Exactly right. He, himself, constantly questions his own promises, knowing he'd likely(but not always) sell anybody out to continue to the Tower.

King, himself, is fairly sanguine about shitty adaptations of his work. He has said that his story is still his story, so the shitty movie is it's own thing….And this certainly is it's own thing.

Agreed. I suggest you edit a little because you've blown a pretty big part of the story in that one paragraph, though. Your call.

That was literally how Uwe Boll used to get big name actors. He'd write a part for them that took three days and pay them a bunch and give them an easy shooting schedule and they'd show up to dick around to get paid between projects. The film business is VERY mercenary, y'all.

But it blows Eddie and his carving and the door and the Doorway Demon….I guess that's sort of an easy cut, because of what Susannah's up to during that sequence, but THAT also is important to the rest of the narrative.

Yeah, that SECOND technique gave me some optimism….but to no avail

In the books, it never is either. I really think that King never had an idea that it was gonna be Flagg until much later. For one thing, he hadn't written The Stand when he started the first book.

I am not far off your opinion here. I think King loved this first book, but had aged himself out of the mindset of it, and could never grasp that wonder again.

The Gunslinger is easily the most straightforward of the series. It REALLY sells the world of Roland, and gives you both his best and worst qualities in a very interesting way. The world building is spectacular, but it leaves you aching for more. The story is both complete, and open to a whole other world that is…

That's a deep cut, by the by…and I want you to know it was appreciated.

Roland balcony diving and sliding around while shooting was a big red flag for me…But the worst was the first teaser that somehow shows him reloading his guns with flying speedloaders that somehow fit into closed cylinders…..Visuals over storytelling, that said.

Oh, I agree. I get a sense, reading it the second time, that King is throwing up roadblocks for himself because he CANNOT figure out how to end the fucking thing. The story ends with the sudden appearance of a random Deus Ex Machina character who then just wanders away? What?

To me Bill Fagerbakke was the ONLY spot on casting choice in The Stand. Can you really see Hardy saying "M-O-O-N. that spells Penicillin." Really?

Checking here. King writes a passing reference on how a character thinks that he, himself looks a little bit like Clint Eastwood? The fleeting thoughts of King characters are one of my handful of peeves about his writing….and only on occasion.

Very astute! I might just call that The Gunslinger in my head from now on.

I assume that it wouldn't appeal to the larger masses as a title….Especially since it sounds vaguely patriarchal, which is like poison around here.

I know, right? That was a highly unsatisfactory ending.

I'd forgotten that part…and wish it had been excised since then. King DID clean up a random incest moment, but left that odious bit in.

They'll never get there.

Roland is Roland. Having JUST reread the series, there is NOTHING that says Roland is also King and Jake. I can't even fathom how someone could twist anything to reach that conclusion.