i want you to hit me as hard as you can
we are going where no man has gone before to unlock the secrets of the universe
it's pretty incredible welcome back to another edition of the best movie you never saw this week
we're taking a look at joe dante's explorers now they sure don't make movies for kids like
they used to i know that makes me sound really old but the 1980s saw the release of more live-action
family fare from major studios that adults could actually watch and enjoy than we've seen in the
last 20 years combined throughout the early 80s we got movies like et the extraterrestrial the
neverending story which actually does end and of course gremlins which led the way for the
goonies the last starfighter stand by me which is my pick for the greatest kids movie ever despite
all the f-bombs and the r rating and of course labyrinth starring david bowie and david bowie's
cod piece which gave me nightmares as a child into that mix of nostalgic favorites and iconic
flicks there are the hidden gems that many of us overlook and one in particular is 1985's explorers
directed by joe dante and starring ethan hawke and river phoenix in their big screen debuts explorers
is the perfect mix of adventure and science fiction with solid special effects that hold up
almost 40 years later a box office bomb upon its initial release explores was released at the
absolute worst possible time now you would think a prime july weekend would have been an easy way
to make money for a film targeted families but in 1985 explorers hit the multiplexes just one week
after a little movie you may have heard of called back to the future yeah it did pretty well july
12th also happened to be the same weekend as the telecast of live aid and i mean why would you go
see a movie when you could stay home and watch freddie mercury and queen sing radio gaga radio
gaga and of course that concert remains one of the most watched events in broadcast history opening
poorly explorers ended up grossing just under 10 million dollars when it ceased its theatrical run
while international markets didn't release the film until december of that year the damage was
already done and it was a lost cause so how did a film that grows less than half its budget end up
becoming something of a cult classic home video of course the good old video store provided a
market for fans of director joe donte to create a buzz around explorers that it has retained to this
day take a look at the overall positive reviews online and you can see why renowned critics like
the new york times's janet maslin called the movie of all the spielberg inspired fantasy
films afoot at the moment explores is by far the most eccentric it's charmingly odd at some moments
and just playing goofy at others yes explorers is light and silly but that's also why it's such
a fun and enjoyable movie explorer's legacy is so strong that there's been a remake in development
all the way since 2014 which was aiming for a tone and style similar to the found footage
project almanac the latest development came in 2018 when no time to die director kerry fukunaga
and the green knight helmer david lowry were attempting to make a television series based
on the property for paramount the fact that two such acclaimed filmmakers would want to continue
the explorer's legacy should tell you why this movie is one of the best you have never seen
urban legends persist that explorers began as a script that studios wanted due to the scene of
kids flying through the sky on bicycles appealed to steven spielberg of course because he had a
similar scene in e.t we had something to sit in all three of us could fly around in this thing
we can look at top of the girl's gym the original plan was for the movie to be
directed by wolfgang peterson who impressed the studio with his work on 1984's neverending story
peterson was initially on board but wanted to film explorers in his native germany before leaving
the project to take on 20th century fox's enemy mine another potential best movie you never saw
paramount then turned to joe dante dante of course was coming off of the huge hit film gremlins but
was initially reluctant as he felt the script was not quite finished he reflected during a 2008
screening in the film saying that the movie lacked a third act the casting of the film
introduced us to the talents of ethan hawk and river phoenix phoenix of course was originally
set to play the character darren but what happened was that jason present was brought on board
and dante and his team felt that phoenix was still strong enough to remain in the cast just not as
darren so he was moved into the role of wolfgang phoenix struggled in the rehearsals for the film
with many of the pop culture references having grown up in an isolated commune in south america
and for more on that crazy upbringing you should read the book last night at the viper room
because man it was wild production of course was troubled from the outset according to joe dante
paramount leadership changed while the movie was filming which accelerated their schedules
the paint on the sets was wet and when the kids stepped into the spaceship they sunk
into smet because it wasn't dry with special effects provided by industrial light and magic
the remain challenges with makeup effects on screen which had to be adjusted on the fly
