Stephen King’s Storm of the Century (1999) – DVD

Storm of the Century
**½/**** Image A Sound B+ Commentary A-
starring Tim Daly, Colm Feore, Debrah Farentino, Casey Siemaszko
teleplay by Stephen King
directed by Craig R. Baxley

by Bill Chambers Donald Trump probably hears it every time he gets a divorce: “Give me what I want and I will go away.” Stephen King, prolific author of books beautiful (The Green Mile serial) and banal (Insomnia), recently wove a miniseries, the TV equivalent of an “event movie,” around this loaded demand. For three consecutive nights during last February’s sweeps week, viewers tuned in to Storm of the Century wondering what the psychic, psychotic Linoge (Colm Feore) could possibly want from the townsfolk of a New England inlet on the eve of a blizzard loosely inspired by the one that was christened “storm of the century” when it passed through the Eastern seaboard in 1993.

Linoge announces his arrival in the coastal village of Little Tall Island by beating a local elderly woman to death with a griffin-topped cane. Constable Mike Anderson (Tim Daly) takes the stranger into custody, where Linoge psychologically torments his guardians: the prisoner seems all-knowing, and he gleefully airs the dirty laundry of anyone who dares look him in the eye. At first, nobody believes in Linoge’s obvious power, but after a few other strategic homicides–accomplished through telepathy from his jail cell–everybody’s willing to give in to his cryptic request.

King hatched the idea for a “tele-novel,” an original work for the medium, after ABC’s remake of The Shining failed to scare up enviable Nielsen numbers. (Previous miniseries made from It and The Tommyknockers had performed well enough in the ratings to suggest audiences wanted more King, just not remakes of the classics.) Storm of the Century recalls material as diverse as Agatha Christie mysteries and High Noon, the latter in act three especially, in which Mike stands alone in defying Linoge while the scared villagers surrender to his demands. As much of King’s ’90s writing has, the climax presents a juicy moral dilemma beyond even those parameters–it’s the needs of the many vs. the needs of the few, à la Star Trek II, although here the “few” might ethically outweigh the many. King’s solution to Anderson’s catch-22 leaves a sour aftertaste that I appreciated, but be warned that connoisseurs of feel-good cinema will not. It’s also one of the rare perfect endings in all of King.

Because Storm of the Century was a one-shot network presentation, its downbeat ending didn’t negatively impact its performance in the Nielsens. I’m frankly impressed that a 1999 audience, rife with options and distractions, was willing to devote six hours of primetime to one entertainment, especially after the patience-testing second instalment; truth be told, this tele-novel is as bloated as King’s real novels so often are. I think Storm of the Century is overlong and ultimately not very scary or suspenseful, though Feore shines, and its final hour is a white-knuckler. The preponderance of unknowns or lesser-known actors–as compared to, say, (the hopelessly miscast) The Stand–keeps star politics out of the characters’ decision-making and lends the local colour a kernel of verisimilitude.

THE DVD
On DVD, Storm of the Century stands head-and-shoulders above last winter’s broadcast. The fullscreen image is clear with fine shadow detail, its muted colour saturation by design: The filmmakers employed a special bleaching process to give the film a monochrome, blueish cast. Fleshtones are otherwise excellent, and compression artifacts are virtually nonexistent. The infrequent shimmering effects did not lower my estimation of the transfer. Dialogue is loud and full–the 2.0 Dolby mix integrates it nicely with left-to-right panning effects and occasional use of the surround channel, which lends Linoge’s act-two theatrics some extra kick. The 256-minute miniseries is spread out over two sides with all evidence of commercial breaks removed. I should point out that the “Side 1” and “Side 2” markings were reversed on my review copy (a retail version): when I first inserted the disc, the second half of Storm of the Century cued up.

The included audio commentary by King and director Craig R. Baxley is sensational. The DVD’s release coincides with the recuperation of King, who was hit by a van last Saturday, a collision that left him with a shattered leg, a collapsed lung, and other serious injuries. Let’s hope his recovery from these sad circumstances is a smooth one, thus affording him the opportunity to record more yakkers like this. (King on “The X Files”: “…a five-year cock-tease. You have to wonder if aliens abducted Mulder’s penis!”; on Michelle Pfeiffer: “I don’t think she’d do a miniseries if you told her that afterwards she’d be able to walk on water!”; on ABC’s Standards and Practices Committee: “They’re wimps.”)

King is frank and sincere. While he sometimes loses his train of thought, he’s never less than an utterly delightful tour guide. He also lets slip that most of Storm of the Century was shot in my hometown of Oshawa, Ontario–a city that looks nothing like Maine on the surface, believe me. (Hollywood magic is apparently limitless.) Baxley can’t keep up with King and spends too much of his time identifying the location of various sets. Their commentaries were recorded separately and intercut with about 10 minutes to spare once both of them are depleted. A trailer plus atmospheric animated menus round out the Trimark disc.

Be well, Mr. King.

256 minutes; R; 1.33:1; English Dolby Surround; English, Spanish subtitles; DVD-10; Region One; Trimark