The stand was already adapted to the mini-series format in the nineties. That version was directed by Mick Garris and Stephen King was part of the team and wrote the script for the television version of his own novel. In Spanish-speaking countries, the mini-series was known as Apocalipsis and they chose the mini-series format after several attempts to make a movie.

That previous mini-series starred Gari Sinise, Molly Ringwall and James Sheridan, Laura San Giacomo and Ruby Dee. I remember that Miguel Ferrer and Rob Lowe also appeared, as well as King himself and even Tom Holland, Sam Raimi and John Landis. It was a product of its time and made for a television network like ABC, received several Emmy Awards, but when I saw it, years later in DVD format, I did not like it.

King's novel has the same title and was his fourth book. It was published in 1978, but then, in 1990, Stephen King would make some changes in the novel and it would be re-edited as The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition, this was the one that was taken as a base, to be adapted later in mini-series, both the one from the 90s, and the current version.

If we make a comparison between the two mini-series, of course the current The Stand is superior to the old mini-series, but without a doubt, neither of the two has left me satisfied. On the contrary, I only find things that I don't like, comparing it with the novel, which is good, its story in the book, I like it.

Stephen King is also one of the writers of the new mini-series, in addition to his son Owen King, along with Benjamin Cavell, Jill Kill, Knate Lee and director Josh Boone.

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What is the plot of the mini-series?

A highly contagious and deadly virus, created in a laboratory on a secret U.S. government base, accidentally gets out of control and the apocalypse begins. Most of the population dies, only those who are immune to unknown causes survive. The virus, known as Captain Travel has created a post-apocalyptic world. A group of survivors, are guided through dreams, to Boulder, Colorado, a place that will be known as "The Boulder Free Zone" and where the spiritual leader Abigail Freemantle has attracted them all, because they have a mission, to confront Randall Flagg, a being with powers but who represents evil, and is recruiting a group of people to form his army and destroy the followers of Abigail. The battle between good and evil in a post-apocalyptic world has begun.

It is a choral story, with many characters on each side, the good and the bad.

In each episode we meet one of the characters, through flashbacks. This resource may remind us of the successful series Lost, but as the flashbacks were interesting, however, in The Stand, knowing the story, I found it boring.

The main problem I have with The Stand is that I haven't been able to get passionate about it. First of all, that post-apocalyptic world, I don't think so, everything is too soft, the images are very clean and beyond the abandoned cars, it doesn't convey to me a world that after a collective chaos and where most of the population has died.

On the other hand, the characters, which in the book are interesting and I like them, in this TV version, they don't transmit me anything at all. I don't feel sympathy for any of them, not even for the villains. Characters that lack depth, situations that we have seen in other films or series made in a better way.

Forgive me all King's fans, he is one of my favorite writers, he is my inspiration when I start writing horror stories, but this new mini series, in which the writer is also part of the team, seems too dull to me.

Maybe it is made for the viewers of this generation. For my part, it has been a great disappointment. Spending time and burning hours of free time, may be fine, but I don't feel any emotion in each episode, on the contrary, I'm overwhelmed by the total boredom.

The mini-series is directed by Josh Boone, whose film The New Mutants we recently saw, after a three-year delay. As I said in the review of that film, Boone became known with the romantic film The Fault in Our Stars and it seems to me that he is a director who specializes in youthful and romantic stories. The new mutants didn't seem so bad to me, but it had the elements of this kind of cinema.

Here I find the explanation of why I find The Stand so bland. Boone adapts and projects a post-apocalyptic world that is too soft, instead of making a darker, scarier and harder version of such an event, he creates a world that is too idealistic, as if it were a romantic comedy.

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The cast has many well-known names, many good acting professionals, with long careers in films and series, but none of the characters have managed to fall in love with them.

The great actress Whoopi Goldberg plays Mother Abigail, the spiritual leader who will bring together this group of people who will have to face the forces of evil. An excellent actress who is nice to see on the screen again.

The actor James Marsden plays Stu Redman, a former soldier who becomes the main leader of Boulder, during his trip he meets Frannie Goldsmith , who is accompanied by Harold Lauder, and unfortunately for Lauder the girl ends up falling in love with Stu and gets pregnant. Marsden's performance is correct, somewhat flat.

Frannie Goldsmith's character is played by the actress Odessa Young, who I thought was an excellent actress in the movie Shirley, along with Elizabeth Moss, but in the mini-series, her character lacks depth and in some scenes is quite unpleasant for me.

This will be a latent problem with the rest of the cast, they are good actors, but the characters seem to me badly constructed and empty.

Owen Teague plays Harold Lauder, the young writer who everyone makes fun of, who is in love with Frannie, but who no one took seriously, after the apocalypse, will have a new chance to start over and be known by people, even though he still holds a deep grudge against Frannie and Stu. The young actor, whom we have seen in the movie It and in the series Bloodline, does a better job than Marsden, but he is not a marvel either. Knowing what he will do in the future, he is one of the most interesting characters.

The beautiful but very hated today, Amber Heard, plays Nadine Cross, a girl who arrived in Boulder, but who keeps a big secret, very nice for everyone. The actress, whose career has been relaunched after her appearance in Aquaman, has been immersed in a controversy in recent years, after her allegations of abuse against Jhonny Depp. That scandal in her personal life, in which it has been discovered that she lied and is also a hysterical madwoman who abused her ex-husband, has tarnished the trajectory a little. She's very pretty, I can't deny it.

Alexander Skarsgård, is the ancestor of Randall Flagg, Abigail's antagonist and great villain of the story. The evil being, who will use his powers to recruit another group of people to work for him and fulfill the function of exterminating what is left of the world. I follow the career of all the Skarsgård brothers and their father. Each one excels in their work and I still remember Alexander for his vampire character in the True Blood series.

Jovan Adepo as Larry Underwood, Brad William Henke as Tom Cullen, Nat Wolff as Lloyd Henreid, Fiona Dourif as Rat Man, Katherine McNamara as Julie Lawry, Greg Kinnear as Glen Bateman and Heather Graham as Rita Blakemoor, among many others impossible to name.

Trailer

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