It’s not everyday a movie comes out that go on to be considered ‘classic’, but THE GOONIES is one of those films. A perfectly constructed family film, but then when you look at the people behind it, perhaps that should come as such a surprise. After all, it did have involvement from 3 people who would probably eat up three quarters of the budget if you tried to get them collaborating today. The story was originated by Steven Spielberg, then written by Chris Columbus and directed by Richard Donner, which is a pretty incredible team to have behind a movie.
For those of you too young to have seen it the first time around, the story follows a young group of friends who are trying to save their home from being taken over by an evil property development company. When the gang discover a treasure map in the attic of one of their group, they decide to set off to find it, as the money could be just what they need to stop the land being sold off. What follows is an epic tale of adventure, with some stellar performances from a young Sean ‘Samwise’ Austin as Mikey, Josh Brolin as his older brother Brand, Jonathan Ke Quan as the nerdy Data, Jeff Cohen as the ever memorable Chunk, and Corey Feldman as Mouth (because it was the 80’s, and California law at the time meant one of the 2 Corey’s had to be in your movie).
As the group set off on their quest for “One-Eyed” Willy’s doubloons, they encounter the Fratellis (not the band…), a criminal gang running a counterfeiting operation, and ruled over by the fearsome ‘Mama’ (played by the brilliant Anne Ramsey), who aren’t too happy with these pesky kids poking around their operation. This brings us to the somewhat surprising star of the Goonies. Sloth (John Matuszak), who despite being seen as a monster by most people at first, ends up becoming the total hero of the entire movie.
The Goonies – 30th Anniversary Blu-ray
The Goonies is a classic, not only of 80’s cinema, but one that stands up just as well today. It maybe a 30 year old movie, but it has such heart, and fun sense of adventure, it’s impossible not to get wrapped up in the story. This 30th Anniversary edition comes with some great extras too.
On the Blu-ray there’s a commentary track from Richard Donner with various cast members, a ‘making of’ feature, deleted scenes, the Cyndi Lauper ‘The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough’ music video, a remastered soundtrack, and the theatrical trailer. The box also contains a number of art cards showing the film’s storyboards, Empire’s ‘Where Are They Now’ mini-magazine about the cast, and a beautiful little book containing lots of extra information and trivia about the making of the movie. With Christmas just around the corner, it’d be a great gift for any 40-something looking to reconnect with one of their favourite childhood films, or a great way to introduce a new generation to a classic motion picture.
Buy ‘The Goonies – 30th Anniversary Blu-ray’ from Amazon
