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Overall Rating
4.4

Awesome70.75%
Worth A Look: 15.65%
Average: 4.08%
Pretty Bad: 2.04%
Total Crap: 7.48%

3 reviews, 129 user ratings


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Stand By Me
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by Eliza

"The kind of film you can't get enough of."
5 stars

Stand By Me is the only film that I have been able to watch over 30 times in one summer without growing tired of it. I can probably quote it word for word, hell I could act it out for you if you were interested, yet I still keep going back for more. It's your ultimate (here comes the cliche) coming-of-age film, it's your ultimate 50s flashback film and it's the only film Corey Feldman has ever made that's got any credibility.

I'm not saying Stand By Me is perfect - hell no! The amount of times you see the boom and the number of times you see a car/product/item of clothing etc that wasn't even invented in the 50s is amazing for a film that should have been pretty polished. But seeing all those cute lil pre-teen faces which we have now grown to know so well, is worth it all.

River Phoenix plays tough gang leader Chris Chambers, Corey Feldman is crazy Teddy Duchamp, Wil Weaton is the thoughtful and troubled Gordy Lachance and Jerry O'Connell is the token fat kid, Vern Tessio. Early on we learn that there is a kid not much older than the group (12 years) is missing. Vern overhears his much older brother talking to another member of his gang - they found the body but were in a stolen car at the time, and didn't want to tell the police. Of course Vern tells the boys and they set out on the biggest adventure of their lives. There are no end of mini-adventures, near mishaps and tearful bondings between the four unlikely friends on the way.

This film spits out line after line of quotable data...

Teddy, Chris and Vern- I don't shut up, I grow up, and when I look at you I throw up.
Gordy- And then your mother goes around the corner, and she licks it up.
Narrator (an older Gordy)- Finding new and preferably disgusting ways of degrading a friend's mother was always held in high regard.

Vern- Come on guys, lets get moving!
Teddy- Yeah, by the time we get there the kid won't even be dead anymore.

and finally (from my repertoire that could be much, much, much longer)

Gordy- Alright, Mickey's a mouse, Donald's a duck, Pluto's a dog. What's Goofy?
Vern- If I could only have one food for the rest of my life? That's easy. Pez. Cherry flavoured Pez. No question about it.
Teddy- A dog. He's definately a dog.
Gordy- I knew the $60,000 question was fixed. There's no way anybody could know that much about opera.
Chris- He can't be a dog. He wears a hat and drives a car.
Vern- God, that's weird. What is Goofy?

It has a sound track you AND your parents can sing along with, it has faces you know and some pretty classic dialogue. You have to see Stand By Me - as Vern says "This is a really good time..."

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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=1168&reviewer=159
originally posted: 10/05/99 23:57:32
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User Comments

