As a kid my first passion was my NES. I would always ask for new games for Christmas and birthdays, and rent them when I could. One game I became obsessed with even though as a kid I could never figure it out was “The Goonies II”. I found out through a friend it was based on a movie, so I thought seeing the movie would help me with the game, so I asked my Dad for a copy of “The Goonies II”.

He got me the Goonies. I told me that he got me the wrong thing, but was told that there was no “Goonies II” movie, so figuring it might help anyway, I watched it. Well, the movie definitely did not help with the game, and I still haven’t rescued Annie the Mermaid, but the Goonies definitely became my first favorite film after that viewing. Coincidentally, over the last years my son, Sage, now 10 has also declared The Goonies his favorite film (though Back to the Future might be pushing it down the list).

The Goonies follows a group of kids and teenagers lead by Mikey Walsh (Sean Astin), who find a treasure map in his attic on an adventure in a series of caverns underneath their hometown of Astoria, OR. In the hopes of finding pirate treasure, and saving their homes from land developers who hope to turn their neighborhood into a country club.

The film is a straight forward adventure film. There are villains and peril, but the sense of danger is never too much, but the sense of fun and excitement is always there (this is a Spielberg/Donner joint after all). The chemistry from the cast is undeniable, and aside from the excellent FX and stunt work throughout is probably a good percentage of what makes this film work.

I’ve owned the Goonies on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and now on 4k Disc. The Blu-ray I’ll admit didn’t look too great to me, but the 4k restores looks marvelous. The film is presented with a 2160p Ultra HD transfer that has amazing detail, film like grain, and colors that pop. Audio is a DTS-HD MA audio track that sounds quite solid without issue. Extras are the same as prior editions. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Director- Richard Donner

Cast- Sean Astin, Corey Feldman

Country of Origin- US

Distributor – Warner Brothers

Number of Discs –2

Reviewed by – Scott MacDonald

Date- 8/29/20