The Stand 2020

What monumentally BAD timing for a new "Stand." Of course I'm not watching it. I didn't watch the last one.

The first section of the novel itself was pretty good, but then it went to crap pretty quickly and I didn't bother reading the rest. If you're going to ask me to commit to reading a novel that length you've got to do better than that. I'm not one of those readers who follows the sunk cost fallacy.

The first episode is up, very good so far.

Why did you hate it OP? It got off to a good start, I thought.

Where?

How is 2020 "bad timing" for a movie about a pandemic? Earlier this year "Contagion" was one of the most frequently streamed films.

CBS All Access r4. But of course you can watch it "elsewhere."

It's unrealistic. No one is shouting that Captain Tripps is a Democrat hoax.

I’ll have to watch it I love apocalypse themed anything

R6 Where else can you watch it?

Streaming sites or torrents r9.

R10 Need a little more info how to access please

I REFUSE to watch anything starring that ABUSER!!!!

r11 piratebay

Thanks R13 !

Hmm, it varies quite a bit from the book, yet I can’t imagine it making any sense if you hadn’t read the book.

Watched it on free trial of CBS Access. Commercials are jarring.

I thought it was meh. Very disjointed. If you havent read the book, not sure it makes much sense.

[quote]I thought it was meh. Very disjointed. If you havent read the book, not sure it makes much sense.

I agree. Watched it last night and it was all over the map. It kept jumping back and forth between timelines and story lines.

I'll have to dig out my copy of the original mini-series.

Just finished watching part 2 and I picked up definite vibes between Randall Flagg and Lloyd during the scene when Flagg freed him from the horrible prison cell. Lloyd called him handsome, then Flagg tenderly put his hand on Lloyd's cheek before leading him out of jail and they walked out with arms around each others waists.

I hope they let these guys get more intimate as the series goes on - Flagg is evil incarnate, but he could still be sweet to his minion.

Lots of hot guys in that cast. I like that they actually cast someone fuckable as Randall Flagg this time.

The series suffers a lot from non-linear story telling. It's so bad that flashbacks have flashbacks in them. It's hard to tell which is the 'main' thread of the story... the 'now'.

I would love to see someone re-cut the entire thing to be in chronological order. I think it'd be a lot better. But I also feel like if they did that, they'd need to shoot a bunch of pickups to glue it all together.

Another expensive but crummy Stephen King adaptation. Ho-hum.

It’s not amazing but it’s okay

heather graham??? wtf? she in alot of ep 2.....tacky..

its a fukin comedy kinda. sarcasmo....

Ya want tacky? Its got Amber fucking Heard in it....gawd damn

bears no resemblance to the original.

Was there a leading black man in the first version? or is this just the woke version....

I’m watching it but not loving it. Meh.

The best part of the story is the collapse of civilization but so far we haven't seen it.

The time skipping, time jumping, flashback-having, flashback-within-flashback structure is just awful.

This would be far better if they just told it in chronological order.

They didn't do the Lincoln Tunnel scene, which was insane. It's a famous scene and the one everybody remembers. Assholes.

R31, or maybe they did, but it'll be some flashback in a flashback told in episode 7.

I’ve never seen Amber Heard in anything before but I enjoy her presence. Her look is very generic to me though and I expected her to be a boring mush mouth like Blake Lively.

I like Heard in this too. She’s not nearly as bad an actress as her ex’s psycho fans would have you believe

There was some m/m action in episode 5. We're shown Las Vegas is now run by Randall Flagg and is a city of 24/7 orgies, torture, drugs and slavery -- the place is like Caligula is in charge. It's a madhouse of depravity where people have public sex, and I spotted several gay guys going at it in the background.

its so bad, whoopsi bein in it dont help....she alwys is MADAME WISDOM ,,,,but she aint.

I was very disappointed that they took out the Lincoln tunnel sequence. I don’t get why they did that. When I first read the book, it scared the shit out of me yet became my favorite moment. It was totally unnecessary to change that for this miniseries. We only have 4 episodes left and we haven’t got to the Boulder Colorado explosion yet? I’m rewatching the 90s miniseries which I think is better than this version.

TOTAL PIECE O SHIT CEPT FER THE CUTE CHICKEN BOY

I don’t get why mother Abigail and all those people in Boulder are such haters about Vegas. It’s doesn’t seem like such a bad place just a different way of life.

