Explorers Reviews

• A must for any sci-fi fan or space enthusiast.

  
  By A2JYIDH7JIG48H on 2004-08-22
  Explorers is a must for all true science fiction film collectors. The plot elegantly captures the dreams of a typical young sci-fi fan / space enthusiast. Hawke, then about 12, receives schematics from outer space in his dreams. His buddy Phoenix builds a circuit from the dream-diagram and hooks it to his computer, generating a miraculous force field capable of driving a space ship - which they build, with a third pal from school (Presson), from junkyard parts!
  
  Joe Dante's 1985 space adventure pays homage to classic sci-fi in a number of allusions: the videos Ethan Hawke watches in bed (The War of The Worlds and This Island Earth), the old sf paperbacks and Classics Illustrated comics in River Phoenix's basement, the mouse named Heinlein (after the great American science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein), and the usual supporting roles of Dick Miller and Robert Picardo (The Burbs, Matinee, etc.). Watching this movies always puts me in the mood to reread the Heinlein juvenile novels (Have Space Suit, Will Travel, Rocket Ship Galileo, etc.).
  
  If anyone says they're disappointed in the ending, that's only because the first 90 minutes of the film are so excellent, it's hard for any ending to live up to the oustanding buildup, including exploring the interior of a huge alien spacecraft. Take it for what it is, and if you're into space ships or sci-fi, you'll love it.
  
  
  
  

• Great Exploration

  
  By A1GHUN5HXMHZ89 on 2004-08-27
  Fans of movies like "Galaxy Quest" will probably find this dated but still entertaining. If you enjoyed "Goonies" you should like this movie. Three teenage boys build a spaceship from plans that are sent to them by aliens. The fact they build it from a carnerval ride and other miscellaneous items only shows the imagination. A fun adventure for kids of all ages. The young aliens that sent the plans to the teenagers have modelled their behavior based on our TV shows. The alien comedy is like Robin Williams did in Aladdin, off the wall imitations of celebrities. I enjoyed it when I first saw it as someone in my twenties and I still think it is fun to watch.
  
  

• Imagination

  
  By on 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.
  
  

• Almost a Heinlein juvenile turned into a movie...

  
  By A1PIOTD9Q0BKZ9 on 2002-12-06
  ---
  ...with an unfortunate emphasis on the "almost."

  The acting and directing talent devoted to EXPLORERS is impressive, and the production values are practically perfect. What gives this film a less-than-stellar place in the movie pantheon is precisely what most of the customer reviews condemn: those clownish damned aliens who are slugged into the third act in lieu of a climax.

  All the tension-building so delightfully provided in the first two-thirds of EXPLORERS is wasted by a blow-off that fizzles in a fashion that gives new meaning to the word "disappointment." Instead of slapstick, the characters and their efforts warranted something serious, something as good as what you'll read in a *real* Heinlein juvenile (see HAVE SPACESUIT, WILL TRAVEL for the perfect example), making this a peripubescent "buddy" movie that would have been honest-to-ghod memorable.

  Instead of what it is -- which is exceedingly "almost."
  
  

• "The stuff that dreams are made of..."

  
  By AK7GKEH5VXLB9 on 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.
  
  

• Guided my daydreams for almost 2 decades
  By A1C62RK7OFA6A4 on 2005-06-23
  I agree the ending leaves a LOT to be desired, but even the ending can't ruin the real meat and potatoes of this film, and in it's own silly way somehow actually works.
  
  I must emphasize that this film is as much about nostalgia for me, as it is about a simply good family film. As a child I loved Sci-fi, and this was one of the films that truly captured my imagination. I cannot look at a truly starry night without almost hearing the harmonica music Ethan Hawke's character plays on the rooftop, and knowing exactly what that character was thinking and feeling at that moment. Beyond awe, beyond wonder, beyond hope.
  
  As I child spending my summer in upstate New York, occasionally the sky would be so clear you could see something akin to what he saw, so deep so vast, so wonderful.
  
  I could also see a seriously good sequel being made to this film if the powers that be ever considered it. One that could wipe away the goofiness of the ending of the original and replace it with a more grown up ending. Sadly however I'm sure the magic, dreamlike quality of a movie set in the 80's will never be recaptured. To say nothing of the childlike wonder the movie inspires in me even today.
  
  So needless to say I'm more than a fan of this film, one of these days I'm going to clear out the garage, find a tilt a whirl, and build my own version of the ship, even if it doesn't have force field bubble technology, it will be one hell of a conversation piece.
  
