The Goonies

Combining swashbuckling, mystery, murder, pre-teen wonder and teen angst, "The Goonies," is a wonderful film about two brothers and their friends who are about to lose their homes but wind up on an amazing journey that just might save them all. When the Walsh brothers and their friends find a map in the family attic, the "Goonies" set out on one last adventure before having to say goodbye to each other.

What they find is a trail leading to the treasure of the infamous One-Eyed Willie, a pirate who literally protected his gold to his death. The gang has to get past a number of booby traps, including a piano of death, in order to get Willie's treasure. They also have to deal with a rich high school bully and the murderous Fratelli family.

This film is fun from the beginning. Steven Spielberg story and Chris Columbus' screenplay fit well on the screen. Director Richard Donner blends humor, adventure, and a touch of romance into the tale that prevents the story from ever getting boring. Cyndi Lauper's "The Goonies R' Good Enough" sets the musical tone for the film.

The cast features a number of (at the time) up-and-coming actors. Sean Astin plays the younger Walsh son, Mikey. Josh Brolin plays Brandon Walsh. Indie princess Martha Plimpton plays Stef Steinbrenner. Future fight choreographer (and also "Short Round" in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom") Ke Huy Quan plays Data. Jeff Cohen portrays Chunk. Kerri Green plays Andy Carmichael and future "Two Coreys" star Corey Feldman rounds out the Goonies as Mouth.

The Fratelli clan is filled with the wonderful Anne Ramsey as Ma Fratelli, Joe Pantoliano as Francis, Robert Davi as Jake and John Matuszak as the legendary Sloth.

Be warned that their is quite a bit of strong language in this film. It pre-dates the PG-13 era, and probably would have received that rating if it had been around. The rest of the tale is family friendly, with only mild peril and one murder.

For a solid afternoon or evening of family fun, I highly recommend "The Goonies." It's one of Spielberg's best projects.

You have to have this in your DVD collection! Full of adventure and a great cast! Brings back so many fond memories of growing up in the 80s!

This is a classic from my youth. I showed it to my kids and they liked it but it does feel a little dated. Also, I don't remember there being so much mildly offensive language. I cringed through a lot of it with my 7 and 8 year old kids.

This is one of those old "favorite" movies you watch over and over. Any age appropriate. My children wore out the vhs so I need a dvd for the grandchildren. Funny and at the same time spell-binding and touching.

I grew up on the original and it was awesome!
Just so people do not get confused, YES, there are 2 versions.
One is the original-unedited. This has some cursing and at the Pirate ship part there may or may not be an octupus part.
I saw it also aired on Disney. This version was cleaned up. They edited this some, which includes the cursing was gone and replaced those words with other cleaner versions of it.
You can probably buy this version as well but I'm not sure how one could compare them.