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The Goonies [Blu-ray] [1985]


RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £11.98 (subject to change)

Editorial
Product Description

Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Martha Plimpton, Steve Antin

Editorial
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 old 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: Josh Brolin (Into the Blue, Planet Terror) and Corey Feldman (The Lost Boys). --Samantha Allen Storey

DVD vs BLU-RAY
Review date: 2008-11-15 Rating: 4 out of 10

I was hoping something special with this Blu-ray release, I was so disappointed with the delivery of this edition of the Goonies, I would even say that the DVD version is superior in term of content, a prime example is the menu navigation system, the DVD was beautifully animated and crafted as if you were inside a cave; the Blu-ray edition is just a simple screen with a background picture and selectable text. All I can say about the picture quality is exactly the same as the previous reviews, good in some parts bad in others.

My next grudge with this version of the Goonies is purely personal and probably does not concern much of the customers that will buy this Blu-ray. Because I am half European Spanish I grew up watching it in the Castilian Spanish version, as I loaded the disc and wanted to hear it again to reminisce my childhood I was so disappointed to find out it had Latin American Spanish as de chosen language... Why this is sold on the European market I have no idea but the DVD had Castilian Spanish.


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Reviews


A must have!!
Review date: 2008-10-16 Rating: 10 out of 10

I really loved watched the blu-ray version of Goonies- it looks so great! i was so amazed how much more of Astoria you can se because of the detail of the blu ray release! I noticed details and things that i havent seen on the DVD version.

The sound is also great, the Dolby Digital TrueHD track is one of the best i've heard. Lots of neat effects and sounds.

Buy this, if you like me, loved this movie as a kid it is a must have in your collection!

For the swedish customers, there is no swedish subtitles on this version. However, there is a swedish subtitled version available in Sweden (at a much higher price....)

Regards/ Nick

Still a gem 23 years on!
Review date: 2008-10-14 Rating: 10 out of 10

A classic film, now 23 years old!! This still takes me down memory lane every time I watch it. Now I will be honest and say i did not have high hopes when it came to picture quality...BUT WOW! All the classic scenes have a completely new lease of life. The boat scene at the end with the fratellies and all the treasure looks fantastic! and you cant help miss chunks Hawaiian shirt!

I did hope for some new special features over the DVD, but I guess we will have to wait for the goonies documentary to come out next year!

All in all buy it! Great movie, Great Bluray!!!

Decent transfer but I hoped for more
Review date: 2008-10-09 Rating: 6 out of 10

As stated by the first review that was posted here the picture quality is fair. Not the greatest blu ray disc but a fair improvement over the standard dvd version. The picture isn't consistent which is sort of a letdown. Where some scenes looked crystal clear and vivid other scenes looked like an upgrade standard version but not High Def. Warner has delivered better titles and it looks like no real effort was made to make this look great. Unfortunately this is a new trend on blu ray today.

This also shows in the extra features. They are exact the same as on the dvd. I really hoped to get a PictureInPicture feature where we could watch the entire visual commentary track (which is one of the best features) but instead Warner decided to keep it the same as on the standard disc. I was disappointed that they didn't gave it a bit more effort. Blu Ray is a fantastic format for these kind of extra extras. But I guess Goonies isn't interesting enough for Warner to give it something 'special'

Nonetheless I give this blu ray version 3 out of 5 stars. Merely because I really love this movie. Warner gets 1 out of 5 stars for the release. Lack of effort, lack of appreciation for the fans of the movie but at least they released it.

Review of the Blu-ray viewed on a PS3 and a 40" 100z 1080p TV.
Review date: 2008-10-06 Rating: 10 out of 10


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.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Steve Antin
Corey Feldman
Sean Astin
Josh Brolin
Martha Plimpton

Creators:
Sean Astin (Primary Contributor)
Josh Brolin (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900115278
Binding: Blu-ray
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-10-06
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Running time: 109 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1985
Language: English (Unknown)

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