  Anyone who was of the age at the time of this movies release and likes sci-fi, and doesn't mind the goofy ending, will enjoy this film, and nobody that I know who recalls this movie would ever say it wasn't a wonderful film. Maybe not quite on a par with the Dark crystal, or as popular as the last star fighter, or Flight of the Navigator, but this film has a magic that is undeniable. A magic that's certainly due in no small part to the great casting of the main trio. I recommend this film highly, Nuff said.
  
  
• A great 80's piece of sci-fi wonderment
  By on 2000-12-10
  "Explorers" continues to be a perpetual favorite film of mine ever since I first saw it the theatre in July 1985! This story enthralls it audience, albeit mostly with kids, with imagination, adventure, and, as all Joe Dante affecionados know, campy humor and sci-fi homage. Nowadays, "Explorers" has come to be quite the nostalgia film, especially when seeing Ethan Hawke and the late River Phoenix in their starting roles, each at age 15. However, it has stood up quite well in terms of its Industrial Light & Magic-produced visuals and Rob ("The Thing", "Total Recall") Bottin's intricate creature/make-up effects. Acclaimed composer Jerry Goldsmith's score is one of his best works ever, written to accentuate a whimsical & ethereal dimension that lies among the vastness of outer space, as well as in a kid's dream. While on the latter subject, the flying dream sequences really treat the audience to some eye-candy graphics and camerawork, which really jabbed me awake when I first saw them on the big screen...such scenes do cry out for a widescreen DVD version! The only real vexation I've known in this film are the aliens "Wak" and "Neek's" 50's-TV personalities.

  Highly recommended for family viewing, "Explorers", along with "Gremlins", "Innerspace", & "The Howling", is one of Dante's best and most memorable works to date! It's great that Paramount has re-released it for video after being nearly out-of-print for most of the last decade. Do rent or purchase it for yourselves...
  
  

• Great.....until the last half hour.
  By AUN2CU7YR19HM on 2006-08-03
  This movie was a great, feel good, imaginative kids movie....3 outcasts, building their dreams, and doing what all kids would love to do...fly their own homemade spaceship. Then the aliens showed up. Silly rubber outfits, and worn out old tv standby gags....ruined the film for me. But it was great until then.
  
  
• One that you'll never forget
  By A1O4KYPV0BLG01 on 1999-10-11
  I saw this movie when i was young and ever since i could not get it outta my head. Its one of those movies that you HAVE TO OWN! I guess the reason for my attraction to it was the "out there" feel to it. You know when your young, this movie made me feel like i could go do what the kids in the movie did. Its just that good....GET IT!!!!
  
  
• Disappointing!
  By on 2001-05-21
  Okay, I do like this movie but I have seen a much longer version than this on network TV. I brought this video version of this movie last week just because I thought it will have new scenes. But guess what it's only the original version that was filmed in the theater, no new scenes. I wish I can take my video back and wait for the DVD version to come out so that they can show the deleted scenes. If you want to see a longer version of this movie you can catch it on TBS Superstation or TNT if it ever comes on again on those channels it will have the new scenes. Trust me!

  WARNING - If you buy this video you won't see the new scenes that were shown on Network TV it's just the original version that was filmed in the theater no new scenes. Sorry!
  
  

• One of the best examples of family sci-fi.
  By on 2003-01-25
  I was probably 10 years old when I first saw this (on VHS). This movie was simply awesome and the type that you always remember. It was during the time "My Science Project" and other great teenage based sci-fi movies came out. Explorers is a movie to remember and definitely one to have in your collection of great movies.
  
  
• One of my favorite childhood films
  By A3RRBPUGD7UOSP on 2004-10-21
  As a kid, I loved this film. I can't wait for the DVD so I can give it to my kids.
  Background - If an alien race wanted to make contact with humans, and do so in a way as to assure that we wouldn't shoot at them, what would they do? Contact our children.
  
  Story - This kids in the story are contacted in their subconscious with dreams of computer components and circuit boards. They begin building the parts and find that they are building equipment that could allow them to travel into outer space. They allow the 'auto-pilot' to take them to a predesignated location where they make contact with the alien race.
  
  The film goes through the usual childhood angst. It has the childhood crush, the school bully, etc. It stars some of Hollywood's brightest child actors including River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke, and it's easy to see why they became excellent adult actors (if only temporarily in the case of River Phoenix).
  
  Some people have given this film poor reviews, but to me it's obvious that they are watching it from the perspective of an adult. Since I never grew up, this isn't a problem for me! Get this for your kids, or just for yourself.
  
