dreams. Some dream of the godly old woman known as Mother Abigail, and the others of the satanic Randall Flagg, the Walkin’ Dude. With the good guys holed up in the “Free Zone” of Boulder, Colorado, and the bad-brood head-quartered in Las Vegas, it all comes down to a battle of good vs. evil, nuclear weapons and hands of God allowed. Religious allegory will be interesting to some, and tedious to others. For a TV movie this one doesn't pull too many punches. Matt Frewer as the deranged weapon maker Trashcan Man is a scene stealer, even though the rest of the cast does just fine. AKA: The Stand.

1994 360m/C Jamey Sheridan, Ruby Dee, Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Miguel Ferrer, Laura San Giacomo, Rob Lowe, Adam Storke, Matt Frewer, Corin “Corky” Nemec, Ray Walston, Bill Fagerbakke, Ossie Davis, Shawnee Smith, Matt Frewer; Cameos: Ed Harris, Kathy Bates, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Stephen King; D: Mick Garris; W: Stephen King; C: Eddie Pei. VHS, LV REP