I just finished watching the 1994 miniseries and for me it holds up. I’m still pissed that the current version totally changed the Lincoln Tunnel moment from the book.

The new version of Trash Can Man made his appearance in episode 6 and... ooof. He is played by Ezra Miller and it is an abomination for anyone who saw the 1994 miniseries. He is beyond bad and embarrassing, playing TCM like a barely verbal caveman or he's auditioning for the next Planet of the Apes movie.

I was giving the structure a chance, but they officially lost me episode 4. It’s like the movie Tenet, being indulgent and pretentious because it can be.

I started watching a German show, Sløborn - far superior in building tension to the lead up to a deadly outbreak.

[quote]I don’t get why mother Abigail and all those people in Boulder are such haters about Vegas. It’s doesn’t seem like such a bad place just a different way of life.

Because this is an American story. In a post-Apocalyptic American-centric story you have to have two groups: The good, God-fearing folk and the other group who likes to party and have sex, which makes them inherently evil.

r27 is the kind of person who will be offended that there are black kids in Deborah Kerr's choir in An Affair To Remember.

Seems like any creepier/supernatural elements just aren't that prevalent--so far it just seems like a lot of drawn out drama. The Ezra Miller Trash Can Man as a barely verbal Neanderthal was really cringeworthy. I do like the actor playing Harold, tho--he does a good job of being a creepy weirdo with an inflated sense of self.

IMO, Owen Teague as Harold is the best acting performance of the series.

Yeah I'm a little bothered by the implications of this version. If you're gay and a druggie you go to Vegas. But that wasn't the case in the original or the source material. Drug addicts were crucified.

Whoopi doesn't even try to walk like a 108 year old or however old she is supposed to be. She has the physicality of a woman Whoopi's age. Lazy performance. Whoopi lost whatever acting skill she had many years ago.

I really wanted this to be good.

It's just not.

I'm enjoying the show thus far. I've read the book, but the story is engaging enough to keep me watching. I will agree, though, that they should have cast someone else for Mother. They should have gone with an older ( or better) actress. Nothing about Whoopie's portrayal says 'centenarian'.

Also, am I the only one that's distracted by Amber's face? She has so much filler around her eyes, it looks like she's wearing a mask of her face.

No matter what version, book or visual media, Nick Andros’ death breaks my heart. I love that character. Actor Henry Zaga is so fucking hot!

Amber Heard is really not that attractive in this show.

So how was this week’s episode?

Meh.

The book was soo good. There hasn't been a movie/series adaptation that has done it ANY justice.

It'a not great but it's enjoyable enough. The Trash Can man is seriously giving me Riding the Bus with my Sister vibes.

We're supposed to believe Trashcan Man opened a high security nuclear silo all by himself, and rigged that pully system up and wenched the warhead out himself? At least in the book they made it plausible...

They seriously fucked this series up. From the beginning. It's really sad. Pathetic even.

So. God is ball-lightning.

It's pretty bad. The structure is odd, I had to keep going back into my memories of the book which I haven't read since the 90's before the first mini-series which I didn't care for. Amber Heard is TERRIBLE. I do not buy her having two distinct personalities because she is not a gifted actress, not even a serviceable one. Are the only gay people in this version living in Vegas only? I find that problematic. The casting of a black man as Larry Underwood doesn't bother me at all, I just wish they found one that was a better actor. Trashcan Man is garbage too. He has a nice body without any burns? Slapdash. The rest of the cast is pretty good if not wasted.

Wait, there's a whole 'nother episode? I mean, that was the end in the book, right? They couldn't have just made this episode like 15-20 minutes longer to do the "closure" scenes?

Ezra Miller’s performance(?) as Trashcan Man is HORRENDOUS! Why the fuck would he be directed or allowed to make those acting choices. Very unfortunate.

I remember trashcan man being a much better character in the book. I think in this TV show he had all of 10 minutes of screen time, and that's being generous.

And all 10 minutes of it was awful.

Swan Song is actually a much, much better version of this "End of the world, and two camps, good and evil, fight it out at the end" thing. I hear they're making THAT into a movie or mini-series too. I think I prefer the book to "The Stand" actually.

Anyone else read it?

Matt Frewer was excellent in the 90s The Stand miniseries.

This version is just nearly absolute shit.

Not that I love the original book so much. I only found myself drawn into the initial outbreak section, but the uh, divine morality tale? part was super lame.

But this tv adaptation is worse than the first.

Yes r63 - that would make a great miniseries!

