(I hope it's okay to necropost; I didn't want to create a new thread.)
I just watched this the other day as part of a DVD set of Stephen King adaptations, and I have mixed thoughts about it. Some of the scenes follow their book counterparts much more closely than the original film (which adapted the general story but didn't try to be an exact translation) and some of the changes, while I really dislike them, I can understand (Jim Cody was a late occurring character in the novel who didn't get as much focus as even some of the minor characters, and Callahan was essentially a loose end whose story wasn't tied up until Wolves of the Calla, which would have been much too confusing to try and incorporate; the changes to their storylines were presumably to flesh out the former and close the proverbial book on the latter.) Others just seem like attempts to be "edgy" (like making Ben a disillusioned war journalist and Mark the smart aleck kid from a broken home that every movie is apparently required to have now) or just random (why is Eva French?) It was nice to see characters not included in the original film, though (like Charlie Rhodes) and I definitely like this one's Weasel a lot better- he resembles much more the friendly, likeable old timer from the book, although his alcoholism is notably absent (I guess they figured Callahan had that covered?)