Stand By Me

Continuity mistake: In the scene where all the boys are at the junkyard tossing their coins.Watch Chris reach Gordy back his coin, then the next shot Chris hands him the coin again.

Continuity mistake: Watch carefully in the scene where the four boys are running for their lives over the railway bridge. Chris and Teddy are in front, and Vern and Gordie are behind. In one shot we see just Vern and Gordie's feet, and quite a lot of the track behind them. You can see that there is no train behind them. In the very next shot, the train is about two metres behind them.

Continuity mistake: When the boys are roasting marshmallows, Verns falls off the stick in two pieces. When he picks it back up with the stick, it's whole again.

Revealing mistake: When Gordie cries after finding the body there are no tears in his eyes and his face is completely dry. (01:10:45)

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Quotes

Mr. LaChance: Why can't you have friends like Denny's?
Gordie: Dad, they're okay.
Mr. LaChance: Sure they are. A thief and two feebs?
Gordie: Chris isn't a thief.
Mr. LaChance: He stole the milk money at school. He's a thief in my book.

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Trivia

Trivia: The scene with the leeches on Gordie was based on a real life experience that Stephen King had. Mr King has stated that he even has the scar to prove it.

Karoo

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Questions

Question: In the train dodging scene, why didn't the loco crew brake at all? They definitely saw the boys in front. I know that trains have very long stopping distances compared to road vehicles, but still. And why didn't the boys try to signal the driver to stop? I get it that they panicked, but still wouldn't that be the first thing coming to one's mind in such a situation?

Answer: No, it wasn't that big of a train. He didn't even attempt to get off the throttle. That's all it would have taken for the boys to make it fairly easy. It was a straight-away track, no chance of it derailing by hitting the brakes. Like the man said above, if trains derailed that easily, we wouldn't be using them.

Answer: Throwing on brakes that heavily gives the train a chance of derailing and the train still wouldn't stop in time.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: To add to the other fine answers, and as mentioned, any attempt to make a sudden stop could have resulted in derailment. The conductor knew the train was about to go over an elevated track, and if it derailed, it would have plunged into the deep ravine, killing the boys anyway, as well as those on aboard. The best he could do was blow the whistle, gradually slow the train, and hope the boys survived.

raywest ★

Can't agree with the arguments about derailment. If trains derailed so easily, they would derail all the time. The train had only 4 or 5 cars. It would not have needed miles to stop. Simply reducing the throttle would have resulted in significant slowing. Plus, they did not stop to determine if anyone was hurt. That is criminal behavior.

Answer: A train that size would have needed miles to stop, and rapid braking could have caused derailment. The engineer was blowing his whistle so he saw the boys; there was no need for them to signal. The engineer and the boys knew their only chance was to get off the bridge.

Brian Katcher

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