Cheerleader outfit not included

May 8, 2009 3:04 PM

Twenty-five years later, the main cast of The Goonies reunite for Empire Magazine.
posted by Rhomboid (84 comments total)

Still they won't own up to the tongue-in-cheek phallic nickname for the pirate captain.
posted by Burhanistan at 3:07 PM on May 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

Miiiiikey, come over here and make me feel like a woman.
posted by Lacking Subtlety at 3:08 PM on May 8

"One of the Greatest Cast's of All Time!"

Uh...
posted by tkchrist at 3:09 PM on May 8

This post is good enough.
posted by ooga_booga at 3:09 PM on May 8 [9 favorites has favorites]

If it saves you some time, the bald dude is Chunk, and no, he does not do the truffle shuffle.
posted by jabberjaw at 3:13 PM on May 8

here is an honest question... I saw the Goonies back in the day, I even kind of liked the Goonies, sort of. But, from time to time I run across stuff like this that seems to suggest a lot of people REALLY REALLY liked the Goonies, and still do. Is there really that many Goonie-philes around?
posted by edgeways at 3:19 PM on May 8

I loved that movie as a kid, but still to this day I don't understand the premises of the whole adventure.

Developers were going to come in to bulldoze the community to build a golf course. Didn't the parents sell their deeds willing? If not, since when does golf courses fall under imminent domain? Even if everyone was renting, how was fistfuls of gold gonna stop an eviction and eventual development project? It doesn't make any goddamn sense.

Couldn't they have just needed the money by midnight to save the teen center from Old Man Withers just like every other movie on USA Up All Night? Now that's more believable.

And when it comes time to pick a new captain, you really thing the cyclops is gonna win? I mean really.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 3:34 PM on May 8 [2 favorites has favorites]

Good stuff, thanks for posting. And let it also be said that The Goonies II is one of the finest NES games in the history of the console.
posted by dhammond at 3:46 PM on May 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

I must admit that I went to see the Goonies house when I was visiting Astoria, Oregon. I don't really consider myself a Goonie-phile, but it was still pretty awesome.
posted by zsazsa at 3:51 PM on May 8 [2 favorites has favorites]

Pincers of Peril saved my life!!
posted by Shohn at 3:59 PM on May 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

Is there really that many Goonie-philes around?

I think pretty-much any late Gen-X'er.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:01 PM on May 8

I must admit that I went to see the Goonies house when I was visiting Astoria, Oregon.

It's OK, you're not alone. When I was in Astoria a few years back, I spent a few hours tracking down that house and some of the other locations that appeared in the film.

On the same trip, I also saw the offshore rock formation (Haystack Rocks, is that what they're called?) that features so prominently in the ending of the film.
posted by killdevil at 4:04 PM on May 8

Developers were going to come in to bulldoze the community to build a golf course. Didn't the parents sell their deeds willing? If not, since when does golf courses fall under imminent domain? Even if everyone was renting, how was fistfuls of gold gonna stop an eviction and eventual development project? It doesn't make any goddamn sense.

You're over-analyzing it. The "bulldozing our shabby working-class houses to make way for a golf course" plot was just to set up the Goonies as lovable underdogs and set up the rich assholes as the adversary (except for Andy, who switches sides). It doesn't need to make sense in light of real world property law to work. I mean, there's no such thing as flying aliens from the planet Krypton either.

The Goonies was one of my very favorite movies as a kid, and I still love it. Sure, it's a bit cheesy, but what big budget 80s movie wasn't? It holds up a lot better than most of its contemporaries.
posted by DecemberBoy at 4:04 PM on May 8 [5 favorites has favorites]

I wonder if Corey Feldman resisted being his usual insufferable asshole self for fear of being punched in the arm by Josh Brolin.
posted by orme at 4:11 PM on May 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

Confession time. I tried to watch The Goonies with a friend of mine, both of us for the first time, when we were in high school and got curious about some of Sean Astin's earlier work - this being in the middle of the Lord of the Rings cycle. We couldn't actually get through the film without fast forwarding through ... oh, two thirds of it.

Is this one of those films where you have to be exposed in a key window of time to like it? You know, like all the Land Before Time movies after the first? Serious question. Because I really did not get the hype.

