In this list, we face off against 10 movies and TV shows like The Goonies, featuring the most courageous kids who weren’t afraid to rise to the challenge and save the day. The 1985 American adventure comedy film, was co-produced and directed by Richard Donner.
The screenplay, by Chris Columbus, was based on a story by executive producer Steven Spielberg, about a band of kids living in the “Goon Docks” neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon. They attempt to save their homes from foreclosure. In doing so, they discover an old treasure map that takes them on an adventure. It’s the long-lost fortune of One-Eyed Willy, a legendary 17th-century pirate. During the adventure, they are chased by a family of criminals who want the treasure for themselves.
To decide which movies to watch depends upon what you like about The Goonies. if you like it for adventure, fantasy, and heroic kids, then you would probably like the list of movies and TV shows below.
1. Spy Kids (2001)
Spy Kids is an American spy adventure comedy family film series created by Robert Rodriguez. The main series follows the adventures of, Carmen and Juni Cortez, two children who become involved in their parents’ espionage. The rest of their family are spies as well, including their maternal grandparents, and estranged uncle Machete.
The films tend to have a strong Latino theme, as Rodriguez is of Mexican descent. The movie, much like the Goonies, contains the adventures of heroic kids.
2. Stranger Things
Stranger Things is a mystery American television series produced by Netflix. The series was written and directed by the Ross brothers. The story begins in 1983 and follows the disappearance of a young boy (Will Byers) amid supernatural events occurring around the town of Indiana.
The series mimics elements from movies like The Goonies, and the works of Steven Spielberg, Steven King, and John Carpenter, among others.
3. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
A story about world-cross friendships between Elliott, a lone California kid, and a generous and wise guest from another planet who has lost his way on Earth.
While Elliott tries to help his new friend make contact with ET’s home planet, the two must also escape from the scientists and government agents who want to catch the friendly alien for less lofty purposes. This leads to an adventure that is bigger than both could have imagined.
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
Harry Potter is an orphan boy who grew up with his uncle and aunt, the Dursley people. The uncles abuse him and hide from him the fact that he is the son of a pair of magicians. The truth is revealed to Harry and his life changes completely when he is invited to enroll in a one-of-a-kind boarding school.
It becomes clear to him that the world of the Dursley family is the world of the Muggles, and next to it, there is a completely different world, where the School of Wizards, Hogwarts, is located.
At Hogwarts, countless adventures await Harry, during which he meets the kids who will become his loyal and brave friends and those who will try to harm him. Harry also discovers his special powers as a young magician, as well as the evil forces lurking in every corner.
5. Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (2010)
Percy Jackson is a kid who always gets in trouble. But all the trouble in the world can’t prepare him for what awaits him on the sixth-grade annual trip during which he evades the hated arithmetic teacher, Mrs. Dodds, moments after it grew wings and jaws and tries to tear him to pieces.
And that’s not all: from that moment on, a variety of creatures from Greek mythology begin to chase him, all eager to eliminate Percy and all because of the secret of his past: Percy is the son of a Greek god! And he is not the only son of the gods: there are other kids like him.
6. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
James Cameron’s sequel to the 1984 film ‘The Terminator’, which he also directed. In the mid-1990s; John Connor, the future leader of the Human Rebels, is a brat boy who spends his time riding a motorcycle and playing video games.
When a human cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger) comes from the future claiming that John himself sent him, John understands that his mother Sarah, who has meanwhile been hospitalized in a mental institution, has been telling the truth all these years.
A more sophisticated cyborg, the T-1000, is sent by the machines to kill John, and his mission is to free Sarah from the institution and destroy the chip found in the junkyard where the cyborg movie was destroyed. The chip was taken by a senior engineer at Skynet, Miles Dyson, and he will use it to invent human robots.
7. Ender’s Game (2013)
An adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s favorite cult book, it tells the story of Ender, a gifted kid who was sent to an advanced war school to train him for an impending war with a foreign race.
The War School is the main feature of the book “The Game of Ender”, and its stars are kids like the Goonies, led by Ender, who is training to lead the most important war in history.
8. Peter Pen (2003)
Wendy Darling mesmerizes her little brothers every night, with stories of battles, swords, and the evil Captain Hawk. But the kids become heroes in a much bigger story as Peter Pan flies to his nursery one evening, taking them over the city rooftops, through a galaxy of stars, to the jungles of land never.
Wendy and her brother join Peter Pan and the lost children in a magical world, with no adults to tell them what to do, and they also have to deal with Captain Hawk and his gang of pirates.
9. The Incredibles (2004)
A red superhero family is forced to move to live in the suburbs as ordinary people after the government decided to ban all superheroes in the world from using their powers. The head of the family, Mr. Incredible, now a sales insurance salesman is getting bored with his day job. He becomes reckless and steps right into Syndrome, his arch enemy’s trap.
But, if there’s one thing you do not want, it’s open war with a very special family. Now Bob, and his cartoon babe, and mom, Helen (the rubber girl), Violet the invisible telepath, and Dash, the speedster kid, are out to save the world again, accompanied by explosions, effects, and a very healthy sense of humor in the best tradition of Pixar Studios.
10. Home Alone (1991)
The best Christmas movie ever! Home Alone opens on the eve of the holiday, which brings us together with the McAllister family in final preparations for a family trip to Paris. When the youngest son, Kevin, asks for a wish for his family to disappear, he does not think that the next morning is exactly what will happen! Kevin’s family flies to France and leaves him alone at home by mistake.
Realizing that he had “disappeared from his family,” Kevin could finally behave the way he wanted, watch crime movies, and even eat ice cream for breakfast. But Kevin’s adolescence journey involves protecting his home from a pair of robbers, overcoming his most hidden fears, an exciting encounter with the helpless neighbor, and understanding that making high-commando-level traps is a legitimate hobby for any 8-year-old.
Oh, and that family is the most important thing. At the same time, Kevin’s mother embarks on a trans-Atlantic journey in which nothing will stop her from returning and reaching a child she forgot from her brother.