  
  
• Classic 1980's film
  By A1N0UR186MCFYB on 2005-09-13
  1985 has brought into this world the best classics known to man. Gremlins, Gremlins II and Troll. Explorers is only one of many of those few classics. This really really really needs a sequel as it left us on a cliff hanger of questions. What happened to Neek and Wac? Why did the aliens pick humans? Why did they watch television? And why did the officer say he had the exact same dreams that the kids(Darren, Wolfgang and Ben)had? I really think this needs a sequel as it had the dream at the end saying a sequel was in the makings.
  
  
• Good Movie
  By A3GGMPRYCQ87CY on 2006-01-09
  This movie is about explorers and exploring. Good ways to explore, some of the best places to explore, etc. It's pretty informative and educational. Though I think you should be cautioned that opening up an oxygen tank in a pressurized enclosed space could be quite dangerous. If you are watching this as a family, it would probably be good to explain that to your kids. Other than that, the rest of the movie is very realistic.
  
  
• Needed Corey Feldman
  By A283IDDLZ6KZWH on 2006-04-03
  A movie about 3 kids who
  build their own ship and
  fly off to explore space.
  
  This movie was ok for the time,
  but it's just another post ET film
  from the 80's...more for children
  than anyone else.
  
  Some pretty cool moments,
  but nothing too great.
  Worth a rental.
  
  
• Not on a level with The Last Starfighter, but fun for kids.
  By A3LH5JHVICFAQS on 2007-02-14
  My son and I agree with another reviewer that it was good until the end, when they came up with these poorly designed rubber aliens, with really bad lines. I do not agree that the foul language was necessary, it really never is. There are many young people who do not use that kind of language, even with their peers. This is a fun movie for younger children, except for the language, which is mild and infrequent compared to most movies.
  
  
• Delightfully Disneyesque!
  By AZYJ9TS07B02W on 2002-10-13
  This film may have had nothing to do with Walt Disney studios, but every aspect of its production hearkens back to "The Wonderful World of Disney" I watched so faithfully back in the 1960's. And yet, it doesn't feel dated. One might call it a children's sci-fi "coming of age" movie." The alien kids' infatuation with old pop-culture TV may have been anti-climactic, but its timeless view of youthful innocence strikes a chord with many of us.
  
  
• I was 13 when this came out! I loved it Classic Sci Fi!
  By A22CY9L9EB99 on 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 DVD
  By A1G0WZO48JPL5V on 2004-10-21
  After a long wait,Explorers has finally come to DVD.Unfortunately,Paramount decided to make it a relatively barebones release,so anyone expecting all the bells and whistles will be disappointed.The only extras are two additional scenes....there's not even a trailer.And the picture quality isn't the best.The film looks a bit grainy and the colors seem washed out in some parts.The 5.1 Dolby Digital sound is pretty good,however but could've used some more bottom end.As for the film itself,those without an open mind and a vivid imagination probably won't like it.The ending of Explorers has often been the subject of much criticism but I've always found it to be highly entertaining.Robert Picardo(who would later go on to star as The Doctor in the Star Trek:Voyager series) is hilarious in all three parts he plays.And the three young actors(Ethan Hawke,the late River Phoenix and Jason"Where Is He Now?" Presson) all do a fine job of portraying three regular kids who happen to hook up with an alien species.Explorers is lightweight sci-fi but it never tries to be anything else.Hopefully,Paramount will issue a 20th Anniversary special edition sometime next year and get it right once and for all.
  
  
• Great kids movie!
  By A1BISREKKNLMMC on 2005-07-21
  I remember watching this movie when I was a kid. I identified with it since I spent my summers tinkering and building stuff. Better than most of the kid's movies they put out now.
  
  
• Great movie that stands the test of time
  By A25O7HZSH0WCFA on 2000-01-04
  I saw this movie when it first came out, and it has stuck with me for years.....it touched a part in my imagination. I think all kids feel a little like the boys, if you wish hard enough anything can happen. Great effects, music, and fun!
  
  
• It is the perfect commentary on the 50's genre of sci-fi.
  By on 1999-10-19
  Three kids are sent blueprints telepathically for building a space ship, so that the alien who is "sending" the blueprints can meet them. The Explorers has one of the most ingenius and inventive depictions of a First Contact ever filmed, in my humble opinion. The main alien is a masterpiece of make-up, costume and hydraulics, not to mention genuinely entertaining wit and satire..
  
