**MANLY TEARS** Stand By Me Reaction: FIRST TIME WATCHING Stephen King 

Such a beautiful story. River Phoenix nailed this performance, he was a great actor such a tragedy

"I never had any friends later on, like the ones I had when I was 12."-- That statement means much more to me now that I'm in my forties. I was going on 12 when I first saw "Stand By Me", and it's remained my favourite film since. It turns out this would be a year of my life I now look back on with great fondness. I had a wonderful group of friends, and I cherish those memories. I think of those guys often, and like to think they do the same. A remarkable film, from a fantastic story and author, along with outstanding performances. Thanks for sharing this one.

I believe that this was King's favorite adaption of his work. He even got emotional watching the end of the movie, and said it had a better ending than his novella. Can't get better praise from an author than that. And King is not shy about disliking other movie adaptions based on his work.

This was one of Stephen King's favorite adaptations of his work. When Rob Reiner, the director, screened it for him, Stephen King became so emotional that he visibly shook. It's even sadder when you realize that Chris, the one who gets stabbed attempting to break up a fight, was River Phoenix who died of a drug overdose seven years later when he was only 23.

As others have noted, the actor who played Chris was River Phoenix. He's the older brother of (Joker) Joaquin Phoenix, so you can see that the talent ran deep in that family. It was such a tragedy when River died at 23... he was only a few years older than me, so it was such a shock. He could be considered the Heath Ledger of my generation -- so much talent, gone way too soon. What could have been. I'll never forget reading the article in the newspaper about his death; I was shook. (Side note: musician Natalie Merchant wrote a beautiful song called "River" in his honor... "He was one of ours...")

At the end, when older-Gordy gets up and looks over his work, I always insert Chris'voice in my head when he says, "You're going to be a great writer someday, Gordie."

Some of this is so hard to watch now that we know Wil Wheaton was channeling his own family experience, especially when he asked Chris why his parents hated him.

To explain the castor oil and egg thing during Gordie's story: they're old-fashioned remedies for stomach ailments. Castor oil will make you vomit, while a raw egg will prevent vomiting. The kid chugged the castor oil to upset his stomach and then swallowed the egg to act as a time-release of sorts. Once the pies hit, though, the effect of the egg was canceled out and you saw the results.

In the novel, King goes into detail how hard it was for Chris to break away from the town's perspective of him and enroll in higher classes, as well as his family dragging him down every step of the way. In a way, Gordie set it upon himself to help him every step of the way and they ended up each other's lifeline.

Sean Astin auditioned for this movie, but he had the unfortunate timing of going right AFTER River Phoenix. He saw River come out and his eyes were red and tears were streaming down his face, and when he walked into the room with the film people they were ALL still sniffling and crying from River's audition.

Dude….Stephen King has the best stories. It’s based off the the story “The Body”, from his short story book known as “Different Seasons”, where he went the mystery/drama route. Very cool. It kept his writing fresh & not so one-dimensional….it came out in 1986…I remember going to see it in the theater. Very cool experience 😎

I believe the song is from the early 1960's, first performed by Ben E. King. This film came out in 1986. The villain Ace is played by a young Kiefer Sutherland. The ending always chokes me up when they talk about Chris' death just because River died so young!

Definitely check out The Lost Boys if you haven't seen it, Keifer Sutherland and Corey Feldman are in it, the best vampire movie ever!!!

Stand By Me the song, by Ben E. King first came out in 1961. It's a beautiful song, and an absolute classic. A subtle orchestral version plays throughout the film and never fails to make me emotional. (Oh yeah, it's also featured at the end of the movie lol).

I personally have always loved this movie. It's definitely a childhood favorite. If you wanna see more of River Pheonix in his youth, you should check out the movie Explorers from 1985. You'll get a double dose of River Pheonix and Ethan Hawke as kids and I believe it was River's first film.

This is probably my favorite Stephen King adaptation, it's so good! Always a joy to watch these amazing kid actors shine in this movie.

John Cusack is so good in this movie. He is in another Stephen King movie called 1408 where he plays a writer who stays in a haunted hotel room.

