Stand By Me Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
For some, it's the last real taste of innocence, and the first real taste of life. But for everyone, it's the time that memories are made of.
Unable to grasp the fact of his brother's death, Gordie Lachance feels compelled to travel with three friends to see a dead body that has been found near the railroad tracks.
| Wil Wheaton | Gordie Lachance |
| River Phoenix | Chris Chambers |
| Corey Feldman | Teddy Duchamp |
| Jerry O'Connell | Vern Tessio |
| Kiefer Sutherland | Ace Merrill |
| Casey Siemaszko | Billy Tessio |
| Gary Riley | Charlie Hogan |
| Bradley Gregg | Eyeball Chambers |
| Jason Oliver | Vince Desjardins |
| Marshall Bell | Mr. Lachance |
| Frances Lee McCain | Mrs. Lachance |
| Bruce Kirby | Mr. Quidacioluo |
| William Bronder | Milo Pressman |
| Scott Beach | Mayor Grundy |
| Richard Dreyfuss | The Writer |
| Rob Reiner |
8.10 out of 10 (55531 votes)
Visitor Reviews
A beautifully acted, amazing adaption of Stephen Kings novel 'The Body'.
posted on 24 Aug 2009One of the most amazing films I have ever seen. The acting by the four boys is incredible, in particular Wil Wheaton and River Phoenix.Directed by Rob Reiner 'Stand By Me' is a funny heart warming story of four best friends with very different family backgrounds who go on a journey to find the body of a kid who had been missing but never found. The boys figure if they find the body it might bring them fame and fortune and may help them to escape their dreary lives in Castle Rock.Along the way the boys discover things about themselves and realise they aren't as strong as they thought, and maybe finding a kids dead body isn't exactly going to be the trip of a life time that they had had in mind. 'Stand By Me' is a film I couldn't fault in any way and the sound track is just as good. A must see film and one the best I have ever seen.
where are the lovescenes ??????
posted on 13 Aug 2009I think it's not a big film. but it's worth watching. There are a few godd parts in the film. The train, in the dump and the funny scene with the leeches. There isn`t much action in this film, but where are the love scenes ????? I thought there is always a lovescene in each Hollywood film. I like the story, telling us about the childhood of a few very different friends. All in all this film is nothing for boring evenings but it's a nice work.
The closest a film has ever come to being perfect
posted on 12 Aug 2009Looking back on all my reviews, and all of the movies I've watched during the fourteen years I've been on this planet, I can say that 'Stand by Me' is the only movie I've ever watched that has deserved to be seen only once. It remains one of my all time favorite films, yet I haven't been able to bring myself to watch it a second time, but I have not been able to forget it.The acting is what makes the film hold together, more specifically River Phoenix's performance. The other three leads were also exceptional, as were the lesser characters (including Kiefer Sutherland and newcomer John Cusack), but it was River's performance that really stood out. His performace is a rarity among actors, child or not, in that it doesn't seem the least bit forced, it seems all natural, and that is the one reason this movie is so great. This may be the only major movie I've ever seen where the producers have allowed child actors to command the film, with the adults in much smaller roles.It's 4:30 AM here, and I haven't slept for about 18 hours, so it's a bit hard for me to form ideas in my mind, then remember them long enough to type, so I'm going to keep this as short as possible, so I don't risk making a complete fool out of myself, if that makes any sense.One last thing I wanted to post is a short blurb from a River Phoenix fansite on an.... interesting incident that happened during filming of 'Stand by Me'. This is something new I've never tried doing when posting a comment, so hopefully it won't be rejected by IMDb. Actually, it might be just as well if it is...:Just as the film portrayed four boys passing through adolescence, so it was with the cast members. With sex being just about the only topic of conversation the boys talked to each other about, River became enamoured with an eighteen-year-old family friend who offered to 'initiate him'. No only did his parents give their blessing, but they made the occasion a celebration and pitched a tent in their back garden ready for the event.Next day of course, River arrived on the set with a huge grin from ear to ear, telling not only his three fellow cast members about his adventure but anyone else who happened to be around! River also wrote to Joe Dante, the director of his previous film and now a close friend, a letter that read simply: WELL IT HAPPENED, IT FINALLY HAPPENED."This may be the greatest story of lost virginity I've ever heard," said Rob Reiner. "A very strange experience" was River's description of the event. "She was very patient with me and told me what to do."Unfortunately, River's insatiable curiosity was not limited just to sex. It was during the making of this movie that marked the first time he smoked marijuana. Corey Feldman went into River's room one day to find him getting high. "I had been doing it too," said Feldman, "but it was one of those things where we really didn't want to let each other know what we were doing." Later in his career River was to say, "Stand By Me was a weird time for me as a person. I was going through a lot of doubt, a lot of insecurity. A lot of things like that you go through at fourteen. I was going through puberty and I was hurting real bad."
