The Goonies hit theaters in 1985, delivering a fun, family-friendly movie about a group of kids dealing with overwhelming odds. There were bad guys chasing them and buried treasure, all in a coming-of-age story that still resonates years later. This resulted in a slew of imitators that seldom matched up.
Many movies about childhood friend groups both influenced and imitated The Goonies, many of them replicating its charm and fun. Many used the supernatural and others relied on the humor and chemistry of the talented cast. However, what makes these some of the best kid-led movies is that they allow fans to live vicariously through the eyes of daring young adventurers.
10 The Monster Squad (1987) - Available To Stream On Prime Video
Two years after The Goonies hit theaters, Fred Dekker released his kid-led monster movie, The Monster Squad. The movie was very similar to The Goonies, as it had a group of childhood friends experience an unexplainable situation and deal with it the best they could. In this case, the kids met the classic Universal monsters, including Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, Wolfman, and more. What resulted was a cult classic that maintains a devoted fanbase to this day, with a 2018 documentary titled Wolfman's Got Nards revealing the lasting impact of this classic movie.
9 Stand By Me (1986) - Available To Stream On Netflix
Stand By Me takes the idea of friendship and moves further into the dramatic changes of adolescence rather than the comedy aspects of The Goonies. It also features Goonies star, Corey Feldman. One of the many great Stephen King adaptations from the '80s, Stand By Me follows four friends looking for a dead body they heard was in the woods. Along the way, they face their own mortality, none returning the same.
8 Super 8 (2011) - Available To Stream On Paramount+
Richard Donner directed The Goonies, but Steven Spielberg wrote the script and the movie had his touch all over it, especially when it came to the kid characters. In 2011, J.J. Abrams helmed Super 8, and while Spielberg only produced that movie, it exists in a Spielbergian world. The movie featured an alien escaping from a containment train and a group of kids filming it all before running for their lives when the creature noticed them. Super 8 was a massive box office success, despite the kids not having the same star power as The Goonies cast.
7 Now And Then (1995) - Available To Stream On Tubi
Released in 1995, Now and Then might be the best kids-led movie for The Goonies fans who want a full female cast. The movie flips back and forth between the present day when the girls are now women reuniting as one is preparing to give birth, and the summer they spent together in 1970.
The cast of kids included Gaby Hoffman, Christina Ricci, Ashleigh Aston Moore, and Thora Birch. As children, the four girls believed they raised a boy from the dead in a seance and set out to make things right.
6 The Sandlot (1993) - Available To Stream On Hulu
Similar to The Goonies, The Sandlot presented a group of disenfranchised kids trying to figure out their place in the world. In this movie, they find their connection through the game of baseball. The movie takes place in the summer of 1962; the kids playing ball on an old sandlot who have to retrieve a baseball hit into the backyard housing a vicious dog. Along the way, they develop friendships, find their confidence, and understand their sense of belonging in the world. The movie celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018, still screening at ballparks across the nation to this day.
5 Hook (1991) - Available To Stream On Netflix
The Goonies writer Steven Spielberg directed Hook in 1991, a movie based on the classic Peter Pan story. Robin Williams starred as Pan, who had grown into an adult and forgotten about Neverland. However, when Captain Hook kidnaps his kids, he sets out to save them and regains his memories. Arguably Steven Spielberg's most underrated film, Hook's best part was the portrayal of the Lost Boys, a batch of rebellious kids that could fit in well with The Goonies' adventurers, willing to do whatever it takes to stop the pirates.
4 The Harry Potter Franchise - Available To Stream On HBO Max
The Harry Potter franchise did something incredible in the novels and movie adaptations. It went from a kid-led magical movie franchise into a young adult dark fantasy storyline. Along the way, the movie cast grew up in front of the fans.
The Goonies screenwriter Chris Columbus directed the first two movies in the Harry Potter franchise, two fantasy movies that owe their entire existence to kid-led movies from the '80s. Twelve-year-old Daniel Radcliffe, 13-year-old Rupert Grint, and 11-year-old Emma Watson star in the lead roles as they discover magic and wizardry at Hogwarts.
3 The Lost Boys (1987) - Available To Stream On HBO Max
The vampire movie The Lost Boys placed a group of kids against a pack of vampires, who themselves lived in the bodies of teenagers. Corey Haim starred as Sam, a young boy who moves to a new town only to learn local vampires turned his brother, Sam enlists the young Frog Brothers, played by The Goonies' Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander, to help him beat the vampires once and for all. While the action is more supernatural, these kids' fight for survival has a direct link back to Feldman's previous movie.
2 It (2017) - Available To Stream On HBO Max
While Steven Spielberg was the master of kid-led movies in the '80s like The Goonies, it was Stephen King who mastered bringing children into horrific situations in the same timeframe. Stephen King wrote one of his most popular novels in 1986 with It. The book flipped between the past and present, featuring a group of kids fighting the evil Pennywise and returning as adults to finish the demon off. In 2017, a movie hit with the kids’ portion of the story, and these kids' adventures exploring tunnels and waterways pays more than a passing homage to movies like The Goonies.
1 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Available To Rent On Apple TV+
Steven Spielberg mastered kid-led movies in the ‘80s, creating the story for The Goonies while serving as the movie's producer. Arguably, his masterpiece in the genre arrived in 1982 with E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. The sci-fi movie featured a peaceful alien stranded on Earth and the young boy who meets and protects him. This boy, Elliott, and his friends have to keep government forces from taking the peaceful alien until E.T. can phone home and send a message to his spaceship to retrieve him from the dangerous planet.
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June 26, 2021 at 12:00AM
