Fun Summer Movies - The Goonies (1985)

Summer Release Date: 7 June 1985. Starring Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Corey Feldman, Keri Green, Martha Plimpton, Jeff Cohen, Jonathan Ke Quan, Anne Ramsey, Robert Davi, Joe Pantoliano, Mary Ellen Trainor, John Matuszak.

Can you believe it's been 25 years since this seminal summer favorite first opened in theaters? Time surely flies. I was 15 when this movie first came out. And all me and buddies knew about it was that Steven Spielberg was the producer, it was featuring Short Round from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and it was about kids with a treasure map, booby traps, pirates, and a crime family led by an old lady. We were standing in line opening day and the movie did not disappoint.

Of course every fan knows the story by hard: a group of kids on a rainy Saturday afternoon find an old treasure map and embark on a treasure hunt. Hoping to find some treasure so they can save all their homes from greedy land developers. Two brothers: Mikey (Sean Astin) and Brand (Josh Brolin) are two exact opposites. Mikey believes in the treasure map and wants to go on an adventure while Brand is more sensible and since he's stuck baby-sitting Mikey, no dice. When Mikey's friends Data (Ke Quan), Chunk (Cohen) and Mouth (Feldman) come over, the group manage to tie up Brand and off they go.

The adventure begins when our group encounters Ma Fratelli (Ramsey) and her two criminal sons, whose restaurant is the starting point of the treasure map. Things quickly get exciting when Brand catches up with our young adventurers. And let's not forget the two girls who end up tagging along: Andi (Keri Green) and Stef (Plimpton). Soon booby traps, pirate ships, last minute escapes, and a deformed brother of the Fratelli's names Sloth, who wears a Superman t shirt and has a hankering for some derring do ala Errol Flynn all add up to a terrific good time.

After viewing The Goonies in theaters during the summer of 1985, it quickly became a favorite of mine on HBO and then actually owning the VHS copy. I still watch my DVD copy from time to time, because it reminds me of a time when movies like this were fun and exciting and pure. No CGI or crazy effects, just good old fashioned movie making.

Notes:

While not a typical Spielberg massive blockbuster, The Goonies was one of the summer's biggest hits with about $65 million in North America. It would go on to become one of the biggest home video sellers by the end of the year.

The story was written by Spielberg and newcomer Chris Columbus, who would later go on and direct Home Alone 1 & 2, Mrs. Doubtfire and two Harry Potter films.

"Shit" or "bullshit"is uttered 19 times, not counting the line "Holy S-H-I-T!"

The pirate ship was entirely real. All the shots were filmed in the ship. After the film, it was offered to anyone who would take it. No one wanted it, so the ship was scrapped.

When the Fratelli brothers argue Anne Ramsey really slaps Robert Davi. She was told to hit him as hard as she could.

Cyndi Lauper co-wrote the theme song "Goonies R Good Enough", and shot a music video that features a cameo by the film's executive producer Steven Spielberg.

The late Corey Haim auditioned for the role of Mouth, but the role was given to Corey Feldman instead. At the time neither Corey knew the other Corey, but they met up again on the set of The Lost Boys (1987) and they became best friends. The duo would go on to star in seven movies together in the late '80s and early ' 90s. In the movie License To Drive (1988), Corey Feldman auditioned for the lead roll of Les Anderson, but that roll was given to Corey Haim.

The Goonies Oath that was cut out goes as follows: "I will never betray my goon dock friends / We will stick together until the whole world ends / Through heaven and hell, and nuclear war / Good pals like us, will stick like tar / In the city, or the country, or the forest, or the boonies / I am proudly declared a fellow Goonie."

Fun Summer Movies: JURASSIC PARK (1993)

Summer Release Date: 11 June 1993. Starring Sam O'Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, Richard Attenborough, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards, B.D. Wong. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Michael Crichton (based on his book).

The summer movie season got a big jolt of excitement in 1993 when Steven Spielberg delivered one of his biggest films ever. Jurassic Park showcased truly amazing visual effects than no one had seen up to that point. The too real looking dinosaurs left movie goers in utter disbelief. I remember seeing Jurassic Park when it first came out and everyone in the theater was screaming and cheering and having a great time. I won't go into details of the movie's plot because it has been done enough. But I will say that this is one of the best fun summer movies ever. With relentless action, well timed humor, narrow escapes, chases and just pure excitement, nobody does it better than Spielberg. Case in the point, the scene where the power to the park is disabled and the T-Rex gets loose and attacks the kids in the jeep. Spielberg ratches up the tension to an unbelievable pitch and you don't know if the kids are going to make it or not. That scene shows the T-Rex creation in all it's glory and it's a sight to behold.

Other notable scenes include the attack by the velociraptors and the grand appearance of the gentle Brachiosaurus. The entire cast is solid including Sam O'Neill as the paleontologist Alan Grant who becomes the hero because nobody else knows more about dinosaurs than him. Jeff Goldblum supplies most of the humor as theorist Ian Malcolm, who is just aching to tell everyone "I told ya so". Laura Dern is very good too as Ellie Sattler, a colleague of Grant's. And legendary director Richard Attenborough is on hand as the park's creator John Hammond. Also look for brief appearances by Samuel L. Jackson as a lab tech and Wayne Knight (Newman from Seinfeld) as an unscrupulous technician.

Jurassic Park was followed by two more sequels which were ok, but it's this one by far is the best.

Notable facts:

Harrison Ford turned down the lead role.

The first film to use DTS digital surround sound.

The raptors in the kitchen scene was filmed on Joseph Mazzello's birthday. Due to a misunderstanding, Joseph ran into one of the raptors on one of the takes and was injured.

Briefly held the box office record until it was beaten by Titanic four years later. JP is currently ranked 15th on the all time box office chart with $357 million dollars in North America.

Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) dresses entirely in black in both this film and its sequel. In the book, he tells Ellie Sattler that he only ever dresses in black and gray, so that he never has to waste time thinking about what to wear. Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) gives the same reason for his monotonous fashion sense in The Fly (1986).

It was while supervising post-production on this film that George Lucas decided that technology was good enough to begin work on the Star Wars prequels. Appropriately, Samuel L. Jackson was able to appear in those films as well.

Steven Spielberg was in the very early stages of pre-production for the film "ER" (based on a Michael Crichton novel), when he heard about the "Jurassic Park" book. He subsequently dumped what he was doing to make the film. Afterwards, he returned to "ER" and helped develop it into a hit TV series ("ER" (1994)).