Continuity mistake: When the boys are dunking each other in the swamp Gordie starts to wade away, when he passes the camera his hair is dry but when he reaches the bank it's wet again. (01:04:56)
Stand By Me (1986)
0 reviews
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Richard Dreyfuss, Jerry O'Connell, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Wil Wheaton, Gary Riley
Your rating
Average rating
(9 votes)
More mistakes in Stand By Me
[Gordie is dreaming about Denny's funeral.]
Mr. LaChance: It should have been you Gordon.
Trivia: While filming the scene in which Ace takes Gordie's Yankees cap, Kiefer Sutherland's first instinct was to put it on, rather than hand it to Eyeball Chambers.
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: Throwing on brakes that heavily gives the train a chance of derailing and the train still wouldn't stop in time.
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.
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.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
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.