Explorers (1985)

Director:

Joe Dante

Writer:

Eric Luke (written by)

Release Date:

12 July 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Sci-Fi | Fantasy | Adventure

Tagline:

You don't need a driver's license to reach the stars.

Plot:

Ben Crandall, an alien-obsessed kid, dreams one night of a circuit board. Drawing out the circuit, he and his friends Wolfgang and Darren set it up...

Plot Keywords:

Parent Child Relationship | Boy Genius | Explorer | Outer Space | Friendship

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Ethan Hawke	...	Ben Crandall
River Phoenix	...	Wolfgang Müller
Bobby Fite	...	Steve Jackson
Bradley Gregg	...	Steve Jackson's Gang
Georg Olden	...	Steve Jackson's Gang
Chance Schwass	...	Steve Jackson's Gang
Amanda Peterson	...	Lori Swenson
Danny Nucci	...	Nasty Kid at School
Jason Presson	...	Darren Woods
Dana Ivey	...	Mrs. Müller
Taliesin Jaffe	...	Ludwig Müller
James Cromwell	...	Mr. Müller
Brooke Bundy	...	Science Teacher
Tricia Bartholome	...	Girl in Classroom
Eric Luke	...	Darren's Teacher
Robert Picardo	...	Starkiller / Wak / Wak and Neek's Father
Karen Mayo-Chandler	...	Starkiller's Girlfriend
Robert F. Boyle	...	Starkiller's Girlfriend's Father
John P. Navin Jr.	...	Couple at Drive-In
Mary Hillstead	...	Couple at Drive-In
Simone Blue	...	Snack Bar Girl
Meshach Taylor	...	Gordon Miller
Dick Miller	...	Charlie Drake
Leslie Rickert	...	Neek
Frank Welker	...	Special Vocal Effects (voice)
Fred Newman	...	Special Vocal Effects (voice)
Joan Gerber	...	Special Vocal Effects (voice) (as Joanie Gerber)
Belinda Balaski	...	Special Vocal Effects (voice)
Roger Behr	...	Special Vocal Effects (voice)
Roger Peltz	...	Special Vocal Effects (voice)
Neil Ross	...	Special Vocal Effects (voice)
Marilyn Schreffler	...	Special Vocal Effects (voice)
Bill Ratner	...	Special Vocal Effects (voice)
Jane Kean	...	Special Vocal Effects (voice)
Bob Holt	...	Special Vocal Effects (voice)
Jay Stewart	...	Special Vocal Effects (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mary Kay Place	...	Mrs. Crandall (uncredited)

Directed by
Joe Dante

Writing credits
Eric Luke		(written by)

Produced by
David Bombyk	....	producer
Edward S. Feldman	....	producer
Michael Finnell	....	executive producer
Tom Jacobson	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Jerry Goldsmith

Cinematography by
John Hora		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Tina Hirsch

Casting by
Susan Arnold

Production Design by
Robert F. Boyle

Art Direction by
Frank Richwood

Set Decoration by
George R. Nelson

Costume Design by
Rosanna Norton

Makeup Department
Paul Abascal	....	hair stylist
Rob Bottin	....	special makeup effects
Scott H. Eddo	....	makeup supervisor (as Scott Eddo)
Zoltan Elek	....	special makeup artist: Rob Bottin Productions
Vincent Prentice	....	lead special makeup artist: Rob Bottin Productions

