Watch Streaming: This ’80s classic was an abject failure at the box office, and that’s not fair!

Discover or rediscover the SF film Explorers, released in 1985 in France and the United States, starring Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix. An ode to imagination and childhood wonder that was a dismal failure upon release, you can catch up now on Paramount+.

Young Ben Crandall (Ethan Hawke) loves science fiction and wants to meet aliens at any cost. One night he dreams of a spaceship, the next day he decides to build one with the help of his friend Wolfgang (River Phoenix) and surprise: the machine works and allows the two boys and their new friend Darren (Jason Presson) to leave. To explore unknown planets in space.

The film immediately immerses us in its time, as in the film the young boys use the electronic devices and computers of their time (1985). With these new technologies, their talent and passion, they set off on an adventure where anything becomes possible.

Explorers protect the power of dreams and imagination. Childhood is a fertile period when everything is possible, until adults or life reveals that it is not so simple.

The film takes the opposite point of view and shows children who have not yet learned that everything is impossible and through the magic of cinema their dreams come true.

First written by Eric Luck (who would go on to work on the animated series Gargoyles), Explorers was directed by Joe Dante, a director who at the time was making his first film since the phenomenal success of Gremlins. Suffice it to say, it’s expected to flop, and when it’s released on July 12, 1985… his film flops.

Several factors are mentioned: it was released in theaters the day before the famous Live Aid concert, which brought together the biggest artists of the time to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia.

A week earlier, Universal released Back to the Future, which destroyed everything in its path. Finally, in June came another movie about a group of kids who experience extraordinary adventures: The Goonies. All these reasons combine to make the film a royal flop at the box office.

Now you can give it or give it another chance on the Paramount+ platform and take our word for it, you won’t regret it!