Explorers
Tags: cult

Plot synopsis:
Ben Crandall is a young teen living in the suburbs of Washington DC who experiences vivid dreams about flying through clouds and over a vast, city-like circuit board...usually after falling asleep watching old sci-fi films (The War of the Worlds is a favorite). Every night, upon waking from the dream, he draws the circuit board. Ben shows the sketches to his friend, child prodigy Wolfgang Muller. At school, Ben develops a crush on Lori Swenson - but he isn't sure whether it's mutual. Both boys meet punkish-but-likable Darren Woods, with whom they share their circuit board-concepts. Wolfgang builds an actual microchip based on Ben's drawings. The chip enables the generation of an electromagnetic bubble which surrounds a pre-determined area. As the boys discover, the bubble is capable of moving at near-limitless distances and speeds without the usual ill-effects from inertia. They construct a rudimentary spacecraft out of an abandoned tilt-a-whirl car; they name their ship the Thunder Road, after Bruce Springsteen's song of the same title. Their experiments with the Thunder Road draw attention from the US Government, which sends agents to scout the area for unidentified flying objects.
After Ben receives more dreams about the circuit board, Wolfgang discovers a means of producing unlimited sustainable oxygen; this means longer flights, whereas previously they were limited to whatever a typical oxygen tank could hold. They finalize their plan to explore the galaxy in search of alien life. The boys complete lift-off, despite interference from the authorities (one of whom silently wishes them well). Shortly after breaking Earth's orbit, something overrides the boys' personal computer-controls. The Thunder Road is tractor-beamed aboard a much-larger spaceship. The boys venture out to meet their "captors": Wak and Neek: two green-skinned aliens whose knowledge of Earth comes almost entirely from junk culture, particularly TV reruns. The young explorers hit it off with their extraterrestrial hosts...who are suddenly intercepted by a larger-still alien vessel. Feigning an attack by space-pirates, Wak urges the boys to leave. They are in the process of doing so when they're cut off by a gigantic brown extraterrestrial, this one bearing a close resemblance to the other two, who gestures furiously while grinding out barely-comprehensible alien language. As it turns out, Wak and Neek are brother and sister; they've taken their father's ship out for a "joy ride", sending the dreams to the boys in the hopes of meeting humans. Transmissions of old black-and-white movies have kept the extraterrestrial populace at a distance - except for the curious Wak and Neek - due to the humans' depicted violent tendencies toward alien life.
Wak and Neek's father allows the Thunder Road and its crew to depart, after Wak and Neek give the boys a parting gift: an amulet which, according to the extraterrestrials, is "the stuff dreams are made of". The boys make it safely back to Earth, but a malfunction results in them crashing the Thunder Road into their neighborhood lake. Now they're back to square one...or so they think. A week later, Ben has a dream at school in which he envisions another vast circuit board while flying through more clouds overhead. This time - thanks to Wak and Neek's amulet - Ben is joined in the dream by Wolfgang, Darren, and Lori. They proclaim that the circuitry is "really complicated", and wonder where this one will take them once they've constructed it. "...I can't wait to find out." Lori smiles at Ben while holding his hand.

Review: I was always into space, sci-fi, computers, and aliens even at a young age, and this film does a great job geeking any kid out when it comes to science, space, and adventure.
I love how one of the kids had a dream about designing a circuit board, and after creating it realizes it creates a spherical force field that has virtually no speed limit, and is impossible to slow down (blasting through an entire stack of books with ease, leaving a perfect hole).Although, once the kids get through the testing phase of the force field, and build the ship from old carnival rides (tea-cup thingie)--the movie takes another turn.
I loved the detail and imagination within this movie - like the one dream that the three boys all share, the sphere they create from their computer, the guard dog they give bubble gum to, the amusement ride seat they turn into their spaceship, with windows made from the fronts of washing-machines and TVs. And our three heroes make a great team.
River Phoenix is his nerdy computer-whiz friend with an Einstein-like crazy father (played by James Cromwell) and Jason Presson is the mature, yet weird kid with a troubled home-life.
It's a funny combination of child adventure and B-movie sci-fi but kids will love it, and as you grow up, you learn to see (like many great kids' films) many new details that pass you by as a kid but keep you entertained all over again from a different perspective.
