Explorers (1985)

Directed by Joe Dante. Starring Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Jason Presson, Robert Picardo, James Cromwell, Dana Ivey, Amanda Peterson, Bobby Fite. [PG]

Using unexplained “visions” as the basis for developing advanced tech concepts, a trio of suburban middle-schoolers build a ramshackle spaceship that takes them to outer space and puts them in contact with alien lifeforms. Youth-oriented fantasy in the 1980s Spielberg-ian tradition (without Spielberg’s involvement), best remembered today for featuring the debut film performances from Hawke and Phoenix. Pretty decent for the first hour, establishing a pleasant rapport among the “unpopular youth” archetypes (sci-fi movie-loving dreamer, science nerd, unruffled outsider) and having fun with the sense of outlandish discovery and delinquency during the experiment phase and first test flight, but once the kids actually go to outer space—especially the point when they start communicating with rubbery extra-terrestrials and the filmmakers poke around at TV consumerist satire and heavy-handed messaging—the movie takes a wrong turn and never fully recovers. Despite the hardware and out-of-this-world shenanigans, it’s too much of a type at its best and too wrong-headed at its worst to avoid being a disappointment for the young cast and the imaginative director. Be on the lookout for an in-joke reference to the latter’s previous film, Gremlins. Dante regular Dick Miller makes an appearance, as does Mary Kay Place.

52/100