MovieChat Forums > Explorers (1985) Discussion > Favourite children's movies

Favourite children's movies

posted 20 years ago by Samus Aran
8 replies | jump to latest

These are not animated, but they were my favorite movies as a kid. They aren't the ultra-fluffy fair that almost every kids movie ends up being these days.

THE NEVERENDING STORY
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088323/
Parts 2 and 3 were utter crap in my opinion, just trying to make money off the popularity of the original and not offering anything in the way of plot or chatacters. I watched this one dozens of times as a kid and loved it every time. A couple brief scary scenes.

THE JOURNEY OF NATTY GAN
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089385/
A girl goes on a journey to find her dad who had to leave to go to a logging camp, and befriends a wolf along the way. Set in the 1930s and fairly gritty. A couple brief scary scenes.

FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091059/
A boy finds himself in control of a high-tech spaceship with a sense of humour. The plot is very complex for a kids movie, involving time travel and moral dillemas, quite well done. Many funny scenes, such as stopping to as for directions at a gas station.

MATILDA
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117008/
This one is quite modern, but a nice rendition of a classic Roald Dahl story. It is about a girl with special mental powers who is underappreciated by her parents and ends up in a school with a mean Headmistress. A couple brief scary scenes.

LABYRINTH
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091369/
This film features the amazing puppetry of Jim Henson, with dozens of memorable and unique characters. A girl goes on a mission to rescue her baby brother from the Goblin King (played by a very funny David Bowie). Lots of silly puppets, musical scores and creative sets. A couple brief scary scenes.

THE EXPLORERS
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089114/
Some kids build a spaceship in their back yard and explore space. Quite a goofy movie.

If your kids are young you might need to wait a couple years for the ones I marked as having brief scary scenes, but I have never met a child that can't get into these films. =)

G'day,

- raven morris

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] nikeno71 20 years ago

I agree. This is one of the greatest children's films that I have seen in a long while. I was six years old watching it amazed at what was going on. Six years later I watch it again and I understood and was intrigued. I really enjoy it, and anyone who is a true movie fan like me and can explain a great deal of this film should watch it.

[–] Samus Aran 20 years ago

I listed six movies, which one were you referring to ?

[–] falser 19 years ago

Good list. I've recently been going back into old movies I liked as a kid. I think you missed one big one: Stand By Me (another River Pheonix movie). My friends and I always used to go journeying out into the forest, so this movie struck a cord with me.

I've never seen, or even heard of Natty Gan before, not sure how, but I'll try and rent it sometime.

[–] Samus Aran 19 years ago

Highly recommended.

=)

And yes, I very much liked "Stand By Me". I didn't see it when I was very young, though, probably when I was 12 or 13. I also read the book in my 20s, it is part of Steven King's "The Four Seasons", I think he wrote it under his pseudonym Richard Bachman. The book also has "The Running Man" (made into an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, which was substantially different than the book) and "The Long Walk", which I really got into (a mental story about this guy in a walking race where you get killed if you get behind the truck slowly driving along behind the walkers).

[–] loonielass 19 years ago

What no Goonies!

[–] Samus Aran 19 years ago

"The Goonies" was one of my favourite movies as a kid, I saw it many times! =p

[–] ead061 19 years ago

A few good movies from my youth:

1)Secret of NIMH
2)Neverending Story
3)Return to Oz
4)The Goonies
5)Labrynth
6)The Dark Crystal
7)E.T.
8)Return of the Jedi
9)Black Stallion
10)Cloak & Dagger