science fantasy
Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scientif ...
film written by
Eric Luke
Eric Luke (born October 31, 1962 in Salem, Massachusetts) is an American writer.
Career
Film
Eric Luke began his career in film writing. Previous film work included: ''Explorers'' for Paramount Pictures, numerous screenplays for MGM and others, ...
and directed by
Joe Dante
Joseph James Dante Jr. (; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director, producer, editor and actor. His films—notably ''Gremlins'' (1984) alongside its sequel, '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990)—often mix 1950s-style B movies wit ...
. The film stars
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...
and
River Phoenix
River Jude Phoenix (; August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American actor, musician and activist.
Phoenix grew up in an itinerant family, as the older brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix, and Summer Phoenix. He ha ...
, both in their film debuts, and
Jason Presson
Jason Presson (born August 31, 1971) is a former American child actor, best known for his role of Darren in the 1985 movie ''Explorers'', alongside Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix.
Career
His debut came in 1984 with the film '' The Stone Boy'' pe ...
as teenage boys who build a spacecraft to explore outer space. The special effects were produced by
Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...
, with make-up effects by
Rob Bottin
Robin R. Bottin (born April 1, 1959) is an American special make-up effects creator. Known for his collaborations with directors John Carpenter, Paul Verhoeven and David Fincher, Bottin worked with Carpenter on both '' The Fog'' and '' The Th ...
.
Rushed into production, the film was never properly finished. Dante revealed that the studio demanded that he stop editing and rush for a July release where it was overshadowed by the
Live Aid
Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...
concert, which was held one day after the film's release and stiff competition from ''
Back to the Future
''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, ...
'', which opened nine days prior. It was a
box office failure
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
upon its release, but it attracted a
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
with its VHS release.
Plot
Ben Crandall is a young teenage boy living in a fictional
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
suburb, who experiences vivid dreams about flying through clouds and over a vast, city-like circuit board, usually after falling asleep watching old sci-fi films (''
The War of the Worlds
''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...
'' is a favorite). Upon waking from the dream, he draws a diagram of the circuit board and shows the sketches to his friend, child prodigy Wolfgang Muller. At middle school, Ben develops a crush on Lori Swenson, but is unsure whether it is mutual. The boys also befriend punkish-but-likable Darren Woods, with whom they share their circuit-board concepts. Wolfgang builds an actual
microchip
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
based on Ben's drawings. The chip enables the generation of an electromagnetic bubble which surrounds a pre-determined area. The boys discover that the bubble is capable of moving at near-limitless distances and speeds without ill effects from inertia. They construct a rudimentary spacecraft out of an abandoned
Tilt-A-Whirl
Tilt-A-Whirl is a flat ride similar to the Waltzer in Europe, designed for commercial use at amusement parks, fairs, and carnivals, in which it is commonly found. The rides are manufactured by Larson International of Plainview, Texas.
Descript ...
car and name it the ''Thunder Road'', after
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
's song of the same name.
After Ben receives more dreams about the circuit board, Wolfgang discovers a means of producing unlimited sustainable
oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
; this means longer flights, whereas previously they were limited to whatever a typical oxygen tank could hold. They finalize their plan to explore the galaxy in search of alien life. The boys complete lift-off, despite interference from the authorities (one who silently wishes them well). Shortly after breaking Earth's orbit, something overrides the boys'
personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
-controls. The ''Thunder Road'' is beamed light years away into deep space and is tractor-beamed aboard a much larger spaceship. The boys venture out to meet their "captors", Wak and Neek: two
aliens
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
whose knowledge of Earth comes almost entirely from pop culture, particularly television reruns.
The young explorers hit it off with their extraterrestrial hosts, but then the alien ship is suddenly intercepted by a larger-still alien vessel. Wak urges the boys to leave. They are in the process of doing so when they're interrupted by a gigantic extraterrestrial who admonishes the Wak and Neek. It is revealed that Wak and Neek are brother and sister and the gigantic creature is their father; they've taken his ship out for a "joy ride", sending the dreams to the boys in the hopes of meeting humans. Transmissions of old movies have kept the extraterrestrial populace at a distance – except for the curious Wak and Neek – due to the way humans depict violence toward alien life.
Wak and Neek's father allows the ''Thunder Road'' and its crew to depart, after Wak and Neek give the boys a parting gift: an amulet which, according to the extraterrestrials, is "the stuff dreams are made of." The boys make it safely back to Earth, but a malfunction results in them crashing the ''Thunder Road'' into their neighborhood lake. A week later, Ben has a dream at school in which he envisions another vast circuit board while flying through more clouds overhead. This time – thanks to Wak and Neek's amulet – Ben is joined in the dream by Wolfgang, Darren and Lori. They proclaim that the circuitry is "really complicated" and speculate where it may take them once completed. Lori smiles at Ben while holding his hand and they share a kiss while flying.
