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Goonies: Special Edition
Warner Bros. // PG // August 21, 2001
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Every generation has a favorite movie that they grew up loving which still lives on in their memory as adults. "The Goonies" is certainly one of those films for me, a picture that remains timeless - even though the music is certainly pretty dated at this point. The Eightie's version of this year's "Spy Kids", "The Goonies" stars Sean Astin, Corey Feldman and others as a group of kids who seek out buried treasure to save their neighborhood from being taken over by a group of developers.
Around the same time that the kids run off to seek buried treasure, a criminal (Robert Davi) is breaking out of jail to join his brother and mother (Joe Pantoliano, Anne Ramsey). The map that the kids have leads them to an abandoned restaurant where the criminals are hiding out. Escaping into a tunnel, the criminals are soon chasing after them through booby-trapped caverns in what is sort of an "Indiana Jones" for children.
The film suffers from a rather slow set-up, but once it gets going and the kids get into the tunnels, it's an imaginative adventure with quite a few thrills - even for adults. The characters are all "types", but they're generally played well by the actors, especially Sean Austin as the leader of the group who believes in the existence of the treasure.
Although Chris Columbus has recently been responsible for such sappy comedies as "Nine Months", his script for "The Goonies" is clever and witty with some imaginative sequences. Producer Steven Spielberg also reportedly did some uncredited editing on the picture, which could be the possible reason why the film really moves with a nice clip once it gets going. Richard Donner also provides strong direction, although it was probably difficult to keep several child actors under control.
Overall, except for the Cyndi Lauper songs, the movie remains timeless and highly entertaining. Also, there's a suprising amount of profanity during the movie, which probably wouldn't get the PG rating today that it did then.
The DVD
VIDEO: "The Goonies" is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Thankfully, director Richard Donner made sure that the film was seen in its full widescreen glory for this DVD release. Nick Mclean's stellar 2.35:1 cinematography is terrifically composed and, for the most part, looks fine on this new edition. Sharpness and detail are generally strong (and certainly better looking than I'd ever seen the film in previous editions), but there are some infrequent scenes that lean slightly towards softness.
Flaws were somewhat noticable, but didn't cause much distraction at all during the picture. Print flaws seemed very minor - there were a few slight speckles now and then, but I didn't notice any milder wear such as marks or scratches. For a fifteen year old picture, the movie presented a pleasantly clean-looking image. A scene or two appeared grainy, but this was extremely infrequent. Although there were a couple of instances of light edge enhancement, I didn't notice any pixelation.
Colors are generally subtle and muted, even in some of the daytime scenes that start off the picture before the Goonies head off into the underground caves. Black level is generally respectable and flesh tones were accurate and natural. The picture does have some slight troubles, but overall, the movie looks better than it ever has previously.
SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation is slightly more successful than the image quality, suprisingly. Although the newly done 5.1 presentation is taken from a movie that's 15 years old now, the audio is unexpectedly active (although the surrounds are mono). The action sequences provide some surround effects and the surrounds also do a fine job providing Dave Grusin's exciting adventure score. Audio quality seemed fine for a movie as old as this one - the dialogue seemed a bit edgy and thin at times, but the music sounded rich and full. A suprisingly effective new presentation.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus livened by pictures of Belluci.
EXTRAS::
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Richard Donner and the Goonies: Corey Feldman, Sean Astin, Kerri Green, Josh Brolin, Ke Huy Quan, Martha Plimpton and Jeff, now all grown up. Eight people are packed in the room for the discussion and although the commentary seems rather crowded at times, the jokes and stories flow freely and there's some hilarious bits. Even more entertaining is the fact that this is a video commentary: every so often when the commentary is selected, the picture changes to have the actors fill the frame and the movie itself in a box in the lower corner of the frame.
The commentary itself is not a particularly informative piece, but it's certainly one of the funniest tracks that I've ever heard. The group has a fine sense of humor about their performances and freely joke about the mistakes that pop up in the movie (and there are several of them). There's also some hilarious behind-the-scenes tales of what happened to the kids during filming. With as many people as there are during the recording session, there's practically no pauses of silence. It's not particularly insightful or informative, but it's definitely a hilarious track that "Goonie" fans will adore.
Also: A promotional 10 minute featurette from around the time of the film's release; "outtakes", which are actually three deleted scenes from the film (including the famous "Octopus" scene); both music videos of Cyndi Lauper's "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" and the original theatrical trailer.
Final Thoughts: A highly entertaining flick and a minor modern classic, "The Goonies" was one of the most requested DVDs since the birth of the format. It's now available on a superb special edition from Warner Brothers, with great audio/video quality and a supremely funny commentary. Highly Recommended!.
