Some time ago I talked about certain movies that represent something special in ones childhood and/or teen years. These are movies that put you into a different state of mind, they're almost like time machines, you're thrown into a whirlwind of happy memories (hopefully) and funny thoughts.
 

Not all movies have a lasting effect; there must be something special with them. They have to be too of something, meaning that they have to be either too good or too bad compared to other movies from the same period. Examples on too good movies are:

• Star wars
• Indiana Jones
• The Breakfast Club
  

And some examples of too bad movies:

• Hell comes to Frog town
• The Stuff
• The Toxic avenger

My movie fanatic career started in the 80's, I guess you've figured that out by reading my other reviews, Corey & Corey movies were some of my favorites. Mostly because they were almost the same age as me at the time and thus represented my generation. Something that was cool with the 80's was that the actors almost wore the same clothes as the regular guy.

The fashion was sometimes even taken from the streets and into the movies, there was therefore a special bond between the audience and the actors. It didn't seem to far of that you could become like Don Johnson, you only needed to visit your local shopping mall and the clothes would be there. I remember cutting up my jeans to follow the ongoing fashion, a couple of weeks later I saw the same style in a movie, man did I feel cool!

Another cool thing was that movies had simple everyday plots, both in happiness and in sorrow one could relate to the characters. I know that the 80's was also the sci-fi and horror era, but simple dramas and love flicks were much better than the ones produced today. Luckily movies like Lost in translation even up the rest.

Nowadays the plots are too intricate not to mention the characters that are overacted to the extreme. A character doesn't always have to be a deep and mystical being, sometimes the plot and setting is enough. Tom Cruise doesn't need to star in a action movie in order to make it a good flick, and Meg Ryan doesn't always have to star in a romantic drama (with Tom Hanks).

Adventure movies were the ones that frequented my VCR, like all kids I was hung up on this genre at the time. I think I’ve burned off a lot of money on Transformers and He-man toys, to my defense I had already started watching Robotech in contrast to the people who have just found out that this series rocks!

I've already written avout the Corey & Corey phenomenon, "The Goonies" was yet another movie that one of the Corey's starred in. The movie almost clicked instantly, there were so many things that were right for the movie. The cast was perfect, why? Because almost all of them ended up as big stars (eventually), the rest of the cast were familiar actors from movies from the 80's.

• Corey Feldman was a "up and comer"
• It was Josh Brolin's (Trashin, Hollow Man) first movie
• Sean Astin (Lord of the rings) was also part of the gang.
• Robert Davi (The Profiler, License to Kill) starred as a bad guy
• Joe Pantoliano (Daredevil, Bad Boys) played Davi's brother
• Anne Ramsey (Throw momma from the train)

I should note that this movie was purely made for kids & teens, therefore a star cast wasn't first priority, but they still managed to put together a team that was convincing. It’s worth mentioning that the story is written by none other than Steven Spielberg himself and directed by Richard Donner who made Superman & Lethal Weapon 2-4.

Ok, let’s take a quick look at the plot of "Goonies", a plot that I feel is almost perfect for the adventure movie that it is. We find a group of kids living in a small town that is being bought up by a large developer that wants to flatten it to the ground. Mikey (Sean Astin) and Brandon Walsh (Josh Brolin) are two brothers in a family that is affected by the construction of a country club unless they come up with a certain amount of money.

Mikey finds a treasure map and shows it to his group of friends, this is a strange compilation of kids with among others a techie Asian and a food loving fatso. They call themselves "Goonies". The map is supposed to lead to the old treasure of One Eyed Willy, a pirate that had hidden a large amount of gold. Large parts of the movie show the gang on their adventure deep under the earth in underground passages. It’s all done in a Indiana Jones-fashion where they have to get through different booby traps along their way.

Of course it isn't that simple to just go and find a treasure, there has to be something more, in comes the Fratelli family. Lead by the old Mama Fratelli, this is a family containing of a mother and her two sons (Pantoliano & Davi) that are also looking for the treasure. But there's more, they're actually three brothers, the last one is the giant mutant called Sloth. He looks like a monster but has the heart and mind of a child. All the ingredients are in place to make this a old fashioned adventure flick that ends in a climactic scene everything from pirate ships to skeletons.

The story might sound a bit childish, maybe it is, but I think most viewers will enjoy it regardless of the fact that it's a but outdated and is meant for a younger audience. All movies from that "age" had a human factor that's missing nowadays, meaning that the technology and special effects tend to overshadow a otherwise interesting plot. If one looks at Raiders of the lost ark one will notice that the special effects aren't mind-blowing, they're simple even though technology was mature enough to make them more high-tech. The movie is a success because of the acting, story and the twist that relate to these two. The same goes for "Goonies", it’s almost a feel good movie about a bunch of kids that go on a small adventure, the plot is farfetched but who cares? It’s enjoyable and that's what matters.

I haven't had the pleasure of watching this movie for the last couple of years, I’d guess that it has been about ten years since I last watched "Goonies". There has been times when I’ve almost bought it on DVD, but I always seem to find some other movie that gets a higher priority. However it is on my never-ending list of movies that are to take place in my collection.