Movie Review: The Long Walk

This was the first of the two movies which I went to the theaters (for the first time since Indiana Jones back in 2023) to see earlier this week.

Being a big fan of Stephen King, and having read the book  - admittedly, a long time ago - as well as the billing made this one feel like a necessity to go see. Earlier this year, I had missed "The Life of Chuck" earlier this year. But I had not intention of missing this one.

So how was it?

Well, it followed the book fairly closely. Just to be sure, a lot of people were not even aware that this is a Stephen King work. To be sure, it was written under his pen name, Richard Bachman, although it definitely is Stephen King. However, it is difficult to obtain, or at least was. Obviously, it was technically written under a different name. Admittedly, I was a bit surprised to find out how many people I knew, personally, who were unaware that King even wrote anything under a pen name.

Yes, the movie followed the book fairly closely. After all, as the title (for both the book and the movie) suggests, this is about a long walk, quite literally. It takes place in a dire fictional future world, where things have taken a dark turn in the United States. The long walk is a competition, and the stakes could not be higher. There are 50 walkers, one from each American state. The winner simply has to be the last one walking, or standing. The winner receives a fortune, while the ones who lose, or drop out, get what is called a "ticket."

I remember when I first read this, suspecting that the "ticket" was. And it was exactly what I suspected that it was. In the interests of not spoiling it for anyone out there who has not seen this and does not know, I will not get into specifics.

Also, without getting into any specifics that would serve as spoilers, I will say that the conclusion of this story actually does deviate from the book. It is a somewhat radical departure, although in some respects, they also maintained the spirit of the original ending, if that makes any sense.

That's pretty much all that I can say about this movie without actually getting into any spoilers. After all, it is mostly about a group of young men (one form each of the 50 American states) walking and walking and walking, never allowed to wander off the pavement or go below three miles per hour. There is visible evidence of the physical toll that this takes, as well as clues about the dystopian future envisioned in the novel and movie. Obviously, also some clues about the characters themselves, including the mysterious "Major" played by Mark Hamill.

Highly recommended to fellow fans of Stephen King, or really anyone not overly squeamish and concerned about the decidedly authoritarian turn that the United States seems to be taking lately.