I highly doubt that there is a movie I’ve watched as many times as The Goonies. If anything, Back to the Future is a close second, but I seem to recall a time in my early life when I watched The Goonies with my friend on a daily basis. I’m not joking.
To this day, if I had the night off, and I happened to be flipping through the channels on the TV (that rarely happens; really) and I noticed that The Goonies was on, I would probably watch it again.
It has often been said that familiarity breeds contempt, and while that might be true in some cases, familiarity might also allow one the opportunity to continue to discover new and different things they didn’t notice before. Unmistakably, that is the case with a film like The Goonies.
Don’t get me wrong; if I was shoved in a padded room with an old TV that only played The Goonies over and over and over, I would probably start to hate it. And then like it again. And then hate it. And then recite every line from the movie. Anyway, that’s mostly a pointless discussion, because the chances of that happening are slim to none.
One of the reasons it seems to stay fresh is because it’s one of those movies that has a variety of different TV edits. For example, you might hear Chunk (Jeff Cohen) mention a giant octopus towards the end of the movie (at least I think it was Chunk… It might have been Mouth). Well, in case you didn’t know, there was a scene with the giant octopus by the pirate ship. It just got deleted. I must say, I rather prefer the movie without it; they made a smart move there.
However, I’m pretty sure there was one time I watched the movie on TV and all they left all the deleted scenes in. That was pretty cool.
What is it about The Goonies that related so well to kids in the 80s and 90s? For one thing, I think it was the characters. Each kid was a little different, but not in the way that archetypes and stereotypes are exaggerated today; much subtler and more realistic. That isn’t to say that there aren’t a few outrageous characters; Chunk, Data and Sloth in particular.
Another thing that really stood out was the adventure itself. Kids don’t really hang out the way we used to; and they’re definitely missing out. Even in this day and age, the movie as a whole holds up pretty well. The pacing is a little more relaxed, but you don’t feel cheated for it.
I also have to admit that the Cyndi Lauper song is quite good. Say what you will about her weirdness, “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough” is still a ridiculously good theme song for the film.
Anyway, this is just a giant love fest for the movie. If you’re wondering if you should watch it, it’s worth experiencing at least once. They have tried to replicate the charm of this movie with pictures like Super 8, but it’s nowhere near as good.
AS Rating: (9 / 10)