Stephen King's THE LONG WALK on page and screen.

As a die-hard Constant Reader of Stephen King, a copy of THE BACHMAN BOOKS has long had a prized place on my bookshelf. That compilation of his best works published under the pen name of Richard Bachman had some pretty hardcore stories in it, but maybe the most hardcore was THE LONG WALK, a dystopian tale set in an America where it is implied that WWII lasted into the 1960s, and the country sustained such damage that martial law was declared and the military took over. It’s an America where young men compete in an endurance marathon, created to raise national morale and productivity, where the winner is literally the last man standing. Because the economy is in a permanent depression and with opportunities so meager, the youth of the country gladly take a 100 to 1 shot at winning the prize: having any wish granted by the government, not to mention unlimited wealth. This “long walk” has become a national event, with crowds gathered by the side of the highway to cheer on the young walkers, and to be there to watch when one of them fails to maintain the minimum speed of four mph, does not resume it after two warnings, and then gets a bullet to the head on the spot by way of one of the accompanying soldiers, riding along beside them in a personal carrier. King’s book, written in the late’60s while a college student, and published in 1979, is very much a thing of the Vietnam era, with its images of young men sent to be slaughtered by their own military after being selected in a lottery, while a complicit public watched. King clearly wrote this story when the My Lai massacre and Kent State were still fresh memories.

So nearly a half century later, we get a film adaptation of THE LONG WALK, directed by Frances Lawrence, who also directed some of the HUNGER GAMES adaptations. There are a number of changes from the book, mainly that the walking speed is reduced to three mph rather than four, which is understandable since the latter is nearly jogging speed, and the actors wouldn’t be able to act, they’d just run. And the number of participants has been lowered to 50, a change no doubt dictated by the film’s budget. Gone also are the crowds that lined the highway in the book because that would have meant hiring a bunch of extras. That takes away an aspect of the story from the book that played well: the bloodlust and complicity of the average citizen in a state sanctioned act of barbarism. But the film also adds some things missing from King’s original story that really makes THE LONG WALK worth seeing, namely the bonding and deep friendships that form between these young men while they walk along together as their bodies begin to tire, cramp up, and break down as mile after mile passes, and one by one, their numbers grow less. Stephen King has a well-deserved reputation for writing horror, but has proven himself quite able to create stories built around deep friendships, see STAND BY ME and THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION as examples. Not to mention an ability to create believable and sympathetic young characters. I really got invested in Ray Garraty and Peter McVries, along with Stebbins and Barkovich and Hank Olson, and genuinely feared for them, knowing that in the end, only one could possibly survive. Give great credit to Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Charlie Plummer, and Ben Wang for giving terrific performances. Make no mistake, this is still a brutal film, with extremely violent and disturbing deaths, and it also touches on the more gross aspects of King’s story dealing with what happens when you have to perform a bodily function but can’t stop walking and lack the privacy to do it. Also like the story, the film is vague about what exactly transpired to create this American dystopia, alluding to a destructive war 19 years in the past. The automobiles used in the film resemble those we see in reruns of the Andy Griffith Show, so it could be assumed that a limited nuclear war occurred in the early or mid-60s, and the events of the film take place in a very alternate 1980s America. One of the major changes the film makes from the book is the ending. As far as the book was concerned, I think King came up with a great premise, but didn’t know how to end it. The film version’s climax is an improvement, though not everyone will agree. And Mark Hamill as The Major, the military dictator who presides over the race, is allowed to overact in the extreme, something he has a penchant to do. At least Hamill comes off better here than in his last appearance as Luke Skywalker.

I’ve always been a sucker for a story where most of the characters are taken out one by one, like AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, SAHARA, or PREDATOR, and I would count THE LONG WALK as firmly in that sub-genre. I think the producers were correct to keep the budget low as possible, as THE LONG WALK surely remains a hard sell to many audiences, thus limiting its commercial appeal. Unlike Kubrick’s THE SHINING, Tobe Hooper’s made-for-TV miniseries SALEM’S LOT, or Frank Darabont’s THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, the film made from THE LONG WALK will likely not make it to the top of anyone’s list of favorite Stephen King films. But like MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE (which I like, but acknowledge that THE LONG WALK is superior to), it’s surely destined to find an audience beyond the movie theater. It has a heart that wasn’t there on the page of King’s book, and I think it will connect.

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