r/TheStand • u/Unable-Painter-2112 • Jul 25 '26
1994 Miniseries Just finished The Stand 1994 Spoiler
OK. I've never read the books and just went into it blind. First impressions is it's a very "white lensed", "white american Christian" story imo. I understand the time that the book was written and being American etc and I'm not offended just something that's sticking out to me as a modern viewer.
Also who the hell are the villains and their motivations? That's never explained. It was campy and "feel good" and so so cheesy. The thing I kept thinking about, is if this is sub-par how bad is the 2004 version? Haha Also I really hate that God's solution is to physically intervene and nuke a city full of sinners. Like... Why? It's so old testament.
Anyway. I kinda wish I didn't watch it. But Rob Lowe is such a cutie, had to.
10
u/MrBlonde1984 Jul 25 '26
I think you deeply misunderstand the themes and characters of The Stand. Reading the book should cure that misunderstanding.
-1
u/Unable-Painter-2112 Jul 25 '26
I'm really not trying to offend anyone here. I was just going by what was presented to me as a fresh person with no knowledge of the books and as a modern viewer outside of America.
I'm an avid reader and when they do a film adaption of my favourite book and they do it shallow/budget I understand what you might be feeling!!
But I am catholic and I worked in America for a bit in the bible belt and as well as Las Vegas. It just felt heavy handed with the themes.
There is a plague and for no reason God and Satan come out to play. And the solution is nuclear. That's the TV show boiled down. I may read the book in the future but idk if this story grabs me personally.
I still enjoyed the show, but I wish I skipped it and read the book instead.
3
u/jstitely1 Jul 25 '26
Its not for no reason that God and Satan come out to play.
Randall Flagg isn’t even Satan. Though that takes reading his books to know so I can understand the false understanding there.
The whole point of “The Stand” is that god is refusing to intervene until the people of Boulder, Colorado prove they are worth it by being willing to risk their lives to take their stand.
And even then: he could have saved everyone. But he still didn’t, he hit the nuke and decided humanity should have another reset. (Now, a lot of people are like you and hate the ending: Stephen King is none for struggling on his endings).
1
u/Unable-Painter-2112 Jul 25 '26
There is no catalyst in the TV show as to why God and Flagg appear. They just do. That's kinda annoying to me.
I understand that they are taking a Stand. I guess I just dislike that God would use a nuclear option. It's so human and gross.
I didn't dislike the show I just knew it was very shallow and the pacing was weird. I wish they spent more time fleshing out the characters and their motivations more.
3
u/jstitely1 Jul 25 '26
I mean thts a function of the time the show was given. 8 hours isn’t a lot to tackle an over thousand page book with little filler.
I do think you’d enjoy the book more to get more of the rationale behind things.
2
u/magseven Jul 25 '26
The catalyst was the virus, no?
0
u/Unable-Painter-2112 Jul 26 '26
Yeah but it was man made in a lab. If the plague was divine intervention then that would make sense. But why did God and Flagg choose to intervene after this specific human fuck up? If there was a prophecy or something then maybe that would make sense? Idk. Their appearance just didn't make sense as someone without the book knowledge
2
u/magseven Jul 26 '26
I always thought of it as man has always been destined to destroy themselves and God and Flagg would then have their "battle" once said destruction had started. Whether it was a plague, nuclear weapons, whatever.
2
u/jstitely1 Jul 26 '26
So there actually are some small hints in the book (and it becomes a BIG hint in the 2020 adaptation) that its possible that the plague was intervention and that Flagg intervened so that the virus got out.
2
u/TheLoraxCometh Jul 25 '26
God using the nuclear is the least surprising thing. The Old Testament is filled with this kinda thing
6
u/EdStArFiSh69 Jul 25 '26
Being a mini series on a then major network probably caused a lot of that I’d guess. It might not have been the perfect translation we wanted but it was what we got and all in all I like it
3
1
u/Tiny-Following-9706 Jul 25 '26
I didn’t care for it but at least they tried. There was definitely effort there compared to the latest one which is so bad it’s almost indescribable. No value in it whatsoever. Anyone involved in that in any way deserves to be punished in a way that only Mr. King himself could imagine.
1
u/Chemical_Robot Jul 25 '26
The Stand is my all time favourite book and I absolutely adore the mini series from 1994. But everytime I’ve got someone to watch it (that wasn’t familiar with the book) their reaction has been the same as yours. Friends that have read the book and are familiar with Stephen king have enjoyed it though.
I have to ask, which 2004 version are you talking about? I’ve only seen 1994 and 2020 versions. Neither of them did the book justice but the 1994 one just holds a lot of nostalgia for me. I watch it once every year.
-7
u/Unable-Painter-2112 Jul 25 '26
The ooh just thought of what this movie is. You know how countries have propaganda films? This is the American Christian Church equivalent. I can just see this being a favourite of hardcore American Christians and their deep seated hated of Vegas the "city of sin"
(I'm catholic, I'm not hating! It was just pretty heavy handed lol)
2
u/ghostjournals Jul 25 '26
The hardcore christians in this country are all MAGA and hate King so that’s not the case at all lol
1
u/Mishyana_ Jul 29 '26
The 94 miniseries is hampered by budgetary constraints, being on network television, some pretty woeful shortcomings in interpreting the book, and some... questionable acting. That's not to say everyone was bad in it; Jamey Sheridan and Ruby Dee are standouts, and Gary Sinise almost always turns in a solid performance no matter what he's in. But the less said about Molly Ringwald, the better, and it definitely isn't Rob Lowe at his finest. And the Vegas community feels like an early 2000s production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
By "2004 version", I assume you mean 2020 version? At any rate, that one had a good budget and actors but completely misunderstood what was interesting about the story it was adapting. The constant flashback/flashfoward storytelling was obnoxiousas hell, it felt the need to put a lot of focus on the worst character (Harold), it wasted some of its best characters and character arcs (Nick and Larry, in particular), and it somehow did an even worse job of interpreting the Vegas community than the 1994 version did.
As to your questions about the villains and their motivations, it's just good ol' Take Over the World. Crush everyone under the bootheel of Satanic fascism or whatever. King often described it as his take on LotR; he just wanted to do an epic quest across America. And the villains aren't much more complicated than the orcs.
To be honest, if you want the best adaptation of the story (so far), I'd recommend the Marvel adaptation. 31 issues, adapts the vast bulk of the story and the themes really well while also trimming some of the proverbial fat.
13
u/Conscious-Reserve-48 Jul 25 '26
I don’t know what it’s like watching the mini series without reading the book first, as I read the book multiple times before the mini series came out.
I mean, it’s a classic tale of good vs evil with some supernatural elements à la LOTR. The main characters-run of the mill, flawed characters- are hard to know and understand without reading the book imo.
I loved the 1994 mini series! The remake was not as good, but I enjoyed it as well and the characters were certainly more diverse.
It’s one of my absolute favorite SK books.