Customer Reviews

The Goonies

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just bought the book on e-bay, and have already read it!!! i highly reccomend this book! as a child i think its better than the movie!!

What could be better than the movie? Well the book goes pretty close! James Kahn has done well to capture the adventure which takes place. I wish I could give it more stars! I do have a slight problem with the book, that is some of the events are changed and bits of extra information are put in. Apart from that small problem, a great read and a MUST for all Goonies fans!

I liked the book a lot better than the movie because you see the peoples feeling so much better. This also has scences that explain what happens a lot better. This is a must read book!

The Goonies is a very well written adaptation of one of the best adventure movies I have seen. It is written from the point of view of Mikey, one of the kids in the story, and protrays the story in character and with good descriptive words and phrases. you can feel that this is happening to a thirteen year kid and his friends. Adventure and action and pirates, and buried treasure! ::grin:: Makes me want to go out and sail the seven seas. Al

Okay, I know I've ranted about novelizations before and how they are totally artless and only enjoyable on a purely pulp level. But The Goonies is the exception to that rule and actually proves to be rather brilliant. Yes, it's totally not George Orwell's Animal Farm or Huxley's Brave New World so a five-star review in comparison to them would seem kind of ludicrous, but on it's own level, The Goonies is the perfect adventure book.

The main thing that makes this book so much better than typical film novelizations is that it's told from the point of view of Mikey Walsh (Sean Astin's character), so we really get inside his head and his early-teenage perspective on things. Second is the fact that writer James Kahn (no, not that one) wastes no time in getting things going and makes every sentence and every paragraph relevant or interesting.

He also nails every character to a tee. Chris Columbus' crazy assortment of Goonies and their eccentric personalities is one of the many things that make the film so great and Kahn gives them all enough space to fully develop among chase scenes, octopus attacks and booby traps. But the best character of the lot has to be Sloth. He's such a cool guy!

Taken from Chris Columbus' complete script, there are a few scenes in here that were cut from the final film (I don't know if they are included in the DVD extras) but I particularly like the extra scenes were Sloth shows off what a misunderstood genius he is and how good he is at impersonating and acting. He and Chunk are the REAL heros of the film.

The last, but certainly not least, advantage this book has is the deeper insight into the metaphysical connection between Mikey and One-Eyed Willie. It was present, to some effect, at the end of the movie but I always thought it could be taken further and Kahn manages to create an inspiring character out of a dead guy.

If you are a Goony, then you must get this book. It's such a shame that it's out of print because I think a new edition, marketed as a teen-adventure novel would be very popular.

Goonies are forever. Goonies never say die!

Long ago, when I was really hooked on the Goonies, I read this book with great zeal. It really does capture the essence of the movie, and I would have to agree with the other reviewers that it may in fact be better than the movie.

If you are a Goonies fan, this is a good read. There are slight variations from the movie, which is interesting.

Its a good quick read.

Last time I checked, the book comes before the movie......so the movie would be the one changed, not the book.......correct me if I'm wrong......