(Sean Astin was adorable, though.)
posted by bettafish at 4:16 PM on May 8

edgeways: I saw the Goonies back in the day, I even kind of liked the Goonies, sort of. But, from time to time I run across stuff like this that seems to suggest a lot of people REALLY REALLY liked the Goonies, and still do. Is there really that many Goonie-philes around?

MiltonRandKalman: I loved that movie as a kid, but still to this day I don't understand the premises of the whole adventure.

Did you both miss the part with the cheerleader getting all wet whilst wearing a white shirt and a really short skirt? Because I was 13 when that movie came out and that's pretty much the only bit I remember.
posted by afx237vi at 4:16 PM on May 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

"Goonies never say die!" - Chunk
posted by wherever, whatever at 4:19 PM on May 8

Confession time. I tried to watch The Goonies with a friend of mine, both of us for the first time, when we were in high school and got curious about some of Sean Astin's earlier work - this being in the middle of the Lord of the Rings cycle.

Get the hell off my muthafuckin' lawn.
posted by DecemberBoy at 4:25 PM on May 8 [46 favorites has favorites]

The Goonies was a great movie because it was the kids against the clueless adults. It had the teen heartthrobs of the day (the Coreys). It had pirates and buried treasure. It had Martha Plimpton.

If you were born in the seventies, it had all the makings of a campy free-for-all and I loved it. (Still do.)
posted by Grlnxtdr at 4:29 PM on May 8

I have to chime in with bettafish. This movie is, to me, nothing but relentlessly shrill children overacting in extremely loud voices while flailing about. I cannot bear it.

I realize that 99.9 percent of the world loves it, but I had to come forth with the truth. I hate the Goonies.
posted by OolooKitty at 4:30 PM on May 8 [3 favorites has favorites]

I saw it as a kid and thought was kind of an amusing throwaway at the time.

Also, Anne Ramsey's ghost is screaming at all these has-beens.
posted by Burhanistan at 4:37 PM on May 8

Born 1973. Never seen the Goonies.
posted by DU at 4:41 PM on May 8

I just watched Goonies again, with the reunited cast commentary. yes, Corey Feldman was an insufferable asshole. and Sean Astin is still adorable.
posted by killy willy at 4:43 PM on May 8

One Halloween a friend of mine dressed up as Data - he's Asian, vaguely resembles an older version of the character, and got the outfit almost exactly right. I didn't get what was going on for about the first 5 seconds I saw him in costume but when he said "Slick shoes" I almost couldn't breathe.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 4:47 PM on May 8 [7 favorites has favorites]

It had the teen heartthrobs of the day (the Coreys). Just one of them, actually. Corey Haim was off making Secret Admirer at the time, probably.

Richard Donner fucking hated those kids, and you can tell if you watch the behind-the-scenes stuff on the DVD. It's great. He's clearly infuriated by them and can't stand working with so many of them at one time.

As others have pointed out, it's a flawed work in so many ways. It would've been so easy to fix with just one or two good scenes where we establish the stakes of the town demolition. I've always heard that Spielberg was stretched so far in the mid-80's, and his attention was divided among so many projects, that a lot of stuff suffered for it. The plot of the Goonies would appear to be one of those. Amazing Stories and The Color Purple took up most of his energy.

I love how much swearing there is in the film. There's also a great sense of the cacophony of childhood and hanging out with friends. It's also got that fantastic Spielbergian sense of wonder.
posted by incessant at 4:53 PM on May 8

Ah, you're right, only one Corey...I was thinking of The Lost Boys. My bad.
posted by Grlnxtdr at 5:06 PM on May 8

You're over-analyzing it.

No, I'm not, its just the motivation for getting the money to save the community could have been the most grounded concept in the movie and ends being the most headscratching. Even Data's devices are easier to swallow. And you know what really gets me? In the original screenplay, the community was being bulldozed to make way for bean fields and a plate factory.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 5:24 PM on May 8

Being a pre-teen and having grown up in the Pacific Northwest this movie was just short of real. We used ride all-over on our BMX bikes. There were trails in the woods we would go ride through and off jumps (without helmets)! I don't think it's the best movie ever, but it's like a sidestep off of reality that makes it something special for a lot of kids from that time.
posted by P.o.B. at 5:26 PM on May 8

By the way it's a kids film, it has plot holes...big ones.
posted by P.o.B. at 5:28 PM on May 8

I used to love this movie as a kid.

