Comedy; Adventure; Family

Let's see. Are you laughing your butt off?

Check. It's a comedy.

Have you spent the last hour and a half on the edge of your seat, equal parts excited and nervous?

Check. It's an adventure.

Could you have watched this with children in the room, without having to cover their eyes at the dirty parts?

Check. It's a family film.

But the reason The Goonies is so enduring is that it manages to be the best parts—and avoid the pitfalls—of all three of these genres. It has the hilarity of comedy without being plotless. It has the thrill of adventure without being too sober. And it has all the warmhearted cleanliness of a kid's film without being too full of cheesy "Let's Learn a Valuable Lesson"-style morality.

Unless you count "always keep a stash of Baby Ruths" as a valuable lesson. (0/10 dentists endorse this lesson.)