Im a massive fan of 80s movies, i love everything 80s. But this movie has aged and is almost un watchable once the boys arrive on the ship. Everything up until then is quite good, the plot is a typical 80s adventure, but once they actually meet the aliens it ruins the film for me and is just far too silly and unrealistic to watch in this day and age. Its a shame because it could have been up there with the monster squad, the goonies and stand by me, but unfortunately it just went a little it too far with the aliens and silly humour and for me thats why it makes it un appealing in this time

This was the type of movie I should have saw when I was a kid. I was expecting that The Goonies vibe to it that should have made it a classic. Me personally, I never herd of the movie, and was curious about it, especially after hearing that an underage Ethan Hawke was the star (Being supported by River Phoenix) So I caught it on Nexflix. Well the premise of the movie was right up my alley. Hawke plays a kid who, with the help Phoenix creates a Star Trek-like force field, that allows them to travel in space, and they built a ship that takes them there were they make contact with goofy aliens.So it starts off peaking my interest and then becomes this movie that I did not want to follow anymore. Young Mr. Hawke seems to have the acting chomps at twelve that will make him a well known actor, but it's not suited for what will turn out to be a dry attempt at making kids laugh.It maybe one of those things were if I had seen it with The Goonies back in the 80s I may have grown to love it, but I doubt it. Most likely I would have loved the memory of the movie as a kid and not understand why I thought it was cool as an adult.http://cinemagardens.com

What a wkd film! Ben(Ethan hawk) starts having surreal dreams of flying and gets a vision through his dreams of a spaceship. when he wakes up Ben, his inventor friend Wolfgang(river phoenix) and Darren(Jason Woods),who helped Ben get rid of some bullies, build the spaceship and go to space to find out who sent them the message. A long the way all kinds of cool things happen. Drive in movie mayhem, flying round the town testing the ship and causing madness. Dick Miller has a great part in this! Joe Dante Kicks ass as usual. If you like Flight of the Navigator, E.T. you will love this. If I was a kid I would of given this 10

This adventurous space tale stars River Phoenix as Ben whose dreams become a reality when along with two friends , River Phoenix , Jason Presson , create an interplanetary spacecraft in their makeshift laboratory to travel for other worlds . Ben Crandall is a young visionary who dreams of space travel while watching late-night B Sci-Fi movies , pouring over comic books, and playing computers games in the confines of his bedroom . Meantime, at college takes place the usual student problems , Bulies versus Neds and antics for the eggheads . The big time comes when they actually succeed in making a working spacecraft and set off for other planets . Amusing family fare about three young boys who use a contraption from their homemade laboratory undergoing several adventures and it turns out to be a crossover between Sci-Fi adventure and a teenager angst movie . This entertaining film displays emotion , sense of irony , ordinary schoolroom antics , parental troubles , puppy love , rip-roaring adventure and results to be pretty funny . Good trio formed by young stars as Ethan Hawke , River Phoenix and Presson as misfit best friends . The likable trio of suburban kids seeking alien life , they have fun as the teenage astronauts . Nicely main cast and agreeable supporting cast with Dana Ivey , James Cromwell , Mary Kay Place , Danny Nucci , Robert Picardo and Dick Miller, a secondary actor usual of Roger Corman and Joe Dante, among others. Effects are top-notch, the puppets Aliens are well brought to life, they're made by I.L. M. , George Lucas' Industrial Light Magic and magnificent make-up by expert Rob Bottin . Primitive visual effects by means of ancient computer generators .Colorful and brilliant cinematography by John Hora . Special mention to musical score by great Jerry Goldsmith .The motion picture was well told and imaginatively realized by director Joe Dante ; displaying his characteristic surreal wit and sense of amusement . Dante's most hits took place when found himself working alongside Steven Spielberg, John Landis and Australian director George Miller for the anthology movie ¨The Twilight Zone, The Movie¨ (1983) in which Dante directed the third segment .Steven Spielberg then hired him to work as director for ¨Gremlins¨ (1984) which was another box-office success. He directed some episodes for the Sci-Fi series "Amazing Stories" before directing his next Science Fiction feature which was ¨Innerspace¨ (1987) which, whilst critically well reviewed, was another box office failure. After directing five episodes of "Eerie, Indiana", Dante returned to the big-screen with the well-received ¨Matinee¨ (1993), an affectionate period satire set in 1962 against the background of the Cold War. Dante spent the next several years working for television and directed a satire on politics with ¨The Second Civil War¨ (1997). Dante's next two films, ¨Small Soldiers¨ (1998), and ¨Looney Toons: Back in Action¨ (2004) garnered good reviews but were not commercial hits. He was recruited by Mick Garris to direct two episodes of the anthology series "Masters of Horror" (2005 and 2006): "Homecoming" a biting political satire and the first American film to deal with the Iraq War.