Yeah, it's got a thin plot, but it was a big adventure with a varied group of super determined kids, and a pirate ship. What's not to love?

Oh and bonus song by Cyndi Lauper.
posted by cmgonzalez at 5:32 PM on May 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

Oh and bonus song by Cyndi Lauper.

An awesome song.

Good enough
For you it's
Good enough
For me it's goooooood enough
Good enough for me
A-YI-YI-YI-YI-YIIIIIII
posted by DecemberBoy at 5:40 PM on May 8 [2 favorites has favorites]

its just the motivation for getting the money to save the community could have been the most grounded concept in the movie.

Christ, I just know this is what I sounded last night when I was bitching about the science in the new Star Trek movie.
posted by bpm140 at 5:43 PM on May 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

Golly, I love me some Goonies movie. Born in '79, and I've seen it countless times, and had an awesome surprise when I found dvds being sold at Costco for 5 bucks. I bought one for my sis.

I find it interesting that folks are getting hung up on the golf course deal. The families were being forced to sell out to the golf course due to the economic conditions of the town. The kids allude to this at the beginning, how folks are moving away. I think there might have been some bank foreclosure in there, too. Thus, if people had money, they could afford to stay and all the kids would be able to remain together.

It's one of the core tenets of the movie, friends staying together, "Goonies never say die!" That's why the treasure was so important, as the kids say in the attic scene, if they can find the treasure, then no one will have to move away.

But don't get hung up on the golf course. The movie is about kids having a real life adventure, battling bad guys, hunting for hidden treasure, with a dash of piracy and avoiding booby traps.

"OK! I'll talk! In third grade, I cheated on my history exam. In fourth grade, I stole my uncle Max's toupee and I glued it on my face when I was Moses in my Hebrew School play. In fifth grade, I knocked my sister Edie down the stairs and I blamed it on the dog... When my mom sent me to the summer camp for fat kids and then they served lunch I got nuts and I pigged out and they kicked me out... But the worst thing I ever done - I mixed a pot of fake puke at home and then I went to this movie theater, hid the puke in my jacket, climbed up to the balcony and then, t-t-then, I made a noise like this: hua-hua-hua-huaaaaaaa - and then I dumped it over the side, all over the people in the audience. And then, this was horrible, all the people started getting sick and throwing up all over each other. I never felt so bad in my entire life." -Chunk

Awesome.
posted by Atreides at 5:55 PM on May 8 [10 favorites has favorites]

Developers were going to come in to bulldoze the community to build a golf course. Didn't the parents sell their deeds willing? If not, since when does golf courses fall under imminent domain? Even if everyone was renting, how was fistfuls of gold gonna stop an eviction and eventual development project? It doesn't make any goddamn sense.

I hear what you're saying about it not really making sense sometimes. The Goonies often feels like its own sequel; it kind of assumes the audience has a familiarity with the characters and story that doesn't exist. I don't know if that was intentional or not, but after watching it perhaps dozens of times since I was a kid, I think that's half its charm.

But never forget the muddling effect of the final cut of a movie, and the myriad ways an original vision/script can be diverted into something totally different. I believe that the original script(s?) was different in that it did explain a lot of the takeover plot, not to mention how the nickname "Goonie" came to be and what it really means. Like a lot of movies, scenes were scratched out, or filmed and then cut, and not all of it made it to the final cut. Not to say that makes it a good movie, but that's just the reality behind the art.

To those who don't get The Goonies: I guess you just had to be there.
posted by zardoz at 5:55 PM on May 8

That Goonies 2 video game sure made me sick of that song.
posted by smackfu at 5:58 PM on May 8

The movie is about kids having a real life adventure, battling bad guys, hunting for hidden treasure, with a dash of piracy and avoiding booby traps booty twaps.

FTFY
posted by middleclasstool at 6:58 PM on May 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

I really think you had to be an adolescent (or maybe teen) in 1984 when you see this movie. It's just so much "HOLY FUCK! WE ARE KIDS! ON THIS ADVENTURE! PIRATES! I KISSED A GIRL! AND PIRATES! WITH A PIRATE SHIP AND ADVENTURE! AND WE'RE KIDS! AWESOME!"

