Explorers |
  • USA • 1985 • 109m •    • Directed by: Joe Dante. • Starring: Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Jason Presson, Bradley Gregg, Georg Olden, Chance Schwass, Amanda Peterson, Danny Nucci, Dana Ivey, Taliesin Jaffe, James Cromwell, Brooke Bundy, Tricia Bartholome. • Music by: Jerry Goldsmith.      Ben Crandall, an alien-obsessed kid, dreams one night of a circuit board. Drawing out the circuit, he and his friends Wolfgang and Darren set it up, and discover they have been given the basis for a starship. Setting off in the ThunderRoad, as they name their ship, they find the aliens Ben hopes they would find... but are they what they seem?
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Review:
The first two acts of the movie are great. We are introduced to a strong cast of child actors who all deliver great performances-- no doubt due to the direction by Joe Dante, who directed the Gremlins (which, unsurprisingly, was executive produced by Steven Spielberg). If you are familiar movies like Close Encounters, E.T., or the more recent Super 8, and even The Goonies, this movie will immediately have a familiar sense of charm. The story of some innocently mischievous kids getting into a bit of trouble so that they can build their own spaceship is something just about any kid can identify with, and the way the movie approaches the ends up being strangely plausible. The kids are memorable characters, and seeing the journey that takes them from happening upon a crazy, mysterious idea to flying their own spacecraft is one that will capture the imagination of both the young and old.
Unfortunately, the destination is not nearly as satisfying as the journey. When the kids get into space and finally make first contact, the thoughtful "Spielbergian" wonder disappears quickly, and is replaced with an obnoxious Saturday morning cartoon. The aliens themselves look like leftovers from a Ren and Stimpy cartoon, and they are about as tactfully written. The rest of the movie did such an admirable job of taken itself seriously that when our protagonists come face to face with pop-culture spouting Nickelodeon rejects, the movie falls apart.
I will always remember this movie as a mixed bag, and a missed opportunity. You get 23 of a great movie, and the last 13 of a crappy one. The first two acts of the movie definitely at least make it worth checking out, but the fact that the movie started off so strong only to rapidly devolve into cartoonish antics keeps it from being a must-see. I almost wish I had just stopped the tape when the kids made it into space, and left the mystery of the aliens as just that so I could enjoy the rest of the movie for what it was.
Review by Timstuff from the Internet Movie Database.
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