Feb 09 2025 91 mins 4
Thais Week we're off to Astoria Oregon to talk Pirate Hats, Prison Dinners, Cut Octopus Scenes and Nikola Tesla in The Goonies.
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The Goonies is a 1985 American adventure comedy film directed and co-produced by Richard Donner from a screenplay by Chris Columbus based on a story by Steven Spielberg and starring Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton and Ke Huy Quan with supporting roles done by John Matuszak, Anne Ramsey, Robert Davi, Joe Pantoliano and Mary Ellen Trainor. In the film, a group of kids who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon, attempt to save their homes from foreclosure and in doing so they discover an old treasure map that takes them on an adventure to unearth the long-lost fortune of One-Eyed Willy, a legendary 17th-century pirate, while being pursued by a family of criminals who are after the treasure as well.
The film was produced by Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and released by Warner Bros. theatrically on June 7, 1985, in the United States. The film grossed $125 million worldwide on a budget of $19 million. Critics reviewed the film positively and it has since become a cult film.[4][5] In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[6][7]
Plot
Facing foreclosure of their homes in the "Goon Docks" area of Astoria, Oregon to an expanding country club, a group of kids who call themselves "the Goonies"—Mike "Mikey" Walsh, Richard "Data" Wang, Clark "Mouth" Devereaux, and Lawrence "Chunk" Cohen—gather for a final weekend together. Rummaging through Mikey's attic, they come across a 1632 doubloon and an old treasure map purporting to lead to the treasure of legendary pirate "One-Eyed Willy", believed to be located somewhere nearby and considered by Mikey to be the original Goonie.
Seeing the treasure as their last chance to save their homes, the kids overpower and bind Mikey's older brother, Brandon "Brand" Walsh, to get past him and make their way to an abandoned restaurant on the coast that coincides with the map. Brand soon follows alongside Andrea "Andy" Carmichael, a cheerleader with a crush on him; and her best friend Stephanie "Stef" Steinbrenner, a tomboy.
The group soon discover that the derelict restaurant is a hideout of the Fratelli crime family: Francis, Jake, and their mother. The Goonies find a tunnel in the basement and follow it, but Chunk leaves to alert the police after being locked in the freezer. Chunk flags down a nearby car to go to the sheriff's station and it turns out to be the Fratellis, who imprison him alongside their hulking and deformed younger brother Sloth. The Fratellis interrogate Chunk until he reveals where the Goonies have gone and begin pursuit. Chunk is left behind with Sloth, whom he befriends. After Sloth frees them both, Chunk calls the sheriff, who thinks it is another one of his tall tales. Chunk and Sloth follow the trail of the Fratellis.
The Goonies evade several deadly booby traps along the tunnels, while barely staying ahead of the Fratellis. They finally reach the grotto where Willy's pirate ship, the Inferno, is anchored. The group uncover the ship filled with treasure, and they start filling their pockets, but Mikey warns them not to take any on a set of scales in front of Willy's skeleton, considering that to be their tribute to him. As the Goonies are plotting their escape, the Fratellis appear and strip them of their haul. The Fratellis start to bind the Goonies' hands and make them walk the plank until Chunk and Sloth arrive and distract the Fratellis long enough for the Goonies to jump overboard and swim to safety. Brand saves Andy from drowning and they kiss. The Fratellis proceed to grab all the treasure they can, including those on Willy's scales, which triggers one last booby trap, causing the grotto to cave in. With Sloth's help, the Goonies and Fratellis barely escape.
The groups emerge on Astoria's beach, where the Goonies reunite with their families and the Fratellis are arrested by the police. The Goonies prevent Sloth's arrest, and Chunk invites Sloth to live with him, which he accepts. Just as Mikey's father is about to sign the foreclosure papers, the Walshes' housekeeper, Rosalita, discovers that Mikey's marble bag is filled with some of the ship's jewels that had not been seized by the Fratellis. Mikey's father triumphantly rips up the papers, declaring that they have enough money to negate the foreclosure. As the Goonies are recounting their adventure to the dumbfounded police and press, everyone's attention is drawn to the Inferno, having broken free of the grotto, sailing off majestically on its own in the distance.
Cast
Sean Astin as Michael "Mikey" Walsh, the asthmatic leader of the Goonies
Josh Brolin as Brandon "Brand" Walsh, a high-school athlete and Mikey's older brother
Jeff Cohen as Lawrence "Chunk" Cohen, a clumsy and gluttonous member of the Goonies and habitual fabulist
Corey Feldman as Clark "Mouth" Devereaux, a member of the Goonies nicknamed for his cheeky tongue and Mikey's best friend
Ke Huy Quan as Richard "Data" Wang, a member of the Goonies who is a James Bond fanatic and amateur gadgeteer
Kerri Green as Andrea Theresa "Andy" Carmichael, a high-school cheerleader and Brand's love interest
Martha Plimpton as Stephanie "Stef" Steinbrenner, a snarky tomboy and Andy's best friend
John Matuszak as Lotney "Sloth" Fratelli, the deformed and much-abused, but child-hearted son of Mama Fratelli whom Chunk befriends
Robert Davi as Jake Fratelli, Mama Fratelli's counterfeiter son
Joe Pantoliano as Francis Fratelli, Mama Fratelli's favorite son
Anne Ramsey as Mama Fratelli, the Fratellis' matriarch
Mary Ellen Trainor as Irene Walsh, Mikey and Brand's mother
Keith Walker as Irving Walsh, Mikey and Brand's father and a curator at the local history museum
Lupe Ontiveros as Rosalita, the Walsh family's Mexican housekeeper who can only speak Spanish
Curt Hanson as Elgin Perkins, Troy's millionaire father and proprietor of Astoria Country Club who is behind the foreclosures at the "Goon Docks"
Steve Antin as Troy Perkins, the spoiled son of Elgin Perkins who is Brand's rival for Andy's attention
Paul Tuerpe as the Sheriff
George Robotham as a prison guard who gets fooled by Jake's feigned suicide
Michael Paul Chan as Data's approving father