  
• Wonderful Movie
  By A3P121GNV5QYIN on 2002-11-10
  I saw this movie when I was about 4 and totally fell in love with it,well conserting I love sci-fi I general,it was nowonder I loved this so much.Three different kids(brain,beatuy and brawns)build a spaceship out of a old tilt a whril rideseat,to find out where all the singles they're getting are from.Really fun,entertaining story,directed by Joe Dante,whom brought us Gremlins.I recommened this film for any fan of children's films or sci-fi films.
  
  
• Explorers Finds No Audience
  By on 2004-05-03
  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.
  
  
• Dante's Explorers Worth Exploring Again
  By A37ZOGOK3GKF2P on 2004-11-01
  Joe Dante, director of such fare as "Gremlins," "Innerspace," and my personal fave, "The Howling," shows his flair for combining sci fi with satire. River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke exploded on the screen as two geeks who find a way to travel in space. Actually aliens feed them information via the computer because they are bored and want new playmates. It seems not only are our kids being babysitted by TV, but alien children are too. These aliens are manic, like Jim Carrey on sugar and coffee fed to them non-stop. There are some genuinely funny satire moments, and tributes to old sci fi fare. Great family movie, with messages that still hold up today.
  
  
• More interesting than I remembered
  By A658Y4PUNNEOT on 2005-03-17
  Okay, like most of the other reviewers, I really enjoyed this movie as a kid and was really excited to see it getting released as a DVD. I've talked about the movie on and off over the years but never met anyone else who remembered it, so I was very excited to finally meet someone who remembered the name.
  
  I have to say, the plot of EXPLORERS was far more in-depth than I actually remembered. ...which was the three kids getting mistaken as aliens while inside the "bubble" they created and going into outer space.
  
  I also have to add that both River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke are both geeky looking boys in this movie...as a pre-teenager, how could I have ever thought they were cute??
  
  This is a light sci-fi that anyone should be able to enjoy. I wouldn't compare this movie to GREMLINS (that movie scared me to death as a kid), but maybe more along the lines of GALAXY QUEST with Tim Allen -- accept more scientific. Regardless, this movie is a classic!
  
  
• Youngsters will love it.
  By A1N0JG7D04EIH0 on 2006-03-24
  A truly "kids" movie. Kids are the stars, and the aliens. What a terriffic twist to the end. Great Sci-fi in outer space adventure and fun from start to finish.
  
  
• Great Movie !!
  By on 2001-06-28
  I caught the movie last night on Disney Channel (34). It was very good. I liked how the movie has a moral (You can do anything you want if you just believe) without it really showing. Ethan Hawke was amazing, Jason Presson was great, and River Pheonix did a great job. I feel sorry that he didn't live that long.
  
  
• I sure didn't like it, but it was bearable
  By A2SW5YBUH6GAAP on 2001-08-26
  Just recently, I was forced to see the original Paramount tape in shop class for the first 2 days of school. Considering my addiction to computers, you'd think a guy like me would get the technological lingo. I did, but the tape was played too many years late for anyone else to (even then, they wouldn't get it). Considering his successes today, I'm thinking "Ethan Hawke was in this?" The plot's pretty shallow, even for sci-fi, which makes it the more accessible. It's about 3 junior high kids, 2 normal, 1 nerd, you have to have at least one. As far as I remember, the computer kid renders up this giant orb and after a considerable amount of time, they build a spaceship out of a Tilt-A-Whirl car, with an Apple computer as the controller of the orb that would make the car move (remember, all the macintosh and windows weren't even mainstays yet). They eventually go to this ship, which I didn't really pay attention to, because I had been sent to another room (with a TV, because the school had a closed-circuit network, but I sat at a far corner anyway, actually enjoying myself.) for expressing my disgust with this movie. A lot of it had to deal with this alien who emulated a TV set or whatever. The various references to the one, the only, Groucho Marx (very funny guy, too bad he's long gone) when he hosted You Bet Your Life, and the Beverly Hillbillies probably went over every kid's head except mine, being a good pop-culture buff. Industrial, Light, and Magic did a great job with the 3D shots, considering it was the best they could do. It's very similar to Tron (which I only saw bits of). Don't waste your money on the tape, you'll find on the Disney channel once in a while, with more footage than the tape, I bet.
  
  
• Keep in the Eighties!
  By on 2003-11-12
  I found this movie to be a big waste of my time and money. Silly nonsense and stupidity abound. I recommend this movie to those who are only stuck in the eighties, who probably would find "Howard the Duck" to be five stars as well. There are way better family movies out there than "The Explorers".
  
  

• Flight of the Navigator
• The Last Starfighter
• *Batteries Not Included
• Short Circuit
• D.A.R.Y.L.