Explorers

Joe Dante is a lover of B-movie science fiction and eight years before Matinee he proved just that in Explorers, a very sweet film for younger and older audiences who haven't forgotten to dream. As far as the plot goes, I like the Earth part, but also the much criticized space part, which definitely has something to it. You'd be surprised, but when the main character explained that "we are not like that", I almost shuddered. Seriously. I can't say anything bad about the child actors, and I can't say anything bad about ILM's outdated special effects, or about Jerry Goldsmith, who composed one of my favorite themes for Explorers (I finally know what it's playing - for example, it gives the rocket building scene incredible energy). Not at all. Four pure stars. (07.07.2012)

Exactly the type of film that became the trademark of Spielberg's Amblin in the 1980s. And even though this ´s not an And even though this´ s not an "Amblin movie", it can keep up with them. At least at the beginning. There is everything from a small town, a purely children's view of things, nice kids, practical effects, Goldsmith's successful soundtrack (especially the main theme), of course bikes (without them it would simply not be possible) and... And above all, the unmistakable 80's atmosphere of a children's expedition for an extraordinary adventure. It doesn't have the same pace and progress as other movies of this genre, but it's definitely so good that one inevitably wonders why it's not a timeless classic like the others, and instead it's forgotten. And then the film moves into the second half, and all of a sudden everything becomes clear. Because the creators have largely stopped using the poetics of children's adventure film. It's still interesting, but not every good any more nor catching. The result is the message of an ambitious "like a children's art trip about the universe and the fifties of sci-fi second-rate movies", which on top has a cult conclusion, when Dante was forced to finish the film much earlier than originally planned and so, as an emergency solution he had to artificially change the opening of the movie and make it "slightly different". (14.01.2017)

At first glance, it looks nice as a family movie, but then it turns out that it really is just a family movie, where the added value is not as big as one would hope. Honestly, the second half is quite boring and I was expecting some kind of climax, which unfortunately did not come. Visually, it is nice in some places, but not unique. (14.10.2015)