MovieChat Forums > The Goonies (1985) Discussion > Has anyone ever seen this movie for the ...

Has anyone ever seen this movie for the first time as an adult?

posted 7 years ago by woodgatejack-sfr
25 replies | jump to latest

I recently bought The Goonies on Blu-ray. It was part of a 'buy three films for £10' promotion, so I bought it along with Stand By Me and Labyrinth and treated myself to a evening of nostalgia. I must say that I still enjoyed all three films, finding myself transported back to those heady, carefree days of my youth.

Therein lies the problem:- Can I have an objective view of a film when the "rose-coloured specs" are so tightly fixed?

I must have been about 12 or 13 years old when I first saw The Goonies, getting that first sense of independence (being able to go off on long bike rides by myself and such-like), starting to notice girls, hormones just starting to flood my body, etc etc. The world was filled with a sense of opportunity and freedom, but not yet the responsibilities of an adult, and here was a film with protagonists my own age. How easy it was to imagine that I, myself to go on adventures with my friends.

Given all that, can I truly view this film objectively? Sure, I know it has its flaws, but nothing can extinguish that warm, rosy glow it brings to me.

I'd love to hear the opinions of those for whom this film doesn't conjure up memories of a "simpler time".

[–] MozartsMuse 7 years ago

I'm 23, and I just watched it for the first time a few weeks ago.

I thought the movie was okay. To be honest, I actually got kind of bored and felt like it dragged a bit. I thought it started off fun, but I guess I just wasn't totally into the plot as it carried on (I didn't know they were gonna be stuck underground the whole movie!). I also didn't really care for any of the characters and thought they were all a little annoying.

Because of my age, I grew up watching lots of 90s and early 2000s kids' movies. There are a lot of movies I've watched again as an adult, and it's funny realizing how bad they actually were (e.g. Disney channel movies). But nostalgia helps make everything still enjoyable.

I'm sure if I had grown up watching The Goonies, I probably would've liked it more.

[–] Cloudburst2000 7 years ago

My mom took me to see this movie when it came out. I was about ten at the time. My mom would have been in her 40s. She really liked the movie, and to this day finds it highly entertaining. She thinks it is the best kids movie ever made, and one that adults as well as children find enjoyable to watch. I still enjoy the movie even though I am now in my 40s. My mom still enjoys it even though she is in her 70s. I think this movie appeals to all ages which is one of the reasons it has achieved a classic status.

[–] roman2886 7 years ago

Yes i watched on dvd for the first time at my sisters old house it must have been like 5 or 6 years ago i love the movie as a kid good old times in my old house i used too think there was a waterslide in the living room like in the movie when i was a kid.

[–] woodgatejack-sfr 7 years ago

I shall reiterate:- Has anyone seen this movie... for the first time... as an adult?

[–] amyoungers 7 years ago

I saw it for the first time the other day, at the age of 39. I (obviously) grew up in the 1980s, but had somehow missed this "iconic" staple of '80s cinema. I also had only the vaguest notion of what it was even about. (When I was younger, I had assumed that it was another version of Gremlins, since the titles struck me as similar.)

And it was...fine. Very 1980s, both as a reflection of that actual era that I lived through, and also the way that era was portrayed in contemporary films - a little bit of a caricature of itself. Overall, I found the humor to be hit-or-miss, the dialogue to be hard to make out from time to time (the sound mixing could have been better), and the characters to be generally likable, if pretty much thinly sketched out "types" - the earnest kid, the gadget-y kid, the vain hair-brusher, the cool older brother, the voracious comedy fat kid, etc. And the gender roles were...of their time.

My main impression of the movie was that I could see why it was such a big hit in 1985, but if the exact same movie were released today, it would be probably panned for being trite, silly, and by-the-numbers, probably rightfully so. In other words, I think if it is considered a "classic" for any reason today, that reason is probably nostalgia. I think there are much better kids' movies from the '80s (E.T., The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, to name a few) that time has been kinder to.

My thoughts, anyway.

[–] curious_and_confused 7 years ago

I just saw it yesterday for the very first time. I'm 20. It was just okay for me, nothing great and a little over the top in the acting and characters, and the story was a little convoluted. I mean really what was the point of that Hunchback of Notre Dame looking character? and the fat kid got on my nerves.. Honestly It brought back flashbacks of baby sitting 😒. A lot of people told me it's great and that I needed to see it.. but now that I think about it they were all guys who told me that. Maybe this movie appeals more to guys? I don't know. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't anything special either.

Interestingly, Stand By Me is one of my fave movies of all time so there's that..

🐬 ma ink

[–] FuTBoL_HooL 7 years ago

Perfect for its time. It was perfect for me when I saw it first at age of 7. Including Die Hard it is one movie I watch on the xmas eve. It is silly like any kids' movie from the 80s, just gotta set your brain to kids mode and it is all fine.

[–] FrodoPotter 7 years ago

Saw it for the first time last night. Did not like it. Very slow and uninteresting start at their home, very weird and full of screaming second part in the closed restaurant, just okay 3rd part in the caves.

[–] woodgatejack-sfr 7 years ago

If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?

[–] FrodoPotter 7 years ago

[–] woodgatejack-sfr 7 years ago

Cheers, the reason why I ask is because (and I hate to sound patronising) I find that a lot of people under the age of 25, even though they are adults may be still open to new influences. I know I was at that age.

[–] woodgatejack-sfr 7 years ago

[–] roch-19121 7 years ago

I have seen it recently. And unfortunatelly, i didn't like it at all. It is weak and bad movie, overstretched, badly paced, with bad screenplay, very cringeworthy moments mixed with some good moments (And it wasn't good mix) Even good music didn't save this (Because It wasn't John Williams who wrote music for this)

[–] thereffman 7 years ago

31, saw it for the first time recently. Thought it was just terrible and I prefer 80s movies over any other time period.

[–] warmapplepie4969 7 years ago

Watched it for the first time at the age of 31. I had seen brief pieces of the movie here and there, but never from start to finish. In fact, the reason I even came to this board was to see what the big deal about this movie was. Personally, I thought it was slow and couldn't empathize with any of the characters. It also never truly felt like it was solely the boys coming of age tale with the teens along for the ride. Just average overall, in my opinion