11/03/09 Brayden Jackson excellent film. Watched it years ago and still enjoy it now. 5 stars
4/09/09 Dane Youssef One of the greatest of all time. Beautiful American coming-of-age story about all of life. 5 stars
3/10/09 brian Not many things make me wish I were 12 years old again. This one comes close. 5 stars
12/04/08 Shaun Wallner Great story! 5 stars
7/25/08 Jessica it is a great movie 5 stars
5/08/08 mad scone fukin animal 4 stars
5/07/08 Tammy i love chris!!!!!!!! river is sooooo hot! 4 stars
5/05/08 Tyler this movie is excellent i watched it in english at school now im doing a review on it. 5 stars
3/05/08 katie honestly, the people who are saying this movie "sucks" can't even spell right. 4 stars
2/11/08 joel A fantastic movie- Loved every second of it- very moving 5 stars
9/20/07 ana gomez freakin awsome 5 stars
8/22/07 PIXIEDAWG AWESAME FILM, WANNA SEE IT AGAIN 5 stars
8/03/07 Tyler Sciortino Well-acted with good dialogue, but poorly directed and emotionally cold. 3 stars
6/15/07 megan innocent ace n sad n i think chris i fit 5 stars
5/29/07 Hugh What a fantastic film! Really effected me, makes you realise the important things in life. 5 stars
5/22/07 Stephan The film is great and shows real friendship.We worked on it in school. 4 stars
5/10/07 Sian Omg, river phoenix is soooo hot! I cant belive hes dead! 5 stars
5/03/07 Iris the Clever It's a great movie... i liked it... the first 100 times my english teacher played it... 4 stars
5/01/07 sik of homwork y does evry1 haf 2 wach it in eng? its a decent movy so wats it doin ? 4 stars
3/14/07 Quigley Great story with great acting from the pre-teen gang. The leech scene will haunt me 5 stars
3/11/07 Faz it is a MADASS MOVIE cause i had 2 watch it 4 english and man i thin chris is HOT! 5 stars
3/07/07 Fresh Prince Verns a fat idiot wich makes it a good movie 4 stars
3/05/07 www.bchere.piczo.com one the broingest movie ever, i was forced to by it by my eng teach who lik to c me suffer 1 stars
3/05/07 action movie fan so so story quite dull not good period recreation 2 stars
2/03/07 rah its ma fave movie best movie eva 5 stars
2/02/07 William Goss Reputation aside, whiny canned nostalgia that so very rarely rings true. 2 stars
2/02/07 KEEFA mint as anythin, dnt dis it u plebs!! 5 stars
1/03/07 Lucy a really amazing movie. 4 stars
12/06/06 David Pollastrini very faithful adaptation 5 stars
12/04/06 dog head i think the movie is good 4 stars
10/27/06 naomi hosking most amazing, moving film.River you are soo beatiful 5 stars
10/16/06 Jennifer stand by me was real funny and great 4 stars
8/02/06 steven taylor painfully unfunny 1 stars
7/29/06 Lizzie none 2 stars
1/09/06 olivia brillant and intriging film really sucks you in 5 stars
1/08/06 Gerry Dunne Based on the S King book which gave us The Shawshank Redemption. 2 brill movies from 1 book 5 stars
12/21/05 John Dog I agree. It's one of the best movies ever created. 5 stars
12/19/05 Irene FUK OFF TO WHOEVER THINK IT SUX!! -> *STAND BY ME* is DA BEST MOVIE EVER !!! 5 stars
11/21/05 Intensive Care Stand by Me is an awesome movie (River is soooo hot!!) 5 stars
9/06/05 keara franklin the best film i've ever seen. it changed my life,so did you river 5 stars
8/29/05 Kenneth Clark Watch it if you've got nothin' better to do on Saturday afternoon 3 stars
8/05/05 james i dont know 5 stars
8/01/05 Danny One of my all time favs. 5 stars
6/23/05 mr arch a bit load of balls 1 stars
6/22/05 emma cool beans 5 stars
6/17/05 Manu Ginobli patty this movie doesn't suck a huge cock, you do. 5 stars
3/05/05 patty jenkins IT SUX HUGE COCK 1 stars
2/22/05 Captain Craig One of the best retro-boys life movies ever 4 stars
2/09/05 New England Patriots = Dynasty Best film of the 1980's 5 stars
2/07/05 Jeff Anderson Good cast & well directed by Rob Reiner, but film doesn't live to the book. A GOOD TRY!!!!! 3 stars
1/31/05 New Jersey Rules The best Steven King movie 5 stars
1/18/05 ROGER BROUGHTON LOVED THIS MOVIE, HAVE SEEN IT AT LEAST A DOZEND TIME 5 stars
12/01/04 richard betts nice nice nice 5 stars
11/17/04 Gooey yes. 5 stars
11/12/04 silent bob one of the greatest movies i have ever seen, a true classic 5 stars
11/09/04 Tayler Gordon Loved It!!! 5 stars
10/08/04 -=spongebob=- i film that makes you want to be 12 again 5 stars
10/01/04 River Phoenix Matt Elwell of Dawlish smellz 5 stars
9/28/04 Butter G IF YOU HATE THIS MOVIE, YOU JUST SHOULD GO TO HELL.U DONT GOT A HEART IF YOU DONT LIKE THIS 5 stars
7/14/04 Meghan Hating this moive is like hating air! You cant live without it! It's the best movie ever!! 5 stars
5/18/04 Brammie U gotta c this movie!!! they're all SO hot! soundtrax cool and the actings even better! 5 stars
5/03/04 carlos eduardo muñoz !!es la mejor pelicula de la historia!!.... 5 stars
2/02/04 Gabriela One of the most beautiful movies I´ve ever seen. 5 stars
1/24/04 Elena The ORIGINAL coming of age story. It will make you cry with its seething realism 5 stars
11/05/03 American Slasher Goddess A moving touching drama. 5 stars
10/12/03 Darryl Anyone who can't find something worthwhile here truly doesn't have any feelings! 5 stars