I’m glad you got emotional during your review. It was an honest reaction and showed how much the story moved you. River Phoenix was one of a kind. He was so natural on screen. I saw him play in a band with his sister many years ago in NYC. If you want to watch another movie with River, you should check out “Running on Empty”.

My favourite movie of all time. I’m so happy you took the time to watch it. Such a wonderful adventure and some good life lessons.

Loved your reaction to this movie. Fun fact: This movie was filmed in Brownsville, Oregon. I know this because my grandparents used to live there and I live only 30 minutes away. They have a festival for Stand By Me every year in the summer. There is also a penny glued or asphalted into the road where Vern picked up the penny. It's a nice, quiet little town and hasn't changed much since this filming.

At 25 minutes into this reaction video I had the very same experience with the deer when I was backpacking on the Pacific Crest Trail in Oregon . This has always been one of my favorite movies .

I think Stephen King wanted to send a message for children of his decade. His books always talk about hard times, disfunctional families, violence and crudity like villains; and they refer to friendship between random kids who were abused, violented or just victims of bullying. This movie was a great example of the society from last century.

The novella is called "The Body" and was written long after the song "Stand By Me" was first released. The movie was re-named after the song because the song was big during the time period the story portrays and the song title is also thematically coherent with the story. It always stuck with me how even an asshole like Ace seems to have had Gordie's brother Denny in high regard to the point that he tells Gordie that he must have some of Denny's good sense when trying to get him to stop pointing the gun at him, given that it's fair to assume Ace did know Denny reasonably well since Castle Rock seems to be a pretty small place and both Ace and Eyeball (Chris's brother) seem to be around Denny's age. Denny's consistently portrayed as a pretty cool guy everybody liked and was good at everything he did, but still wasn't full of himself at all.

That last line has always stuck with me…. “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve… Jesus, does anyone?” The older I get the more it rings true. This story is also semi auto-biographical about King’s own childhood… the original title for the story is “The Body” and it’s in a collection of short stories called Different Seasons, which also featured the short story the movie Shawshank is based off of. The song Stand By Me existed before the movie and the original received a resurgence in popularity due to this movie, interestingly, originally they were going to do a new version for the movie sung by Micheal Jackson, but that plan fell through. Regarding River Phoenix… there’s too much to say for a life that was lived too short. However I will recommend one other film he did around this time, it’s not as serious and it’s a bit silly, but it’s fun movie. It’s called The Explorers and it also stars a young Ethan Hawke.

Another of Kings greatest stories, and another of the best adaptations of one of his works. Super faithful to the source material, and the casting and performances were spot on, as was the directing and everything else. Shame River Phoenix died so young, this film was definitely an early example of what a rare and natural talent he was. Cheers!!! Considering you've watched a lot of both Stephen King adaptations and Johnny Depp movies, I wonder if you've ever seen Secret Window? If not, would love to see your take on it. One of my absolute favorite movies, and one of Johnny's best performances, imo.

The movie is more detailed than the book. Rob Reiner deserves a lot of the credit for the awesomeness of this movie.

Childhood classic, great movie. Stand by me, ET, the goonies, Indian Jones. So many nostalgic films, from the 80s and 90s. River Phoenix was a talent tho, I remember being young and playing the thing called love over and over again, dont know why I like it so mutch. The bullie is kiefer sutherland , from the lost boys, flatliners and 24. Im sure a deer represents innocence.

This is the perfect movie in my opinion. I love all the boys esp River Phoenix he was such a natural.There’s something nostalgic comforting and painful that’s so relatable. You should check out more River Phoenix films if you haven’t already :) You’re quickly becoming a fav RU-vidr of mine with these film I’ve subscribed.

Thor, I love when you giggle so heartily, having the time of your life while watching a movie. 💜

I used to be obsessed with this movie and with River Phoenix. It makes me so sad.

Funny you called them the "Stranger Thing's kids" Being older, when I first started watching Stranger Things I pretty much mentally knew them as the "Stand By Me" kids LOL That show always gives me the same vibe as this movie did. Kinda makes you wish you had a time machine to your childhood times.

