Search - Stephen King's Storm of the Century

The first story Stephen King wrote specifically for a television miniseries, Storm of the Century is set in Little Tall Island, a small town off the coast of Maine. The citizens are bracing themselves for what is expected to be the worst snowstorm in 100 years when a mysterious stranger named Andre Linoge (Colm Feore) arrives with a simple command: "Give me what I want and I'll go away." Andre is, in fact, an emissary of Satan, and what he wants is one of the children of Little Tall Island, whom he will raise to take over his assignment on Earth -- it seems that Satan's lifespan, although far longer than that of a normal human, is not unlimited, and he will need a replacement for that time when he must vacate his position. Andre knows everyone's secrets and can make their lives a living hell (no pun intended); he can also destroy the city at will. And only one person in town has the strength to stand up to Andre -- the sheriff, Mike Anderson (Tim Daly). While originally written for television, Stephen King's novelization of Storm of the Century was published shortly after the series was originally broadcast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Tim Daly
Colm Feore
Debrah Farentino
Casey Siemaszko
Jeffrey DeMunn

Stephen King's "novel for television" makes it to DVD as a flipper disc, with transitions edited for this format. As a result, it may be hard going for some people, for whom almost five hours of intense viewing might be more than they want to bear (the side break does serve a purpose). Storm of the Century is presented full-frame with Dolby 2.0 sound and a total of 30 chapter stops. The image is good, with no obvious signs of compression, and has been handled well in the transfer -- the original master is rife with deliberate contrast drops and monochromatic lighting setups, as well as the heavy use of the bleach bypass process (which leaves silver in the film and gives the image a cold, grey-blue look.) Images in which flying snow is a major component are no easy feat -- here, the flying snow is sometimes the major component. The result looks more like a film than like something shot for television. In terms of sound, the Dolby 2.0 track is adequate, but could have used more time for the mixers and sound techs to really work their magic. Much of the eerie component of the story is conveyed by Gary Chang's mostly electronic score; the storm effects have some presence, but not as much as they should have -- this is a story where the sound effects can certainly carry the day. The disc extras amount to a commentary track featuring both writer Stephen King and director Craig R. Baxley, a trailer, and a promo for the book version of the script. The commentary has some definite problems: King is sometimes not very compelling when he speaks, and he seems to have difficulty speaking off the cuff. Consequently, his remarks seem to be all over the place when it comes to facts, and the commentary turns into a long-winded recital of King's ethos regarding miniseries and writing in general, rarely straying in the direction of the film for the first hour. Baxley takes over for a while after that, fortunately, with a very scene-specific commentary; King returns at intervals, a little more focused on the subject at hand. The commentary includes huge gaps where neither is heard from, and halfway through the second side, Baxley bids viewers farewell, leaving King at intervals until the end of the disc. The DVD version of Storm of the Century is functional as a means to having the entire piece in one place without interruption (bar the side flip), though the nature of the show and the fairly poor quality of the commentary track render it unessential -- rainy day viewing if you like. ~ Steven E. McDonald, All Movie Guide

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