Wow! Such a good movie.

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

I never would have imagined putting Gary Sinese and Molly Ringwald together as a (romantic) couple, but for some mysterious reason it seems to have worked really well. I found myself quite moved in a couple of places, which was a nice surprise.I was also amazed at how perfectly cast Laura San Giacomo was as 'Nadine.' Very scary, almost too scary like it was real life, not acting. Corin Nemac was also good as 'Harold,' the unsuspecting victim of her super scariness.

This is one of Stephen King's most epic stories, there are others, but this one is probably one of the first. It is the forever-told story of the battle of good versus evil but without CGI, gimmicks and unrelatable characters. This story frightens you to the core because of how real everything seems to be. It could in fact happen tomorrow, to all of us, any of us. King is not an overly religious man, from what I have read but his ability to tell stories with religion deeply ingrained, amazes me. He does it from a standpoint rarely seen, if at all, and doesn't force the reader/watcher to believe any one thing but to just, think, perhaps deeper than they ever have before. However, don't be put off by the 'deepness' of it all, it's got enough comedy, action and adventure to still be an 'easy to watch' film with mates on a Friday night.

Before I give my review, I'd like to state that "The Stand" is my all- time favorite book. Unlike most fans of the book however, I didn't read the book until about seven or eight years ago. I had seen the mini- series a few times on television a few years prior to reading the book, and had really enjoyed it. One day while reading up on the film, I clicked on the IMDb movie message board. Fellow fans of the film were discussing how good the film was, and how well it followed the novel. Needless to say, I was intrigued by this. Therefore, I scraped together fifteen bucks, gave it to my Aunt, (who I live with) and told her to pick me up a copy at the local bookstore. Soon after she gave it to me, I began reading it. I couldn't put it down after that, so I took it with me everywhere! After reading the book, I decided to give the mini-series another watch, and surprisingly, I still liked it! Even more so than I had before. It took a long time for an adaptation of "The Stand" to get made. After filming "Creepshow" George Romero and Stephen King were going to collaborate again, on a film adaptation of "The Stand" Unfortunately, trimming the novel down into one screenplay proved to be too difficult a task for King, therefore Screenwriter Rospo Pallenberg was brought in to write a new script. After the script was finished, and filming was to begin, Warner Brothers backed out of the project at the last minute. Some time after, ABC offered Stephen King the chance to turn his novel into an epic four-part TV Mini-series. King accepted, The Mini-series was made, and premiered on May 8th 1994. It received critical praise, and has even acquired a large fan base. As for the screenplay for the film that never was: It's not bad. However in my opinion, it fails to capture the depths of the many characters. If you're curious, it's definitely worth a read though. Do a Google search, and you'll find it somewhere. As for the TV Mini-series: This was much better! It's well written, well shot, and well acted! Granted, some of the dark, intense, scenes in the novel are cut or trimmed, (It was a Made-for-Television production after all.) but it is still highly enjoyable, and very well done. I also must give it high praise for it's usage of certain music. Including, but not limited to: "Don't fear the reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult and "Don't dream it's over" by A Crowded House. Whether you've read the novel and never seen the mini-series before, or if you're just interested in watching a dark, apocalyptic, tale of good versus evil, give this a watch. I'd suggest you read the novel first, but even if you haven't, you'll enjoy this either way.

I like the story, read both the original and the extended version.I like a lot about it. For a book-to-TV thing, it's been done with respect. It's a bit like The Shining mini series. It follows the plot and works pretty well. However, I don't understand the cast. I like 2 people in that cast, and none of them are main characters. I've always been a fan of Shawnee Smith. She does an excellent job as the mean spirited nymphomaniac. Like in the Saw series, she has a penchant for playing unstable persons. I'm also a fan of her looks. The other character I like, is Ed Harris as the general. When it comes to the other roles, their looks, voices and so on, does just not work for me. Granted, I read both books first, so naturally, I created my own images.But all in all, worth a watch, and if you have read the book(s), have a look, it's OK.