If you want to make a room full of thirty-somethings smile, you could do a lot worse than yelling “Hey you guuuuuys!”. Perennial childhood favorite of a generation obsessed with nostalgia, The Goonies has a fond place in many hearts, and the 25th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition is clearly designed with yearning fanboys in mind. Already released twice on DVD and once on Blu-ray, the 25th anniversary of its release is an occasion to squeeze a little more cash out of the beloved classic.
The Goonies follows a group of misfits from Astoria, Portland, whose neighborhood is about to be destroyed to install a golf course. Mikey Walsh (Sean Astin) and his older brother Brand (Josh Brolin) will lose their house to foreclosure in twenty-four hours, so when Mikey finds a treasure map in their attic, he and the rest of the self-proclaimed Goonies head out to find the gold and save the neighborhood. The gang, Mikey, Mouth (Corey Feldman) Data and Chunk find the entrance to the treasure cave, but it’s right underneath the hideout of notorious crime family the Farantellis, who want to kill the kids and keep the treasure for themselves.
The path is filled with Rube Goldberg inspired booby traps, set by One-Eyed Willie, the pirate who amassed the treasure, and the kids shout, curse and laugh their way through a series of treacherous caves. Though Mikey is the ostensible protagonist, and Chunk the most remembered by history (see: Truffle Shuffle) the real hero is Data, the neurotic, underappreciated inventor who instigates much of the action and gets off the funniest lines.
The film has held up well. Having not seen it in years, I was afraid I’d have to write an ugly, childhood reevaluating review. And though there are a number of gaping plot holes, some pretty poor acting, silly special affects and awkward action in the fight scenes, it’s still charming and engaging.
It’s Indiana Jones as coming-of-age flick, and it’s hard not to get swept up by the energy of the kids on screen. You can tell everyone had fun making it. And the infectious joy of the film carries the cast through a series of (now iconic) set pieces: the skeletal organ, the crazy underground waterslide, the pirate ship filled with skeletons. The friendship between outcast-among-outcasts Chunk and the deformed Sloth is touching and ridiculous, and Mikey’s sappy “this is our time” pep-talks are goofy but of-the-moment.
I don’t know how someone coming to this film for the first time would feel about it: I’ve seen it enough times to lack appropriate objectivity. It definitely has some problems. The villains are embarrassingly inept, and the plot holes would probably be more debilitating for a first-time viewer. But Goonies has that rare quality that marks the best kids films: it captures a child’s perspective. The world of The Goonies is one seemingly imagined by a kid; no wonder it holds such nostalgic power over those who saw it as children.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The Goonies 25th Anniversary Ultimate Collectors Edition comes in a huge box, clearly appealing to those who hope to prominently display their loyalty to their childhood (“Dude, Goonies? Right on!”). The Blu-ray looks good, although the sound is surprisingly muddy. It comes with a six minute making of feature from 1985 (silly), a theatrical trailer (sure), a couple deleted scenes (awesome), the music video for Cyndi Lauper’s “Goonie’s ‘R’ Good Enough” (eighties), a commentary track with the director and the seven child actors all growed up (pretty great), and also an option to have that commentary pop up as video (whatever.)
But all that stuff came on the original Blu-ray, what makes this the Ultimate Collectors Edition? A bunch of crap in that giant box. There’s a designed-in-less-time-than-it-takes-to-play board game, a little “where are they now” pamphlet about the stars, a pretty neat reprint of the Goonies souvenir magazine, which is just the film in pictures and text, and some gorgeous “storyboard cards” that are nice to look at…once. None of this stuff is worth ponying up almost twice the price of the original Blu-ray. The real reason to buy the Ultimate Collectors Edition is to have a giant Goonies box in your living room so that people can walk in and shout “Hey you guuuuuys.” But who knows, maybe that’s how you make friends. Otherwise, stick to the original and save some dubloons for rocky road ice cream and comic books.
"The Goonies: 25th Anniversary Collector's Edition" is on sale November 2, 2010 and is rated PG. Adventure, Children & Family. Directed by Richard Donner. Written by Chris Columbus. Starring Corey Feldman, Josh Brolin, Sean Astin.
