Which are the best King adaptations?

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the most overlooked i think is "Apt Pupil" as another poster mentioned their enthrallment with the novella and the movie ... tho the ending, again, is changed, it still works very well ... *SPOILER* ... in fact, i thought having Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro) blackmail his counselor in the end rather than go on a shooting spree was much better and showed how much he learned about manipulating people and situations, etc (and the counselor being played by David Schwimmer made it all the better since all the parts he plays seem to be simpering wimps ... god he is annoying to watch tho i delighted in the turn toward his character in the end ... and of course he just goes whimpering away ... is he just playing himself in all these roles?? it's just amazing he doesn't ever seem to change character no matter what character he is playing )...

and then having Kurt Dussander (Ian McKellen) kill himself by blowing air into his IV before he could be hauled off for a war cromes trial was inspired ... and McKellen was outstanding in this movie as the former Nazi death camp director ... he was completely believable and had it down pat ... and the wickedness that rises out of him after he starts to relive and retell the tales of his experiences to the teen ... really really good ... an overlooked gem all-around imho ...

also there was a 1987 version of this movie starring Ricky Schroeder??? wow i never even noticed it before in the long list of King adaptations and have never seen it ... anyone else ever seen it? how was it? i remember Schroeder as a capable young actor way back when ...

and while Kubrick's "The Shining" is different from the book in many ways, it still captures that 'gothic'-type feel to the story ... and the movie was still (and still is) creepy as hell esp with the lights out ... it really gives you chills ... there was so much stuff in the book that couldn't be included in a two-hour movie that he had to gut a lot of it just out of practicality ... i can see people's objections to the movie since it is different in some ways from the book but i still think it counts as a King adaptation and an excellent one ...

but the Steven Wagner one was god awful ... i mean really bad ... perhaps not most of it ... some of it was fine but lord almighty that ENDING!! i was embarrassed watching the ending ... why did King tack that sick sappy daddy-back-from-the-grave-and-loving-and-sober-nonsense onto this version??? really, i don't think he misses very often but this was a big ol' whiff of an ending as far as i was concerned and just killed the entire effort ... why not end it like in the book? isn't this why they made it a mini-series so all of the stuff in the book could be used? like the topiary animals which was hellaciously scary in the book ... i couldn't believe King wrote the teleplay and ended it like this ... just awful ..imho of course :)

now the Rob Lowe "'Salem's Lot" was better than the first ... the first one had Barlow as basically a manican of a vampire ... he wasn't scary at all and wasn't even involved much in the plot ... altho James Mason as Richard Straker really adds some class to the original effort ... but Donald Sutherland adds some menacing weirdness to the role in his effort in the 2004 two-parter ... and while they change some stuff (i know a lot of people griped about Matt Burke being changed into a gay African-American) i didn't have a problem with the changes ... it was just punching it up a bit for the new century if you like ... but Lowe's performance was excellent and his voice-overs were outstanding ... added a real menace and forboding to the activities i must say ... and Rutger Howard as Barlow just rocked ... i love it when he calls James Crowell's priest "Shaman" lol ... cracks me up every time ... Dan Byrd does a very good job as Mark Petrie, the kid who gets involved in killing the vampires ... he was very good ... didn't have one 'clinker' of a scene imho ... overall, this is certainly one of the better 'TV' adaptations (tho TNT is a cable channel it's not far from the mores of the big three networks) ...

everyone has mentioned the best of the rest i think ... Shawshank, Green Mile, Mist -- all the Frank DuBont ones (and yes i'm as excited as a previous poster on his onvolvement with a Godzilla project for next year ... and there's a trailer up already if you Google it) ... The Dead Zone is another one from the '80s that is a good one ... Christopher Walken does a great job i think and overall the movie works well ... Martin Sheen is very good in it also ... luckily he got his character flaws under control before becoming the president in West Wing ;)

a couple of the ones from the TV series "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" were very good also ... "Umney's Last Case" with William H. Macy was very good as was "The Road Virus Heads North" with Tom Berenger ... and perhaps the best of the series even was "Battleground" with William Hurt where there really is no dialogue whatsoever ... very challenging to direct and act i'd imagine but it really worked well i thought ... the worst i think was either "Autopsy Room Four" or "You Know They Got a Helluva Band" but then i thought those were two of King's weaker stories ... the latter is a good idea but i don't really see a way to write it to make it work ...

also another poster mentioned the Christian Salter led version of "Dolan's Cadillac" which does 'flesh-out' the short story for a full movie length but it works well ... and Slater is just flat-out sleezy perfection as Dolan lol ... really good ... love the voice-over at the beginning also (i'm a sucker for a great voice-over, what can i say) that really talks about 'The Walkin' Dude', or Randall Flagg as perhaps he is best known ...

which i guess segues to "The Stand" ... you know, honestly, this miniseries would have worked perfectly well if they hadn't made the ghastly casting mistake of Molly Ringwald ... not only is she completely wrong for the role of Frannie Goldsmith, she is a god-awful actress ... just terrible ... every time she tries to emote emotion she comes off as looking like some girl in a juinor high play ... awful ... simply awful ... yet the rest of the cast is very very good and in some instances inspired ... Ray Walston as Glenn Bateman was inspired ... he was perfect as the sociology prof and resident doomsayer ... Rob Lowe and Gary Sinese were perfect for their roles as well ... and Matt Frewer as the Trashcan Man was perfect ... also i have to admit i didn't even know who Jamie Sheridan was before this series (not being a Law and Order fan) but he made Randall Flagg really work ... very good job ... and his right hand man Lloyd was brought to life by Miguel Ferrer ... excellent job ... also Laura San Giacomo was another perfect casting choice as Nadine (Honey is that you?) Cross ... the shot of her on her pink scooter with her scarf trailing out behind her is a classic ... perfect :) ... but honestly, Molly Ringwald is the turn in the punchbowl for this one ... can't they like CGI her out of this now and put someone in that can actually act??

and looking forward, i'm eager to see who comes to be attached to the "Cell" project ... i loved that book ... really thought it was one of King's best ... it read so well, not a clinker along anay sentence ... anyone have any info on this yet?



take care,
cormac


"One star in the sky
so I named it Otis Redding"
-- John Hiatt