The good points: the continuity of King, a lot of goodwill, a decent cast, a reasonable budget. This miniseries is to King's novel as David Lynch's Dune is to Frank Herbert's. Somehow it makes all the disjointed claptrap that occupies these six hours cohere and work. I don't think I had actually realized until now how important King's distinctive voice is to what he does. Let alone any fiction so explicitly grounded in the voice of the author. Let alone a mammoth novel such as The Stand. If nothing else, for once and for all, this should retire the debate on the natural narrative scope of feature movies, which is much closer to short stories than novels. We're talking about a six-hour production here. Too bad, because it's weak sauce compared to the original novel (which I know only in its first-published shorter form). It seems safe to assume King had sufficient clout by 1994 to get his way-or maybe not. He makes about three cameos too many, gets a credit as executive producer, and most importantly owns sole credit for the script. Stephen King's heavy participation in this TV miniseries, which aired on ABC during the sweeps month of May 1994 (and won some Emmy Awards and nominations), complicates any assessment. Cast: Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Jamey Sheridan, Laura San Giacomo, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Rob Lowe, Miguel Ferrer, Ray Walston, Corin Nemec, Matt Frewer, Adam Storke, Kellie Overbey, Bill Fagerbakke, Rick Aviles, Stephen King, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Landis, Sam Raimi, Ed Harris
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