Explorers
July 12, 1985 in theaters
Middle schooler Ben spends his free time watching sci-fi films, playing video games and reading comic books. Surprisingly, his affinity for all things fantastical yields a real result – when he has a vivid dream about technology, his prodigy best friend Wolfgang manages to create a working spacecraft. Joined by their buddy Darren, the boys take off into outer space and encounter some very odd extraterrestrial life.
Cast
Director
TRAILER
QUOTE
"I had this dream..."
DID YOU KNOW?
Director Joe Dante was forced to release the film before he considered it finished -- Paramount pushed it to theaters early to compete with other summer releases, and Dante has always maintained that the version in theaters is not the film he intended to make.
THE VERDICT
Synthesized from published reviews
Joe Dante's most personal film -- a love letter to the Saturday morning cartoons and B-movies that shaped his generation, filtered through a genuinely moving coming-of-age story. Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix were both unknowns when cast, and the chemistry between them is immediate and real. The film's third act is deliberately and brilliantly weird, alien contact reimagined as a funhouse mirror of American pop culture, and not everyone came along for the ride. They should have.
GALLERY
VIDEOS
