Yes, it is overrated. The dog is the best character.

Nah, the movie is perfectly rated. It's just a fun, family classic that people really enjoy watching.
So many stories, so little time.

I agree that this is overrated. Granted I only watched it once 20 years ago. I wrote it off as a Stand by me rip off. I guess I'm biased because I watched Stand by me first when I was 12 and it became one of my favorite movies. Had I not seen Stand by me, I probably would have liked this movie.

Most of the people rating it are probably the ones who watched it growing up. Purely as a kids movie, it's a classic. I think it's rated just fine.

I agree, this is still one of my favorites of all time. It's something I'm sharing with my son. I remember when a group of my buddies from the 60's in the Bay Area played sandlot ball against other streets in a place we called Rocky Mountain, it was full of rocks so we couldn't slide but we learned how to field on a rough ground. Fun times!!

You watch your mouth. This movie is a national treasure.

Rating should be higher 9/10 Timeless classic.

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What an idiotic postmovie for adults lol
It's a family movie, coming of age tale, not a buddy comedywtf are you saying.

I think your biggest mistake was calling it a "family comedy". This is a buddy comedy for adults reminiscing about their child-hood growing up around baseball (and sports in general). Kids get it, but adults REALLY seem to get it. To say this is a family movie, is similar to calling E.T. a family movie. It has a family in it, families can enjoy it, and it's PG, but it's much more than that.
The absurdity of the encounters with 'the beast' is really half the charm in the film. Everything that happens in the film is extraordinarily exaggerated, because kids exaggerate things, everything's a big deal to them. There's also the 'big fish' effect going on with the narration, as it's an adult recalling his childhood with a great friend. It's great that the story is so absurd, but still captures a genuine nature about kids that is so rare in coming of age buddy comedies. Kids are awkward, kids are over-dramatic, and most of all kids have a crazy imagination.
I'd say 7.8 is rather low, considering it's achievements. It's clever, heartfelt, genuine in spirit. It has a great score, it's marvelously acted (from nearly all the kids), it's humorous, it's true to baseball all the while maintaining it's campy-ness. And it's incredibly well paced as a story. All of these qualities together in a "children's" tale is so rare, one cannot help but love every moment of it. It's a classic.

I was surprised the people of IMDb would allow it to have such a high rating, but it's deserved. The Goonies also has a 7.8 rating. Those are two of the greatest kids movies ever made. Though it might not deserve the rating from a technical standpoint, a lot can be said for how much it's beloved by people and the way they make people feel, so that's gotta count for something.