ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

respect-16532 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. honestly the movie could've been better but the alien thing ruined the whole movie

pc95 Director Joe Dante, described in an interview that his "Explorers" did not turn out anything like he had planned. The article also surmises that Dante was forced to throw together a finished project hastily. These reports seem logical and the movie as a finished showing certainly supports his complaints. Unfortunately this seems to happen too often in Hollywood, where film studios try to mess with or control artistic processes. (spoilers) Anyway, "Explorers" opens up very well for the first third or so, and then loses some steam. However the alien ideas completely flop as does a cringe-worthy final 30 min. While the initial spider was well done, the green ETs are like Muppets in a bad not-meaning-to-be way. The idea should never have left paper. Still give this a 5/10. The child-actors do fairly well.

Timstuff I remember seeing a tape of this movie once when I was a kid, although even back then I seemed to have a pretty good grasp of what the movie did right and what it did wrong. This is a movie that starts out with great potential, but unfortunately it suffers from a bit of an identity crisis in the third act that stops the movie from being the classic that it could have been.The first two acts of the movie are great. We are introduced to a strong cast of child actors who all deliver great performances-- no doubt due to the direction by Joe Dante, who directed the Gremlins (which, unsurprisingly, was executive produced by Steven Spielberg). If you are familiar movies like Close Encounters, E.T., or the more recent Super 8, and even The Goonies, this movie will immediately have a familiar sense of charm. The story of some innocently mischievous kids getting into a bit of trouble so that they can build their own spaceship is something just about any kid can identify with, and the way the movie approaches the ends up being strangely plausible. The kids are memorable characters, and seeing the journey that takes them from happening upon a crazy, mysterious idea to flying their own spacecraft is one that will capture the imagination of both the young and old.Unfortunately, the destination is not nearly as satisfying as the journey. When the kids get into space and finally make first contact, the thoughtful "Spielbergian" wonder disappears quickly, and is replaced with an obnoxious Saturday morning cartoon. The aliens themselves look like leftovers from a Ren and Stimpy cartoon, and they are about as tactfully written. The rest of the movie did such an admirable job of taken itself seriously that when our protagonists come face to face with pop-culture spouting Nickelodeon rejects, the movie falls apart.I will always remember this movie as a mixed bag, and a missed opportunity. You get 2/3 of a great movie, and the last 1/3 of a crappy one. The first two acts of the movie definitely at least make it worth checking out, but the fact that the movie started off so strong only to rapidly devolve into cartoonish antics keeps it from being a must-see. I almost wish I had just stopped the tape when the kids made it into space, and left the mystery of the aliens as just that so I could enjoy the rest of the movie for what it was.

Spikeopath Explorers is directed by Joe Dante and written by Eric Luke. It stars Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Jason Presson and Amanda Peterson. 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). Taking off, the boys eventually go into space and encounter an alien race who have an interesting view on the human race...Dante had studio interference to contend with and he eventually re-edited the film for home format release. The film does feel compromised and rushed towards the end, but the story holds up real well and the young actors (Dante's excellent direction of youngsters is often forgotten) engage and entertain for all the right reasons. 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. 7/10