Explorers (1985)

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 ... See full summary »

Director:

Joe Dante

Writer:

Eric Luke

Stars:

Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Bobby Fite

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ethan Hawke	...	Ben Crandall
River Phoenix	...	Wolfgang Müller
Bobby Fite	...	Steve Jackson
Bradley Gregg	...	Steve Jackson's Gang
Georg Olden	...	Steve Jackson's Gang
Chance Schwass	...	Steve Jackson's Gang
Amanda Peterson	...	Lori Swenson
Danny Nucci	...	Nasty Kid at School
Jason Presson	...	Darren Woods
Dana Ivey	...	Mrs. Müller
Taliesin Jaffe	...	Ludwig Müller
James Cromwell	...	Mr. Müller
Brooke Bundy	...	Science Teacher
Tricia Bartholome	...	Girl in Classroom
Eric Luke	...	Darren's Teacher

Storyline

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. Setting off in the ThunderRoad, as they name their ship, they find the aliens Ben hopes they would find... but are they what they seem?

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Plot Keywords:

dream | circuit board | alien | crash | journey | 

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Taglines:

The adventure begins in your own back yard.

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild language and action, and a brief scene involving beer

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

12 July 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los exploradores

Filming Locations:

1616 Wabasso Way, Glendale, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Robert Picardo was in full makeup and costume as Wak, his mouth was the only part of him not completely covered (though his mouth was made up to blend in with Wak's face).

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Goofs

At 07:16 on the DVD, "2517 Davana County School District" is written on the side of the school bus, but at 49:58, the sheriff's helicopter lands by a sign reading "Davanna County" and at 50:51, deputy Gordon reads a copy of the "Davanna County Gazette".

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Quotes

Ben Crandall: What's that?
Wak: Uhh... Space Pirates.

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Connections

References It Came from Outer Space (1953)

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Soundtracks

Additional Compositions by Leo Robin & Ralph Rainger, Jay Livingston & Ray Evans, Winston Sharples, Leith Stevens

User Reviews

Great sci-fi for the family.

I had the pleasure of seeing this movie with my parents when I was ten and I really enjoyed it. In fact, whenever I see it on now I still enjoy it. This movie is a movie the whole family can get behind. This one is not about some obnoxious little brats outsmarting their parents or some other adults at every turn ala "Home Alone", this one is about kids doing something that all kids really enjoy exploring. Though they do their exploring at a very extreme level. It starts with a series of dreams that one friend tells another and pretty soon they make the device that was seen in the dreams. It apparently makes some strange spherical airtight shield. They decide to make a ship to put the device around and they put in some air tanks so they can breath. They then take their device for a rather humorous test drive, but near the end of their first run something seems to take control of their ship...they avoid disaster and then another dream shows them how to make a device that seems to provide air. The next time they try the ship they let the force take them to a spaceship far away. In it they meet up with some aliens. The movie goes at a rather good pace and is very funny. I really enjoyed it at the theater and so did my parents at the time. A few surprises are also included as well in this one.