Review of Explorers (1985) by Kai82 — 27 Oct 2021

A forgotten gem that not many know. It is barly on „The best movies you have not watch or know exist” lists. For me it is charming, creative and unique. Also it is the first movie role for Ethan Hawk and one of the first for River Phoenix who both would become big names in the movie industry later on.

To be fair the movie had some production issues and the ending is a bit forced or abrupt because of this. The story follows the teenagers Ben, Wolfgang and Darren. Ben has vivid dreams about a circuit board in city shaped.

He shared this with his friend Wolfgang who is a child genius and sees that those are based on impressive technology unlike anything. Together with their new friend Darren they want to find out more. The first lets them create a sphere that can move at incredible speeds without any negative effects.

But this is just the beginning and I stop here with the set up. I like the story because of the ideas and characters. Like I said it is creative and unique. As child when I watched it the ending was a bit strange.

Far later I read that they ended in development hell in the later phase of the production. They were forced to speed up the filming and even more critical also the post production including editing. Today I see this clearly where as child I did not.

However it is still charming and well done. The characters add a lot and I will praise Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix ans Jason Presson as Ben (Benjamin), Wolfgang and Darren. They work really well and are always enjoyable and believable.

It is praisworthy wenn child or teengae actors are this good. Two of them became stars and you can see why. Sadly Jason Presson ended as child star but I say he should have deserved more. The rest of the cast works well too and I see no missteps here.

The special effects are mostly good with a few exceptions I cant point out because of spoilers. The soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith is truly good and deserves praise. Before I forget I want to thank director Joe Dante too.

Giving the production limitation this movie is even better. Overall I am curious what could have been when they had not to finish this as soon as possible. It is an 8/10 for me and I can see this becoming a 10/10.

I say it is a hidden gem and worth watching if this is available. Maybe hard to find as it is forgotten.