"The Goonies." Let's just call it what it is: An American classic, one of the definitive films of 1980s childhood. What kid hasn't had a friend like Mikey, Mouth, Data or Chunk? These characters are already familiar to us, but placing them in an adventure of which we could only dream is what makes "The Goonies" so extra special.

The story begins on a Saturday morning in Astoria, Oregon, where Mickey, his older brother Brand, and friends Mouth, Data and Chunk sit lamenting their last weekend in the Boondocks. An evil developer has foreclosed the land containing all their houses, and after the weekend plans to bulldoze them all down to build a golf course. Bummer.

While playing around in Mikey's attic, the five of them stumble upon an old map from a museum, which supposedly leads to the buried treasure of legendary pirate One-Eyed Willy.

Led by Mikey, the goonies follow the clues to the attain the "rich stuff" in hopes of saving the Boondocks and their homes. Along the way, they're joined by a beautiful cheerleader named Andy, her friend Stef, and the monstrously disfigured yet warm-hearted Sloth. At the same time, they're being chased by an inept family of criminals, the Fratellis, who want to steal the treasure for themselves.

Directed by Richard Donner ("Superman") and co-written by Steven Spielberg, there's something about "The Goonies" that has allowed it to resonate with its loyal, now in their mid-twenties, following. When it came out in 1985 and on video years later, every kid who saw it wanted to be like Mikey, Data, Mouth or Chunk (well maybe not like Chunk). The characters were real and identifiable. Every kid wanted to find a map in their attic that lead to treasure buried in their home town. Every kid wanted to find a pirate ship filled with gold and jewels and save their neighborhood.

No adventure story works without memorable characters, and "The Goonies" is no exception. Mikey Walsh, the leader of the group played by Sean Astin (who later went on to play the title character in a little movie called "Rudy"), despite his asthma, inspires the others to join him on his treasure hunt.

Mouth (Corey Feldman) delivers some the funnier one-liners, such as interesting Spanish translations to Walsh's new maid. He also forces Chunk to show off his rotund physique in the infamous Truffle Shuffle.

Chunk (Jeff Cohen) is the clumsy, overweight, loveable friend whose frequent apprehension constantly draws a "Shut up, Chunk!" from the rest of the group; yet it is Chunk who saves the day in the end.

Data, played by Key Huy Kuan (Short-round from "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom") invents gadgets—Bully Blinders, Pinchers of Power and Slick Shoes—to be more like his hero, James Bond. Data's inventions constantly get him and the rest of the goonies out of many perilous situations.

Brand (Josh Brolin), Mikey's high school brother, keeps the goonies out of trouble while at the same time trying to kiss Andy (Kerri Green).

Stef (Martha Plimpton) wants no part of any of it. All the goonies must work together to figure out the clues and survive One-Eyed Willy's booty-traps. You mean "booby-traps?" That's what I said, "booby-traps."

Accompanying Chunk midway through the movie is Sloth, the Fratelli's gigantic, disfigured and mistreated son. Chunk quickly befriends Sloth over their mutual love of Baby Ruth candy bars. Sloth's triumphant call, "Hey you guys!," has become cinematic legend.

O.K., it's not "Citizen Kane" or "Schindler's List," but "Goonies" not only accurately depicts 1980s childhood, it is 1980s childhood. Chunk claims that Michael Jackson came over to his house to use the bathroom (or at least his sister did), and even Cyndi Lauper does the film's theme song. How much more '80s can you get? Viewers can easily look back and relive those wonder years. Plus, it's fun to remember a time when the s-word could be used in a children's movie.

And now, finally, "The Goonies" DVD has been released. In widescreen format, the movie feels different for those who have only seen it on VHS.

The audio commentary by all the original goonies is by far the best feature on the disc. It's fun to see all of them now in their mid-twenties or early thirties looking back at the movie and cracking jokes about the production. For example, we find out that Jeff Cohen has become a successful lawyer and ran his campaign for class president at Berkeley under the tagline "Chunk for President."

The DVD also includes deleted scenes, something brand new for those who have loved "Goonies" for years.

There's something to be said about a movie made for children that can be watched and thoroughly enjoyed by viewers of any age. "The Goonies" sends a message to the children in all of us to never give up our sense of wonder. Or, at the least, it makes us laugh at Chunk's jiggling fat when he does the Truffle Shuffle. That never gets old. --Movie Feature

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