Stephen King's THE STAND thread

[Mikey]

Just watched the Stand today..
I've seen it at least 10 times -- as a matter of fact, I own the DVD.

There are some things that always bug me.

Is Flagg the actual devil ?

What's the idea of "stand" ...
They always repeat this thoughout the movie, but I don't get it .....
Why must the good guys go to Vegas and "stand" ?
Stand up for themselves ? -- why ?
Nobody in Vegas was saved at the end, so what was the significance of the good guys being sent to their deaths ?

What else did you like, and not like about THE STAND ?

[toys2cool]

I also have it on DVD,haven't seen the movie in like 12 years so I can't remember a lot.But I remember it being a decent movie just a little long

[jaypiscopo]

i think "the standing" means that: the guys from Denver sacrificing themselves invites
"The Hand of God" to intervene and wipe out Las Vegas and Flagg --to prevent
all the good folks in Denver from being nuked. Good finally triumphs over Evil.
I'm thinking if "God" is in the story-- Flagg must be "The Devil"
that's probably why the need for "The Hand of God"
I'm not a big fan of this ending---
If the "Standers" had kind of a "Guns of Navarone" commando attack and chose to nuke
themselves to save Denver- rather than being tied to crucifixes---
that would of been cool--

[Nostalgiabuff]

Flagg is actually a demon. If you are a King reader or if you have read the Dark Tower series, you will find that Flagg is actually the man in black that the gun slinger chases in the first book. He is a sorcerer, who you find out seduced Rolands mother and led to the downfall of Gilead. When he gets killed in the Stand it only means he has been killed in that world. But there are many other worlds.

The Stand is really about people standing firm in their belief of what is right, and yes, there is a lot of religeous signifigance in this book. The old woman is the last prophet of God and as such helps the good people who survived the plague.

[johnmiic]

What's the idea of "stand" ...
They always repeat this thoughout the movie, but I don't get it .....
Why must the good guys go to Vegas and "stand" ?
Stand up for themselves ? -- why ?
Nobody in Vegas was saved at the end, so what was the significance of the good guys being sent to their deaths ?

What else did you like, and not like about THE STAND ?

I like what I have seen in this thread so far. I think they should have left in many more sub-plots in like the book had. The first woman Larry left NYC with who died in her sleep-choked on her own vomit. The story of how the guy who had the crush on the girl, (Played by Molly Ringwald), lost wieght and could've avoided being the much hated bomber if he had used his brains instead of wanting to take revenge. I think it shows he was more on the edge and could've gone either way. I thought those were nice touches.

I did think it was pretty futile for the guys to go to Vegas and stand up to Randall Flagg when the other psycho was going to deliver the nuclear warhead to Vegas personally and wipe them all out. It seems these righteous men were only there to provide distraction for the nuclear bombs to get there. I forget his name but he was played by Matt Frewer, who I think was not young enough for the role. I pictured someone much younger.

What I think King may have been trying to suggest here is something that we cannot explain-or should not be able to explain; the Mystery of God and what His plan is. The people of Vegas have made their choice to follow Flagg and that is it for them. It seems to me they are regarded as beyond redemption like the people left off Noah's Ark at the time of the great flood or the people who live in Sodom and Gammorah. For instance we never really understand why the disease kills 99% of people. What is it that protects the few who survive? It is kind'a alluded to as God's Will. It's King's way of saying we don't have an answer to everything. It is up to God.

[cjefferys]

Still my favourite King novel (and I know I am far from alone in this). I remember first reading that book in high school and being absolutely consumed by it, I just couldn't put it down. The mini series was far better than I expected (as a whole, I'm usually disappointed with King movie or TV adaptations). As soon as I saw the opening scene, with "Don't Fear the Reaper" playing, I knew that this one was gonna be good.

Flagg isn't the devil, and as Nostalgiabuff mentions, the character shows up in various incarnations in many King books, primarily The Dark Tower series, which is really the centerpiece of the "Stephen King Universe" that most of his other novels revolve around.

[Nostalgiabuff]

I think the real reason the mini series was so good was because Stephen King wrote the teleplay himself.

[knight errant00]

I always took "stand" to mean something like a last stand -- this is it, the big deal, if we don't win here they'll be nothing left to win.

Beyond that, for a story that's basically strong, it has one of the worst endings ever. A literal "Deux ex machina" that comes out of nowhere, like King knew he'd run out of story and needed something big and supernatural to wrap it all up.

[Mikey]

Stephen King is notorious for making great movies with lousy endings.

He's a great writer, but he just don't know how to end a story.

Perfect example of this was IT

IT was terrific --- until the giant spider finale.