I saw Stand By Me when it came out on video with a number of college students.
At the time it was the ‘respectable’ Stephen King film.
As a movie I find it to be untemarkable. Cliches and nostalgia. I think The Last Picture Show is move evocative of the 1950s with more story to tell.
I haven’t seen Stand By Me in 30 years and don’t hear it celebrated as much. The Wonder Years also did that narrator reflecting on his childhood thing.
That’s a shame. A simple story, but the simple,summer days of youth, when told, always stir emotions of some sort and leads one inward, remembering.