I've read The Stand (the edited and the unabridged versions both) at least four or five times. I was for a very long time an ardent King fan and I consider The Stand to be the absolute peak of his talents.
I was very wary when this TV version of it was originally announced because other King stories have been translated to film very badly. Not all, but some, and I didn't see how a book as complex as this one, with so many characters, could be translated well to film.
By all reports it took some time to do it, first as a feature film and when that didn't work, as a TV mini-series with King himself working on the screenplay. When it was first released in 1994 I was pleasantry surprised at the end product and thought they'd done a pretty good job overall. They got the important parts of the story in along with the stories premise and undercurrents even if they did get very heavy handed with some of Mother Abigail's "message". Overall I enjoyed it. 29 years later I watched it again and sadly it hasn't aged well. Maybe back in 1994 I was just happy they hadn't screwed it up too badly and accepted the end product as the best to be expected. 29 years later it's shortcomings, and there are many, were much more apparent to me.
The first, and probably worst, was the acting, much of which was pretty bad, and the casting which overall wasn't much better. In the plus column; Randall Flagg was probably the hardest character to capture from the book and I thought Jamey Sheridan did a fairly good job. He managed to capture Flagg's mixture of evil and dark hilarity pretty well and was believable in the role, something that was made more difficult for him with the (even for 1994) cheesy special effects or, in some scenes the complete lack of effects at all. One of the scenes I found almost embarrassing in my recent viewing was the one in which Flagg loses it because Lloyd had failed to tell him about the identity of the third spy. Flagg throws a completely absurd tantrum knocking over vases and kicking tables like a five year old. I would think a demon would be capable of expressing such anger in much more forceful ways than stomping around a room knocking thinks over like a child. It was very lame and Sheridan didn't look like he really had his heart in it. On the other hand, his scene with the second spy, Dana, was really well acted with Sheridan showing both sides of Flagg perfectly.
Other casting choices weren't bad either; Bill Fagerbakke was excellent as Tom Cullen as was Matt Frewer as Trashcan Man and Gary Sinese as Stu Redman. Some of the secondary players were also pretty good; Ruby Dee as Mother Abigail and Ossie Davis as the judge, and Rob Lowe and Ray Walston weren't bad either. Unfortunately after that the casting, and much of the acting, plummets to abysmal depths.
Fran Goldsmith is one of the main character in the story; I can't imagine what they were thinking casting Molly Ringwald in that role, she was never a great actress but in The Stand she is actually hard to watch at times because the role is so obviously beyond her very limited abilities as an actress. She also came across as very annoying, whining, petulant and unlikable and the choice to dress her like the film was a sequel to Pretty in Pink was just ridiculous; some of her outfits were really just laughable.
Adam Storke wasn't all that much better as Larry Underwood. I think he read that Larry was originally from New York and decided to play him like a character from The Lords of Flatbush. It's not at all what Underwood was in the novel and at times was also difficult to watch. But even worse was Laura San Giacomo as Nadine Cross, a case of miscasting almost as egregious as Ringwald. San Giacomo is a great comedic actress and I loved her in Just Shoot Me but, she wasn't even close to what Nadine Cross was supposed to be, physically or emotionally and her portrayal seemed to indicate that she knew that. Her skills as a dramatic actress were put to the test in the role and they were mostly found lacking. It was another casting choice that just didn't make any sense at all. The same goes for Corin Nemec. Watching his portrayal of Harold Lauder made me wonder if he, and whoever decided to cast him in the role, had even read The Stand. Yet another miscasting that took so much away from the story.
Some of the more ancillary roles were done well though; Kathy Bates of course, she was on screen for just a few minutes but was great as usual. Ditto for Ed Harris as the military officer trying to hold things together. Kelley Overbey was good in a small but important role as Dayna Jurgens as was Bridget Ryan as Lucy Swann. On the flip side you have Shawnee Smith, who I also love as a comedic actress, overacting to the point that I expected her to just fly out of frame and hit a wall. And Stephen King inserting himself into the movie was really a mistake. I know he's done it in several movies but usually it's a very small cameo that lasts a few minutes at most. Here he's in several extended scenes that are all bad. To begin with, for anyone who knows Stephen King his appearance immediately pulls you out of the story and secondly, he's a terrible actor. I'm sure it was fun for him but it was a mistake.
All in all I didn't hate it on the second viewing, but it hasn't aged well and watching it now it's shortcomings are glaring. With that said it is still far and away a better version of the story than the absolutely abysmal remake that was done in 2020. That piece of drek isn't even worth watching. If you're a fan of King and The Stand I would stick with this version, warts and all it's still one of the better translations of King's work to the screen.