I saw this movie when it came out in the theater, I went with my two best friends, we were the same age as the kids in Stand By Me, my one friend looked exactly like Vern...I mean exactly, down to the buzz haircut and red cheeks. Even then I knew this movie was something special, that it had a wisdom I appreciated then but also knew I'd only grow to appreciate more the older I got. This remains one of my favorite movies and means a lot to me. Have you seen the movie The Goonies? If not, you have to! The Goonies is the yin to Stand By Me's yang. Each of the boys has a counterpart, stories parallel each other...Stand By Me is the serious and deep movie but there are moments of comedy and light hearted adventure. The Goonies is a light hearted adventure comedy with moments of deep seriousness. These movies are two sides of the same coin and they are both great! Best Regards!

Wonderful film, and really engaging reaction. Came here initially for Buffy, but definitely enjoy the movie reactions. Also, I am a middle-aged man, who's losing his hair, so watching you, and your follicle privilege, triggers just the right amount of righteous anger in me. So, thanks for that, too. 😀 After watching this film, you mentioned a curiosity about Stephen King's childhood, and I'd recommend reading his book, "On Writing." It is a nonfiction book about writing, but it's also a short memoir of King's early years. They way he writes about his childhood and early adult years is similar to the way he writes the kids in "The Body" (Stand By Me) and "IT." It's fascinating stuff, and I'd even count it as one of his most entertaining books, which, as a fan, I'd be hard-pressed to point to much of his work that wasn't entertaining.

One of the best movies ever made. Perfectly balanced and paced.

"Morphodite" is a mangled version of "hermaphrodite" (from Hermes + Aphrodite), meaning intersexed. I believe "The Morphodite" was also the name of a sci-fi book by M.A. Foster from - let me google real fast - it came out in 1981, so the writers might have been reminded of the word from the title. I reckon Teddy's and Vern's questions about Lardass were basically character building. Teddy wanted the story to reflect his own father issues. Vern (who was poor, only had 7 cents) was worried about Davey Hogan losing his entry fee money.

I don’t know how you could watch this without crying, or at least tearing up. I crying every single time I watch it. Not only for the story, but for River Phoenix as well.

It was a great film when I first watched it back in the '80s and it probably appealed to me as I was around their age. Watching it as I get older it resonates for different reasons but it still remains a great film. The believable characters and the outstanding acting is what makes it, along of course with some Ben E King! I particularly think fondly of my best mate from back then when I see the film. Rrgrettably he died not long after River Phoenix, now It just makes me appreciate the good times all the more. Thanks for the reaction, I did enjoy it.

There is a movie that is similar to this movie with Female leads called Now and Then that stars Christina Ricci, Rosie O’Donnell, Demi Moore, Melanie Griffith, Thora Birch, Gaby Hofmann, Rita Wilson, and Ashleigh Aston Moore. The movie came out in 1995.

Great reaction. Stephen King's lost gem film adaptation of Dolores Claiborne is another one of his non horror genre that I think you will enjoy. It stars the great Kathy Bates in her favorite career character portrayal. Check it out if you haven't already seen it. Take care until next time.

It was based on a Novella called "The Body", from the collection called "Different Seasons".

Corey Feldman and Kiefer Sutherland was in the Joel Schumacher vampire movie The Lost Boys which is awesome. Jerry O’Connell is in Scream 2, and did the Science fiction series Sliders for a few seasons where he travels from Parallel Earth to Parallel Earth with John Rhys Davis. Will Wheaton is in Star Trek Next Generation. Kiefer is in the Westerns Young Guns 1 and 2. He is also in the Disney Three Musketeers as Athos, with Charlie Sheen as Aramis, Oliver Platt plays Porthos, and Chris O’Donnell as D’Artagnan. Tim Curry plays the villain, Cardinal Richelieu.

This is and one other movie are my two favorite films of all time. It's so good, I'll never get sick of watching it, no matter how many times I've already seen it. It's just one of those funny, emotional, heartbreaking, mature but childish movies that deserve to be seen and appreciated

We used to walk across a railroad bridge across the Tennessee River to go look for arrowheads. There was never a time that I wasn't thinking about a train coming. Luckily one never did.

