The point is that The Goonies wouldn’t still hold such sway over filmmakers and viewers alike if it didn’t have something going for it. But I’m just too close to it to evaluate the film objectively. I notice its flaws—the clumsiness of the climax, the laughable special effects in places, the ridiculousness of its very premise—and I see them as charming virtues.

My wife, on the other hand, had never seen the film before I downloaded the UHD HDR remaster on Kaleidescape, and she ate The Goonies up flaws and all, giggling at all the funny bits, clapping at the little victories, jumping at all the cheap scares, and cooing every time Sean Astin did something adorable. And I think its sway over her had a lot to do with the aspects of the film that just don’t age as the years go by: The excellent cast, the believable performances, and ultimately the heart of its very simple narrative. The Goonies is, when you get right down to it, a straightforward adventure tale—equal parts treasure hunt, dungeon crawl, and crime thriller. And that straightforward story gives it enough momentum to overcome things like the silliness of a few of its gags, or the groan-worthiness of things like obviously rubber bats being flung on strings at the actors’ faces.

Of course, you likely either  already know what you think about The Goonies or you’re beyond caring. The question that you really want answered is: Should you upgrade to UHD HDR if you already own the film The simple answer: Yes, this one is worth the upgrade.

The not-so simple answer: I wouldn’t put this on my Top 10 list of 4K remasters. Hell, I wouldn’t even put it on my Top 10 list of 4K remasters of ’80s flicks. The cinematography is a little too flat and soft to consistently take full advantage of the increased resolution or expanded color gamut. That said, there are shots here and there that are simply breathtaking in this new transfer, and the high dynamic range does enhance things like flashing lightning and the glare of lanterns. What’s more, the middle passage—which takes place entirely underground—does benefit from a little more range and the lower end of the value scale. I only caught one or two scenes with uneven black levels. Aside from those, the gloomy-looking second act looks better than it ever has before.

The new DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is also an appreciable step up, with enhanced atmospheric effects (especially during the thunderstorm near the beginning) and a bit more bottom end to enhance the action. As has been the case since the film’s debut, though, dialogue clarity is the weak spot in the mix, and there’s likely nothing that can be done about that, since much of the dialogue was improvised and the actors talk all over each other near-constantly.  So don’t go into this expecting a film that sounds like it was recorded yesterday, but do expect a minor upgrade in sound quality over the 10-year-old Blu-ray release.

That Blu-ray, by the way, is the source of all the bonus features included with this new 4K release, which is to say there’s not much here, and you can probably skip most of it. The seven-minutes’ worth of deleted scenes are cute and shed some light on the reference to an excised octopus attack mentioned in the final moments of the film. But practically everything here was best left on the cutting-room floor.

The only bonus goody that’s absolutely must-see is “Hidden Treasures: Video Commentaries from the Cast.” As the name implies, this is an audio commentary with the Goonies (along with Donner), recorded (if memory serves) for the DVD release of the film in 2001. What sets this apart from most commentary tracks is that the participants were filmed sitting together at a table watching the film projected in front of them, and we get to see much of their interaction by way of picture-in-picture pop-ups.

Did The Goonies deserve a new retrospective documentary for its 35th anniversary? Absolutely. Since the movie still has far more influence on modern popular culture than most of its contemporaries, a fresh look at its lasting relevance would have been nice. Maybe we can hold out hope for some new bonus features on its 40th or 50th anniversary. But if you’re just here for the movie itself, I seriously doubt any future releases will look (or sound) as good as The Goonies does here.