Happy 25th Anniversary, Stand By Me! What's Its Most Underrated Moment?

The cast of Stand by Me reunited a few months ago to commemorate the film's 25th year, but it's today, Aug. 8, that the Rob Reiner-directed ode to innocence and burgeoning adulthood celebrates its official silver anniversary. Whether in the narration of Richard Dreyfuss or the poignant camaraderie of 12-year-old crusaders Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, or Jerry O'Connell, the movie packs plenty of childhood insight into 88 minutes. What its most underrated moment?

Because Stand by Me feels somewhat like an elongated short story (as it's based on Stephen King's novella The Body), its cinematic metaphors stand our like motifs in an Edith Wharton or a D.H. Lawrence work. My favorite among the metaphors is that of the train, which zooms into frame sometimes innocently and oftentimes violently. When Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman) stands in the tracks and stares down the charging locomotive or when all four kids must dart across a bridge to evade the speeding vehicle, it's clear the train stands for the harrowing, often uninvited brushes with a new reality the characters already understand too well. There's no denying how well Rob Reiner pinpointed "the end of childhood" in Stand By Me, and the train symbolizes the necessary, but painful eventuality of that transition.

Plus, I love when Teddy announces, "And while you guys are dragging your candy-asses halfway across the state and back, I'll be waiting for you on the other side, relaxing with my thoughts." Even a traumatized burnout like Teddy knows that "candy-ass" can be an effective, hilarious barb. (And of course, Gordie's rejoinder, "You use your left hand or your right hand for that?" is just as funny.)

Oh, and Kiefer Sutherland's shock-blond Brigitte Nielsen 'do is cute too. Hit the comments with your favorite underrated moment from Stand By Me.