Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68674 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-08-21
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 114 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

Review of the Blu-ray viewed on a PS3 and a 40" 100z 1080p TV.

I guess everyone's first question is How does it look? Well, it looks good. Really good. Perfect? No. I'll list the poorer aspects of the transfer first.

To me, a lot of shots with close-ups of actors don't look as vivid as those without. This might simply be because flesh tones have less variance when filling a large portion of the screen, and therefore maybe it's an unfair comparison. But it's definitely not as clear as I've seen on other movies (Blade Runner is an obvious example, and that has the highest definition HD master so far, scanned in at 4K resolution). One scene that looked particularly grainy was where Mouth is telling Rosalita she'll be locked in the cupboard. I think this can only be down to the original negative, because there are other scenes with lower light levels that have absolutely no grain at all. One thing that the HD mastering hasn't done much of is make the visual effects looks worse, as is the case with a lot of FX-heavy movies. One thing I did notice more was when the kids land in the pirate ship cavern and we get the big reveal, the flow of water on the right looks really bad - it's way too fast and looks composited.

On the positive side, it really does look good in wide shots, and there are many in this film. The shots of Astoria look great, I definitely noticed the backgrounds look sharper in some of these shots, like shot of Chunk doing his truffle shuffle - when you get the reverse shot of Chunk standing on the box, look at the houses on the hillside in the background. The attic scene looks surprisingly good, considering it's shot in low lighting. The plasma ball and lightning tube look really vivid here, I liked that. I was happy with how good the whole scene looked because it's got some great rain-diffused lighting and cinematography.

Another shot that jumped out at me is when Mr Perkins and his associate walk away, the tankers at sea behind them are really clear now despite not being in the field of focus. Later, when the kids get off their bikes at the top of the hill and look out to the beach, it's incredibly crisp, and shortly after that when they drag their bikes to the top of the hill, you can see every wave hitting the rocks in the distance. Quite stunning.

I must say, one scene I was really looking forward to seeing was the wishing well/coins scene. I always thought it was beautifully shot, whatever I was viewing it on. Well, it looks crystal clear, as it should with such vivid lighting.

The miserable Astoria weather is more vivid than ever, both visually and the crystal clear audio. And in some shots, the map is clear enough to read yourself.

Oh, and Chunk's Hawaian shirt looks better than ever! Or worse, depending on your taste.

The audio is crisp, although one problem with this movie has always been the noise of too many characters speaking at once. That can't really be fixed, but given those in-built limitations, it sounds great. Dave Grusin's score is always lovely to hear as well.

As for the rest of the Blu-ray, the special features are straight from the DVD. The famous commentary is one of the best ever made for a DVD, so if you didn't get the DVD, you will love it. But at the end of the day, the film is what matters most, and let's face it, this one is a gem.

A must see for every Goonies and non Goonies fan
This superb adventure leads a group of friends (The Goonies) through many dangerous situations in search of 'one eyed willies' treasure. They work their way through booby traps, puzzles and the persuing threat of the dangerous Fratelli family in search of the treasure that will save their homes from redevelopement.
This DVD contains many extras including the infamous octopus scene which was cut from the cinema and vhs version of the film in the uk.
This film was the launch stone for some very talented young actors/actresses, including Sean Astin who played Samwise Gamgee in the massive Lord of the rings Trilogy, and Joe Pantoliano who went on too star in numerous films including The Matrix and the tv series The Sopranos.

The Goonies
The goonies is a much loved film. The film brings back memories of childhood-A time when you also believed that the gadgets you made would fend off anyone who was in your way. It brings back the magic and imagination everyone had as a child, where pirates were real and treasure maps found in bottles were a dream come true. It's about a group of kids who go treasure hunting by mistake when they get mixed up with a family gang who are also after the treasure. The effects and scenery are superb and you really feel like jumping in the screen and helping them. The young japenese "Gadget maker" is superb and will have you rolling around the floor in laughter. A must Watch film for anyone wishing to jump back to childhood for a couple of hours....