Our Daily Trailer: THE STAND

Is The Stand a good movie? No it isn’t, if only because it was a television mini-series and not an actual movie. But was it a good one? No, not really. It has some awful casting issues, and the narrative really stumbles as it goes. Nevertheless, I’ve seen it about five times and can’t help but love it.

This is especially true when it comes to the first two parts, which mostly revolve around this giant plague that wipes out most of humanity. The joy of The Stand is not so much watching society crumble, but the slightly immoral elation that comes with the idea that now you have the world to yourself. I love watching Rob Lowe and Dauber walk around a mostly empty Nebraska, for instance, and the extra meaning that gives their random encounters, say when a crazy red flag lady starts wanting to tag along or when they run into a fat and jolly good guy with a truck.

Things do begin to fall apart once survivors arrive at their respective camps and the whole thing turns into one of the more passive good vs. evil stories ever, but the journey there is something I never get tired of. Also, Captain Trips looks like a seriously awful way to kick the bucket. It seems to turn you into a gross zombie, except you just stay dead forever.