Cast
*
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...
as Benjamin "Ben" Crandall
*
River Phoenix
River Jude Phoenix (; August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an American actor, musician and activist.
Phoenix grew up in an itinerant family, as the older brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix, and Summer Phoenix. He ha ...
as Wolfgang Müller
*
Jason Presson
Jason Presson (born August 31, 1971) is a former American child actor, best known for his role of Darren in the 1985 movie ''Explorers'', alongside Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix.
Career
His debut came in 1984 with the film '' The Stone Boy'' pe ...
Dana Ivey
Dana Robins Ivey (born August 12, 1941) is an American actress. She is a five-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, and won the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her work in both ''Sex and Longing' ...
as Mrs. Müller
*
Taliesin Jaffe
Taliesin Axelrod Armstrong Jaffe (; born January 19, 1977) is an American voice actor, voice director and screenwriter. He has worked on English-Dubbing (filmmaking), dubbing roles for anime and video games. He is a cast member on ''Critical Role' ...
as Ludwig Müller
*
James Cromwell
James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American actor and activist. Some of his best-known films include ''Babe'' (1995), '' Star Trek: First Contact'' (1996), ''L.A. Confidential'' (1997), '' The Green Mile'' (1999), ''The Queen'' ...
as Mr. Müller
*
Robert Picardo
Robert Alphonse Picardo (born October 27, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the Cowboy in ''Innerspace'', Coach Cutlip on ''The Wonder Years'', Captain Dick Richard on the ABC series ''China Beach'', the Doctor on '' Star ...
as Starkiller / Wak / Wak and Neek's Father
*
Karen Mayo-Chandler
Karen Mayo-Chandler (18 April 1958 – 11 July 2006) was a British actress and model. She appeared in issues of ''Vogue'' and '' Harper's Bazaar'' magazines. After minor television and theatre appearances in the United Kingdom, she relocated to ...
as Carla
*
Dick Miller
Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Corm ...
as Charlie Drake
*
Meshach Taylor
Meshach Taylor (; April 11, 1947 – June 28, 2014) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Anthony Bouvier on the CBS sitcom ''Designing Women'' (1986–93), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstan ...
as Gordon Miller
*
Mary Kay Place
Mary Kay Place (born September 23, 1947) is an American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter. She is known for portraying Loretta Haggers on the television series ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', a role that won her the 1977 Primetime Emmy ...
Brooke Bundy
Brooke Bundy is an American film and television actress.
Early years
As a teenager, Bundy was a model in New York before she went to Hollywood on vacation and remained there to become an actress. While in New York, she attended the Profession ...
as Science Teacher
Production
Development
A rumor persists that the script for ''Explorers'' had been circulating Hollywood offices for years before it was made, and that it was bought by the studio because a scene of "children flying through the sky on bicycles" appealed to
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...
Wolfgang Petersen
Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for the World War II submarine warfare film ''Das Boot'' (1981). His other films include ''The Ne ...
having initially impressed Paramount executives with his family-targeted ''
The NeverEnding Story
''The Neverending Story'' (german: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several f ...
''. Petersen wanted to film it in his native Germany. The studio decided to settle in the States with an American director and Petersen was not long after commissioned by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
to take over the production of '' Enemy Mine''. "The funny thing about it is that when I was first given the script, I was coming off ''
Gremlins
''Gremlins'' is a 1984 American black comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus, and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of ...
'' and in a rare point in my career I was like 'hey, let's get this guy,'" said Dante during a Q&A and screening of the film in 2008. Dante liked what he read but did not feel there was a third act. "At the end when the kids went to the planet, they go and play baseball. That was the plot. It seemed that wasn't quite enough." While discussing the script with Paramount executives, they said "we can work on it while we're making the picture." Dante and the writer,
Eric Luke
Eric Luke (born October 31, 1962 in Salem, Massachusetts) is an American writer.
Career
Film
Eric Luke began his career in film writing. Previous film work included: ''Explorers'' for Paramount Pictures, numerous screenplays for MGM and others, ...
, were "improvising what they were going to do" while the film was being made.
Casting
Both Hawke and Phoenix make their feature film debuts. Phoenix, who had grown up in communes in South America, was somewhat unfamiliar with popular culture of North America. During rehearsals it became a running joke when he would attempt scripted well-known words and phrases and pronounce them incorrectly. Phoenix was originally considered to play Darren, but when Dante chose Jason Presson to play him, Dante thought he was good enough to play another role so he cast him against type as the nerdy Wolfgang.
Cherie Currie
Cherie Ann Currie (born November 30, 1959) is an American singer, musician, actress and artist. Currie was the lead vocalist of The Runaways, a rock band from Los Angeles, in the mid-to-late 1970s. After The Runaways, she became a solo artist. ...
was considered for a part but, according to her autobiography, she was in the throes of drug dependency and could not even make it to a meeting.
