The Goonies [1985] - DVD (Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green - Dir: Richard Donner)

You may be surprised to discover that the director of the Lethal Weapon movies and scary horror flick The Omen, Richard Donner, also produced and directed this classic children's adventure (which, by the way, was written by Donner's screen-wizard friend Steven Spielberg). Then again you may not. The Goonies, like Donner's other movies, is the same story of good versus evil. It has its share of bad guys (the Fratelli brothers and their villainous mother), reluctant-hero good guys (the Walsh bothers and their gang of friends), and lots of corny one-liners. Like in an old-fashioned Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew plot, the Goonies need to solve a problem: a corrupt corporate developer has bought out their neighbourhood and plans to flatten all their homes. Luckily, the beloved gang stumbles on a treasure map. In the hopes of finding the treasure to buy back their houses, the Goonies embark on their quest through underground passages, aboard pirate ships, and behind waterfalls. This swashbuckling and rollicking ride was also a great breeding ground for a couple of child actors who went on to enjoy numerous successes in adulthood: Sean Astin (Rudy, Encino Man) and Martha Plimpton (Pecker, 200 Cigarettes). --Samantha Allen Storey, Amazon.com

Customer Reviews of The Goonies [1985]

Another Weasley
Scotland
29th November 2008

Do the Truffle Shuffle!
HEY YOU GUUUUUUUUUUUUYYYSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Every kids dream........find a treasure map, then embark on a wild adventure with your mates!

Fantastic!

VaticanSIN
York, UK
15th November 2008

DVD vs BLU-RAY
I was hoping something special with this Blu-ray release, I was so disappointed with the delivery of this edition of the Goonies, I would even say that the DVD version is superior in term of content, a prime example is the menu navigation system, the DVD was beautifully animated and crafted as if you were inside a cave; the Blu-ray edition is just a simple screen with a background picture and selectable text. All I can say about the picture quality is exactly the same as the previous reviews, good in some parts bad in others.

My next grudge with this version of the Goonies is purely personal and probably does not concern much of the customers that will buy this Blu-ray. Because I am half European Spanish I grew up watching it in the Castilian Spanish version, as I loaded the disc and wanted to hear it again to reminisce my childhood I was so disappointed to find out it had Latin American Spanish as de chosen language... Why this is sold on the European market I have no idea but the DVD had Castilian Spanish.

Screwface
Stockholm, Sweden
16th October 2008

A must have!!
I really loved watched the blu-ray version of Goonies- it looks so great! i was so amazed how much more of Astoria you can se because of the detail of the blu ray release! I noticed details and things that i havent seen on the DVD version.

The sound is also great, the Dolby Digital TrueHD track is one of the best i've heard. Lots of neat effects and sounds.

Buy this, if you like me, loved this movie as a kid it is a must have in your collection!

For the swedish customers, there is no swedish subtitles on this version. However, there is a swedish subtitled version available in Sweden (at a much higher price....)

Regards/ Nick

Toby the Chameleon
London, UK
14th October 2008

Still a gem 23 years on!
A classic film, now 23 years old!! This still takes me down memory lane every time I watch it. Now I will be honest and say i did not have high hopes when it came to picture quality...BUT WOW! All the classic scenes have a completely new lease of life. The boat scene at the end with the fratellies and all the treasure looks fantastic! and you cant help miss chunks Hawaiian shirt!

I did hope for some new special features over the DVD, but I guess we will have to wait for the goonies documentary to come out next year!

All in all buy it! Great movie, Great Bluray!!!

A. De Gier
Netherlands
9th October 2008

Decent transfer but I hoped for more
As stated by the first review that was posted here the picture quality is fair. Not the greatest blu ray disc but a fair improvement over the standard dvd version. The picture isn't consistent which is sort of a letdown. Where some scenes looked crystal clear and vivid other scenes looked like an upgrade standard version but not High Def. Warner has delivered better titles and it looks like no real effort was made to make this look great. Unfortunately this is a new trend on blu ray today.

This also shows in the extra features. They are exact the same as on the dvd. I really hoped to get a PictureInPicture feature where we could watch the entire visual commentary track (which is one of the best features) but instead Warner decided to keep it the same as on the standard disc. I was disappointed that they didn't gave it a bit more effort. Blu Ray is a fantastic format for these kind of extra extras. But I guess Goonies isn't interesting enough for Warner to give it something 'special'

Nonetheless I give this blu ray version 3 out of 5 stars. Merely because I really love this movie. Warner gets 1 out of 5 stars for the release. Lack of effort, lack of appreciation for the fans of the movie but at least they released it.