"Yeah, by the time we get there, the kid won't even be dead anymore."

No question Stand By Me is one of the best movies that came from a Steven King novel, it's a classic to many movie lovers. The story is about four best friends that go on an adventure to find a body of a dead boy. They think by finding it they will get on television and perhaps be given a reward. Gordie Lachance (Will Wheaton) recently lost his older brother Denny, played by John Cusack. His mother ignores him and his dad doesn't believe in his writing talents. Chris Chambers (River Phoenix), Gordie's best friend, is a rebel and has an older brother who is in Ace Merrill's (Kiefer Sutherland) gang. Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman) is an unstable and weird boy, who has a father that stormed the beaches of Normandy and then went crazy. The last of the friends is Vern Tessio (Jerry O'Connell) is a shy and overweight boy, who heard is brother talking about the body.
The four friends make a plan to walk all the way to find the boy's body and bring it back to their town of Castle Rock. What they don't know is Ace, Eyeball (Chris's brother) and their gang are on there way to the body as well. Along the way the four friends have many adventures and get into some trouble as well. They have a run in with a junkyard owner and his dog, swim in a swamp that ends up being full of leeches and near get run down by a train on a train bridge. When they finally find the boy's body, they come face to face with the end of their journey and Ace's gang.
This movie is always a joy to watch, no matter what kind of a mood you are in. It has laughs, drama and even some thrilling moments. This movie shows that around this time and before it, there was a such thing as good child actors. Nowadays it's a hard thing to find and doesn't come easy. In this movie all four of the child actors do a great job, with River Phoenix being the standout of the four.
One of my favourite parts is when the four friends are sitting around the fire and Gordie tells them one of his stories. When he tells the story about "Lardass", the movie cuts to an actual "mini-movie" of Gordie's story and is actually quite funny. It is a part in the story to show Gordie's writing talents and also adds to the laughs of this film.
My Dvd is the Special Edition, even though there is too much that is special about it. It has a picture of the four main characters on the front and has some special features on the disc as well. There are also a few good reviews. " A genuinely delightful movie," says the Wall Street Journal and "Absolutely wonderful.....a film I may never forget!," says Jeffrey Lyons, from Sneak Previews Independent Network News.
I say if you haven't seen this movie yet, what are you doing with your life! Watch this now!
Stand by Me was released in 1986 and was directed by Rob Reiner. Released by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures and Tristar.

Collection#:
Stand By Me: #360