Coming of age in 50's America
posted on 12 Aug 2009Stand By Me is one of the best coming of age movies set in a small American town of the 1950's. The period details are excellent and the story of a band of friends about to enter their teens is very well told. Stand By Me is one of four novellas of Stephen King's Different Seasons. The other two that were filmed were Apt Pupil and The Shawshank Redemption. As I recall, Stand By Me is quite faithful to the original story (The Body) which was very well told. I think the direction and the casting are the real coups that make the film such an endearing classic for many.Before seeing Stand By Me for the second time after a decade and a half, I got to see River Phoenix again. Any misconception I had that he was an unjustly famous teenage star who was into sex, drugs and partying has been dispelled. Even at the young age of 15 years, he gives a thoroughly assured performance bringing into play a range of emotions. There is no doubt he would have gone far if his career hadn't ended with a fatal drug overdose. The rest of the cast is routinely excellent as well and the humor is very good, albeit shocking to see the extra-curricular activities and language of pre-pubescent boys from the 1950's - smoking and some foul language.Stand By Me is a very good film for most viewers and I can't understand it being a great film for people who came of age in the 1950's US.
"Quatre garçons in the wind!" Four cool and lovable boys!
posted on 12 Aug 2009Who else will read up to this? I have tried to read many users comments but there is only so much time in one day even though it is very interesting. So here I read a few entries and got up to the 14 year old who amazed me by his insight! At 63, I don't think I really grew up from that age, with the same questions and anxieties, Although I don't remember being so brave. But the portraying is so powerful and probably will transport most of the audience. I have been to boarding school and military service and could associate many situations encountered in this story. At times it was a little too much for me. I'm not sure I was using this kind of language at home with my friend. But this days it's fashionable to avoid to sound like "brady bunch" member. None the less I adore this film MM
Great Movie for Friends to watch together
posted on 25 Jul 2009I am writing again...but i just love this movie and try to encourage anyone to watch it!! Not only is the story great but its funny, touching and a movie you'll always rememeber!
I havn't watched this movie in a long time and my friend wanted to see it. so i brought the movie to her house and she fell in love with it! Not only did she fall in love with the movie itself but for River Phoenix who delivers one of his best performances. All of the young actors did well. I really love this movie.One of the best movies ever!!!10/10!!We Love River Phoenix!!!!
Worth watching a million times...
posted on 19 Jul 2009If you feel lonely and depressed, this is the film to watch. This great film of a unique friendship reminds you what it was like to be a kid hanging out with your friends, going on adventures etc.I have probably watched this film over 20 times, and it is still as good as it was the first time I watched it, the "magic" is still there.....Great performances, great actors and a great atmosphere (which seem to fill you with some kind of happiness). River Phoenix is terrific. The conversation pieces are brilliant, and several phrases will sit in my head forever.
One of the best films of friendship ever...
posted on 16 Jul 2009Stand by Me is an awesome flick that shows four boy's friendship and strength to never give up as they take a hike down the train tracks to find the body of a dead kid. Gordy(Wil Wheaton), Chris(River Phoenix), Teddy(Corey Feldman), and Vern(Jerry O'Connel) want to be heroes in the eyes of their hometown, but will the town's gang of hoods get their first?Stand by Me is a great movie with awesome songs, and even though it has loads of swearing in it, it is a movie families should see.Rated R for Language.
Looking Back.....
posted on 04 Jul 2009There has never been another coming of age movie quite like this one and chances are there will never be.This movie has it all the best acting, a great plot, great direction and a great soundtrack.I have seen it at least ten times and am not ashamed to admit it. I first saw it as a twelve year old myself but never gave much thought to it. Then as a 16 year old I saw it again and never has a movie taken me *for a ride* with it ever!!I cried every one of River`s tears, laughed with every laugh, stood on my toes to push them to run faster. I felt the fear and the joy of being together with people who matter to you most at that age.It just made me look back to my childhood as a Twelve year old. There is so much in common that it is unbelieveable.The movie makes you realize that yes life was that great and that much fun and that is exactly how *cool* we were as kids. How we used to laugh in the amazingly similar ways, those memories, the stories, the camp fires all floods back. Its the friendships which are formed when you are 12 and the way you live as a 12 year. Stand By Me makes you feel nostalgic and yes the last monologue...I for one know that I never had friends like the ones I did when I was 12.If you can come out seeing this movie not laughing, crying and singing with the characters and not feeling any nostalgia at all you missed out on the best times of life!!I`ll see it again and again...so should everyone.Oh how I wish I could be 12 again!