Also Chunk's confession.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:14 PM on May 8 [3 favorites has favorites]

I remember liking Goonies but obsessing about Ghostbusters and Star Wars much more. I "got" the Goonies in that I enjoyed it, but I, like edgeways, didn't realize until recently that there were people who REALLY REALLY liked it and kept the flame of the fandom.

One movie which I absolutely don't understand why it has a following: The Lost Boys.
posted by deanc at 8:23 PM on May 8

You people who don't like The Goonies - do you get pleasure from anything in life, or is it all just Coldplay?

THE GOONIES ARE AWESOME.

(I'm apparently the target demographic.)
posted by Bageena at 8:23 PM on May 8 [6 favorites has favorites]

I did so love this movie. And I was so in love with Josh Brolin. I wore a bandana headband regularly in homage. Had all different colors.
posted by dlugoczaj at 8:26 PM on May 8

It must be an age thing.

This movie is, to me, nothing but relentlessly shrill children overacting in extremely loud voices while flailing about.

perfect description.

Also. What Octopus?
posted by Bonzai at 8:40 PM on May 8

I hate The Goonies. I can't even attribute it to adult disdain for a once beloved childhood memory, because I hated the movie as a kid.

I tried watching it again a while back, thinking, "Maybe I saw it at a bad time. After all, many people I otherwise respect have this almost irrational affection for the film." Yeah...the fact that my TV is still intact is testament to the lack of handguns in easy reach that day. As it was, I ended up with a three-day migraine from the Spielbergian theorem of [volume = comedy] and had to resort to my emergency remedy for shitty movies, developed after an opening night screening of Highlander II: namely, immediately drinking so much alcohol I was able to convince myself the entire experience was a booze-fueled delusion.
posted by total warfare frown at 8:43 PM on May 8

I haven't watched The Goonies since I saw it in the theatre at the age of 10 or thereabouts, and I don't remember much about it. However, I do remember excitedly recapping the film for my mom afterwards; "And then THIS happened, and then THIS happened...", etc.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:44 PM on May 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

> Highlander II

I don't think I've ever seen anyone as dispirited after watching a flick as my two Highlander-fanboy friends were when that one ended...not even The Phantom Menace.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:48 PM on May 8

What do kids know about fixing economic hardship? When I was Goonie age, I thought the POTUS was the richest man in the world. I thought being able to make fart sounds with my hand in my armpit required genuine skill. I thought the Soviets were working on secret mind control satellites and zombie armies, and only Rambo could stop them. I thought everyone from England dressed like Elton John. I thought girls would be attracted to me because my watch was digital and had a beeping alarm. And I probably thought that a lost pirate treasure would fix any grown-up-type-vague-money-related-problem in the world.
posted by Brocktoon at 8:59 PM on May 8 [8 favorites has favorites]

since when does golf courses fall under imminent domain?

Eminent domain, and June 23, 2005.

This ignores that Goonies is a story told from the perspective of 11-year-old boys, thus is probably going to skip over such trivialities in favor of PIRATE SHIPS HOLY SHIT!

HEY YOU GUUUUYS!!!
posted by dirigibleman at 10:22 PM on May 8

Holy crap, I never made the Josh Brolin-Goonies connection!

BTW, I can't believe there are people out there that hate Goonies! But then, I was born in 1978, so I guess the movie was pretty much made for me.
posted by lunasol at 10:31 PM on May 8

Pirate ships and secret tunnels underneath your dreary suburban joke of town. It hit the right note of escapism for a certain segment of middle class kids.
posted by Burhanistan at 10:32 PM on May 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

I was at UC Berkeley the same time Chunk was there. He ran for (and won!) student government president.

Slogan: "Vote for Chunk"

True story. This actually happened. (Mmm, I miss Berkeley.)

There's more. He did the Truffle Shuffle on the sidelines at Cal basketball games.

And yes the place always went wild.

Good times.
posted by humannaire at 10:47 PM on May 8 [3 favorites has favorites]

Born 1973. Never seen the Goonies.

I did see it, and I find the worship puzzling. I enjoyed it, but it's like discovering that apparently the Short Circut movies are universally revered ZOMG BEST FILMS EVER!
posted by rodgerd at 1:36 AM on May 9

When I was young (born '71ish), Goonies was the first movie to ever score a full five headbangs-against-a-brick-wall for our bad movie of the month club. This was obviously before cutting was invented, but the urge to self-harm after viewing it was gigantic and unstoppable.
posted by Sparx at 2:11 AM on May 9

One movie which I absolutely don't understand why it has a following: The Lost Boys.

