Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

The Stand Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 1, 2019

This is the way the world ends.

Stephen King isn't just a prominent and prolific storyteller, he's a man of extraordinarily vivid imagination and blessed with an ability to create beautiful prose that is at once both easy to read and complex in construction. His stories often bend to the horrific but with purpose and insight into the human condition and the world man calls home, a world that in his novels is so often broken or otherwise distinctive from what is familiar in some form or fashion. His skill and popularity have yielded numerous translations from page to screen, many of them epic, some personal favorites, and few considered misses (the latter nevertheless being one of this reviewer's favorite guilty pleasures). King's work has also seen some success on the small screen. Before It was a two-film box office monster, it was a well-regarded TV miniseries. King's mammoth novel Under the Dome was poorly translated to the small screen. And his epic end times novel The Stand was released as a six-hour miniseries in 1994 that was well received, and why not? It's admittedly not as good as the source novel -- that's rare -- but it's a miniseries of high ambition, strong technical production, and a sprawling cast of characters portrayed by some of the best actors working in the mid 1990s.

In the California desert, deep within a secretive government installation, work is underway to create a super flu that the human body cannot defeat. When there's a breach in protocol and the flu is loosed within the facility, a guard named Campion (Ray McKinnon) flees with his family and heads across the United States. He makes it as far as a small town in east Texas before he succumbs to the illness. It's not long before the entire nation, and the world, falls victim. It has an enormously high mortality rate, killing 99% of the population quickly and without much warning. With the world in pieces, a few survivors find themselves called to one of two factions: one in America's heartland -- Nebraska -- led by the peaceful Mother Abagail Freemantle (Ruby Dee) and the others to Sin City -- Las Vegas -- under the heavy, brutal hand of the heinous Randall Flagg (Jamey Sheridan). Those called to Nebraska include Stu Redman (Gary Sinise), the deaf-mute Nick Andros (Rob Lowe), teenager Frannie Goldsmith (Molly Ringwald) and her smitten neighbor Harold Lauder (Corin Nemec), and budding music superstar Larry Underwood (Adam Storke). Those joining the darkness include imprisoned murderer Lloyd Henreid (Miguel Ferrer), "Trashcan Man" (Matt Frewer), and a New Yorker named Nadine Cross (Laura San Giacomo).

King himself wrote the screenplay for The Stand, which ensures no unwarranted or unwanted deviations from the novel and compromises that only the author himself approves. Even at six hours there's obviously a lot of nuance and detail that's missing from the show that's included in and vital to the novel, the heftiest of King's canon. Yet the series is more than thoroughly involved. It tells a sprawling yet surprisingly focused story that finds ample time to develop the decayed world and explore the roles of each critical player within it, many of whom are portrayed to expert satisfaction by a wonderful cross-section of talent which includes the likes of Rob Lowe, Ed Harris, Molly Ringwald, and Gary Sinise. While this TV take on The Stand lacks a hard edge, it doesn't want for expansive narrative connection and storytelling chops, which range from basic yet engaging studies of a world's quick death and decay to complex religious overtones. The movie's mass is hard on the body; it originally aired over four days and certainly requires a hard break somewhere in the middle save for the most iron-willed viewers in the most comfortable seats. But it's a rewarding watch and a very good companion to (though not replacement for) King's masterpiece source novel.

The Stand Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Stand's 1080p 4x3 transfer, which maintains the original then-full-screen television exhibition aspect ratio (black bars on either side of the 1.78:1 HD display), offers a good overall image with only a few moments when it slouches, particularly evident with a handful of sporadic, and usually establishing, shots that look like standard definition video: see the 29:00, 48:25, and 1:10:44 timestamps for three of the first of several throughout the program. Additionally, random pops and speckles appear throughout, rarely dense or distracting but one of the most prominently offending shots may be found at the 1:52:40 mark when Flagg walks through the prison to free Lloyd. Otherwise, the picture is in fairly good shape. It doesn't betray its film roots, maintaining a light grain structure without the appearance of severe de-noising. Clarity is quite good across a broad number of locations, from Nebraska corn fields to Times Square in ruins, from the inside of prisons to cozy home interiors. Facial textures are pleasantly revealing and complex, as are clothes and various interesting accents and production details, particularly around science labs and hospitals. Colors are surprisingly robust, particularly larger splashes of intense color, such as when Trashcan Man sets off his first big explosion. Clothes are impressively saturated though the program does have the look of one that could stand a little boost to contrast. Skin tones appear relatively true and black levels are solid if not demonstrating minor pushes to crush or appearing washed out in select shots. Overall, this isn't a bad release by any stretch of the imagination, particularly considering the modest bitrate that is a result of six hours of material crammed onto a single BD-50.

The Stand Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Another one of the sacrifices made in order to fit the entire six hour program on a single BD-50 disc is the absence of a lossless soundtrack. Rather than, perhaps, a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack, CBS has included a technically paltry but baseline effective and fully passable Dolby Digital 2.0 track. Certainly the technical constraints, as well as the series' inherent sound design, limit the track's ability to deliver something that rises above mundane. As the program begins, as Campion escapes with his family, music presents with a paltry, limp sound. Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" plays with a little more energy in the following minutes over the opening titles while exploring the facility and the dead bodies littering it, but the track is entirely uneven throughout. Moments later, light rainfall in Texas offers next to no feel for authenticity or immersion when Campion arrives at the gas station and really sets loose hell on earth. The track finds passable width across the front, particularly with regard to music. Random action effects like gunfire or helicopter rotors present with adequate sonic fabric even if there's no real finesse or sense of authority or urgency. Dialogue is the primary driver, and it finds adequate clarity and a passable feel for front-center positioning with only sporadic instances of drift to the space between the middle and the left and right channels.

The Stand Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Stand contains two supplements: an audio commentary track and a making-of. No DVD or digital copies are included. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Audio Commentary: Writer Stephen King and Director Mick Garris discuss the program in detail, which begins with King going back to the process of crafting the novel. It of course moves onward to explore the program in some detail from all of the expected angles, and more, unsurprising given the length and expanded opportunities for commentary. But it's also a well-rounded listen that doesn't draw too terribly dull even at six hours.
• Making Of (1080i upscaled, 5:29): A disappointingly brief piece that explores the process of bringing King's novel to the screen. It recounts the story and looks at a few key characters. It also explores the cast, shooting locales, King's involvement with the production, and the final clash between god and evil. It's also a good point for comparison for how good the program looks on BD compared to the SD source from which this supplement was constructed.

The Stand Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Stand doesn't slouch even at six hours long. It's a sturdy, monumental miniseries, and it doesn't hurt that it has the power of one of King's most highly regarded works behind it. Production design is excellent, the acting is superb (and the cast is to die for), and the story is gripping with relatively few slowdowns. It's far from the best King screen adaptation but it's probably the most inherently prolific. CBS' Blu-ray includes everything on a single disc. The biggest compromise is the two-channel lossy soundtrack, which is adequate but far from excellent. Video is solid but not spectacular. Supplements include a commentary track and a five-minute featurette. Watch for the remake debuting on CBS All Access soon. Recommended.