Blu-ray Review: Explorers (Collector’s Edition)

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews, Top Story

Ever have one of those dreams where you are shown something so fantastical and cutting edge. But when you wake up, you have zero idea what it was other than fantastical. Sometimes it involves the winning lottery numbers which vanish when the alarm clock strikes. It just stinks. Explorers is about kids who not merely have fantastical dreams, but remember when they wake up. Their dreams lead to an extraordinary adventure. The movie had a bumpy ride in movie theaters during the summer of 1985 and the home video version altered the film a little bit. Now both cuts of the film are brought together on Explorers: Collector’s Edition.

Ben (Before Sunrise‘s Ethan Hawke) is a bit of a nerdy teen who lives for science fiction movies. He begins to have extremely vivid dreams of a distant world. he wakes up and draws out a revolutionary circuit board. He takes this plan to his science smart pal Wolfgang (Dogfight‘s River Phoenix). Not only does Wolfgang recognize this is a real circuit board, but he can make it happen. The biggest thing the duo have to worry about is the bullies at school who aren’t into nerds. Luckily the duo befriend Darren Woods (The Stone Boy’s Jason Presson), a tougher kid who doesn’t mind hanging with them. He gets pulled into the adventure as they realize the circuit board is a launching board to space travel. The trio build their own spaceship using an old amusement park tilt-a-whirl car. Who is putting these scientific dreams in their heads? Cue the guy with the upright hair on Ancient Aliens saying, “Aliens?” Will the boys blast off to meet them?

Explorers should have been a massive hit, but Paramount screwed things up. As production started, they decided that instead of a Fall opening weekend, they’d hit the screens in early July. They wanted that ripe summer box office payday. This meant rushing production. There are tales of half finished props. Joe Dante didn’t get a chance to nuance the film in editing like he did for Gremlins. Even more painful was the weekend the studio beancounters picked was the same as Live Aid. Kids across the globe were glued to MTV watching Phil Collins and a reunited Led Zeppelin raise money for starving people in Africa. Those that did wander out to the cineplex were still in the mood for teenage science fiction were in line for Back To The Future which had been on screens for barely a week. So Explorers flopped. The dreams of an E.T. payoff were crushed. But luckily by the mid-80s, home video was a massive market. The kids that missed it in the theaters rented the tape at North American Video. But they didn’t see the theatrical version. Dante was able to do a minor recut that ended up on the VHS. Instead of adding an hour to the film, the Home Video Cut turned out to be 3 minutes shorter. The Blu-ray appears to be the first release of the theatrical cut since it left theaters. The film finally has a time to soar with Explorers Collector’s Edition.

The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfers of both versions look sharp. You’ll look for the wet paint moments on the screen. The Audio is 5.1 DTS-HD MA Surround. You’ll get the swirl when Thunder Road takes flight. There’s also a 2.0 DTS-HD MA Stereo of the original mix you would have heard at the Crabtree Twin. The movie is subtitled in English.

A Science Fiction Fairy Tale – The Story of Explorers (64:48) goes deep into the production with Joe Dante, screenwriter Eric Luke, Ethan Hawke and others. Luke wrote the script while working at a science fiction bookstore. They talk about how the film was acquired by Paramount. Wolfgang Petersen was supposed to direct. They go into how they cast the kids. Ethan talks quite a bit about the late River Phoenix.

Deleted Scenes (33:54) has plenty of moments that were snipped from the rough cut. It has “Prop. of PPC 1985 Do Not Copy” burned onto the screen so don’t copy!

Deleted Scenes with Commentary (33:54) has Joe Dante explain the missing scenes and why they were snipped. He explains that the scenes were taken from a Beta tape of the rough cut that he found in his garage. Now I’m curious about what is also tucked away in Joe Dante’s garage.

Interview with Cinematographer John Hora (3:46) has him talk about the difficulty of shooting with the kids since they weren’t allowed to work at night. He also explains the alien’s fur coat. There’s a great Dick Miller moment. Years ago, Hora let me talk with him about the future of digital cinematography and I’m always grateful for that time.

Interview with editor Tina Hirsch (6:10) has her remember first time meeting Joe Dante. She talks about getting a larger editing room set up than when she worked with Dante on Twilight Zone. She relays how Explorers was going faster than they expected into production. She also has a Dick Miller story.

Theatrical Trailer (1:32) has the kids figuring a way to get to the stars. “The adventure begins in your own backyard” is the tagline.

Shout! Factory presents Explorers: Collector’s Edition. Directed by Joe Dante. Screenplay by Eric Luke. Starring Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Jason Presson, Amanda Peterson, James Cromwell, Robert Picardo, Meshach Taylor, Mary Kay Place and Dick Miller. Rating: Rated PG. Running Times: Home Video Cut – 106 minutes and Theatrical version – 109 minutes. Release Date: May 25, 2021.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.