Goonies Never Say Die—But Wow, It’s Been 40 Years!

Story by Mitchell Smith

“Hey you guys”, I hope you are all sitting! June 7th marked the 40th anniversary of one of the most iconic eighties movies, “The Goonies”. Growing up in the sticks we didn’t go to the movies much as kids, so it took a year or 2 before this hit The Movie Channel. Even having to wait as a 12-13 year old I don’t think there was anyone that didn’t want to be a Goony. The film captured the iconic hunt for One-Eyed-Willy’s buried treasure after a group of childhood kids find a map leading them on a wild hunt in an attempt to save their neighborhood.

The Goonies is based on a story by Steven Spielberg and starring Sean Astin, Josh Brolin (in his film debut), Jeff Cohen (in his only feature film), Corey Feldman, Kerri Green (in her film debut), Martha Plimpton, and Ke Huy Quan with John Matuszak, Robert Davi, Joe Pantoliano, and Anne Ramsey in supporting roles. The soundtrack featured songs by REO Speedwagon, The Bengals, and featured one of my favorite artists of all time Cyndi Lauper as she wrote and performed, “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough”. Many of the young actors went on to have great careers in acting and other fields. As many are probably well aware Sloth was played by NFL 2 time Super Bowl champ John Matuszak, and it took 5 hours to get him into full makeup. Andy played by Kerri Green is one of my top childhood crushes and how can you not love the rest of the crew. It is one of those films that has never been duplicated and probably will never be remade even though a part 2 is supposedly in the works, this will always be The Goonies.

It’s iconic, classic, and honestly I just wonder where 40 years have gone since this movie was released. This would have been epic to see in the theaters in 1985, if we ever invent time travel I think this might be one of the first things I would do. Have a great week everyone.