Every generation has a favorite movie that they grew up loving which still lives on in their memory as adults. "The Goonies" is certainly one of those films for me, a picture that remains timeless - even though the music is certainly pretty dated at this point. The Eightie's version of this year's "Spy Kids", "The Goonies" stars Sean Astin, Corey Feldman and others as a group of kids who seek out buried treasure to save their neighborhood from being taken over by a group of developers.
Around the same time that the kids run off to seek buried treasure, a criminal (Robert Davi) is breaking out of jail to join his brother and mother (Joe Pantoliano, Anne Ramsey). The map that the kids have leads them to an abandoned restaurant where the criminals are hiding out. Escaping into a tunnel, the criminals are soon chasing after them through booby-trapped caverns in what is sort of an "Indiana Jones" for children.
The film suffers from a rather slow set-up, but once it gets going and the kids get into the tunnels, it's an imaginative adventure with quite a few thrills - even for adults. The characters are all "types", but they're generally played well by the actors, especially Sean Austin as the leader of the group who believes in the existence of the treasure.
Although Chris Columbus has recently been responsible for such sappy comedies as "Nine Months", his script for "The Goonies" is clever and witty with some imaginative sequences. Producer Steven Spielberg also reportedly did some uncredited editing on the picture, which could be the possible reason why the film really moves with a nice clip once it gets going. Richard Donner also provides strong direction, although it was probably difficult to keep several child actors under control.
Overall, except for the Cyndi Lauper songs, the movie remains timeless and highly entertaining. Also, there's a suprising amount of profanity during the movie, which probably wouldn't get the PG rating today that it did then.
The DVD
VIDEO: "The Goonies" is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Thankfully, director Richard Donner made sure that the film was seen in its full widescreen glory for this DVD release. Nick Mclean's stellar 2.35:1 cinematography is terrifically composed and, for the most part, looks fine on this new edition. Sharpness and detail are generally strong (and certainly better looking than I'd ever seen the film in previous editions), but there are some infrequent scenes that lean slightly towards softness.
Flaws were somewhat noticable, but didn't cause much distraction at all during the picture. Print flaws seemed very minor - there were a few slight speckles now and then, but I didn't notice any milder wear such as marks or scratches. For a fifteen year old picture, the movie presented a pleasantly clean-looking image. A scene or two appeared grainy, but this was extremely infrequent. Although there were a couple of instances of light edge enhancement, I didn't notice any pixelation.
Colors are generally subtle and muted, even in some of the daytime scenes that start off the picture before the Goonies head off into the underground caves. Black level is generally respectable and flesh tones were accurate and natural. The picture does have some slight troubles, but overall, the movie looks better than it ever has previously.
SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation is slightly more successful than the image quality, suprisingly. Although the newly done 5.1 presentation is taken from a movie that's 15 years old now, the audio is unexpectedly active (although the surrounds are mono). The action sequences provide some surround effects and the surrounds also do a fine job providing Dave Grusin's exciting adventure score. Audio quality seemed fine for a movie as old as this one - the dialogue seemed a bit edgy and thin at times, but the music sounded rich and full. A suprisingly effective new presentation.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus livened by pictures of Belluci.
EXTRAS::
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Richard Donner and the Goonies: Corey Feldman, Sean Astin, Kerri Green, Josh Brolin, Ke Huy Quan, Martha Plimpton and Jeff, now all grown up. Eight people are packed in the room for the discussion and although the commentary seems rather crowded at times, the jokes and stories flow freely and there's some hilarious bits. Even more entertaining is the fact that this is a video commentary: every so often when the commentary is selected, the picture changes to have the actors fill the frame and the movie itself in a box in the lower corner of the frame.
The commentary itself is not a particularly informative piece, but it's certainly one of the funniest tracks that I've ever heard. The group has a fine sense of humor about their performances and freely joke about the mistakes that pop up in the movie (and there are several of them). There's also some hilarious behind-the-scenes tales of what happened to the kids during filming. With as many people as there are during the recording session, there's practically no pauses of silence. It's not particularly insightful or informative, but it's definitely a hilarious track that "Goonie" fans will adore.
Also: A promotional 10 minute featurette from around the time of the film's release; "outtakes", which are actually three deleted scenes from the film (including the famous "Octopus" scene); both music videos of Cyndi Lauper's "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" and the original theatrical trailer.
Final Thoughts: A highly entertaining flick and a minor modern classic, "The Goonies" was one of the most requested DVDs since the birth of the format. It's now available on a superb special edition from Warner Brothers, with great audio/video quality and a supremely funny commentary. Highly Recommended!.
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