80sfilms

Stand By Me (1986) is based on Stephen King’s novella “The Body” (from the book Different Seasons) and was adapted for the screen by Raynold Gideon.

Although the premise involves a dead body, the film is more about adolescence and friendship, and the joys and pains of growing up.

It’s the tale of four boys (ages 12 and 13), Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern, played by Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell respectively, who decide to take an overnight hike through the woods near their Oregon town to find the body of a boy who’s been missing for days. Set in the 1950s, the film speaks to a simpler time, however, adolescence is complicated no matter what era.

The trip turns into the adventure of a lifetime, and along the way, they encounter obstacles in the form of a gang of older teen bullies, a mean junkyard dog, a swamp full of leeches, and a dangerous jump from a train trestle.

Stand By Me also stars Kiefer Sutherland, who plays one of the meaner bullies, and John Cusack as Wheaton’s deceased older brother.

The film was directed by Rob Reiner, and is told in flashbacks from the perspective of Gordie, who is now a writer.

The fantastic opening lines are from Gordie as an adult, and start off, “I was 12 going on 13 the first time I saw a dead human being. It happened in the summer of 1959 - a long time ago, but only if you measure in terms of years. I was living in a small town in Oregon called Castle Rock; there were only twelve hundred and eighty-one people, but to me it was the whole world.”

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