The writer and Dante were good about packing in little extra details, like the "talking" mouse, Wolfgang's strange family, the kids using walkie-talkies, the dog who chews gum, the drive-in movie, Ben writing a will, one of the kids living in a trailer, etc.
This is a fun little story about a group of kids who are inspired by alien transmissions to build a spaceship from old junk parts.
I'm actually totally green with envy at River Phoenix's role; it's the sort I always imagined playing as a kid.The climax is very similar to a classic Star Trek episode called 'The Squire of Gothos', and the effects and showmanship of this story is very cool.
i watched this movie yesterday because i'm a good fan of Joe Dante and i had not seen this flick yet, and i loved it.
it projects the same feelings that E.T. and The Goonies gave me, that's one thing i love about 80's movies they use to have new and exciting stories of materials used or nor used before with a unique style, the kids were wonderful in the movie and special effects very good for the time it was made, i love how River Phoenix refers to Poltergeist when he imitates the little girl by saying.."They're Here"...just rent it and you'll see for yourself what i mean when i say 80's hollywood fantasy at best!..
Mostly, the movie is about Ben Crandall (Ethan Hawke), Wolfgang Muller (River Phoenix) and Darren Woods (Jason Presson), and their fantasies.And then there are director Joe Dante's touches.
Wolfgang Müller (River Phoenix) is the intelligent creator of complex things, Ben Crandall (Ethan Hawke) is the dreamer but his intelligence is not to be underestimated and Darren Woods (Jason Presson) is a normal, but a bit lonely, kid who happened to stumble into Ben's life and sees the opportunity to 'escape' from or rather to forget his problems at home for a while.As the movie continues, the plot evolves very well.
If the writers had wrote a better ending, giving a meaning to the whole scene of meeting the aliens, then I think the movie would have lasted for about 10-15 more minutes.But then again, the movie is about 3 teenagers having their dreams come true and not so much about meeting aliens.For me it was the first time I saw Ethan Hawke play as young as that age (15).
Knowing him mostly from his role in "Star Trek: Voyager" (bald) and (his voice) from "Totall Recall" I had difficulties actually recognizing him.To conclude: "Explorers" is a delightful, heartwarming teen/adventure film about 3 teenagers having their dreams come true.
Ben Crandall is a young visionary who dreams of space travel while watching late-night B Sci-Fi movies , pouring over comic books, and playing computers games in the confines of his bedroom .
This movie starts out SO great, really nailing the fun and excitement of being a kid and wanting to build and explore with your friends.
Three kids (River Phoenix, Ethan Hawke, Jason Presson) build a spaceship from designs they get in their dreams.
Like the kids themselves at first it seems strange and disappointing that the mysterious of the universe turn out to be a couple of TV junkies, but afterwards they/you realise what good time was had.This totally proves that the Yanks have very little taste (proved yet again by the success of Spider-Man) with this getting very poor reviews and virtually no box-office (I cant believe the amount of people who have said a film must be good because its made a load of money - two words - Pearl Harbor!), but when it finally got a limited release here in the UK it got very good reviews indeed.I was disappointed to read recently that Joe Dante, at a Sci-Fi Con, apologised for anyone having to endure this.
Watched it again on it's first run on VHS and now I own the DVD.I liked what one review said about this film: "This movie is the Goonies of Sci-Fi." I agree.Now then, with the exception of the outer space scenes, this film easily keeps your interest.
Ethan Hawke's performance makes you believe Ben and everything he feels about space and his desire to know "what's out there." Problems with this movie start and end with the alien-scenes.
If the dang character is upset with the outcome, you ought to be too.The reason this is not one of my all time least-favorite movies (the ONLY reason) is because Joe Dante does have a sense of direction in this film....or maybe it should make me more scared to know he was present..
Plus there's a decent-sized cameo from Dick Miller and James Cromwell cast against type as a mad inventor.Although I never watched this film all the way through as a kid, I remember being put off by what I saw of the rubbery aliens.
ExplorersSending children into outer space is a great idea because it gets them off of Earth.However, if the kids are as intelligent as the ones in this sci-fi movie then they can stay.Inspired by a dream he had of a computer circuit that would enable space flight, Ben (Ethan Hawke) approaches his whiz kid pal Wolfgang (River Phoenix) to help build a replica.Eventually, the pair creates an airtight force field capable of flight and protecting them from the harsh elements of space.Employing another friend (Jason Presson) to construct a spacecraft, the trio treks into the unknown universe, discovering some harsh truths along the way.An obvious product of its 1985 environment, this lesser known teenager space adventure has enough pseudo science, subversive sexuality and absurdity to deserve cult status.What's more, since there is no night or day in space, child labour laws do not apply.Yellow Light vidiotreviews.blogspot.ca.