R63 Yeah, Swan Song actually left quite an impression on me when I read it as a teenager. I doubt it would hold up if I read it again, but they could probably make it into an entertaining miniseries.

I muttered "this is garbage" several times during this episode.

That was rather "anticlamatic" penultimate episode and I'm using anticlimatic generously, since the buildup kinda sucked as well. I can't even be bothered w/finale

r69, I think there’s 2 more episodes left.

The only thing that made me have any reaction/feeling towards this episode was the horrifying specter of Nadine's smashed face. The rest of it was pretty crap. Glen's death, Nadine's labor, Stu in a ravine with a wolf, Lloyd's decapitation, Larry's drowning... you think those scenes would affect a viewer but I was pissed at how bad this whole thing had been bungled.

I'm not sure how they've managed it, but it honestly feels like everyone in this show has been wasted. The whole thing is such a waste.

It's awful. They ignored the key elements of the source material for some asinine reason. I like the above poster's idea that this should've been a three-season limited series. Season 1 would be the outbreak, 2 would be the collapse of civilization and the anarchy (the best part) and 3 would be the survivors. That would've been the best way to do it. They really blew it with this one.

The next ep. is the final one, and Stephen King wrote the entire script so hopefully it will be decent.

Amber Heard's Nadine was terrible, like she was on Xanax the entire time. I much preferred the 90's version of Nadine with Laura San Giacomo, who was much more evil and menacing. And in the 90s version (which I think was closer to the book), Nadine really told off Flagg before jumping off the balcony.

[quote]Are the only gay people in this version living in Vegas only?

Well the lesbian chick was originally in Boulder, but she moved to Vegas to spy on Flagg.

[quote]It's a madhouse of depravity where people have public sex, and I spotted several gay guys going at it in the background.

Yes, BUT - not a child in sight!

[quote]They ignored the key elements of the source material for some asinine reason.

Care to go into that? It's been forever since I read the book, and I'd love to see some of this kind of discussion. Watching the entire thing, it just seemed like so much was "missing", but I couldn't put my finger on it.

“It's awful. They ignored the key elements of the source material for some asinine reason.”

r73, I agree with that part but I think a 3 season limited series would’ve been too much. The 90s miniseries, which I rewatched for the first time in years about two weeks ago, was 8 hours. It was so much faithful to the book than this current version and for me, it holds up. This current version could’ve been done in 10 episodes and done well if the production team stuck to the original source

My two biggest issues: taking out the Lincoln Tunnel sequence with Larry Underwood, one of the best moments from the book, and the casting/acting choices of Ezra Miller as Trashcan Man. Truly an atrocious performance.

All the do gooders in builder are seriously annoying in this version. Who in their right mind would want to be a part of that?

Casting Goldberg as Mother Abigail suggests to me that she's the only old Black actress the producers could think of. But the actress I would have cast (Juanita Jennings) turns out to have died last year, so I probably shouldn't point any fingers.

Just watched the finale.... it didn't end with a bang or a whimper. It ended with a snore and a "why did they bother".

**SPOILERS** Frannie, Stu and their infant move from Colorado to Maine, just because Frannie likes the ocean - they are basically alone on the east coast of the country. They find a house, not knowing there is a tween black girl living in a tent in a nearby cornfield. You read that right. While Stu is in town, Frannie falls down a well, with the infant daughter just yards away. While laying like a broken doll in the bottom of the well, Fran is visited by spirit!Randall Flagg, who say if she kisses him, she can go back to her life with Stu & child. She refuses and resumes dying in the well.

The tween girl finally comes out of the corn as Stu gets home and she helps Stu pull Frannie out. Guess what!!! The girl is Mother Abigail who has been reincarnated and she can also miraculously heal Frannie's many broken bones and punctured lung. Oh, great. Last scene is Randall Flagg appearing to some uncivilized jungle tribe and declaring himself their ruler. Meh. And I read that Stephen King wrote this episode... time to retire, Steve.

"Hey, let's go to Maine where everybody's dead, there's no electricity or heat anymore and it's colder than a witch's tit for eight months out of the year!"

"Hell yeah! We can live like fucking cave people for the rest of our lives! Let's go!"

It was so unbelievably stupid.

I hope the paycheck was worth it for Skarsgard and Marsden, they definitely deserved a better project than this shit.

