It was a great theme. A group of kids create a space ship & they explore space. All great & interesting to see. When the comedy Alien comes into play it becomes a dumb kid movie. With lame jokes & a lame character.
Who here agrees the movie dropped off at that point?
I agree with you. The beginning and the end of the movie are very different. The beginning was intriguing and adventurous and the end became a little silly, although still fun.
Granted, if you look at the history of the movie, it makes sense as to why. If I remember right, the studio that was producing the film was purchased by another studio during filming. Once they did, they cut months off the production time and told Joe Dante that what was done was done, and they were releasing it as is.
So, he never got to really finish the movie, and what was released in theaters was only a workprint.
I appreciate the explanation behamut. I saw this movie all the way through for the first time just a few days ago. I enjoyed it up until the "What's Up Doc?" intro of the first alien. From there till the end, it trailed off to nothing and the whole movie just seemed pointless.
So the explanation makes sense, but it doesnt make the movie any better.
I could watch the 1st part of the movie over & over but damn the meeting the dumb alien just killed everything. It took a turn for the warts which is a shame because it had potential
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I agree the first 2/3 is better, but I can sort of see how some aliens may seem kind of retarded to us if we were to actually encounter them. They may be quite normal and intelligent otherwise, but the fact they have to adapt to be able to communicate with us may make them seem really goofy.
The part that really threw me was at the very end where it seems all four kids are dead and entering the afterlife together. I felt that was a little odd and an unnecessarily harsh fate for the characters.
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Yeah, that about sums it up. The ending on that alien ship was just weird and creepy and it didn't work.
It says in the trivia section that this movie was released uncompleted. Joe Dante must've been hot property coming off of Gremlins so don't know how happened. Wonder why he was never allowed to finish it properly?
Water, my ass! Bring this guy some pepto bismol!
Yeah, I remember seeing it in theaters the summer of '85 for my birthday. My sister and me really liked it, but I remember talking to her right after the film let out, talking about how the ending ruined it. I like this movie up until that point, what kid doesn't dream of doing this. Like many of you, those aliens just looked creepy, goofy even, they build up all this excitement all for a giant let down, it's as if they didn't know how to end the movie.
shareLike many of you, those aliens just looked creepy, goofy even,
Agreed, even as I kid I though wow cool movie but what a crappy ending.
sharethinkkam-2:
What gave you the impression that the four kids were dead? When they come back to Earth after meeting the aliens their ship lands in the lake and they get out and are fine. And why would the girl Lori be dead? She never even left space!
I interpret the last scene like this: The boys are continuing to get dreams that are being sent into their minds (somehow) by the aliens, and now Lori has joined their group. It's kind of ambiguous as to what will happen to them later, but there's nothing to indicate that they're dead.
As to the original point of this thread, I agree wholeheartedly. This film had one weak element, and that's the climax when they finally meet the aliens. I guess the idea was for it to be funny and that the film is aimed mainly at kids around the same age as the main characters, but man, those aliens were damn annoying. Kind of like a pre-PHANTOM MENACE Jar-Jar Binks. It's like if the movie JAWS were made exactly as it was, except that when we finally see the shark it's played by an obvious sock puppet.
If they ever do remake this movie (who knows, it could happen) I just hope they give it a much better ending, with better/not annoying aliens.