after a chaotic shoot dante completed his initial cut of the film in the spring of 1985. paramount
wanted to release the movie within months of the initial cut to try and make as much money
as possible but this resulted in tons of footage being excised including subplots and characters
scenes had to be redubbed to bring closure to plot lines and sequences which altered the tone
of the film according to dante the film was simply dumped various cuts of the film have
appeared over the years including an alternate end credit sequence a brief daydream at the end that
was restored on home video and two sequences involving a gang of bullies that are found
on the netflix version of louis oddly enough joe dante has searched for the missing scenes
over the years but they are likely lost donti is supportive of the cult following the movie
but says that the explorers that we got is not the explorers he intended because he said that
the problem is movie that you see is not the movie he wanted to make it's the movie he got to make up
to a certain point but then had to stop so it's hard for him to look at because it's not the film
he quite had in mind a cross between stand by me battery is not included on et explorers is such a
fun movie with a great score by the late great jerry goldsmith that it more than earns a spot
alongside dante's own gremlins the burbs and my favorite inner space crammed with easter eggs and
references to star wars this island earth wore the worlds and even looney tunes which of course dante
would direct a feature film version of but let's not get into looney tunes back in action here
explorers is very much aimed at capturing the wonderment of childhood the three main characters
are dreamer ben crandall played by an impossibly young ethan hawk nerdy wolfgang mueller played by
river phoenix although who would ever believe the coolest guy ever river phoenix as a nerd
and spunky darren woods played by jason preston ben has a crush on lori svenson played by amanda
peterson of camp miami love fame and is tormented by bully steve jackson other recognizable
cast members include mary kate place has ben's mother and james cromwell as wolfgang's father
gremlin's actor dick miller also appeared in the cast as charlie drake they bond over ideas for
circuit boards and microchips that came to bend in his dreams when wolfgang builds one they realize
it can generate a bubble that can create flight repurposing an old tilt-a-wheel the two begin to
assemble and test their spacecraft now i want to pause right here and take you back to my childhood
like many of you the movies i watched influenced my perspective on the world and how i played with
my friends i used to pretend i had a lightsaber like luke skywalker or that i was he-man or
gi joe but explorers showed three kids were not dissimilar for myself using the stuff around their
homes to build a working spaceship before seeing this movie i would take my toys and repurpose them
as navigation and weapon system but seeing three kids not much older than me doing the same thing
and then actually leaving the atmosphere imbued my imagination with even more wonder heck looking
back the movie now i still want to build this ship with a speaking spell and oxygen tanks and
whatever else i have lying around that said of course when i was a teenager i saw weird science
and instead of building a spaceship i decided that i wanted to use computer to build kelly lebrock
because i wouldn't i anyways back to explorers the kids ship named thunder road after the springsteen
song of the same name takes them into an alien vessel controlled by walk and nick walk is played
by veteran character actor robert picardo who of course is a favorite of joe dante's and cameos as
starkiller during the drive-in sequence they speak in pop culture references gathered through
enjoying human tv signals the kids realize that these aliens are really just kids themselves
out for a juror ride to escape their parents we can all relate eventually the aliens and
humans part ways with the ending leaving open the possibility of further adventures that of course
never came the final act of explorers is certainly the weakest part of the film and i've always been
curious as to what joe dante's initial cut would have looked like but it still works beautifully
as a piece of escapist entertainment i still love jerry goldsmith's fantastical score
as well as the 380s tunes in the movies from red seven night ranger and the late great
robert palmer explores was quickly forgotten when it hit theaters because it seems so familiar
in retrospect the movie does not delve into anything we have not seen before but benefits
from fast pacing and a smart sense of humor explorers never talks down to the audience
nor does it make these kids lesser characters just because they're kids it's evident even in
this movie that ethan hawk and river phoenix were destined for greatness and this all makes river
phoenix's untimely passing all that harder to accept there is a core of a classic movie
within explorers that we unfortunately lost due to studio interference but where it remains is
definitely still worthy cult classic and assuredly one of the best movies you never saw and of course
if you like this kind of content make sure to click the bell to receive notifications for
all of our latest videos we're an independent company and we appreciate all of your support