Monday, June 18, 2012

Tuesday's Forgotten Film: Explorers



I'm often a day late with Tuesday's Forgotten--or some weeks, I don't post one at all--but this week, I'm a day early! Personal reasons preclude me from posting on Tuesday, so I'm taking the bull by the horns and getting this out to you today. This week's subject is the 1985 adolescent fantasy Explorers.

Explorers stars Ethan Hawke as Ben Crandall, a typical suburban kid with an obsession with space in general and aliens in particular. One night he dreams of a special computer circuit that would be capable of allowing interstellar travel. He mentions his dream to his super smart friend (played by the late River Phoenix) who proceeds to create the circuit from Ben's dreamed-up blueprint. They create their spaceship from, of all things, a Tilt-A-Whirl chair, and off they go (along with a third friend) into the wild blue yonder and beyond, where they encounter an alien race--or do they?

As I mentioned in my previous Tuesday's Forgotten Film selection D.A.R.Y.L., this is one of a sizable number of films from the mid-80s that involved tween age youngsters, especially boys, getting into fantastic adventures, and which also involve, at least to a small degree, a sense of wish fulfillment for kids of that age. Who didn't dream of going into space or getting involved with such adventures at that age? I know I did. That's what makes movies such as Explorers engaging, especially if you were of that age when these films were released, as I was.

To see for yourself, here is the film's official trailer, followed by the entire film itself. Enjoy!


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