Explorers

1985
U
1h 49m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

24K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer1:12

3 Videos

99+ Photos

Adventure Comedy Family Romance Sci-Fi

A boy obsessed with '50s sci-fi movies about aliens has a recurring dream about a blueprint of some kind, which he draws for his inventor friend. With the help of a third kid, they follow it... Read allA boy obsessed with '50s sci-fi movies about aliens has a recurring dream about a blueprint of some kind, which he draws for his inventor friend. With the help of a third kid, they follow it and build themselves a spaceship. Now what?A boy obsessed with '50s sci-fi movies about aliens has a recurring dream about a blueprint of some kind, which he draws for his inventor friend. With the help of a third kid, they follow it and build themselves a spaceship. Now what?

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

24K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 6 nominations total

Videos3

Trailer 1:12

Explorers

Clip 4:30

"Skeleton Crew" Gives Star Wars Back to Kids

Clip 4:30

"Skeleton Crew" Gives Star Wars Back to Kids

Clip 3:07

Late-Breaking Summer of '85 Movie News

Photos125

+ 118

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The film was in a prolonged editing phase when the studio moved up the release date. The theatrical release was the result of accelerated editing and was not finished to the director's satisfaction. The studio told the director Joe Dante that he was finished and they were going to go ahead and release what he had at that point.

Goofs
On the maiden voyage of the Thunder Road, right after the sphere-field activates, the camera cuts to the front of the ship for a brief second and a half, and we can see the boys, mainly River Phoenix in the middle, waving their hands very enthusiastically and out of character for the scene. It's possible that this was an outtake that was cut into the film by mistake. Joe Dante has always said that due to studio pressure, the film released is basically a rough cut.

Quotes
Heinlein the Mouse: [pressing buttons] I would like... cheese... go... to... hell...

Alternate versions
Some international video and television versions omits several musical cues from the soundtrack including a moment where Jerry Goldsmith's score accompanies the Mr. Ed theme sung by Wak and the 80s music Wak listens to on Darren's Walkman (in these versions, you can't hear the music at all). Several score cues are also missing aboard Wak's spaceship and in the first third of the film. It is unclear where this is a mastering issue or a music rights issue.

Connections
Edited into The Phoenix Portal (2005)

Soundtracks
All Around the World
by Robert 'Bumps' Blackwell (as R. Blackwell) and Monica Millet (as M. Millet)
Performed by Little Richard
Courtesy of Speciality Records, Inc.

User reviews113

Review

Featured review

6/10

Fantastic, imaginative, entertaining--halfway through.

Watching Explorers as a kid, sparked all the things I loved about freedom, and adventure. 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. Although still fun, the writer and/or director seem to lose track of the original flare, and the movie begins to wander off into a more childish, meaningless Hollywood push-out.

Over all, the film is very entertaining. I just Netflixed it so that my girlfriend could see it, and I could reminisce. It is one of my favorite childhood movies (along side the original Neverending Story).

--MR