MovieChat Forums > Explorers (1985) Discussion > Half completed?

Half completed?

posted 9 years ago by Hendry_William_French
4 replies | jump to latest

The trivia section says Explorers wasn't even finished when they released it in cinemas - and it shows big time. For one, you can tell Dick Miller and Amanda Peterson's characters were almost completely cut out from the film (where they probably had a more integral part beforehand). There isn't much of a momentum, narrative or even a story - it's all random with no rhyme or reason.. it just feels like lots of stuff is missing. Hawke, Phoenix and the other kid don't really have much personality or chemistry with each other (which I put down to bad writing & directing rather than the actors).

I can't believe Joe Dante, coming right off of Gremlins and who went to make classics like Burbs and Innerspace soon after, directed this movie. It just doesn't seem like his style.

At least the movie was okay for about an hour but then completely fell apart in the final third, especially on that spaceship. I don't think it was a bad movie, just pretty stock and forgettable.

Motown, get your Detroit jukebox jheri curl ass in this chicken sh!t chop-chop, ASAFP!

[–] kaydie-fee 9 years ago

The first half was very good but it fell apart when they introduced the aliens

I can't believe Joe Dante, coming right off of Gremlins and who went to make classics like Burbs and Innerspace soon after, directed this movie. It just doesn't seem like his style.

Really? I think this is very much his style even the cartoony Alien parts (he directed Loony Tunes: back in action and was involved in Amazing stories - both of which are a bit blah)
I did hear that there were a lot of scenes cut out of the movie, I'd be interested to see a directors cut of 'Explorers'

[–] Hendry_William_French 9 years ago

Really? I think this is very much his style even the cartoony Alien parts (he directed Loony Tunes: back in action and was involved in Amazing stories - both of which are a bit blah)

Admittedly, I've only seen Dante's bigger movies (Gremlins 1 & 2, Innerspace, Burbs & Piranha). I guess I mean this movie, Explorers, came out during his peak and I expected it to be more like those movies. I think the style of this film was probably more like the stuff you mentioned.

I did hear that there were a lot of scenes cut out of the movie, I'd be interested to see a directors cut of 'Explorers'

Same here. You can definitely tell a lot of stuff is missing.

Commence Operation... Vacu-suck

[–] TMC-4 (20494) 6 years ago

http://officialfan.proboards.com/thread/584572/explorers-1985

Post by BorneAgain on 3 hours ago
Explorers is two thirds Spielberg sci-fi wonder, and one third irreverent Joe Dante wackiness, and the two do not fit at all. The pop culture aliens could have worked with their story fleshed out into its own movie, but as is their emergence destroys the tone and sense of exploration the movie had achieved at that point.

[–] TMC-4 (20494) 2 years ago

https://lebeauleblog.com/2016/05/27/what-the-hell-happened-to-joe-dante/3/

Why slip out of a coat when it is comfortable and keeping you warm? That is the question Dante asked when he returned the next year with another family adventure, Explorers.

Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, and Jason Presson play teenagers who try and build a spacecraft to take them to the outer reaches of our Solar System and beyond. It has been said that the script was green lighted for the exclusive reason that it features bicycles gliding through the night sky, with a full moon as a backdrop. Steven Spielberg was apparently okay with this.

Dante, seeing the similarity to his biggest hit yet, picked the script up, but didn’t much care for the third act. He was convinced by Paramount to improvise while shooting, to mend the script as he felt on-set.

When the cameras started rolling, Paramount requested that the production be fast-tracked. As in a bullet train’s track. References, rather than the director’s famous homages, were tossed in haphazardly like white bread into a Caesar salad, rather than croutons.

Later, on the editing room floor, the release date was pushed up by a month. Already harried, the filmmakers were forced to submit an entirely rough cut, which Paramount then submitted to audiences, who disliked it greatly. In the film’s defense, the Live Aid concert was being broadcast the same weekend. Phil Collins in a Concorde couldn’t save the film, however. It flopped hard, though critics liked it about as much as they did Dante’s last film. Explorers now has a devoted cult following, but Dante is still bitter that the film released was not the one he made.