Well for starters you didn't see it as a teenage girl. The Coreys!! Jason Patric turning into a brooding bloodsucker!! Kiefer Sutherland in fangs!! OMG!!eleventy!!!!

Hott.

It was the teen movie with enough scary in it to have you and your pajama-clad girlfriends squealing and squirming at a sleepover. Enough boy eye candy to have you giggling and dreaming. Enough funny bits to make you giggle and quote lines.

And INXS.
posted by gomichild at 3:01 AM on May 9 [3 favorites has favorites]

If you hit the wrong note, we'll all "B-flat!"
posted by steef at 6:22 AM on May 9 [1 favorite has favorites]

Well for starters you didn't see it as a teenage girl.

Or, I'm guessing, a teenage dude who NOBODY UNDERSTOOD and who is NOT GLUM OR MOROSE, but just REALISTIC about the PAIN of EXISTING and oh my God where are my Cure albums.

Or, you know, a goth.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:24 AM on May 9

Josh Brolin was in the Goonies. What? I haven't seen the film in ages, but it has Andre the Giant in it. What the fuck is wrong with all you haters. Andre the mother fucking Giant. People.
posted by chunking express at 6:53 AM on May 9

It definitely appeals to people who were of a certain age in the 80s. My wife and I usually watch it in the fall, when the weather outside is similar to the cool, rainy Astoria scenes in the movie. We drove through Astoria a few years ago and didn't think to look for the Goonies house. Dang.

It's light and fun and has the typical saccharine Spielberg sense of wonder, so I'm unsurprised that it has received scorn on Metafilter.
posted by Fleebnork at 7:17 AM on May 9 [1 favorite has favorites]

The DVD commentary with the cast is fairly awesome for a true Goonies fan - including the Corey getting made fun of constantly, and him taking it all in stride. But the best part? Sean Astin getting pissed and leaving halfway through. No one mentions it, he's just gone.
posted by bradth27 at 7:19 AM on May 9

One movie which I absolutely don't understand why it has a following: The Lost Boys.

Jeez. 1987? Did this movie really come out THAT late in my adolescence? How utterly embarassing. That means I was in college when it came out. Why does it feel like a high school memory?

It has the Coreys. It had sexy sexy Kiefer and Jason. It had Dianne Wiest, who can do NO wrong, ever. It had that guy who does all the car commercial voiceovers who OMG IS THE FUCKING LEADER OF THE VAMPIRES!

It also had one of those truly kick-ass 80s movie soundtracks. You know the type -- you have at least three of them. Probably Footloose, The Lost Boys, and Top Gun. They work better as an "album" than a lot of single artist efforts, and had hit after hit after hit...

Plus, that HOT remake of The Call's I Still Believe...

Oh, and cool flying effects, and a fun plot which may or may not be a metaphor for speed or coke addiction...

Great film. Lots of fun.
posted by hippybear at 7:27 AM on May 9 [1 favorite has favorites]

Also. What Octopus?

A long time ago, one of my mates - who had lived in numerous countries when he was growing up - told me about seeing the Goonies on TV somewhere and it featuring an alternate ending where everyone is attacked by a giant octopus. I was somewhat sceptical at the time but the DVD does indeed contain a deleted scene where an octopus (rather feebly) attacks everyone in the water beside the pirate ship.
posted by MUD at 7:32 AM on May 9

You know what I've never understood about the Goonies? If the treasure was left by Spanish pirates in 1632, why was it left in Oregon? I mean, seriously, why not film it in Astoria but then lie about it in the film and say that it's, you know, somewhere on the coast that a Spaniard might have actually seen at that time? You know, on the other ocean?
posted by Kiablokirk at 7:39 AM on May 9

A long time ago, one of my mates... told me about seeing the Goonies on TV somewhere and it featuring an alternate ending where everyone is attacked by a giant octopus.

Yes! I had the same experience. I only saw the TV version as a kid, and when I watched it on DVD in college, everyone thought I was crazy because I insisted that the octopus was missing.
posted by The Man from Lardfork at 8:12 AM on May 9

Josh Brolin was in the Goonies. What? I haven't seen the film in ages, but it has Andre the Giant in it. What the fuck is wrong with all you haters. Andre the mother fucking Giant. People.