Production Management
Tom Jacobson	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Cooperman	....	second unit director
Carol Green	....	second assistant director
Pat Kehoe	....	first assistant director
Eric Wall	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Henry Alvarez	....	head sculptor
Rubin Andreatta	....	greensman foreman
Mike Blaze	....	assistant property master (as Michael Blaze)
Ron Esposito	....	paint foreman (as Ronald Esposito)
Sabino Ferullo	....	construction foreman
Louis Frederico	....	stand-by painter
Les Gobruegge	....	set designer
Rainer G. Gruetzmacher	....	construction foremen
Don High	....	set designer (as Donald High)
Thomas W. Lay Jr.	....	production illustrator
Daniel Maltese	....	set designer
Larry McGuire	....	lead man
Frank Mitchell	....	greensman foreman
Gene Nollman	....	set designer (as Eugene C. Nollmann II)
Phil Read	....	construction coordinator (as Philip Read)
Miles Teves	....	concept illustrator: Rob Bottin Productions
Tommy 'Tom' Tomlinson	....	property master (as Charles T. Tomlinson)
Robert Misetich	....	painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Dunn	....	sound effects editor
Walter A. Gest	....	sound re-recordist
Lisa Gilbert	....	sound effects assistant editor
Warren Hamilton Jr.	....	sound effects editor (as Warren Hamilton)
Doug Hemphill	....	sound effects recordist
Ken King	....	production sound mixer
Bonnie Koehler	....	sound effects editor
Nicholas Vincent Korda	....	adr editor (as Nick Korda)
Robert J. Litt	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark A. Mangini	....	sound effects (as Mark Mangini)
Janet Fiona Mason	....	sound effects assistant editor
Michael Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer
John Pospisil	....	sound effects assistant editor (as John P.)
Steve Purvis	....	adr editor
John Roesch	....	foley artist
Robert Rootenberg	....	sound effects assistant editor (as Robert Rootenburg)
David Schneider	....	utility sound
Solange S. Schwalbe	....	sound effects editor (as Solange)
David E. Stone	....	sound effects editor (as David Stone)
Elliot Tyson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Douglas Vaughan	....	boom operator
David Williams	....	assistant sound editor
Solange S. Schwalbe	....	foley supervisor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Henry Alvarez	....	head sculptor: Rob Bottin Productions
Max Alvarez	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Gary D. Bierend	....	special effects technician
Sheri Brooks	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
James Clark	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Nick Delchev	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Kathleen Elek	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Ed Felix	....	mechanical effects supervisor: Rob Bottin Productions
Alex R. Felix III	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Gunnar Ferdinandsen	....	special effects staff shop supervisor: Rob Bottin Productions
Laura Filip	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Tamara Fites	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Eddie Garcia	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Clive R. Kay	....	special effects contact lenses
Robert MacDonald	....	special effects coordinator (as Robert MacDonald Sr.)
Douglas R. MacMillan	....	visual displays
Dan Martens	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Bob Means	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Richard Medina	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Becky Ochoa	....	lab cosmetic supervisor: Rob Bottin Productions
Becky Ochoa	....	special effects unit supervisor
Dennis Pawlik	....	makeup/special effects
Dennis Pawlik	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Dennis Petersen	....	special effects foreman
Patrick Philben	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Art Pimentel	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Steve Prentice	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Tom Prossner	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Gordon Seitz	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Ernie Shelton	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Mike Sorrentino	....	production assistant: Rob Bottin Productions
Wayne Strong	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Michiko Tagawa	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Jackie Tichenor	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions
Richard White	....	project coordinator: Rob Bottin Productions
Willie Whitten	....	special effects crew: Rob Bottin Productions