Up to ep 7 so far and it's crap. Agree with the posters about the Lincoln Tunnel, Trashcan Man. And in the book Nadine has jet-black hair, and as she gets closer to joining Flagg her hair starts to go white. So, naturally, they (mis)cast blondie Amber Heard as Nadine.

I don't think I'll bother with the remaining episodes.

That is actually the ending of the book except for the well and Mother Abigail

Nothing in this series rang true. It was all hollow. Surprisingly sterile. It was hard to believe there was actually an apocalypse. All the survivors were having such an easy time of it. There was no attempt to work towards getting back what they would surely be losing soon (food, medicine, clothing, and so much more). Seven Billion dead people and a surprising lack of corpses anywhere. No bad smells. No animals running wild.

And Marsden shows up MONTHS later, with no explanation for how he survived for months? And he didn't tell them what happened?

Nobody questioned a little black girl just appearing? (and come on... "Black girl magic"? Seriously?)

It all felt so pointless.

They made a big deal, visually, about those little glowing stones, but they never seemed to amount to anything or be explained in any way. In fact, almost nothing was explained, ever. Who the fuck wrote this crap? And then what butcher edited it?

This episode dragged up the "magical negro" trope from where it had been buried and used it shamelessly. Young black girl sits in the cornfield in a white nightgown singing gospel songs and surviving alone somehow. Then she emerges at just the right time to save/heal the dumb white people.

😴 .....💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤💤

That was allegedly "Mother Abigale" as a child.

At least that's what was said. It wasn't clear from anything actually in the show.

I got that it's a different version of Mother Abigail, but it's lame that she was brought back in that form to spin some of God's magic to heal the dummy who fell down a well.

And of course the white man goes to the dark-skinned primitive man and demands to be worshiped at the very end. What a weird ending.

In the book you felt like evil was defeated. This one, the ending just makes it seem like everything that came before was pointless. Utterly pointless. Nothing was solved or revolved.

What is it with Stephen King and people falling in wells? That happened in Delores Claiborne too. Is Maine full of abandoned wells that people are prone to falling into?????

I love Jamey Sheridan in the previous series. I also loved the novel.

I’m going to try to binge this this weekend.

I’m just starting to watch the finale but from what I’ve seen on this thread so far, it appears that they cut out most of Stu and Tom’s journey back to Boulder. That pisses me off because that was one of my favorite moments from the book. Geez, this version.

Nothing about the journey back to Boulder.

Is it just me or did anyone else wondered why the FUCK did they assume that no one was in that house or that they didn’t have to carry out some decomposed bodies.

King wrote fuck all new. Just stupid shit at Mother Abigail's. What a fucking flop.

That new shit at the end is ridiculous!

Yeah R95. Zero on that "M-O-O-N" guy escaping too. Just suddenly back in Boulder.

The whole thing was a disaster. I wonder how much stuff ended up on the cutting room floor. It seems like they left out a lot of "glue", and really fucked up the editing, in addition to everything else.

This was horrible from start to finish. I should've stopped watching after a couple of episodes. The only thing good about the final episode is Alexander Skarsgard's nekkid ass.

never watched, but was this much worse than the Rob Lowe mini series?

R101 The 90's miniseries was far, far superior. This one, despite having some pretty good cast members (but also some really bad choices), is a hot mess. Like another poster said, it's like they left lots on the cutting room floor.

Just started watching. It is hard to take Whoopi seriously now in an acting role. Harold is supposed to be fat and he ends up losing weight during the journey, both miniseries got that wrong.

Hope to watch this and The Offer in 7 days so I can then cancel the free offer.

Baby can you dig your man? Oh hell no they changed Larry Underwood. The guy who played him in the 1994 miniseries was cute. Also Nadine has black hair that turns white, WTF is Amber Heard doing in this part?

I watched the first couple of episodes, but it was giving me Walking Dead vibes so I bailed.

[quote] I fucking hated it.

Since you have no taste, it must be good

"WTF is Amber Heard doing in this part?"

Type casting...

Amber Heard although miscast is very pretty in this, she sure looks worse for wear in the court scenes with Johnny.

Ezra Miller and Amber Heard should have hooked up, that would have been one huge ball of crazy.

I just have to watch the last episode yet. SPOILER: they didn't have the hand of God come down they did it differently

I am surprised Ezra Miller took such a demeaning role but sounds like he is a strange guy period.

I was watching the original the Stand and Molly Ringwald looks like a hooker in her first scene. She hanging out with her dad in the garden looking like a streetwalker.Sure people looked less plastic then but still whorey.