During the train scene, they did multiple takes and the director wasn’t happy with the takes so he actually yelled at them to the edge of tears and that’s why they looked so scared and had tears for the final cut when they were running

From when I first watched this movie as a kid, I remember finding it, as you say, authentic and relatable. The way it hits has changed with age, but it definitely still hits in a great way. 100% in agreement with you on the performances and characterizations in this. Top quality, without a doubt.

Don’t feel dumb. The story was SO engaging that pretty much every 1 in the theater 4got about the newspaper article from the beginning. The fact that u can relate 2 the lost innocence of youth shows how timeless this classic is..... 💯🤙🏽☺️

This is a remarkably faithful adaptation of the novella. They actually took some things out. Specifically there’s a second, more adult story from a college-age Gordie that serves as a complement to the childish “Lardass” story told around the campfire. Also more backstory for all the characters and an even darker ending. King also considered Chris the main character even though Gordie is the narrator. Rob Reiner decided to shift the focus to Gordie.

I loved this as a kid especially when I was the same age as they were in the movie. Even though the story was in a different time.. child friendship and strong bonds can be timeless and live with you the rest of your days.

This movie is one of my favorites, it makes me cry at times each time I see it because there reminds me of my father because one this was our favorite movie to watch together and to the song stand by me from the movie was our song. The movie is based on a true story with a little differences here and there. Like Gordy is Stephen King and in real life he actually never met his brother so through this he lived a fantasy where he had a awesome relationship with his brother. Another thing with Ace's game, they did catch up with them in the hallways of a school and beat them with an inch of their life. And Steven even says to this day he still has that scar

So many great young actors in this, as well as icon, Richard Dreyfuss. Who is of course better known for his roles in- Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind and JAWS.

Thank you so much this is my favourite movie 🎥🍿

The beginning gives the ending away if you think about it, adult Gordy is in the truck looks down at the newspaper that says Chris Chambers killed/stabbed in restaurant.

my favourite film its so good

Excellent movie, excellent book, excellent reaction.

one of my all time favorite movies and this was the best review ive seen on it so far. Nice work!

As far as I can remember, this movie is fairly close to The Body, the novella it's based on. About the only notable difference I can think of off the top of my head is that the town they live in was changed from Maine to Oregon. Normally that wouldn't be that big of a deal but Castle Rock, Maine is a town that figures heavily in several of King's books, and some of the characters here, like Ace Merrill, go on to appear in other stories.

This is one of the best adaptations of Kings work it is really close to his written story

They have a Stand By Me day in Brownsville Oregon (Castle Rock) on July 23rd. Classic cars, pie eating contest at the same location and they show the movie in the park. It's kinda entertaining.

When I was on high school we hung out at a place in the woods where you had to cross a train trestle like this to get there. Now those tracks were abandoned and it wasn't quite as high but it was still scary just crossing. I always lagged behind my friends who practically jogged across.

Last year Wil Wheaton appeared on the "Kingcast" podcast and talked a lot about making this movie. It was a great interview. The actors were all fantastic in the movie and part of that magic was that Reiner got the 4 boys together for a couple weeks before filming for them to develop a natural friendship. The movie is a very close adaptation of the novella. A novella seems to be the best length to transfer to a movie, especially for King's work.

This is a short story by Stephen King called " The Body ". He has other short stories in the books called Different Seasons & Skeleton Crew . Alot of movies came from those 2 books .

That's Kiefer Sutherland you recognized.

As I am watching you today, you asked about the book. Rob Reiner the Director says this is his favorite movie,and he has made EPIC films. You should try and see them all. He’s a legend. Stephen King, the author of this, said that Misery was his most proud book to movie adaptation. If you haven’t reacted to it yet, you must. If you want to see another coming of age movie that is incredible, The Dead Poet’s Society with Robin Williams is incredible. You won’t be disappointed, I promise! Cheers from Seattle, WA!

The “guy from the opening” who narrates the movie is Richard Dreyfuss from Jaws.

great reaction..this movie has special place in my heart cause i also had my best friends when i was 12-13...now I'm 35 but i still remember them

When King watched a screening of this film, the Directors said he came out crying and said those were his friends up there. This story was written about his friends when he was a kid. Idk how much he elaborated but they did exist so i think his friend did die at the end.

