Film Of The Week #78 - Stand By Me

The Bollox

Stand By Me is a film I should have seen years ago, however I only got around to watching it about 6 months ago. It is, for me, a film that depicts the innocence of youth in a way that few films have ever been able to do. It makes you wish you were a kid who grew up in the 1950's America, despite knowing the film is shot through rose-tinted glass.

The film follows 4 best friends on the adventure of a lifetime - to find a dead body, which to them is the most exciting thing imaginable. The boys - Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton), Chris Chambers (River Phoenix), Teddy Duchamp (Cory Feldman) and Vern Tessio (Jerry O'Connell) all go through an emotional journey, and you feel for them all through the highs and lows. On their journey they encounter many obstacles including Chopper, the guard dog of a junk yard and the town bullies, including brothers of two of our boys (one of whom is a very young Kiefer Sutherland).

I don't want to go into much more detail about the storyline as I would be afraid of ruining it on anyone who hasn't seen it yet, all I will say is look out for a cameo appearance from John Cusack, as the dead older brother of Gordie Lachance.

I really cannot recommend this film enough to anyone and everyone. People of all ages will be able to relate to the main characters and empathise with their unique situations. So if you are looking for a good film to watch on a rainy night, look no further. you will not regret it

Basq

Fantastic choice mate. Another film I absolutely love and one that I watched religiously as a youngster.

The dynamic between the 4 leads (Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O Connell), the excellent soundtrack and River Phoenix's finest performance are what really stands out.

I watched it again in the last year and it has aged better than I'd have thought.. while Kiefer Sutherland's performance isn't bad, he sort of hams up the bad guy role a bit too much.

But River Phoenix is the true star of this film.. he would have been 14 or turning 15 when this was being filmed. Incredibly mature performance that would even put most highly trained child actor working today to shame. So much talent!

And it's filled with some truly unforgetting scenes such as

"The Complete and Total Barf-A-Rama" with Lardass Hogan

,

Gordie's nightmare at his brother's funeral and his father puts his hand on his shoulder, he looks up to see his father say "it should have been you!" (that's a scene that really got to me when I was younger.. creepy!)

and of course, who could forget:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXCqSpZ_fgk

Great choice for FoTW.. it's about time as I think I voted for this a couple of times when we had the voting process!

BlitzKrieg

whats the phrase they say in the film again whenever someone says shut up?

MagicMarker

''I don't shut up, I grow up, and when I look at you, I throw up, Aghhh!''

Pretty much one of my favourite movies ever. Can't believe it's taken this long to get into FOTW. I should nominate more.

Jesus Wept

Must give it another watch soon to see how it stands up.

Pride Fighter

Lollypop, lollypop oh lolly lolly lolly lollypop

pop

du dum dum

Basq

What about:

"You flinched! Two for flinching! Two for flinching!"

The Bollox

basquille wrote: »

What about:

"You flinched! Two for flinching! Two for flinching!"

*hits Vern twice*
"yeah... two for flinching"

all_smilz

gotta love that soundtrack!!!!!

havin been a tomboy with lots of brothers and male cousins i can relate to them, they are just so cute. It is a timeless movie!

Kiefer does overdo it, i found his character to be very similar to his badboy vampire movie role in that um vampire movie...... cant remember the name. Dont like him much anyway.

MagicMarker

Can't see how Keifer overdid it, played the part very well as far as i'm concerned.

stereoroid

Wil Wheaton has commented on the film at various times, in his site FAQ, and most recently here.

People always give me credit for being great in that movie. The truth is, I don't think I deserve as much credit for it as I'm frequently given. I think back on my limited experience and my silly ideas, and then I see what a magnificent performance Rob Reiner coaxed out of me. The difference is striking.

Weird factoid:

the leeches were real, but the train was fake.

BlitzKrieg

i found his character to be very similar to his badboy vampire movie role in that um vampire movie......

that vampire film would be The Lost Boys

Basq

MagicMarker wrote: »

Can't see how Keifer overdid it, played the part very well as far as i'm concerned.

I thought his performance was a bit hammy.. as did a few people I know who saw it.

It's a bit OTT.. but he was much better in 'The Lost Boys'

MagicMarker

It was a pretty one dimensional character, i think Keifer just showed up on the day(s) and did what he was told:) Don't think anyone else could have added much more to it than that.

I don't rate Keifer as an actor anyway, he's pretty one dimensional himself. He's good in 24 though, but some scenes where he's tested as an actor, ie really emotional stuff, it can be pretty bad.

wet-paint

Great soundtrack, and the movie made me love the voice of Richard Dreyfuss. But man oh man do I hate the title song, jeez it's been overplayed to death.
Y'wouldn't think it's a Steven King novel, would you?

Parrish_Crooks

all_smilz wrote: »

Kiefer does overdo it, i found his character to be very similar to his badboy vampire movie role in that um vampire movie...... cant remember the name. Dont like him much anyway.