Visual Effects by
Barbara Affonso	....	model maker
Carl Assmus	....	stage technician
Craig Barron	....	matte photography supervisor
William Beck	....	model maker (as Bill Beck)
Lance Brackett	....	stage technician
Barbara Brennan	....	visual effects animator
Harold Buchman	....	digital artist
Dave Childers	....	stage technician
Wade Childress	....	matte photography
Donald Clark	....	optical camera operator (as Don Clark)
Robert Cooper	....	character miniature crew
Peter Daulton	....	visual effects assistant camera
Dick Dova	....	stage technician (as Dick Dova Spah)
Don Dow	....	director of visual effects photography
Selwyn Eddy	....	visual effects cameraman (as Selwyn Eddy III)
Bob Finley III	....	stage technician
Pat Fitzsimmons	....	supervising stage technician
Warren Franklin	....	general manager: ILM
Joe Fulmer	....	stage technician
Bill George	....	model maker
Michael Gleason	....	visual effects editor
Ralph Gordon	....	optical lineup
James Hagedorn	....	optical camera operator
Toby Heindel	....	visual effects assistant camera
Edward Hirsh	....	stage coordinator (as Ed Hirsh)
Sandy Houston	....	rotoscoper
Paul Huston	....	matte photography
Ed Jones	....	optical lineup
Sean Joyce	....	assistant matte artist
Michael Kory	....	CG dream simulations
Brad Kuehn	....	optical line-up
Tony Laudati	....	character miniature crew
Ellen E. Lichtwardt	....	visual effects animator (as Ellen Lichtwardt)
James Lim	....	optical camera operator
Mike MacKenzie	....	equipment supervisor (as Michael MacKenzie)
Jeff Mann	....	model maker
Pamela Marcotte	....	visual effects
Patrick McArdle	....	visual effects assistant camera
John McLeod	....	stage technician
Ted Moehnke	....	stage technician
Jack Mongovan	....	visual effects animator
Michael Moore	....	assistant visual effects editor
Claudia Mullaly	....	model maker
Bruce Nicholson	....	visual effects supervisor
Phillip Norwood	....	visual effects assistant art director (as Phill Norwood)
Paul Olsen	....	main title designer
Michael Owens	....	visual effects cameraman (as Mike Owens)
Ease Owyeung	....	model shop supervisor
Michael Pangrazio	....	matte artist supervisor
Michael Pangrazio	....	matte painting supervisor
Terrence Peck	....	assistant visual effects editor
Chris Regan	....	optical camera operator
Peggy Regan	....	visual effects animator
Jay Riddle	....	visual effects animator
Nilo Rodis-Jamero	....	visual effects art director (as Nilo Rodis)
Thomas Rosseter	....	optical lineup (as Tom Rosseter)
Randall Rudd	....	digital artist
Wesley Seeds	....	model maker
David Sosalla	....	character miniature supervisor (as Dave Sosalla)
Mike Speakman	....	stage technician
Peter Stolz	....	stage technician
Pat Sweeney	....	visual effects cameraman
Larry Tan	....	model maker
Marc Thorpe	....	model maker
Pat Turner	....	visual effects assistant camera (as Patrick Turner)
Bruce Walters	....	animation supervisor
Ralph Winter	....	visual effects coordinator
Catherine Craig	....	effects camera operator (uncredited)

Stunts
Bradley Alan	....	stunts
Janet Brady	....	stunts (as Janet S. Brady)
Jerry Brutsche	....	stunts
Doc D. Charbonneau	....	stunts
Bill Couch	....	stunt coordinator
Bill Couch Jr.	....	stunts (as William Couch Jr.)
Bob Herron	....	stunts
Lane Leavitt	....	stunts
Patricia Madigan	....	stunts
Bennie Moore	....	stunts
Gary Morgan	....	stunts
Alex Plasschaert	....	stunts
Art Scholl	....	stunt pilot
Kym Washington	....	stunts (as Kim Washington)
Mike Washlake	....	stunts
Jesse Wayne	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Eric D. Andersen	....	camera operator (as Eric Anderson)
Wayne Baker	....	aerial assistant camera: second unit
Larry Barbier	....	still photographer
Peter J. Breen	....	dolly grip (as Peter Breen)
Norman Cattell	....	first assistant camera
Al Contreras	....	best boy grip
Jack Cooperman	....	director of photography: second unit
Charles Correll	....	additional photographer
Randy Glass	....	chief lighting technician
Lloyd Gowdy	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Hal Landaker	....	video supervisor
Michael Liakos	....	best boy grip
Robbie Robinson	....	still photographer
Alfredo Sepulveda	....	second assistant camera
Joseph A. Unsinn	....	video technician (as Joe Unsinn III)
Peter Wagner	....	key grip

Casting Department
Marcy Carriker	....	casting assistant
Junie Lowry-Johnson	....	casting associate (as Junie Lowry)
Amanda Mackey Johnson	....	casting associate (as Amanda Mackey)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dallas D. Dornan	....	costumer: men (as Dallas Dornan)
Shari Feldman	....	costumer: women

Editorial Department
Saul Saladow	....	assistant editor
Scot Scalise	....	apprentice editor
Markus Schaub	....	apprentice editor
Kathy Virkler	....	assistant editor
John Wright	....	editor: alien spaceship sequence

Music Department
Bruce Botnick	....	music recording mixer
Greg Fulginiti	....	music engineer
Kenneth Hall	....	music editor
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator

Transportation Department
Dan Marrow	....	transportation captain
Eddie Lee Voelker	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Steve Berens	....	animal handler
Ray Berwick	....	animal coordinator
Mauri Syd Blumenfeld	....	assistant: Mr. Jacobson (as Mauri Blumenfeld)
Hilary Clark	....	unit publicist
Chrissie England	....	production coordinator
Ed Felix	....	mechanical effects supervisor
Carol Gans	....	studio teacher
Mauri Syd Gayton	....	production coordinator
Rhona Gordon	....	studio teacher (as Rhona Gordon-Jepsen)
Bill Hansard	....	process supervisor (as Bill Hansard Sr.)
Bill Hansard Jr.	....	process coordinator
Alan Hoffman	....	research assistant
Lisa Lynn Kearsley	....	office assistant (as Lisa Kearsley)
Joan MacKenzie	....	on-set manager
Michael John Meehan	....	location manager (as Michael Meehan)
Betty Moos	....	assistant: Mr. Dante, Mr. Finnell and Mr. Winter
Dennis Park	....	assistant accountant
Sandra Rabins	....	production accountant
Bryan Renfro	....	dog trainer
John R. Woodward	....	location manager
Katherine Wooten	....	script supervisor

Thanks
Mary Kay Place	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures (presents)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1986) (Spain) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Paramount Home Video (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (Spain) S.L. (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• CIC Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Special Effects

• Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) (visual effects)
• L.A. Effects Group
• Rob Bottin Productions (alien characters)

Other Companies

• Central Casting  extras casting
• Kaleidoscope Film Effects  titles
• Omnibus Computer Graphics Center Inc.  computer graphic dream simulations
• Omnibus Computer Graphics Center Inc.  visual displays
• Universal Optical & Title  opticals
• White Gloves Inc.  negative cutting

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild language and action, and a brief scene involving beer. (special home entertainment version)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Netherlands:MG6 | Australia:G | France:U | South Korea:12 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

920 D Street, Petaluma, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Look for Rosebud, the sled from Citizen Kane (1941), in the junkyard sequence. As the camera pans at one point, you can clearly see the sled at 30:06 on the DVD.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ben and Darren walk over to Wolfgang's house, Ben is wearing brown corduroy pants. Then when they go down to the basement, he's wearing blue jeans for a few shots. And then he's back to wearing his brown corduroys for the rest of the scene.

Quotes:

Mr. Müller: [to his son's "talking" rat] "Shut up, Heinlein!"

Movie Connections:

Featured in Transformers (2007)

I liked it better than E.T.

This film really has nothing to do with E.T...people seem to think it was a 'reaction' to it...I say that maybe it made a wonderful film gem like this, a sci-fi for and starring kids, possible.

Funny and inspiring. Probably the first film I ever saw with both of these qualities. I was 6 when it came out, and though it stars 3 boys, the tomboy in me came out...even as an adult (I watched it recently again) I become awed by the scenes of the boys constructing the 'scapeship'. The writer and Dante were good about packing in little extra details, like the "talking" mouse, Wolfgang's strange family, the kids using walkie-talkies, the dog who chews gum, the drive-in movie, Ben writing a will, one of the kids living in a trailer, etc. Without being hokey, these tidbits add more depth and charm to a story that could've been called a Mickey Mouse approach to E.T. These kids are older than Elliott and smarter and the film doesn't go for tearjerking scenes; EVER. Some of the direction reminds me of Spielberg, **however... instead of this film being a kid's approach to space-travel, it's a space-travel approach to a kid's film.

Then there are the aliens. Well, we feel the way the kids do about them; disappointed. But that is the point. What would you expect to see? It is kind of like the mataphorical satire of the grass being greener on the other side.

I tried not to get too emotional when reading the viewer comments on this film. I do not consider myself a Yank-I like to use the term American-but being 1st generation -born here, I still consider myself part-European, and the fact that the film did better in Europe than in the States, and from what I hear- Joe Dante's apology for the film- makes me sad. This film started my fascination toward the unknown and the general sciences. I happen to be one "Yank" who really enjoyed this movie!