Kiefer Sutherland's character, Ace, shows up two or three times in King's work. Nona, the Body, and in a small but substantial role in the novel 'Needful Things'.

Always makes me cry. Read Four Seasons. It's all of Stephen King's novellas. It's brilliant. Apt Pupil is another great short story and film

this and Sandalot, two great classics that takes me back to my youth

One if the few cinematic adaptations of King's work that's actually good, and stays pretty true to the book.

This is actually probably THE MOST we see of King's true childhood, as a matter of fact. He even had a younger friend of his get creamed by a freight one day while they were out playing, the experience actually drove him catatonic for an entire day afterwards.

It's originally a short story. Appears in a collection called Different Seasons-- the same collection that gave us The Shawshank Redemption. The original story goes all over the place, it even DOES have some light horror elements. I would suggest reading-- it's a mess, but it feels like a PURPOSEFUL mess, like King was unpacking some real shit and examining it while asking the audience what we make of it. But then that's all contained in a fairly typical King setting and story. It's VERY weird, but it ALMOST totally works, and when it doesn't it's at least interesting to witness.

One of my dig takeaways: the rail road looks like a stretch north of Fredericton, NB, where I went fishing as a pre-teen. I remember thinking while watching the film, of the tar scent coming off the railroad ties.

I was a kid when thi S filmwas out. This was my childhood film. We had video shops back then and I would rent it out so many times. I must have seen this movie at least 50 times. I could basically quote the entire movie back then.

"what are you, logan paul" OMGGGG I WHEEZED SO HARD

I absolutely love this movie. I was about 12 when it came out and I fell in love with River Phoenix. RIP

"I hope they don't capture them later and do horrible things." While it doesn't come to be in the movie, it does happen in the novella; all four boys are severely beaten up by Ace and his gang shortly after they all return home. Also at the end of the novella, Gordie is the only surviving member of the four; Chris is stabbed to death while trying to break up a fight in a restaurant (as was mentioned in the movie), Vern dies in a house fire, and Teddy is killed in a car wreck.

I definitely understand having nostalgia for when I was little. I also understand that it’s a time that I would not want to go back to, especially with all the knowledge that I have now. One thing that I’m happy about is that I was never one of those girls that was in a rush to grow up. I took my sweet ass time😂

King wept when he saw this film because Chris Chambers was a real guy, his real friend as a kid, who really died that way. Rob Reiner told Wil Wheaton just recently that he deliberately looked for young actors who already embodied the characters in the film. Thus, Corey Feldman who has always been crazy, Jerry O'Connell who was sweet and easy-going, River Phoenix who was serious and a peacemaker, and Wil himself who was depressed, painfully introverted and emotionally abused by his gold-digging parents. The story rings true because in an essential way, it is true. It's the stronger truth that can come from well-written fiction brought to life with an entirely different layer of truth. P.S. Reiner didn't add anything; on the contrary, he had to cut things out. Not a lot, though. The biggest cut was another story-within-the-story, very different from the Barf-O-Rama, that Reiner thought wasn't really necessary. The novella is well worth reading, by the way. In my opinion it ranks with some of the best of American short work. P.P.S. If you'd like to see River at his peak, watch "My Own Private Idaho". A really layered performance in a challenging film, it also stars Keanu Reeves. One of the best of the early 90's indie films.

If you're really interested in how much King's early life lent itself to his writing, read his On Writing. The first half is his memoir. The second is nuts and bolts writing advice. I highly recommend!

I couldn’t click fast enough! This is a freaking AWESOME cast and movie. You are the best for reacting to this gem. Seattle is sending you love today. Take Care! 💜💕💜

I just love watching your reactions. Thank you.

I’ve always felt like Kings strength is his character development and understanding. He knows them and loves them. Then he throws them into extraordinary or even unimaginable circumstances and we watch them figure out who they are. We are seeing them work it out. Seems very spiritual and human at the same time. He’s my favorite. The horror is secondary to my eye. It’s just something to move the story.