A delightful film that everyone should see
posted on 01 Jul 2009Believe it or not, Stand By Me was written by the king of horror, Stephen King. Stand By Me is a great film that also shows Stephen King can write much more than horror stories. If you want to see some more Stephen King movies that aren't horror you should see The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.Stand By Me is a delightful and entertaining film. The basic plot is about how four middle school boys decide to go on a trip into the woods to find the body of a missing kid their age. All of the kids have troubles of their own in their life. Throughout their trip into the woods, they encounter many things that they deal with in their own way, and at the end when they encounter the biggest of them all, they realize who they really are inside.The language might be a little bit rough for some younger kids, but I think this is an important and inspirational film that every kid should see. For all of you adults out there, this might remind you of when you were kids, and everyone out there who is a kid should see this and see how it affects you. This is a film that I'll never forget, so maybe you'll feel the same way about it.
Jenny's review of Stand By Me
posted on 11 Jun 2009Well I realy enjoyed this movie it is one of my favorites. It's about these 4 boys who go on a trip to discover a dead boys body on the way they learn more about each and them selves. Personaly I would have to say that I loved it, it was great. I think anybody who reads this should go rent it if they haven't already!
Maybe Nostalgia Would Have Helped
posted on 05 Jun 2009I just sat down and watched this movie for the first time after hearing about it for as long as I can remember. And I was less than impressed.
The story follows the journey of four boys - Vern, Teddy, Chris, and Gordie (Jerry O'Connell, Corey Feldman, River Phoenix, and Wil Wheaton) as they transition from boy to man. Or at least teen. The summer before they start Jr. High, a boy their own age goes missing. When Vern hears where the boy's body is, they set out to find it so they can become heroes. While they journey, all four face fears, hopes, and disappointments whether it's the absence of parental love, a future career as a writer, or things that go bump in the night.
To be honest, I can understand why people like this movie. It has a good mix of drama and comedy. The acting is great. The film is set in a small town in the 50's, so there's the nostalgia factor.
So why didn't I like it? First and foremost, the language. That was the real biggie. It was one thing when Ace (Kiefer Sutherland), the leader of the local gang swore. It was something completely different to have these twelve year olds swearing all the time. And frankly, I have a hard time imagining kids swearing that much during the 50's. I'm probably way out in left field, but it doesn't right true. There are several gross out moments I didn't care for. Finally, the ending was depressing. I'll grant you it was realistic. But it was depressing.
I know lots of people who grew up watching this film and absolutely love it. As I said, I can see it why. And maybe if I had seen it when I was younger, I would like it now. As it is, I won't be watching it again.
This time Rob Reiner helms a great Stephen King story.
posted on 01 Jun 2009In 1986 I was 10 years old, and I watched this movie for the first time. I remember thinking that it was cool to see a dead body on the screen, but that was about it. It's now 14 years later, and I have again watched Stand by Me, and I now understand what the movie is saying. Intensely narrated by Richard Dreyfuss, Stand by Me is a coming of age story for 4 adolescents at the end of their summer vacation before starting junior high school. A very young Jerry O'Connell (Joe's Apartment & Varsity Blues) plays Vern Tessio, the nerdy fat kid that every group of friends has. River Phoenix (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade & Sneakers) plays Chris Chambers, the `leader' of the group who has many problems with his father and is always looking for something adventurous to do. Teddy Duchamp, played vividly by Corey Feldman (Dream a Little Dream & License to Drive), has his own problems with his father, whom tried to burn his ear off for drinking bleach under the kitchen sink. This group of misfits is all bound together by the smartest of the group Gordie Lachance. Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation), in his first starring role and his first movie in over 2 years, masterfully combines fear, excitement and sorrow in this role. Gordie has just recently lost his brother, whom he really loved, in a jeep accident and his parents seem to have never let go, and tend to ignore him now.
Before Frank Darabont got a hold of Stephen King's novel ‘The Green Mile', Rob Reiner was given the chance to bring King's short story ‘The Body' to the big screen. I have never read it, but I do know that Reiner did a fantastic job directing the large body of actors and created a movie experience that should not be missed be any 12 year old, or any adult for that matter.The movie follows the group of kids as the venture to find the dead body of a boy that has been missing for weeks. Vern hears a tip of where the body is, and tells the others who all agree to spend the next couple of days finding it. Throughout the whole trip it seems the 12 year olds do a great deal of growing up mentally, and begin to realize that they wont be together forever. There are some very funny scenes, the pie-eating contest quickly comes to mind, and the film loaded with some great actors early on in their careers. Some great performances by Keifer Sutherland and John Cusack round out the cast. The message I received from this movie is that no matter what happens, your friends will always be there for you, and you should never forget them. I hadn't watched this movie in years; and now that I have, I will most certainly add it to my collection.
