0
0
By Erin Tobin
By Erin Tobin
“The Goonies” will always take people back to a simpler time when the only big worry in life were the three escaped convicts following a group of pre-teens skipping merrily down a bobby-trapped trail to discover a infamous pirate captain’s long lost treasure.
This tale about a gaggle of friends who never know when to say die reminds everyone of the adventure and loyalty that existed during childhood. They live in Astoria, Oregon which is a suburbia town like every other suburbia town.
This is what gives this movie from 1985 staying power over most family adventure flicks that end up going straight to video. Throughout the movie, “The Goonies” somehow maintains a sense of realism.
For “The Goonies” takes place in the world of the young. The adventurers even have those silly nicknames like Mouth, Data and Chunk that no adult will ever use or even acknowledge and the children use the typical youth talk no parent would ever condone.
Since the adults of Astoria will do nothing when their community is threatened by a mogul who wants to build a golf course, this gang decides to take matters into their own hands.
The group’s leader is Mikey Walsh, who is played by a very young pre- Lord of the Rings Sean Astin. While him and his friends clean out Walsh’s attic they stumble upon a treasure map belonging to the fierce One-Eyed Willy, a long dead pirate that seems to be Walsh’s hero.
So, along with Walsh’s older brother and two teenage girls the Goonies set off to find treasure, save the town or just have one last great adventure.
That’s what “The Goonies” is, a great adventure film. There’s action, surprises and some decent visual effects thanks to strong direction by Richard Donner, who also directed the first two “Superman” movies.
Donner’s directorial decisions for “The Goonies” have survived in the world of movie trivia, like the fact that Donner hid the pirate ship from the view of his young actors to get a genuine reaction at the time the scene was filmed
Few current movies of this genre capture atmosphere of “The Goonies” and that’s why few will obtain the movies cult classic status. Watching it will help anyone remember when life was easy and breezy.
