A boy obsessed with '50s sci-fi movies about aliens has a recurring dream about a blueprint of some kind, which he draws for his inventor friend. With the help of a third kid, they follow it... Read allA boy obsessed with '50s sci-fi movies about aliens has a recurring dream about a blueprint of some kind, which he draws for his inventor friend. With the help of a third kid, they follow it and build themselves a spaceship. Now what?A boy obsessed with '50s sci-fi movies about aliens has a recurring dream about a blueprint of some kind, which he draws for his inventor friend. With the help of a third kid, they follow it and build themselves a spaceship. Now what?
- Awards
- 1 win & 6 nominations
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film was in a prolonged editing phase when the studio moved up the release date. The theatrical release was the result of accelerated editing and was not finished to the director's satisfaction. The studio told the director Joe Dante that he was finished and they were going to go ahead and release what he had at that point.
- GoofsOn the maiden voyage of the Thunder Road, right after the sphere-field activates, the camera cuts to the front of the ship for a brief second and a half, and we can see the boys, mainly River Phoenix in the middle, waving their hands very enthusiastically and out of character for the scene. It's possible that this was an outtake that was cut into the film by mistake. Joe Dante has always said that due to studio pressure, the film released is basically a rough cut.
- Alternate versionsSome international video and television versions omits several musical cues from the soundtrack including a moment where Jerry Goldsmith's score accompanies the Mr. Ed theme sung by Wak and the 80s music Wak listens to on Darren's Walkman (in these versions, you can't hear the music at all). Several score cues are also missing aboard Wak's spaceship and in the first third of the film. It is unclear where this is a mastering issue or a music rights issue.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Phoenix Portal (2005)
- SoundtracksAll Around the World
by Robert 'Bumps' Blackwell (as R. Blackwell) and Monica Millet (as M. Millet)
Performed by Little Richard
Courtesy of Speciality Records, Inc.
Featured review
It just occurred to me, this would be a GREAT movie to do a fan edit on. Tone the goofy stuff way down, etc. I just might try it...
It's rather notorious for having one of the worst third acts because it started so wonderfully. Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix teamed together, the cop that wasn't a bad guy, etc etc.
Then-- they met the aliens. Terrible terrible.
Hawke's performance when they're on the alien ship is very authentically "this sucks." It's sad, but it's how we feel too. And his performance is so spot on, I'm skeptical studio interference impacted this movie as much as the director claims.
It's not just the alien sequence is so tonally inconsistent, the pop culture references the aliens use are 20 to 30 years to old for the target demographic. I was about the age of these kids when it came out, and even now am hopelessly bored during the sequence because though I generally recognize the pop references, it's only in a clinical way.
I will give it one prop though-- the alien ship act is so bizarre, when they come back to earth, it really feels like they've been somewhere, for a much longer time than they actually were.
It's rather notorious for having one of the worst third acts because it started so wonderfully. Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix teamed together, the cop that wasn't a bad guy, etc etc.
Then-- they met the aliens. Terrible terrible.
Hawke's performance when they're on the alien ship is very authentically "this sucks." It's sad, but it's how we feel too. And his performance is so spot on, I'm skeptical studio interference impacted this movie as much as the director claims.
It's not just the alien sequence is so tonally inconsistent, the pop culture references the aliens use are 20 to 30 years to old for the target demographic. I was about the age of these kids when it came out, and even now am hopelessly bored during the sequence because though I generally recognize the pop references, it's only in a clinical way.
I will give it one prop though-- the alien ship act is so bizarre, when they come back to earth, it really feels like they've been somewhere, for a much longer time than they actually were.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Los exploradores
- Filming locations
- 920 D Street, Petaluma, California, USA(Lori Swanson's house)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $25,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $9,873,044
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,607,340
- Jul 14, 1985
- Gross worldwide
- $9,873,044
- Runtime1 hour 49 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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