For the reasons that the aliens don't come into until 30 minutes before the movie ends, and the rest of the film is the dramatic adventures of three best friends going through life and making discoveries, guiding themselves by their friendship which will last for ever.
I first saw Explorers when I was 6, not long after the movie came out and still remains a film that can be watched again.Even though this under rated movie by Joe (Gremlins) Dante is for kids I still love watching it and it fulfills all kids dreams who look up at the stars and wonder what the heck is out there.The only bad comment i have on the film is the 2nd half when they actually encounter the aliens.
I only watched this movies because of river phoenix he is such a great actor and the other kids were good too, the storyline is nice I really liked it i was enjoying everything until the aliens showed up it was so unnecessary I really hate the fact that they met up with the aliens it's so stupid i literally skipped half of the aliens scenes I couldn't bear to watch it.
(Though we are treated to a newspaper that suggests "Explorers" exists in the same world as "Gremlins".) Along with "Flight of the Navigator", this was one of the two great kids-meet-aliens movies of the 1980s.
OK, "Explorers" may be a product advisable only for those who feel a little bit nostalgic, or maybe for those who want to watch Ethan Hawke or the late River Phoenix in one of their first jobs.*My rate: 6/10.
Unable to figure out how Ben dreamt this thing or why it is possible they decide to build a small craft so they can control the sphere from inside.For the majority of this film it is a great little family sci-fi with a serious delivery but a wry sense and humour and produces a nice sense of wonder and mystery to it.
Music is by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography by John Hora.It's the family friendly sci-fi that Joe Dante did after he made Gremlins, and it's a film of much fun and childish splendour that is only done down by getting away from itself in the last quarter.Plot basically sees three young lads (Hawke, Phoenix and Presson) with different talents and ideals who come together to fashion a spacecraft as they deal with the perils of school (bullies, puppy love, scholastic pressure).
It's a bit derivative and it does at times feel like Dante is just making a movie so he can bathe in homage nostalgia, but there is intelligence in the sci-fi factors before it gets confused as to its messages and the aliens we finally meet annoy and disappoint.Weird and wondrous, fun and fragile, Explorers is a mixed bag for sure.
Ben (Hawke) is the latter of those three, a kid with a wild imagination and a quirky tendency to fall asleep during these warm summer nights with the windows wide open and the television still blasting out old sci-fi movies such is his nature to read; live and breathe both science fiction and extra terrestrials to the point of exhaustion.
During these opening scenes, Dante's focusing on Byron Haskin's original War of the Worlds adaptation playing out on the TV alerts us to one of two routes accessible to filmmakers creating movies about integration with intergalatic species; the Earth-levelling option rife in this self-aware instance, but Dante's film pleasingly coming to formulate into the second choice of the strains of attempted communication or integration with such species.We sense young Ben's rapport with local, and fellow high-schooler, Wolfgang (Phoenix) is close; both of them with the capability to two-way-radio to the other, in the middle of the night if needs be, for whatever the reason if there is a necessity to talk.
He uses Darren and Wolfgang's presence as a means to hang with people if it means getting away from his equally dysfunctional, but more aggressive, home-life – the sort of home-life that unfolds within an abode which backs onto a train-line seemingly always playing host to one of those freight trains whose horns we always hear whenever the film is unfolding near it.After a flurry of strange dreams and whizz-bang breakthroughs in Wolfgang's lab, the kids uncover a functioning orb-like spacecraft capable of taking off and gliding through the skies: something which agitates the local air traffic; causes chaos at drive-in cinemas, in what is a fun nod to 50's B-movies of old and, in spite of hitting upon the technological breakthrough of the decade, causes Darren to react with glee that they may now be able to spy on girls of their age.
We enjoy the fun and games of the opening acts, the humour and the wondrous manner the three child actors bounce off one another in dealing with this quite remarkable discovery; there is heart and a sense of danger to the film's proceedings, a moment catching us off guard arriving in the form of a scene featuring Ben drawing up his will in case anything should happen to him on the eve the kids decide to take their pod-space ship on a proper journey.
