Catch up with this fantastic film from 1985 which has not gone beyond the circle of “little cult nugget” and which nevertheless deserves to be rediscovered by a wider audience.
Discover or rediscover the SF film Explorers, released in 1985 in France and the United States, starring Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix. An ode to imagination and the wonder of childhood, which was a dismal failure upon its release and which you can now catch up on Paramount+.
Young Ben Crandall (Ethan Hawke) loves sci-fi and wants to meet aliens at all costs. One night, he dreams of a spaceship and the next day, decides to build it with the help of his friend Wolfgang (River Phoenix) and surprise: the machine works and allows the two boys and their new friend Darren (Jason Presson) to go into space to explore unknown planets.
Paramount Pictures Presson, Hawke and Phoenix
The film immediately immerses us in its time as the young boys in the film use electronic devices and computers of their time (1985). With these new technologies, their talent and their passion, they set off on an adventure where everything becomes possible.
Explorers defends the power of dreams and imagination. Childhood is a fertile period when everything seems possible, before adults or life explain that it is not as simple as that.
The film takes the opposite view by showing children who have not yet heard that everything is not possible, and making their dreams come true thanks to the magic of cinema.
Paramount Pictures
First screenplay by Eric Luke (who would work on the animated series Gargoyles), Explorers was directed by Joe Dante, a director who was making his first film at the time after the phenomenal success of Gremlins. Suffice to say that he is expected to turn the corner and when he releases on July 12, 1985… his film crashes.
Paramount Pictures
Several factors are mentioned: it was released in theaters the day before the famous Live Aid concert which brought together the greatest artists of the time with the aim of raising funds to relieve the Ethiopian famine.
The week before, Universal released Back to the Future, which ravaged everything in its path. Finally, in June another film was released about a group of children experiencing an extraordinary adventure: The Goonies. All these reasons combined make the film a royal failure at the box office.
You can now give it or give it another chance on the Paramount+ platform, and take our word for it, you won’t regret it!