Review of Explorers (1985) by Kayla K — 23 Jun 2009

If "Goonies" is the '80s most perfect distillation of every kid's fondest swashbuckling pirate fantasies, then "Explorers" is that decade's science fiction equivalent...

at least until it makes an unfortunate last act detour into the ridiculous. Escapist whiz Joe Dante seems almost preternaturally tuned into what makes young people tick, and in this film he has a crackerjack premise to work with, about a trio of young misfits who bond over a basement-level mad science experiment that results in the discovery of a magical, indestructible force field.

Doing what any 12-year-old boys would do with such technology, they set about building themselves a jerry-rigged spaceship out of an old tilt-a-whirl cart, stock up on chips and junk food, then fly off into the wild blue yonder.

It's a terrific idea, and for about two thirds of its running time it makes for a delightful bit of escapist adventure. It seems to get even more promising once the trio end up in space for an intergalactic encounter with a vast alien ship.

.. but sadly that's about where the script runs out of gas. Instead of exploring the great unknown, our heroic trio meet up with a pair of grotesque "cute" alien creatures who look like sun-bloated toads spackled under tons of glistening pancake makeup and who speak in a constant chatter of obnoxious pop-culture references gleaned from Earth tv.

.. and that's pretty much it. The last thirty minutes aren't just groan-inducing on a Jar-Jar Binks level, they completely vacuum out all of the wonder and excitement that the flick had been building up.

.. it's like soaring off into the heart of the universe only to find out that it's all one great big fart joke. Too bad, because up until it flies off the rails, "Explorers" is glorious fun.