My favorite Stephen King adaptation is, without a doubt, Stand by Me. Almost two years ago, we here at CinemaBlend lamented that the Rob Reiner-directed movie was leaving Netflix, but now it’s back, and I definitely plan on watching it again with my Netflix subscription. It’s actually been a lot longer than two years since I last saw Stand by Me, and I’m definitely ready for a rewatch of the movie with a now legendary cast including Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Jerry O'Connell, Corey Feldman, Keifer Sutherland, and John Cusack. I have a strong emotional attachment to the movie that outshines any other of King’s book-to-screen adaptations.
I Was The Perfect Age For Stand By Me
I was ten years old when Stand by Me was released in 1986, and I was 11 when I saw it. While the kids in the movie were a touch old, as with any 11-year-old, I thought of myself as slightly older than I actually was. That made me right in the sweet spot for the movie. Sure, I was a child of the '70s/’80s, and the characters in the movies were my parents' generation, but I felt a kinship with them. Plus, because they were my parents' generation, I had a direct connection to the 1950s, having heard all the stories about my mom and dad’s childhoods.
That also meant that I connected with the music in the movie. Director Reiner and music supervisor Celest Ray picked some bangers from the early days of rock n’ roll for the soundtrack, and I loved it. I’m sure I heard the soundtrack before I saw the movie, much like another Boomer nostalgia movie, Good Morning, Vietnam. For kids in the 1980s, the soundtracks to movies like Stand by Me were often our first exposure to them.
I Was Mostly Scared Of Stephen King
The ‘80s were a different time, and seeing Rated-R movies way before we ever should have meant that I had seen a couple of King adaptations before Stand by Me. Movies like Firestarter and Cujo were staples of cable TV, and I’d seen both. I’d also been terrified of both. I didn’t even know Stand by Me was based on a King novella until I saw his name during the opening credits. It blew my mind. I thought he wrote horror stories. Stand by Me definitely wasn’t that, although the dog “Chopper” scared me as much as Cujo did.
Stand by Me is the first adaptation from a King story that showed that other side of the author. The one we all know now from movies and books like this one and The Shawshank Redemption. I had no idea he wrote such heartwarming stories to go along with the ones that kept me up at night, like The Shining and Carrie. Before Stand by Me, all the movies based on his books were like those and Maximum Overdrive, which was another movie I saw around this same time and really scared me, like, a lot.
Stand by Me has no horror at all, and nothing supernatural. Just a deeply personal story about friendship that kids of any era can connect with, just like I did. It's one of the best King movies, despite not being what he's most famous for. I can’t wait to watch it again this weekend.