Going back through your older Reactions from before I found the channel. This and "Gilbert Grape" were an excellent heart-warming and heart-breaking one-two gut-punch for a Sunday morning. 🥰😢 Cheers and salutations from Canada.🥃☮❤

The collection this Novella came from is the same collection Shawshank, and Apt Pupil came from. There is one other story in the collection that I believe was going to be adapted but I am not sure if they made a movie from it. Apt Pupil is a good Thriller.

River Phoenix was such a natural actor, even at that age. It's tragic he died so young. Imagine the great things he would have done.

The late great River Phoenix, I'm still not over his death. Gone way too soon 😪 so talented. All of the boys did an amazing job in this incredible film. Very nice reaction ✌

The actor for the bully asked why Gordy never got the hat back from him, and he was told that his character probably threw it away in a can around the corner.

i watched this movie when i was 12 back in 1986, this movie is exactly what i remember of my childhood only difference is mine was in the 80s not the 50s. Going out with our bikes and not coming home until the street lights came on, we actually did stuff back then and the world was a way better place.

Ace Merill is another character who appears in more the one King work. He also appears in "Needful Things". That didn't have a horrible movie adaptation but they should've left Ace in it, and at some point release the damn Director's Cut on DVD!

Now and then is a very similar movie about 4 girls in the 50s. A great cast. Also the outsiders is a beast of a classic.

Of the Stephen King books I’ve read (The Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, and this are on my To-Read list), Carrie, Cujo, and Pet Semetary are my favorites.

Such a great classic!! Great Reaction

Thanks for the video. I enjoyed it.

I grew up in a small town just outside New York City in the 80s, in the exact same age group as River Phoenix, Will Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell, and Corey Feldman. I was one of the few Asians in a middle school that was just beginning to diversify, as people began leaving NYC for the smaller suburbs in the Tri-State Area. I had a group of friends similar to Gordy’s. We were the misfits, just 4-5 kids who didn’t fit in with the status quo. This movie resonated with me, as I did watch it with some frequency when my dad got it on VHS, but I honestly didn’t “get it” until high school. As one of these misfits, I was bullied by much bigger kids, some as old as Kiefer Sutherland’s character in this film. A few of these bullies had the reputation of being sadistic, and I spent a lot of those times trying to completely avoid them, mostly by sticking close to my group. What I loved about this film, and also IT, and Stranger Things, is the way in which these friendships are portrayed, even in the mentioning of dwindling relationships over time. I don’t talk to any of my friends from back the so much. I’m “friends” with a bunch on social media, but we rarely actually speak. Sometimes I dwell on those days, and I regret not keeping in touch with some of them as I should have. After all, we never have friends later on, like the ones we had when we were 12.

So this is pretty random: Who else saw a TV-edit of this film where for Gordie's story, they edited out the "ass" part of "Lardass"... which was super surreal and jarring, especially the amount of fast cuts they made when the entire crowd was chanting his name = "Lard--!Lard--!Lard--!Lard--!"

Don't underestimate how much story a novella contains. _The Shawshank Redemption_ was a novella as well, just like _The Mist_ , just to name a few well-known ones. Most movie adaptions of Stephen King's stories are generally relatively (if not completely) true to the book, as the directors understand how well his books are written. It's just that every now and then a director veers off a bit to add his own touch to it. _The Shining_ and _The Mist_ are the ones that come to mind that have some (but not too many) differences. For larger novels it means that they have to actually _cut_ things in order to tell the global story. Which is why stories like _IT_ end up in two parts, whereas _The Stand_ had even four, to make sure they can grasp the proper feeling of what King wanted to convey with the story. I also notice you bring up the 'authentic' feeling you get from watching this movie and that's something that King always presses on about when he talks about writing; be honest in your stories, to the point that all the uncomfortable things that come with them are part of what you write. The truth is often awkward and painful, but that's what makes the audience believe your characters are real, because they feel the authenticity. It's part of what I appreciate with his stories; that feeling of authenticity of the characters.

Great reaction!

This is my all time favorite movie. We literally wore VHS tapes out watching it so often.

I saw this for the first time last year. it's my favourite Stephen King adaptation and I think I spent an entire month thinking about it constantly. I;m not from the US and didn't grow up in a small town. But I really connected with this.