I was very wary when this TV version of it was originally announced because other King stories have been translated to film very badly. Not all, but some, and I didn't see how a book as complex as this one, with so many characters, could be translated well to film.
By all reports it took some time to do it, first as a feature film and when that didn't work, as a TV mini-series with King himself working on the screenplay. When it was first released in 1994 I was pleasantry surprised at the end product and thought they'd done a pretty good job overall. They got the important parts of the story in along with the stories premise and undercurrents even if they did get very heavy handed with some of Mother Abigail's "message". Overall I enjoyed it. 29 years later I watched it again and sadly it hasn't aged well. Maybe back in 1994 I was just happy they hadn't screwed it up too badly and accepted the end product as the best to be expected. 29 years later it's shortcomings, and there are many, were much more apparent to me.
The first, and probably worst, was the acting, much of which was pretty bad, and the casting which overall wasn't much better. In the plus column; Randall Flagg was probably the hardest character to capture from the book and I thought Jamey Sheridan did a fairly good job. He managed to capture Flagg's mixture of evil and dark hilarity pretty well and was believable in the role, something that was made more difficult for him with the (even for 1994) cheesy special effects or, in some scenes the complete lack of effects at all. One of the scenes I found almost embarrassing in my recent viewing was the one in which Flagg loses it because Lloyd had failed to tell him about the identity of the third spy. Flagg throws a completely absurd tantrum knocking over vases and kicking tables like a five year old. I would think a demon would be capable of expressing such anger in much more forceful ways than stomping around a room knocking thinks over like a child. It was very lame and Sheridan didn't look like he really had his heart in it. On the other hand, his scene with the second spy, Dana, was really well acted with Sheridan showing both sides of Flagg perfectly.
Other casting choices weren't bad either; Bill Fagerbakke was excellent as Tom Cullen as was Matt Frewer as Trashcan Man and Gary Sinese as Stu Redman. Some of the secondary players were also pretty good; Ruby Dee as Mother Abigail and Ossie Davis as the judge, and Rob Lowe and Ray Walston weren't bad either. Unfortunately after that the casting, and much of the acting, plummets to abysmal depths.
Fran Goldsmith is one of the main character in the story; I can't imagine what they were thinking casting Molly Ringwald in that role, she was never a great actress but in The Stand she is actually hard to watch at times because the role is so obviously beyond her very limited abilities as an actress. She also came across as very annoying, whining, petulant and unlikable and the choice to dress her like the film was a sequel to Pretty in Pink was just ridiculous; some of her outfits were really just laughable.
Adam Storke wasn't all that much better as Larry Underwood. I think he read that Larry was originally from New York and decided to play him like a character from The Lords of Flatbush. It's not at all what Underwood was in the novel and at times was also difficult to watch. But even worse was Laura San Giacomo as Nadine Cross, a case of miscasting almost as egregious as Ringwald. San Giacomo is a great comedic actress and I loved her in Just Shoot Me but, she wasn't even close to what Nadine Cross was supposed to be, physically or emotionally and her portrayal seemed to indicate that she knew that. Her skills as a dramatic actress were put to the test in the role and they were mostly found lacking. It was another casting choice that just didn't make any sense at all. The same goes for Corin Nemec. Watching his portrayal of Harold Lauder made me wonder if he, and whoever decided to cast him in the role, had even read The Stand. Yet another miscasting that took so much away from the story.
Some of the more ancillary roles were done well though; Kathy Bates of course, she was on screen for just a few minutes but was great as usual. Ditto for Ed Harris as the military officer trying to hold things together. Kelley Overbey was good in a small but important role as Dayna Jurgens as was Bridget Ryan as Lucy Swann. On the flip side you have Shawnee Smith, who I also love as a comedic actress, overacting to the point that I expected her to just fly out of frame and hit a wall. And Stephen King inserting himself into the movie was really a mistake. I know he's done it in several movies but usually it's a very small cameo that lasts a few minutes at most. Here he's in several extended scenes that are all bad. To begin with, for anyone who knows Stephen King his appearance immediately pulls you out of the story and secondly, he's a terrible actor. I'm sure it was fun for him but it was a mistake.
All in all I didn't hate it on the second viewing, but it hasn't aged well and watching it now it's shortcomings are glaring. With that said it is still far and away a better version of the story than the absolutely abysmal remake that was done in 2020. That piece of drek isn't even worth watching. If you're a fan of King and The Stand I would stick with this version, warts and all it's still one of the better translations of King's work to the screen.