Good film... for the first hour - Explorers (1985) Discussion

[–] sibelian 16 years ago

Are you kidding? The ending's inspired!

All films about aliens are projections of what people want aliens to be, scary, beautiful wise, mysterious, graceful. Feh! Dante made aliens that were like people, floppy and lumpy and embarassing and anxious not to disappoint. Other people would be afraid to do so. Ben Crandall's such a geek! "Pure energy"... "Thoughtwaves".. why *shouldn't* aliens have grubby technology and screwed up families just like we do?

I love the idea that they felt they couldn't tell the guys that they were kids too because they might be dissappointed. I *really* love the idea that they're afraid to go to Earth because of all the sci-fi movies full of scenes of people shooting aliens!

I howled with laughter at "What's up Doc?" and the whole sequence with Wak and Neek afterwards. It was totally unexpected.

This movies got a point, why should the universe provide us with beautiful, wise, mysterious aliens? What about aliens that are just *friendly*? Why aren't they good enough?

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[–] Henry J Sosenite 13 years ago

I've seen some strong arguments here in favor of the aliens. But you HAVE to admit, sibelian, that they just didn't fit in with the first hour of the movie. I didn't think there even SHOULD be aliens in the movie. The fact that the technology was being shown to the kids through their dreams was intriguing, but even while I was watching it I was hoping they wouldn't ever come in contact with the aliens. The aliens would remain mysterious that way; that's much better than floppy and lumpy and embarassing.

I'm the smartest guy around: http://meonvarioustopics.blogspot.com

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[–] burroughs1111 16 years ago

I completely agree. The first part of the film is great. I absolutely love it, and then the idiotic aliens are shown and it kills the rest of the movie.

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[–] matias_celentano 16 years ago

Yes, I saw this when I was a kid, and I felt the same... the first half is show great 80-geekesque mistery...but then those aliens...

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[–] thebigbeercan 15 years ago

I love the fact its a mix of FlightoftheNavigator/Goonies with the boys messing around in the craft with lots of great scenes, but yes then the aliens show themselves and it goes tits up, i'm sure the girl alien is a prop from Neverending Story.

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[–] teen_wolf88 15 years ago

spke 532, it's Little Richard who sings the song "All around the World". Great song.

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[–] Prismark10 13 years ago

The film had an interesting premise but got dull pretty quickly.Hence why its almost a forgotten film.

Its that man again!!

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[–] jenniferles1000 15 years ago

Thats exactly what i was coming on this board to say i loved the movie when they were making the ship but when they meet the aliens it really goes downhill that part just seems way more childish than the rest of the film and really spoilt it for me.

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[–] [email protected] 13 years ago

I agree, the first hour is great... then... just forgetable.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] kenburke0627 14 years ago

You are right.

What could have been an exciting climax becomes a contrived let-down. It was as if whoever made the movie couldn't think of a good way to end it so he brought out the standard Hollywood cliches.

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[–] scott-sw 14 years ago

I agree the ending was a let down. However, I know the studios rushed the release date, not letting Dante make the movie he really wanted. I don't know if that included the cartoonish aliens or not. I guess we'll never know.

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[–] Ozymandias-King-of-Kings 14 years ago

The rushing of the release date primarily affected the editing and the shooting of a few scenes. The aliens were always going to be that way, but the movie may have handled them a little better. The novel shows more how the movie was supposed to be, which is generally the same, but with a more expansive view of the boys' home lives and their experiences at school.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Ozymandias-King-of-Kings 13 years ago

Not so sure the issues with the ending can be entirely blamed on the studio (though I have no doubt the movie would be better). The whole rubber aliens as stand-up comics thing was pure Dante, as was the decision to cut some of the best already shot scenes from the film (the party?) Also, in Dante's US home video version he cut the walk to school scene, which again, is one of the best scenes in the movie. Most of the movie's problems lie in the third act, but I'm not sure Dante saw just how strong the first two acts were, because he seemed to want to hack away them just to get to the let down part.

Interesting to note; in early drafts of the script (before Dante had started working on it with Luke), the first half of the film is almost exactly the same (minus the Lori love aspect), but the second half is much much more serious (and dark).

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[–] uhfgood 13 years ago

I understand if some of you thought that when they first watched it as a kid. However, it does make me wonder if most of you didn't come to that conclusion only after you heard that the release date was pushed up. So you read this and sort of built up the idea that the ending had to be way different than what was there.

I remember being cracked up by the aliens. I also agree with several people in this thread who said this is pure Dante. He seems to like to mix up the wacky Looney-Tunes aspect of things with fun adventure or seriousness then just put in a dose of weirdness (that metal spider thingy). That's sort of his thing. Also it does seem to be the point of the movie that it's trying to show both sides. A child's wonder and curiosity of what aliens would be like with what we would presume is the same from the aliens.

