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ASIN : B0002V7O3I
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Editorial Reviews
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It's only in retrospect that one can see that Joe Dante's Explorers is an awful lot like Robert Zemeckis's Contact. An alien race, determined to make contact with earthlings, feeds some unsuspecting individuals the blueprints for space travel. Instead of the big gyroscope that Jodie Foster was strapped into in Contact, the three kids in Explorers make their intergalactic trip in crystalline blue Flubber. River Phoenix looks shockingly prepubescent (which he was) as Wolfgang, the brains of the trio, while Ethan Hawke looks like a young lady-killer as Ben. Fitting into the "whatever happened to?" category is Jason Presson as Darren, an outcast who joins the two eggheads. Joe Dante's career, cruising after Gremlins was a smash, faced a serious "hitch in the giddyup" when this film sputtered through the 1985 summer season without much of an impact. The effects still hold up nicely, as does Dante's incessant need to pay homage to other, older sci-fi films. The whole thing seems like a lot of trouble for some smackingly bland and silly results, but it's a harmless, initially involving diversion. --Keith Simanton
Customer Reviews
"The stuff that dreams are made of..." (2004-10-26)  Joe Dante has forged a unique career by making tiny, personal films that just happen to cost millions of dollars and frequently push state-of-the-art visual effects to the next level. Though many critics and younger audience members view his work as overly referential, those of us who grew up on a Cold War diet of 50s science-fiction films, stories by Bradbury, Clarke and Heinlein, and cultural touchstones like MAD Magazine, E.C. Comics and Famous Monsters of Filmland know exactly where Joe's heart lies. His finest films are love letters to his own childhood. And mine. As much as I admire all of Dante's work, my two favorites have always been MATINEE and EXPLORERS. It's a pleasure to finally see the latter appear on DVD. Although situated smack-dab in the middle of the 80s, the film is a big-brotherly pat on the shoulder to every kid who tried to build a spaceship in his backyard while Dad loaded the final bags of rice into the fallout shelter. Screenwriter Eric Luke (whom, as I recall, had been clerking at a Los Angeles science-fiction bookstore when this script sold) has crafted a tale of supreme silliness laced together with just enough plausible beats to allow the audience its all important willing suspension of disbelief. (No, the kids don't actually build their own spaceship, just the lovely Tilt-A-Whirl-based contrivance that rides within the alien forcefield technology they've happened upon.) The cast is remarkable; joining Dante's regular stock company (Roger Corman stalwart Dick Miller etc.) are 15-year-olds River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke in their screen debuts, the great character actor James Cromwell (BABE) as Phoenix's father (and, apparently, one of Wernher von Braun's V-2 boys), and another Dante frequent flyer, Robert Picardo (Star Trek - Voyager), in a triple role as the alien Wak, his space-trucker dad, and a badly-dubbed drive-in hero named Starkiller (a rather sly riff on the ever-popular STAR WARS trilogy.) The sets, visual effects and art direction, particularly in the alien spacecraft scenes that occupy most of the third act, are remarkable and still have impact 20 years later. If there's a storytelling flaw to be found here - and I don't happen to think there is but many contemporary critics clearly did - I suspect it may lie in the atypical passivness of our explorers upon finally reaching their goal. Nothing blows up, nobody comes up with any great schemes, universes are neither saved nor lost. It's been argued that the main difference between movies and real life is that movies characters do stuff - they take action and make things happen. In life, mostly, we watch and wait. Well in this movie that's exactly what our heroes do - they strive to get somewhere unique, and once there they watch, they learn, they evaluate, they explore. Anethema to most current audiences (and execs), but exactly in keeping with the tone and requirements of this story, and thrilling for the depth of humor and imagination on display. Few critics (or paying audience members) gave EXPLORERS much of a break upon first release. Against a crowded field of cute and resourceful kid movies (E.T., GOONIES, YOUNG SHERLOCK HOLMES etc.), it must have seemed like more of the same, differing only in the number of Chuck Jones references. But if you're a fan of heartfelt, literate science-fiction I implore you to take a chance. EXPLORERS's opening flying dream sequence both sets the tone and establishes the underlying theme of this film. This warm, deeply silly and utterly delightful movie surges and flows with a logic and timeless lilt that's usually only found in the best dreams - those all-too-rare ones you just hate to wake up from.
Explorers Finds No Audience (2004-05-04)  A film notable for having a young River Pheonix and Ethan Hawk in the leads. EXPLORERS starts out interestingly enough with a great premise, decent special effects, scientific jargon, and a likeable cast of young stars, but then it falls flat. Three pre-teen guys (two geeks and a freak) build a spaceship (a very inventive and high concept idea by the screenwriters). Then, they go off to find aliens. Once the young "explorers" meet up with an alien race who speak "American television",because the aliens have been receiving the televison signals to their planet, the story becomes vague, muddled and somewhat of a letdown. Also, the alien(s) repeating quotes from film and television programs becomes irritating and old right away. Overall, there are high production values to the film, interesting script ideas, and a likeable youg cast, but ultimately falls short. For a story that dares to explore, it goes nowhere.
I was 13 when this came out! I loved it Classic Sci Fi! (2004-02-29) I liked this movie and still do! I just wish Hollywood or whoever is in charge to release all the hard to find 80's classic's on Dvd I'm talkin about Explorers, Flight Of The Navigator,Escape From And To Whitch Mountain Freaky Friday late 70's but it was a classic from Disney! I got Tron Cool movie as well I have quite a few Dvds from the 80's accept not all of them I'm looking also for the Cartoon's from the 80's KIDD VIDEO,THE SMURFS,GALAXY HIGH,SPACE COWBOYS,Master Of The Universe! My Sister (Whos older then me) would like to Find My Little Pony And StrawBerry ShortCake And Star Bright the Care Bears As Well! Well Gi Joe Season (1) Is out now at Best Buy And WalMart! but I think its time they release all the 80's Cartoons before I grow Old! And the hard to find **Awsome 80's Movies!
Explorers (2004-02-20) I love this movie, but have gone stricktly to DVD's.When will this be available on DVD???
Imagination (2003-11-30) I've read a couple of reviews on this movie that talk about the acting, or the costumes, or the directors, or the cast, and even comparing it with other movies for older audiences. I saw this movie when I was a kid when it first came out, and another 50 times throughout the years, and that's exactly who this movie is for, kids. This movie gets the imagination going and leaves the younger audience with a good feeling after watching it that will last though the ages. I remember wanting to be one of those kids and a few times I may have even dreamt that I was working late at night on the "Thunder Road". That's more than enough for me. I can safely say that the movie ranks right up there with "Goonies", "Solar Babies", the recent "Hook", and other adventure/fiction films that never grow old. Those with the imagination of youth will enjoy this movie and it's a shame the DVD conversion has not happened yet.
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