Production
"The studio changed hands in the middle of production, and they decided they needed the movie much quicker than we thought," said Dante. "So we shot the picture under very hurried auspices ic The paint on the sets was literally wet and when the kids stepped into the spaceship they sunk into cement because it wasn't dry."' During the dreams when the children fly over the circuit board, some of the camera angles and moves are meant to mimic the flight to Neverland from ''
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...
''. When
Robert Picardo
Robert Alphonse Picardo (born October 27, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the Cowboy in ''Innerspace'', Coach Cutlip on ''The Wonder Years'', Captain Dick Richard on the ABC series ''China Beach'', the Doctor on '' Star ...
was in full makeup and costume as the aliens, Wak and his father, his mouth was the only part of him not completely covered (though his mouth was made up to blend in with the faces of the creatures).
"We came up with sort of a pop culture angle on it, that we thought would be funny... audiences didn't particularly," said Dante. The film contains various references to science fiction features, new and old, and much more when the children meet the aliens. When the boys are hovering over the drive-in, the film that is playing stars a space hero named Starkiller, named after
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...
' original last name for
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the original film trilogy of the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Portrayed by Mark Hamill, Luke first appeared in ''Star Wars'' (1977), and he returned in ''The ...
, and the sound effects from the movie are from the
Atari
Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
video game '' Yar's Revenge''. Hawke's character, Ben, is obsessed with aliens and movies surrounding them, and the two movies he watches during the film are ''
This Island Earth
''This Island Earth'' is a 1955 American science fiction film from Universal-International, produced by William Alland, directed by Joseph M. Newman and Jack Arnold, starring Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue and Rex Reason. It is based on the 195 ...
'' and ''
The War of the Worlds
''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...
''. The children attend the "Charles M. Jones Junior High School", named after
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.
director
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
, and Wak the alien's first exchange of dialogue is of
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
's famous catchphrase. The song Wak performs for the kids is
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...
's "All Around the World". One character is a pet rat (trained to use a voice synthesizer) named
Heinlein
Heinlein or Henlein is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Karl Heinlein (1892–1960), Austrian former footballer
* Klaus Heinlein (born 1953), German former footballer
* Konrad Henlein (1898–1945), Nazi German politici ...
.
While the film uses the original recording, the soundtrack album included a re-recorded remix performed by Robert Palmer.
Post-production
Dante and his editing team submitted a rough cut by the late spring of 1985, but Paramount wanted to take advantage of the busy summer market. They changed the initial release date of late August to early July. "They said "just stop editing the picture, we're gonna put it out, and we got a perfect date for it and we know it'll make a lot of money," said Dante. There was about an hour and a half worth of footage that was left on the cutting room floor. "There was a lot of spiritual kind of stuff in the movie that didn't make it in at all," Dante said. "There's a theory that was around at the time about the world mind and it was a concept I thought was interesting. We started to get into it and there was no way to make any sense out of it, so we just dumped all that. Now the only picture where that theory is even mentioned is '' Exorcist II'' unfortunately." Sequences had to be re-dubbed, including one near the end where the boys are under a tree, to give the film a sense of closure. In the drive-in scene of the young couple, the boy who calls the special effects "fake" is supposed to be Ben's brother. Dante says, "there was a whole family sub-plot that is completely missing." The character Gordon Miller was also supposed to return in the third act.
Release
Box office
''Explorers'' was released on July 12, 1985 on 1,750 theaters, which turned out to be the same weekend as when the
Live Aid
Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...
concert was being broadcast. ''
Back to the Future
''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, ...
'' had also opened the previous week on July 3 (Wednesday) and dominated the summer. ''Explorers'' suffered badly its opening weekend and afterwards quickly disappeared. By the end of its run in theaters, it earned $9,873,044. When the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' compared the film with other commercial failures that summer, a Paramount executive responded, "here was a wonderful piece of material. But by the time it came out, you felt as though you'd already seen it." Many of the international markets released the film later in December of the same year.
Critical reception
The film fared better in video rentals and cable broadcasts and garnered positive reviews from critics. Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' said, "Explorers" itself is bubble-thin, but it glides by gracefully on the charm of its three young heroes and their vividly envisioned adventure in space." "Of all the Spielberg-inspired fantasy films afoot at the moment, ''Explorers'' is by far the most eccentric. It's charmingly odd at some moments, just plain goofy at others," said
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
in her review for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
The film holds a 72% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's consensus states: "With a terrific young cast (including Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix) and some typically energetic work from director Joe Dante, ''Explorers'' soars past its '80s kiddie flick competitors with wit, good-looking effects, and tons of charm."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
gave the film a score of 58 based on 14 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Cult recognition
Over time, ''Explorers'' has gained a
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
among fans of Dante's work, as well as science fiction fans and those who feel it is an overall family-friendly film.