A low budget Gem
posted on 01 Jun 2009How can a film that so perfectly transcends time and place be described? A film, that without budget, cast or a particualy engaging premice allows the audience a very tangable and personal rememberance. A film that allows the audience to be there - in the true sense of the word. It is the level of engagement that this film brings that makes it truly special - we really do care about the characters, and every childhood setback or adventure has more power than an entire alien invasion, or the earths destruction or even the story of another young boy on a planet far, far away.Stand By Me is one of those rare, low budget gems - low pretentions with high results - and becomes one of the most poinant and moving films in years.
Stand By Me...the greatest movie of all time...that about sums it up
posted on 20 May 2009I first saw Stand By Me when I was 6 years old. I never reallyunderstood it then, but the story of 4 boys (Chris, Gordie, Teddyand Vern) who go on an adventure to find a dead boy's body justkind of stuck with me. I've seen it a few more times and I know nomatter how many times I see it, I will always love it and NEVER getsick of it. In my opinion it's the best movie ever made. Everythingabout it is amazing. The actors, River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, JerryO'Connell and Corey Feldman do an amazing job portraying theircharacters. Especially River Phoenix. I think he did the best job ofall. Stand By Me almost makes you feel like you're in the moviebecause it's so realistic. The scenery is beautiful. I love the partwhen they have to cross the bridge of train tracks. There's a verygood view there. Some people may think Stand By Me soundsboring, but there's not one boring scene in the movie. Thedialogue is exceptional and you'll probably want to rewind at somepoint to hear a certain line again. I read the book which the moviewas based on and i was so amazed at how the movie stayed trueto the characters and everything else. I can't say ANYTHING bad about the movie, except the pukescene was very gross. (i hope that's not a spoiler) But i guess itwent well with the story line considering the characters were 412-year-old boys. So, all i can say is if you haven't seen it, you've got to becauseeveryone i know who's seen it, loves it. Sincerely! (quote fromVern!) So go rent it, buy it, or for all i care, go steal it from a friend!just go see it!
Great movie for all ages!
posted on 20 May 2009I watched this movie several times as a child and thought it was a cool movie. Now, a couple of years later, it's my favorite movie! It has a slow start, but you can't not love it at the end. Everyone could recognize something about themselves in these 4 kids. No matter of you're a boy or a girl. There are some memorable scenes that probably stay with you for a long, long time.This movie is simply about being a kid. After seeing this movie, you will probably miss being a kid for a while. But that's the message I personally think.The acting job of the 4 kids is amazing! Wil Wheaton and River Phoenix did an amazing job. Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell were also outstanding.It's also a movie you could see for like 20 times in one week and you still be excited about it! For children, this movie is just very fun. For teenagers / adults it's still a great movie, because this movie has an interesting message.I give it a 10/10
Do yourself a favor and buy this film!!!
posted on 18 May 2009Hailed as one of the essential coming-of-age films, "Stand by Me" has stood the test of time to become a classic. Since most of the other reviews talk about the plot, I'll just talk about my opinion of the movie.
The first time I watched it, I was in awe as the credits rolled. It has since gone on to become one of my all-time favorites. Everything about this movie was executed perfectly--the writing, the performances, the direction, the score--EVERYTHING!! It made me want to be a kid again, and not many movies make me feel like that. I could relate with the characters, especially Gordie, and that's another reason this film stands out in my mind.
I don't want to keep running on, so I'll just sum it up--buy this film, you will definitely NOT be disappointed!
Add one more voice to the chorus.
posted on 27 Aug 2009There's not much more to say that hasn't already been written over and over in the numerous positive reviews here. Stephen King movies on both the silver screen and the small screen tend to be very poor and tedious, with an ending coming out of left field. "The Langoliers" was enough to make me swear off any King on TV thenceforth. "Stand By Me" was something else altogether. Much more character driven than other King adaptations, with more sincerity and no gore in sight. Excellent casting, a strong if treacly script and settings in the lush forests of Oregon make up for the slightly slow pacing.This is the only King-related work I watched in the theater and liked, and I obviously like it a lot. Watch this at the end of summer to remind yourself of how much you used to enjoy this season, before life became a 12-month a year grind.