Huh? It does?
posted by inigo2 at 8:32 AM on May 9

I'm thinking I understand the dynamic a little better: basically, the ages of 8-13 are a window of time in which you develop a fandom about something. Certain movies lend themselves to developing a following, and you will pick up on one or two of these. But the problem is that you have just limited room for how many movies you can become obsessed about. Certain people pick one small group of movies, and certain person pick some other small group of movies. It depends on what they latched on to first, and the ability to become a big fan of a group of movies you're not already a fan of will be completely inexplicable to you.
posted by deanc at 8:36 AM on May 9

I was born in 1973 and this was my favorite movie back in the day. I had such a crush on Corey Feldman back then.
posted by SisterHavana at 8:43 AM on May 9

Sloth (John Matuszak) fun fact!

As Sloth in The Goonies (1985), his make-up took five hours to complete. One of the eyes (which was out of place on the face) was mechanically operated off-screen by remote control. He had to time his blinking to match the blinks of the robotic eye. A crew-member would countdown from three, two, one and tell him to blink. The cast was told not to get him wet in scenes outside of the pirate ship, but the kids inadvertently did so, holding up filming for an entire day. In the scene where Chunk and Sloth head down through the grate to follow the gang and the Fratelli's, you can see that Sloth is wearing an Oakland Raiders T-Shirt. Matuszak was a former Oakland Raiders football player.
posted by orme at 9:06 AM on May 9 [2 favorites has favorites]

My wife and I saw the Goonies when we were in our early 20s and it clicked for us. Maybe because we were immature, but more likely because we could totally relate to that "underdog kids vs. rich assholes" theme.

And in regards to Lost Boys, come on. There's so many great lines in that movie. "My own brother a goddamn, shit-sucking vampire! Oh, you wait 'til Mom finds out". And the Frog Brothers: "Holy shit! It's the attack of Eddie Munster!"
posted by Ber at 9:07 AM on May 9

Huh? It does?

It doesn't? Weird, it doesn't. Man, in my head the Goonies is a whole other kind of awesome.
posted by chunking express at 9:50 AM on May 9

chunking express, you are possibly remembering the video for the title-song, which does have

World Wrestling Federation pro-wrestlers André the Giant, Captain Lou Albano, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Wendy Richter, The Fabulous Moolah, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Freddie Blassie; Steven Spielberg; The Goonies cast (except for Kerri Green, Anne Ramsey, Joe Pantoliano, Robert Davi and John Matuszak); and the relatively unknown Bangles as a group of female pirates.

Plus Roseanne Barr.
posted by K.P. at 1:07 PM on May 9

I see that people feel about THE GOONIES the same way I feel about BUCKAROO BANZAI. Carry on!
posted by Ron Thanagar at 1:23 PM on May 9

chunking express - for some reason, the Cyndi Lauper Goonies song video had Andre the Giant and a bunch of wrestlers in it.
posted by jeffmik at 2:12 PM on May 9

I listened to the Goonies commentary and you could tell that Corey Feldman was annoying the shit out of Sean Astin.
posted by autodidact at 2:19 PM on May 9

I was at Berkeley at the same time as Humannaire, when Chunk was the student government president. He came to our dorm to encourage us to get involved as student body president. I never thought I'd swoon over Chunk, but boy did I. He wasn't classically good looking, but he sure had some charisma.

Also, he mentioned that Steven Spielberg wrote his letter of recommendation. That seemed a smidge unfair.
posted by diamondsky at 2:36 PM on May 9

I was 11 years old when I saw The Goonies in the theater, and it blew my little mind. I had a MAJOR crush on Sean Astin, owned the official comic book and novelization, and used to fantasize about their making a sequel wherein I would somehow, magically, play Mikey's new girlfriend. Oh, and my siblings and I would go on "Goonie Adventures" every weekend with the neighbor kids - walking in the creek, following the railroad tracks and getting "lost" in the woods at dusk looking for treasure and trouble.

The Goonies are awesome.
posted by chihiro at 5:02 PM on May 9

Like a lot of people upthread I had really fond memories of this movie. A few months ago I would have classified it as a favorite. My wife as well. Since we both hadn't seen it in awhile we popped it on the netflix list and were pretty excited when it arrived.