Dante reflected on the film by saying that he is appreciative of the warm reception it has earned over the years, but continued by saying "the problem is for me is that the movie you'll see is not the movie I wanted to make. It's the movie I got to make up to a certain point and then had to stop. It's hard for me to look at it, cause it's not the film I quite had in mind." The missing and cut scenes are presumably lost, as Dante tried searching for them in recent years. Some of the home video releases would be slightly recut to remove two scenes, where Wolfgang has an encounter with Steve Jackson and his gang of bullies and a brief bit where the boys chase the Tilt-a-Whirl ride after they push it up a hill. These two scenes were reinstated when it was added to
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
. A brief sequence at the end where Ben daydreams about the ''Thunder Road'' restored and in the classroom was also added in some of the home video releases. Originally before the end credits, in the theatrical cut, the alien Wak "broke the fourth wall" and remarked on people who were still in the theater from the smell of popcorn. In the re-edited home video version, he just tells another joke before it cuts to the closing credits.
Novelization
A
novelization
A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...
of the film was written by
George Gipe
George Gipe (February 3, 1933, Baltimore, Maryland – September 6, 1986, Glendale, California) was an American magazine writer, author and screenwriter. Gipe died at the age of 53 as the result of an allergic reaction to a bee sting.
Lif ...
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the Rambo (franchise) ...
. An album was released on MCA featuring selections from his score plus three songs (including "All Around the World" as performed by Robert Palmer; the
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...
version is heard in the film).
# The Construction (2:25)
# Sticks and Stones (2:03)
# No Air (2:24)
# Less Than Perfect - Red 7 (4:06)
# The Bubble (1:43)
# First Flight (2:45)
# This Boy Needs to Rock -
Night Ranger
Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco formed in 1979 that gained popularity during the 1980s with a series of albums and singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy have been the band's only constant members, ...
(3:57)
# All Around the World - Robert Palmer (2:18)
# Free Ride (3:33)
# Fast Getaway (4:47)
# She Likes Me (2:28)
# Have a Nice Trip (7:54)
The album was later reissued by
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...
on cd and cassette, with the score selections first and then the songs where separated to the end of the cd and cassette.
In 2011,
Intrada Records
Intrada is an American record company based in Oakland, California, owned and managed by Douglass Fake. The company specializes in movie and television soundtracks, notably those by the late Jerry Goldsmith.
Intrada was founded in 1985 by owner ...
released the complete score.
# Main Title (Unused Version with "Wak's Boogie") (:51)
# Main Title (Film Version) (:47)
# The First Dream (:58)
# Sticks and Stones (2:23)
# Lori/Intervention (:50)
# Home (2:10)
# The Bubble (1:47)
# "Sci-Fi" Flick/The Roof-Top (2:04)
# Crazed Bubble/Fuse Box (2:44)
# Free Ride (3:43)
# Peek-A-Boo (1:53)
# The Prospect (1:40)
# The Construction (2:35)
# The Thunder Road (1:25)
# First Flight (3:03)
# No Air (2:34)
# I Want to Live (1:42)
# Time for Bed (1:36)
# More Dreams/Dreams (1:45)
# Let's Go (1:44)
# Fast Getaway (4:58)
# Wait Up (1:00)
# The Spider (:56)
# Alien Love Call (:57)
# We Come in Peace (2:04)
# She Likes Me (2:39)
# Neek Chords (:19)
# Looks Real (2:03)
# Space Pirates (:32)
# Gifts/Home Flight (5:21)
# Have a Nice Trip (8:03)
# Tannhäuser Overturexcerpt-
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' in 2014, Paramount is developing a
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...
of ''Explorers'' through their low-budget label
Insurge Pictures
Insurge Pictures was an American production company that was the specialty label belonging to the American film studio Paramount Pictures.
Beginnings
In March 2010, it was announced that Paramount Pictures would launch a new division named ''In ...
written by Geoff Moore and Dave Posamentier and produced by
Josh Appelbaum
Josh Appelbaum is an American television writer, screenwriter, showrunner and producer.
Biography
Appelbaum is from a Jewish family.Andre Nemec. The remake is said to be similar in tone to the
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...
–produced ''
Project Almanac
''Project Almanac'' is a 2015 American found footage science fiction film directed by Dean Israelite in his directorial debut, and written by Jason Harry Pagan and Andrew Deutschman. The film stars Jonny Weston, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Sam Lerner, ...
''. Deadline report that
Cary Fukunaga
Cary Joji Fukunaga (born July 10, 1977) is an American filmmaker. He first gained recognition for writing and directing the 2009 film '' Sin nombre'' and the 2011 adaptation of ''Jane Eyre''. He was the first director of partial East Asian des ...
and David Lowery are working on the pilot for a new adaptation of the film.