I might think that some aliens out there watched a movie also called Explorers where two alien kids named Wak and Neek decide to steal Dad's car (because they only have their learners permit or whatever), searching for life in outer space and when they get radio transmissions from earth learn about how we treat aliens. They then realize they don't want to visit Earth because of this, so they devise a way to bring some Earth people to them and instead of hostile military that wants to kill them they manage to bring back kids, not unlike themselves who also wondered what was out there.

Of course I also imagine same said aliens watching said movie called Explorers maybe a bit disappointed when they expect a disaster movie with the Earthlings coming in "guns a-blazin'" and instead find some completely civil and properly bright and smart teenagers which tell them that we aren't all like what we portray on TV.

Okay so I'm being a bit goofy, but the point is I think the film did what it set out to do. I imagine discussing the last half of this is like discussing who was the better captain Kirk or Picard -- and while I have an opinion on that I'm not so much of a geek as to get into a long and heated debate about it.

It's only a movie :-)

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[–] Ozymandias-King-of-Kings 13 years ago

I understand if some of you thought that when they first watched it as a kid. However, it does make me wonder if most of you didn't come to that conclusion only after you heard that the release date was pushed up.

It was a commonly held opinion long before anyone knew the release date was moved up, which has only become known in the last few years. I (and all my friends) felt the same way about the film when we first saw it (its initial release).

So you read this and sort of built up the idea that the ending had to be way different than what was there.

I would wager that somewhere in the region of 100% of the people who've watched Explorers had no idea about the ending being moved up.

I remember being cracked up by the aliens. I also agree with several people in this thread who said this is pure Dante. He seems to like to mix up the wacky Looney-Tunes aspect of things with fun adventure or seriousness then just put in a dose of weirdness (that metal spider thingy). That's sort of his thing.

He does, but this came out in the wake of ET, and audiences were just not ready for rubber-suited comedians doing impersonations of '50s TV stars. The homage Dante made to the entertainment of the '50s in 'Matinee' worked far, far better, and the film's tone was consistent. In Explorers the first two acts just didn'’t set you up for a comedic nostalgia trip. Even Goonies had more humour up front than Explorers, which felt a lot more like ET at the start. The shift in tone was -– and is –- jarring. It just doesn’'t work. Some people may like it (as you do), but any film– - not just Explorers –- that suddenly shifts in tone halfway through runs the risk of losing the audience.

Also it does seem to be the point of the movie that it's trying to show both sides. A child's wonder and curiosity of what aliens would be like with what we would presume is the same from the aliens.

I honestly believe that Dante himself hadn't decided what the film should be by the time it was finished. If he’d had the time to carry on working on it, we would’'ve had a better movie, but in my opinion, it would still have flopped. He was trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, and giving him a little extra time wouldn'’t have helped much.

Okay so I'm being a bit goofy, but the point is I think the film did what it set out to do.

The film set out to do two different things; the first was the script Luke wrote; the second was what Dante decided it should be. Then the studio interfered and made an already difficult task even more so. So I’m not really sure it did what it set out to do.

I imagine discussing the last half of this is like discussing who was the better captain Kirk or Picard -- and while I have an opinion on that I'm not so much of a geek as to get into a long and heated debate about it.

After a post as long as yours, throwing out the ‘'talking about this makes us geeks'’ thing is a little redundant, isn'’t it? Just sayin'’… 

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[–] specter19 12 years ago

yeah it was a letdown. even as a kid..tohguh i enjoyed it but the last part felt really different to the first of it... even as a kid i could see that.

i still love this movie.... but the last part did take a complete turn around.. this could have been huge like E.T....but sadly what happened a tthe end killed it... I'm still a fan thoguh ,..but cannot help but wonder what it would have been like if dsnte truly gotto finish it.. shame he can't just make a directors cut to finish it, especially sicne so much time has passed and river being gone..

I have no doubt the aliens were always ment to be there and such... but I think we all just expected this to be an amazing flick liek E.T. and such...

I know there had to have been a deeper meaningto alot of it in the end but sicne it was unifnished... it does make sense just how upruptly the movie just ends.. it does not feel ike it should have ended at that point.. always felt that way even before i knew about what happened I know somethign is missing,... i just never liked the apruptd ending... it's like somethign was missing,. I hated that more then the whole aliens thing.

nWo 4-Life! Halloween Rules!(The Holiday)

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[–] parkpunk 11 years ago

Just watched for the first time since I saw it in the theater as a kid. Like many people, I loved the first half. Until they met the aliens. I remember being so disappointed.
The best part of the film was the idea of them creating the "sphere". That should have been the focus of the movie. I'd love to see a remake that's entirely about that and nothing else. Something along the lines of the movie Primer.
I don't know. Maybe it wouldn't work. But the alien kids were just silly. Even as a kid (I'm the same age as Ethan and River) I thought this when I saw it. As far as remakes go, I think it would be worth a try.

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[–] Doc110894 11 years ago

It certainly needed a better finale.

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[–] 11 years ago

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