Science-fiction-loving junior high school kid from suburbia literally dreams up the blueprints for a flying capsule; he enlists his two friends from the neighborhood to help him build the vehicle from scrap metal, actually getting the thing into orbit where they encounter a weird mix of alien creatures living on an intergalactic way-station.
I found Explorers to be a rather interesting film.All sci-fi's I have seen have many things in common,They all go to space,see aliens...
The soundtrack is great also,the music flows so well,it kinda reminds me of Star Wars episode 1 &2 theme songs.Its cool-it rocks.What can I say,It's my favorite movie of all time without a doubt.I want to add also,that this movie deserves more credit,it really was a brilliant movie-it deserved a sequel(...Just think,Imagine what adventures Ben,Darren,Wolfgang and Amanda would be having with their technology?).
The Explorers is really a good.Jerry Goldsmith's music is Phenomenal!The late River Phoenix was good.James Cromwell had a short but good part.Dick Miller was good and he has been in most of Joe Dante's movies!The effects are great!If you haven't seen Explorers I don't want to spoil it for you.Its an excellent film and if you love sci-fi then you'll love Explores!.
explorers is a great sci-fi film Ethan hawk Jason presson river Phoenix they all had a great performance i love what the movie talks about is three different boys who meet each other and make a space ship they meet aliens but it turns out the aliens are just kids then when they get back to earth they and the girl Ethan likes all have the same dream and he gets to kiss the girl this isntlike those other movies because they put some stuff they don't put in other movies thats why i like this movie like other people every body did such a good job thats what made this movie so great the casting was good all and all this is a great film.
While Ethan Hawke may have been the only one of three to make it big this is still a great movie and look for a young buy still sexy Amanda Peterson who would appear in the teen classic Can't Buy me Love two years later..
Hawke plays a kid who, with the help Phoenix creates a Star Trek-like force field, that allows them to travel in space, and they built a ship that takes them there were they make contact with goofy aliens.So it starts off peaking my interest and then becomes this movie that I did not want to follow anymore.
The movie in question being the young adult Sci-Fi adventure Explorers (1985) directed by the ever entertaining Joe Dante.
When three kids played by Ethan Hawk, River Phoenix (in their first on screen roles), and Bobby Fite have similar (Tron-like) dreams, they unlock the blueprint for a device which can create a bubble that can travel through space without the feeling of inertia.
That being said, Explorers was the perfect movie to me when I was a kid, but watching it again for the first time in fifteen years, things have changed.
TIDBIT - When one of the aliens does the whole line about "Space Pirates" near the end, rating that movie PG-13, it's fitting to remember that Dante's "Gremlins" was the very film that inspired the entire PG-13 debate.Seven stars.
You got to watch this little film with a very open mind.It's totally imaginative,without pretensions,a pure trip of joy!The young actors are so cool to look(Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix)Surely the best film for the kids and of Joe Dante.**** on 4!.
An outer space-obsessed kid (Ethan Hawke) starts having weird dreams which seem to be some sort of message from aliens.
The movie goes to some trouble to set this up, then proceeds to do nothing with the character, who manages to find out what the kids are up to, and simply watches as they fly away to meet the aliens.
The three build a homemade spacecraft with room for three and embark on their secret adventure to space.The 3 friends are portrayed with excellency by the young actors: Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix and Jason Presson.
Primarily with the help of genius buddy, Wolfgang (River Phoenix), the three boys (including Darren, played by Jason Pressman), test out their new ship and go for a ride to an unexplored galaxy.The first half of the movie and the second half, when the kids finally arrive at their alien destination don't really see to fit together.
But for some reason this film makes it feel like it was the 90's instead of the 80's.Three friends named Ben Crandall(Ethan Hawke), Darren Woods(Jason Presson)and Wolfgang Muller(River Phoenix)are all having strange dreams.
Three friends, who love anything to do with aliens, UFO's and space, watch late night movies like "The War of the Worlds" and fall asleep with the TV on.
I guess you could look at EXPLORERS as Joe Dante's science fiction version of something similar to THE GOONIES with suburban kids preparing to embark on a great adventure as the nerd of the group(River Phoenix)is building a space ship to provide them a vehicle for intergalactic travel.
Basically alien obsessed kid Ben Crandall (Ethan Hawke) watches many late night B monster/alien movies, reads many comics, and plays video games, but he dreams of going to space.