The Goonies (1985)
Directed by: Richard Donner
Written by: Chris Columbus, Steven Spielberg
Starring: Anne Ramsey, Corey Feldman, Jeff Cohen, Joe Pantoliano, John Matuszak, Jonathan Ke Quan, Josh Brolin, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton, Mary Ellen Trainor, Robert Davi, Sean Astin
THE GOONIES (1985)
Directed by Richard Donner
30th Anniversary Edition Blu-Ray
A band of misfit kids led by Mikey Walsh decide to embark on a treasure hunt to find the missing treasure of pirate One Eyed Willy who legend dictates was trapped inside a cave by the armada with all his ‘rich stuff’. However, before One Eyed Willy died, rumour has it that he booby-trapped the entire tunnel system they dug out inside the caves so his crew nor anyone else could steal his precious treasure from him. With their homes at the Goon Docks, Astoria, about to be flattened by a company looking to build a golf course on the land, the friends, known as The Goonies, must risk their lives in an attempt to find the booty to save their neighbourhood.
Cult favourite kids adventure flick THE GOONIES from producer Steven Spielberg sees the likes of Sean Astin as headstrong asthmatic Mikey, Josh Brolin as his muscle-building older brother Brand, Ke Huy Quan as gadget inventor Data, Corey Feldman as mischievious talkative Mouth, Jeff Cohen as bonny clutz Chunk, Kerri Green as cheerleader Andy and Martha Plimpton as straight-talking Stef work together to try and save their homes. The likable bunch of misfits grab the viewer’s attention from the start as they each cause mayhem by doing very little. With their home threatened by rich men with big ideas, something we can all relate to, the audience is behind them every step of the way to find some solution to save their neighbourhood and to stop them from being turfed out.
Though this is a kids film at heart, there’s plenty for the adult crowd to enjoy especially for those who watched as kids and are now grown-up. There’s innuendos, one-liners that only an adult will understand and of course, the infamous translation scene by Mouth who kindly translates Mrs Walsh’s orders and requests for Spanish-speaking cleaner Rosalita albeit his own wicked version of them. I mean, this is a family film that features a bunch of kids who go looking for the treasure of One-Eyed Willy for God’s sake. If that alone doesn’t make you laugh your socks off, then I don’t know what will.
What seems to grab the viewer, especially the young audience, is that this is an adventure movie and adventures are usually loads of fun with a hint of danger. This one is no exception. There’s promise of gold and jewels at the end as their reward but they’ll have to get through booby-trapped tunnels and escape from the clutches of wicked gangster family, The Fratelli’s. It’s just as well that criminal brothers Jake (Die Hard‘s Robert Davi) and Francis Fratelli (Bound and The Matrix‘s Joe Pantoliano) are hapless though they are led by the hard-as-nails Mama Fratelli (Anne Ramsey). The weakest link of the family, or so the Fratelli’s think, is Sloth, a disfigured man with the heart of a youngster who Chunk ends up befriending after they become tied up together in the same room. Could Sloth be their biggest ally?
2015 marks the 30th Anniversary of the film and so Warner Bros. Home Video have released a 30th Anniversary edition Blu-Ray of The Goonies chock full of ‘rich stuff’ including a special Collector’s Edition Souvenir Magazine, a collection of storyboard cards, an Empire special booklet from the 20th Anniversary and of course the Blu-Ray loaded with extras. The Blu-Ray itself is great though the standard audio in 5.1 surround sound doesn’t sound as clear as I would have liked with the dialogue sounding a little muffled though the TrueHD 5.1 audio track improves this. The extras on the Blu-Ray disc include a music video from Cyndi Lauper, three deleted sceens (including the octopus one!), audio commentary and also video commentary which shows the now-adult stars of the film discussing the movie which is quite a hoot to watch. The physical extras seem to be the same from the 25th anniversary DVD release, minus the boardgame, with storyboard cards showing deleted scenes as well as some scenes that were included in the film and the Empire booklet containing an interview with the young stars and director Richard Donner. The Souvenir Magazine retells the entire story of The Goonies but also adds in some behind-the-scenes details and words from the cast and crew.
The 30th Anniversary edition Blu-Ray of The Goonies is a fantastic piece to have in the collection for any Goonies nut.
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