PRHill100

THE WORD is based on a novel by Irving Wallace. Despite what "Ale fish" said in his comments I have to disagree. He is basing his review on the released three hour version of an eight hour mini-series. I made the mistake of buying this version also. It's not worth the powder to blow it to hell.

I taped this mini-series when it originally aired. I have it in NH and hope to retrieve it within the next month or so. I'm more hopeful that I will be able to transfer it to DVD or VHS. I originally recorded it in Beta.

I started to watch the available VHS copy that I purchased. I turned it off after 20 minutes. Even though it's been years since I've seen it the cutting of the film was atrocious.

Hopefully, one day, "Ale fish" and everyone else will have a DVD copy of this mini-series. It's is truly an 8+ rating when seen in it's entirety.

I was interested in reading the comments on the message boards at the base of the IMDb listing for THE MAN.

This is only one of several novels written by Irving Wallace that has been transferred to "the big screen." Irving Wallace did NOT like the treatment that THE MAN received in the translation from his written words to the screen. In that I agree.

I have read ALL of his books and found each one to be a "page turner" regardless of how many times I have read them over the years. He was a superb writer and I'm only one of a legion of his fans.

I was very disappointed in the screen adaption of THE MAN. The novel was approximately 800 pages in length and the screen version covered about the first 150 pages. The other 650 pages were lost to Rod Serling's abilities. Very unusual for Serling and I find it very disappointing to say the least.

I agree, this movie should be released on DVD. It's an excellent movie even taking into consideration the "adaption" to the screen. I also happen to be a great fan of James Earl Jones and for that reason alone I think it should be released.

As a side point, every novel written by Wallace had been opted for screen or mini-series treatment. Unfortunately, he died in 1990 and I do recall him saying that as a result of ABC's treatment of THE MAN he would not allow any of his novels to be made into motion pictures unless he was in control of the process. He died - unfortunately. I was so looking forward to the CBS mini-series on his novel THE MIRACLE! If you can find any of his books I highly recommend that you buy and read them. Every one of them was a "page turner" and you won't be disappointed.

I agree with HELFY that this is an excellent picture. I can't wait to get the DVD tomorrow. However, one aspect of the above comment needs to be corrected. Cliff Robertson was indeed "blacklisted" shortly after the release of this movie but it was NOT for being a Communist. Blacklisting was done during the 50's and the so-called "McCarthy Era." I can't recall all the details but it involved Robertson blowing the whistle on the head of MGM Studios at the time. As I recall, there was a check for $250,000 involved in this matter. A check that should have gone to Robertson but was cashed by the head of the studio. There was hell to pay and Cliff Robertson paid it!