*Trivia*
Corey Feldman (Who played Teddy) Was also in Lost Boys.

Leech on the sack, AAAA!! :eek:

Honey-ec

wet-paint wrote: »

Y'wouldn't think it's a Steven King novel, would you?

It's not a novel, it's a short story called "The Body" in the collection "Different Seasons".

Pigman II

"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone? "

Possibly my favourite line from any movie ever (even if it isn't actually ever spoken).

all_smilz wrote: »

Kiefer does overdo it, i found his character to be very similar to his badboy vampire movie role in that um vampire movie...... cant remember the name. Dont like him much anyway.

Not at all. I thought it was perfectly played. He has a menace about him that shifts up in gear each time he's on screen until you're finally convinced this guy could cause some real damage.

Great at the end how he doesn't turn into a cliched blubbering wreck (the way the archtypical bully usually does) when his victim finally stands up to him. You know he hasn't learnt his lesson and will be seeking revenge.

bnt

I thought I should bring this old thread back up because it's the 25th anniversary of the release of Stand By Me. There are various things going on to mark the occasion, including a Blu-Ray release with new commentary, various interviews, a NPR feature, and so on. Wil Wheaton has written a summary of it all: here.

Happy anniversary, Stand By Me. You're finally old enough to officially be the classic people have told me you are since the 80s. Thank you to Rob, Andy, Ray and Bruce, and everyone in the cast and crew that made it possible for me to be part of a movie that I can look back on, twenty-five years later, with overwhelming pride.

Tipsy McSwagger

LARDASS LARDASS LARDASS

leposean

one of the greatest films ever made

seanybiker

The good old days when a good story was all that was needed to make a film. Love stand by me.

Liam O

Watched this again a couple of weeks ago and was very surprised that I was still laughing and feeling the emotions at the right times despite the fact I must have seen that movie about 10 times at this stage.

It's amazing that a movie can make you feel nostalgic for a period you weren't even alive for, I suppose it just makes you nostalgic for childhood and miss the friends that you yourself have lost since then. The final moments on the computer hold so much meaning and was delivered perfectly.

adox

Must watch it again. A fantastic film that I`ve seem a good few times but not in the last few years.

I actually rad the novella before I saw the film and its one of Kings best adaptations to the big screen(along with Shawshank and The Dead Zone).

The Don 1985

''You four eyed pile of sh*t''..........''A pile of sh*t has a thousand eyes'' !!! Classic.

''Who's letting cherry bombs off out here ?? ''

''All your father's are going to get a call off me.....except for the looney up in Tocus ''


What a film. Def in my top 10 movies of all time. What a loss River was to the acting world, could have been one of the all time great IMO.

Riskymove

Pigman II wrote: »

"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone? "

Possibly my favourite line from any movie ever (even if it isn't actually ever spoken).

does the grown-up Jordi (Dreyfuss) not say (narrate) it?


anyhows, there are so many great parts to this but how no-one has called

"Sick balls Chopper!!" yet is beyond me

What Talent Stephen King has to think of one book contaning 4 novellas produced Stand by Me, Shawshank Redemption and Apt Pupil!!:eek:

Basq

Riskymove wrote: »

does the grown-up Jordi (Dreyfuss) not say (narrate) it?

Nope..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCmDBl3W-Pk

Riskymove

according to this he does (at the end)

http://members.cox.net/ronfleischer/sbm/

take everything

"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone? "

Great line.

Not at all. I thought it was perfectly played. He has a menace about him that shifts up in gear each time he's on screen until you're finally convinced this guy could cause some real damage.

I tend to agree. What i love about this film is how everything (including the menace of the Kiefer Sutherland character) is perceived through the eyes of twelve year olds.

Wonderful film.
The

outrunning the train

scene is a classic.

JP Liz V1

Absolute classic film

JohnK

You know, I never cared for this film when I was younger which is kind of odd really as its one of those I should have loved. I suppose its time I gave it another viewing though.

Mr. Denton

JohnK wrote: »

You know, I never cared for this film when I was younger which is kind of odd really as its one of those I should have loved. I suppose its time I gave it another viewing though.

It think it's probably best viewed by someone Richard Dreyfuss's age rather than someone Wil Wheatons age. So the later the better.

Aglomerado

I've loved this film since I was about 12/13.

Favourite quotes:

"TRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!!!!"

"Suck my fat one, you cheap dimestore hood."

I really love the short story too. Stephen King's non-supernatural writing is excellent. As a previous poster mentioned it's in the book "Different Seasons" - also included are Apt Pupil and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, great stories made into equally great films.

Kess73

Somehow managed to miss this film when it came out, and never got round to watching it in the decades that followed.


Will be watching it for the first time ever this weekend as someone got it on blu ray for me for my birthday tomorrow.