We were both amazingly disappointed and a bit baffled at what it was that we had liked about it to begin with. Odd.
posted by odinsdream at 7:09 PM on May 9

I had the novel too, chihiro, and the soundtrack (on cassette); they're probably both still kicking around. The book includes things that ended up on the cutting room floor, such as the octopus scene and the explanation of the name "Goonies." Was there really a comic adaptation?

I saw the film multiple times when it first in the theater. I own the DVD and have watched the film happily as an adult (maybe the re-watchings helped imprint it on me). I'm saving the commentary track for the right rainy day.

I'm a Buckaroo Bonzai fan too, but I wasn't won over by The Lost Boys when I watched it for the first time as a thirtyish guy.
posted by Songdog at 7:28 PM on May 9

DecemberBoy wrote:
Get the hell off my muthafuckin' lawn.

Now see, if I had five favorites to award each day, and I could use them any way I wanted ...
posted by Songdog at 7:42 PM on May 9

If you hit the wrong note, we'll all "B-flat!"

See, even as a kid the line just before this always bothered me:

"I can't tell if it's an A sharp or a B flat."

In music, those are both the same pitch, so on a piano - even a pirate-bone piano - they would both be played with the same key. I think this is more evidence that Spielberg spent less time on this than normal. Any musician would have caught and switched that around.

That aside, I love that movie, but I have friends that hate it. One refuses to remain in the room with anyone who quotes Sloth. "Baby?" "Ruth!" Naturally we do it more because of this.
posted by Kimothy at 10:26 PM on May 9

I also loved that movie as a kid. It showed kids doing pretty much all the same stuff the kids in my rural area did but with pirates! and revenge against mean grown ups! Sweet.

The Lost Boys is all about the hot, dangerous guys. I would still watch that movie all the way through probably.
posted by fshgrl at 11:35 PM on May 9

If you don't like The Goonies, and you were born between 1971 and 1981, then you are a horrible person and you are going to miss everything cool in life and die angry. And also, you smell like poo.
posted by cerulgalactus at 4:01 AM on May 10 [2 favorites has favorites]

See, even as a kid the line just before this always bothered me:

"I can't tell if it's an A sharp or a B flat."

In music, those are both the same pitch, so on a piano - even a pirate-bone piano - they would both be played with the same key. I think this is more evidence that Spielberg spent less time on this than normal. Any musician would have caught and switched that around.

I always figured that was a joke directed at musicians.
posted by Fleebnork at 7:44 AM on May 10

Metafilter: hot, dangerous guys.
posted by zardoz at 9:14 PM on May 10

I'm surprise Joey Pants wasn't around for the reunion. I guess they were only getting together the kids? I dunno. I have a good memory of when he showed up on screen as part of the gang, and leaning over to my Dad and saying: "Dad, it's Guido the Killer Pimp!" and having him look at his 16 year old son like he'd done something seriously wrong with me.
posted by thanotopsis at 11:34 AM on May 12

You know what I've never understood about the Goonies? If the treasure was left by Spanish pirates in 1632, why was it left in Oregon? I mean, seriously, why not film it in Astoria but then lie about it in the film and say that it's, you know, somewhere on the coast that a Spaniard might have actually seen at that time? You know, on the other ocean?

Actually Drake got to the oregon Coast more than 60 years before these fictional pirates and the Portuguese were sailing west around south America and trading with Asia earlier than that. I don't see any reason why a pirate crew couldn't have gotten lost and foundered in the pacific northwest.

Certainly not anymore unlikely than, say, the plot behind Shogun.
posted by mce at 8:52 PM on May 14

I just got back from a midnight showing of The Goonies at the Five Points Theater here in Jacksonville. It's not the biggest of venues, but I can tell you that the theater was packed with people who were mostly in there late twenties and early to mid thirties. It was quite a lot of fun seeing it again on a movie screen, much as I did in 1986. There was plenty of laughter, giggles, and an ovation of applause as the credits rolled.

The crowd had built and mingled before the show, and hung out long after the show had ended. Just a bunch of us Goonies sharing our own childhood tales...

The five dollars for the ticket was a pittance... and well worth it.
posted by PROD_TPSL at 11:51 PM on May 29