One Of The Best Adventure Movies Ever Is A Streaming Hit On Max 39 Years Later

The holiday season is upon us and with it comes the opportunity to put a dent in our watchlist while we inhale festive food and fill the awkward family silences with good old-fashioned movie classics. Should you want to make a break from the thread of Christmas films for a bit, though, you're in luck; a classic treasure of a movie has appeared on Max that might fit the bill. Sure, it's lacking in holiday cheer and doesn't have doesn't have a jolly old dude with a snowy white beard, but what it does have is a group of kids trying to evade some recently escaped convicts in search of a long-lost pirate treasure. It doesn't matter what time of year it is, because even four decades later, "The Goonies" is still good enough.

Directed by Richard Donner and produced by Steven Spielberg, 1985's "The Goonies" is generally regarded as one of the best kids films of all time and was a star vehicle for then-young talent like Corey Feldman, Josh Brolin, Sean Astin and, as of 2023, Oscar-winner, Ke Huy Quan. The film sees the titular group of youngsters find a treasure map that whisks them away on an adventure that could put a stop to their homes being destroyed to make way for a country club. Unfortunately, as if their quest wasn't dangerous enough, a family of crooks are hot on their trail and eager to claim the treasure for themselves.

Clearly, fans of "The Goonies" are eager to go searching for One-Eyed Willy's rich stuff once again, for old time sake. As of December 2, 2024, the film has even made its way into Max's daily top 10 (va FlixPatrol), which is certainly an impressive place to be given that the rest of the streamer's top 10 is primarily composed of beloved Christmas films like "Elf," "The Polar Express," and "A Christmas Story." These movies feature some of the best Christmas characters ever, so it's fun to see loud-mouthed Mouth (Corey Feldman) and ultra-nerdy Data (Ke Huy Quan) getting some renewed attention alongside them.

There's more to it than that, of course. "The Goonies" is full of moments of pure child-like wonder, be it Mikey (Sean Astin) regaling his pals with the legend of One-Eyed Willy or the Goonies taking a lengthy dip down cavernous water slides before getting a glimpse at a real-life pirate ship. It's that same vibe that '80s kids-on-an-adventure throwbacks such as "Super 8," "Stranger Things," and now "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew" has tried to replicate (and, in certain cases, have actually managed to recapture). Incredible to think that this special kind of movie magic all started with Steven Spielberg asking a simple question: "What do kids do on rainy days?" If you don't know already, why not finally check this one off your list and join "The Goonies" immediately?