Explorers | | Cast : | Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix | | Director : | Joe Dante | | Studio : | Paramount Home Video | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | July 12, 1985 | | DVD Released Date : | October 19, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 21, 2005 | | Summary | Great kids movie! | Content
 | 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. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 22, 2005 | | Summary | Guided my daydreams for almost 2 decades | Content
| 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. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 16, 2005 | | Summary | More interesting than I remembered | Content
| 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! |
| Rating | | | Date | January 06, 2005 | | Summary | Timeless | Content
| The idea is that aliens make first contact by sending technical schematics to the sleeping, dreaming minds of boys. The boys, Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix, use the information, along with their computer, to build a home-made space ship from scrap. If you like the idea you'll love the movie. It's done with respect for science enthusiasts and sci-fi fans, and really captures the spirit, like some of Heinlein's books, Have Spacesuit - Will Travel, etc. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 24, 2004 | | Summary | a strange hybrid of GOONIES and SOLARIS | Content
| I LOVED this film when I was a kid, but I was a little scared to watch it again as an adult. I was pleasantly surprised; while it was cheesier than I remembered (as I suspected) it's still a pretty engaging movie. I think if you really liked EXPLORERS when you were young, you might just get a kick out of it today. It holds up a lot better than most kids' movies from the 1980s that I've revisited recently. And it holds up a lot better than any Joe Dante film I can think of, period, even though his trademark oversaturation of classic sci-fi movie references is as prevalent as usual. |
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