6/22/03 cochese something about it, i cant put my finger on it. 3 stars
2/18/03 Mr Hand a truly great guy movie 5 stars
11/23/02 Kyle Nothing not to like about this. Awsome. 5 stars
11/01/02 Kate It's great, watch it!! 5 stars
10/18/02 Charles Tatum Finally, an overrated director does an underrated writer good 5 stars
9/26/02 movie guy THE BEST MOVIE 5 stars
9/03/02 P.Rodriguez 2nd best movie ever 5 stars
4/24/02 Shawna This is my favorite movie in the whole world. I just watch it over and over again.I LOVE IT 5 stars
4/15/02 Madelina Definetely worth all the fuss... from boyhood to manhood! 4 stars
3/17/02 titansuga This is an alright movie with a really not hard to get message 4 stars
3/10/02 Rebecca The cast was great, mainly river :( 5 stars
2/26/02 K y L e Never - ever - will get old. 5 stars
2/05/02 Andrew Carden It Was OK...It Really Had No Realistic Substance. 3 stars
1/28/02 Del Whoever said this movie stinks is full of it 5 stars
1/15/02 Chris Delehanty great film 4 stars
8/22/01 Tree If a 15-year-old movie is still right up there as one of the best ... it's worth seeing. 5 stars
8/21/01 P.Rodriguez Come On Chopper Seek Ball. God They Don't make em like this any more. 5 stars
8/18/01 Nikki A classic ... my favorite movie - shows us what we lost when River Phoenix passed away. 5 stars
8/04/01 Shelly Abid this was the cuteset movie worth seeing a couple times 5 stars
7/10/01 M Classic 5 stars
6/09/01 R.W. Welch Effective boyhood nostalgia piece with above par writing. 4 stars
5/28/01 murielle blanchart This my fav movie of all time, like alot of other ppl i love it, its too good 5 stars
5/06/01 Big Nasty AWESOME!!!!!!!! Greatest Film ever, the language could have been better,but still good. 5 stars
3/15/01 Richard Wright Very watchable and has moving passages but was all the swearing really necessary?! 4 stars
3/01/01 Dave P This guy chefadogg doesn't know what he is talking about. Stand By Me is a great movie 5 stars
2/17/01 jezabell boring, but meaningfull, has modernday potential 3 stars
2/15/01 KyLe*BrOfLoVsKi This movie is one reason I let Hollywood live. Maybe it can be equalled someday. 5 stars
1/14/01 Avenger Girl Nothing much wrong with this movie.Superb viewing 5 stars
12/15/00 Gadi Glogowski A Must See Movie 5 stars
12/05/00 MCAT0072M It was great one of the best movies I have ever seen if not the best. 5 stars
11/02/00 kelly scott The best movie i've ever seen. This is on par with The Lost Boys. 5 stars
10/31/00 Jacky Mackenzie I think that is the best movie I have ever seen 5 stars
10/05/00 Philip Maunders The Greatest film of the 80's 5 stars
9/13/00 Matthew Bartley What a shocker that Adog didn't like it. He wouldn't know a good film if it was up his ass 5 stars
6/13/00 Bender Outstanding mix of Comedy and Drama the ending is very touching. 5 stars
5/07/00 Ashley I love this movie!! 5 stars
3/18/00 Jeremy This is my favorite movie ever. I make it a point to watch it once a month 5 stars
3/17/00 sarah forte kick ass movie - River rules 5 stars
3/13/00 Jessica I thought it was really good. corey was hot 4 stars
2/22/00 gillian prior If you've never seen it, you're missing out! 5 stars
2/14/00 Sam Cholico enjoyed the movie, it brought back many memories, very nostalgic 5 stars
12/04/99 PervertedPixie Sentimental and nostalgic, but uttery lovable. Phoenix is so pure. 5 stars
11/22/99 Dave A real classic 5 stars
11/05/99 Anthony Ellis A truly memorable and moving film. 5 stars
11/01/99 Tony Chef ADogg is an idiot who doesn't know shit! 5 stars
10/31/99 diva j This is by far one of my favorite movies of all times. 5 stars
10/06/99 sophia962 proving yet again that Stephen King is the greatest writer since Shakespeare. 5 stars
9/24/99 Courtney Harman I thought it was pretty good 4 stars
9/23/99 Philip Aaron Rogers It's a great movie, and it's quite moving. 4 stars
9/22/99 Peter One of the greatest movies 5 stars
9/05/99 Eliza I watched "Stand By Me" every day for a month once and I still wasn't tired of it. Love it! 5 stars
7/27/99 emperor great adaptation 4 stars
7/24/99 fakeplasticpsycho fantastic 5 stars
7/15/99 Chef ADogg "Nowhere" is the ultimate coming of age drama, J-Dogg. 1 stars
7/04/99 J-Dogg The ultimate coming of age drama, this one never gets old. 4 stars
5/10/99 Beachlovr9 Very good flick 5 stars
4/19/99 jimmy jam Save Ferris. Fun movie 5 stars
4/15/99 Jon Jackson The barf is cool. 4 stars
3/30/99 H33eather sweet story 4 stars
3/10/99 Go Swans King's Different Season films are the best. Here's hoping for Apt Pupil (his best story) 5 stars
2/20/99 Piz I agree, boyish comraderie makes for some good films. 5 stars
10/19/98 {{{OZ}}} Vern ruled all hell. This was a great movie. Coming of age classic. 5 stars
10/19/98 Roxy A good warm film, best in a while. 5 stars
IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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USA
  02-Jul-1986 (R)
  DVD: 22-Mar-2005

UK
  N/A

Australia
  02-Feb-1987 (PG)




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