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1980s  adventure  childhood memories  childrens movie  science fiction  

Explorers

Explorers

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Director: Joe Dante
Actors: Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Bobby Fite, Bradley Gregg, Georg Olden
Studio: Paramount
Category: DVD

List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $5.17
You Save: $4.81 (48%)



New (18) Used (17) from $5.17

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars 58 reviews
Sales Rank: 5308

Format: Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 109 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6

MPN: PARD016764D
ISBN: 0792197828
UPC: 085393396428
EAN: 9780792197829
ASIN: B0002V7O3I

Theatrical Release Date: July 12, 1985
Release Date: October 19, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
It's only in retrospect that one can see that Joe Dante's Explorers is an awful lot like Robert Zemeckis's Contact. An alien race, determined to make contact with earthlings, feeds some unsuspecting individuals the blueprints for space travel. Instead of the big gyroscope that Jodie Foster was strapped into in Contact, the three kids in Explorers make their intergalactic trip in crystalline blue Flubber. River Phoenix looks shockingly prepubescent (which he was) as Wolfgang, the brains of the trio, while Ethan Hawke looks like a young lady-killer as Ben. Fitting into the "whatever happened to?" category is Jason Presson as Darren, an outcast who joins the two eggheads. Joe Dante's career, cruising after Gremlins was a smash, faced a serious "hitch in the giddyup" when this film sputtered through the 1985 summer season without much of an impact. The effects still hold up nicely, as does Dante's incessant need to pay homage to other, older sci-fi films. The whole thing seems like a lot of trouble for some smackingly bland and silly results, but it's a harmless, initially involving diversion. --Keith Simanton

Product Description
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. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 03/28/2006 Starring: Ethan Hawke Amanda Peterson Run time: 109 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Joe Dante


Customer Reviews:   Read 53 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars Explorers a real treat   October 30, 2008
Paul Burch
Remembering this movie is from the mid eighties, you'll be quite impressed with the special effects, and the lighthearted story is entertaining. I got a real kick out of the terrible alien creatures but it was sad to see the acting talent of a very young River Phoenix and know it would be cut short. All in all, not the amazing movie you might remember if you haven't watched it since you were a kid - but definitely worth watching if you've got kids of your own or if you like to reminisce.


4 out of 5 stars Explore the fun   October 6, 2008
James L. Garcia
We saw this in the 80's when it 1st came out. Now, it's just as entertaining. A different slant on alien contact, after all if they do exist, they must have teenagers, too. And it appears an older gent also had been contacted sometime in the past. Very good when they begin to get the picture this is an invitation and actually build their travel craft. Highly recommend this. Fun for all ages...maybe a bit scary for the very young ones when the heroes 1st make alien contact. Don't miss this alien encounter of a teenage kind.


4 out of 5 stars EXPLORERS - Good family movie (for a sci-fi Dad)   June 28, 2008
Keith Mirenberg (www.spaceanimations.org)
EXPLORERS - was a very good family movie (four stars) that I first saw with my very young boys in the year it was made. As a family movie it was great and my boys were not disappointed with the (weak) ending. Of course, these kids spoke up in defense of MAGIC FLUTE when I quietly complained to my wife at the breakfast table about having to sit through that one.

This film had a good plot with lots of development, decent special effects, fine young actors (including young River Phoenix) and a very effective musical score. My wife also enjoyed this film and it was an overall hit as a family movie with special appeal for me with my interest in sci-fi. I especially enjoyed the stereotypically German family living in a small American town, all portrayed as bright and scientifically minded.

Wolfgang was portrayed by River Phoenix. Incidental to the plot, Wolfgang trained a pet mouse to request cheese and offer different comments verbally in the background by pressing buttons on a speech synthesizer. When Wolf's experiments got out of control this mouse would press the button for squeaking out with his tiny computer generated voice "help!" at appropriate times. This is typical of the many fine and subtle comedic details of the movie almost missed during all the excitement.





4 out of 5 stars great 80's Sci Fi movie, great kids movie also   May 15, 2008
Jon L. Capogrossi
The 80's was a good time to be a kid as far as movies went.

Speilberg's influence was big at that time, mainly due to "E.T.", a movie that had a big sense of innnocence and childlike wonderment. ET had a big influence on a lot of the other sci fi and fantasy movies that came out after it, for a number of years, including this film.

It was directed by Speilberg collaborator Joe Dante, & is for sure similar in many ways to "ET", but with a 50/50 blend of Spielbergian wonder and Joe Dante's classic movie nostalgia and wisecracks.

The three kids get the help of unseen, freindly aliens in making a sort of "force field bubble" that can fly anywhere, even into space...after converting an old abandoned carnival Tilt-O-Whirl car into their spaceship, they are able to put themselves inside the bubble, which, after some test runs, takes the three kids off into space, where they visit with the aleins who contacted them, being pulled in to a giant alien spaceship floating somewhere in space...
However, the aliens themselves, rather than be some sort of "source of knowledge" as the main character hopes, instead make the kids laugh with their own wisecracks and jokes. It is especially funny that the aliens learned to speak english from intercepting tv broadcasts that have gone out into space...thus the aliens impersonate cartoon characters, celebrities, etc...

this was not as major a film as ET was, in fact back at that time it was sadly undermarketed...I remember seeing it for the first time on HBO over a year after it came out...However, This movie is, to me, a lesser known 80's classic...not as famous as "Goonies" or "ET", but similar for it's own child-like and optimistic story.



4 out of 5 stars Explorers   April 18, 2008
little fish <>< (Va)
I give this a 4 instead of a five, because it did not hold the children's attention the way I like to see of a movie.
And my son said to me, "Mom what are you watching? It looks wierd."
4 is a good number, though, because it is cute with good messages woven in for the younger set.
There is a point in the movie when it seems that the writers don't know where to go with the story. That's when the costumes come in and are really extreme and distracting, from my point of view, but
The kids loved that part.



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