This was one of my favourite episodes from the entire WTTB series! Great film, great summary, great jokes, and Craig's unhinged rant was so honest and welcome!
The "turtle that draws thing" is a reference to the LOGO computer language. It was kind of the shiny new toy for PCs in the 80's when students in elementary were still learning BASIC.
I mean, he's totally right. I think we can trace a lot of the recent Events to the fact that the BBers are realizing that they will actually die one day, and are rebelling against that fact.
That computer the kids used was a real life Apple IIc- the first computer I did some serious coding as a kid after I outgrew my Vic 20. Loved it. It looked portable but had a brick of an adapter and power cord on it. Still have all of it in a closet wrapped in bubble wrap.
Thanks for teaching me what the word "parasocially" means. Had to look it up, but thanks. I worry that by acknowledging you and my appreciation for this that it might chip away at the whole parasocial aspect of things, so I'll leave it at that.
Imagine if the movie Contact had ended with Jodie Foster traveling dozens of light years only to find a rubbery green blob lip syncing to Little Richard.
Matt! You did it! You figured out what a MacGuffin is! The dead body in Stand By Me is a MacGuffin! It doesn't matter outside of being a catalyst for the story!
I heard of Explorers but never watched it when I was a kid back then....and now seeing just a bunch of scenes of it, I didn't miss much, but it launched the careers of Ethan and River, so at least something good came out of this horrid movie. P.S. - Please, please PLEASE, show the entire Footloose scene with Matt and Tona during next week's Unboxing episode!
18:00 "In Stand by Me, the dead body is a catalyst for doing something and these four kids to have a journey and change." You might say that the dead body was a ... ...macguffin?
I absolutely love this movie! A lot of nostalgia for me as I saw it when it came out and the alien comedy was a lot funnier to me as a 7 year old. Also 33 years later I named my son after the main character, sure sometimes I say he's named after Ben Sisko but it was really Ben Crandall. (I'm glad Craig & Ethan have made healed their relationship)
So, there is a long story about explorers and it's ending. Basically this is one of Joe Dante's first studio movie after gremlins got big, and a LOOOOOT of studio interference happened in-between Dante and Paramount. There are some interviews with Dante himself saying it's one of the worst experiences when it comes of movie making.
I never heard of this movie. Probably because I had just seen “Back to the Future” the week before I went to Live Aid. No joke. That’s is all 100% true. It was the summer of 1985, and I just graduated high school. Spent the day at JFK in sweltering heat for the rock concert of a lifetime. Great video as usual, gents.
Explorers had a lot of potential - I still love the first half of the movie when they build the field generator and spaceship. A remake would be a lot of fun if they left out the goofy green aliens lol. :-)
Only know this from the Paramount Pictures 'happy days' ads that ran before all my childhood movies. Never actually sat down and watched it, thanks guys
I was trying to figure out the name of this movie for years and finally saw it on Prime or Netflix. I had memories from watching it when I was 3-4 and wanted to watch it again. I watched it and the ending seemed weird so I looked it up and found out they never finished the end, just like the PSX game Xenogears, and it made me sad, just like Xenogears...
Thank you for this one. I haven't watched the "watch" yet (I'm @2:22), but this was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I was bizarrely weird when I saw one of the carnival car things they use at an actual carnival thing. ETA: Tilt-a-whirl. That's the actual thing. :)
Ok. So it turns out my brain etched every bit of the first ~30 minutes into stone, so I have like all the details from when the movie starts to when they go into space. Then it's just that Simpsons "" and it's over. Huh.
Since Cartoon June is coming up, I'd like to suggest All Dogs Go To Heaven. It's one of my childhood favorites. It's got Burt Reynolds singing, Dom DeLuise whining, big lipped aligator moment (trademark Lindsay Ellis) and a beautiful story.
Craig joked about the kid who played Darren not having the career Hawke and Phoenix had, but based on these clips the real question is what happened to the kid who played Steve Jackson
Amazing review. I felt the exact same way even when I was 10 watching in the theater. The first half was so awesome. The aliens I wanted to walk out. Hehe. Great mute.
I sort of love Explorers! The first two thirds are endearing coming of age drama with sci-fi comedy adventure elements. I just feel like the alien stuff is so infantile and obnoxious it hurts Explorers. It goes from Stand by Me to a poor man's ET or Space Jam. Joe Dante said the studio mandated a more child friendly alien finale, so it ruins the movie. If it had a more earnest and thoughtful alien encounter, Explorers would be as loved as Gremlins.
I'm sorry but I just have to ask about two crazy films that I enjoyed a lot. Time Bandits and My Science Project. Even if you have seen them it was probably 20 years ago and your should watch them again after your illustrious career of movie watching. It would be highly entertaining. I just watched them again more recently and they kinda hit different now if you know what I mean. And King Koopa Denis Hopper as the crazy hippy science teacher? Forget about it.
Craig's boomer rant.... ::chef's kiss:: However, the counterargument is the existence of the Indiana Jones films. Also, I really love Dante's podcast (with screenwriter Josh Olson) The Movies That Made Me, all about film influences.
SEEN IT? Speaking of Dick Miller, can we expect to see a viewing of Joe Dante's 1993 masterpiece "Matinee"? Yes, it's set in 1962, 'cause Dante is a boomer and a Monster Kid like me. I know you guys are just jealous.
i feel like the 'stoner' kid's lack of wonder should've somehow played into the plot. like how he says he doesnt dream, even though the whole movie started because of dreams. so that means he's different. like maybe hes not 'ready to evolve' like the other kids were. maybe he should've represented the form of humanity that feared the aliens and made the alien killing movies. and the other boys are more willing to accept new ideas and so they have to protect the aliens from their 'normie' friend. now im just envisioning 'stoner kid' getting onto the alien ship, having a meltdown, and turning into Arnold S. from predator. abandons the group and disappears into the ship, only for them to find out later that he's stalking the aliens and trying to kill them. so the plot becomes reverse-predator, where the boys have to protect the aliens from their friend who is hunting them.
I remember Explorers and thinking it was a great movie (or at least the tiltawhirl space ship). But as an adult I am glad I haven't seen it in 30+ years. I recently saw a RUclips video that explains the 3rd act was never finished, and the studio rushed it to cash in on ET that they cut most of the story. ruclips.net/video/QdhRNMf_mVc/видео.html
Somehow I've seen this movie and the only thing I remember is that fucking annoying alien! I thought it was just some weird fever dream of many different 80's movies rolled into one.
Movies like this and War Games, Flight of the Navigator, or Ewok Adventure: they look good on paper and they have talented people behind them, but there is a missing piece of storytelling or character development that makes them unmemorable. I can alway remember the premise, but no details.
If you press mute then you can't give a sincere review of the film. I'm sorry Matt but you're gonna have to go back and watch that bit again with sound. Twice actually for muting it in the first place.
![Digital Circus Episode 4 [TRAILER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/abZtsmMUbJo/mqdefault.jpg)
This was one of my favourite episodes from the entire WTTB series! Great film, great summary, great jokes, and Craig's unhinged rant was so honest and welcome!
12:07 the amount of disdain Matt has for the alien is so funny.
"He's got a saxophone now" broke me.
The most important revelation of this episode is that Matt has unlocked the secret of the maguffin via Stand By Me.
The "turtle that draws thing" is a reference to the LOGO computer language. It was kind of the shiny new toy for PCs in the 80's when students in elementary were still learning BASIC.
thanks for clarifying
I suddenly felt very old (and nerdy) when i knew exactly what Matt was referring to 😅
@@Gappasaurus Amen, brother.
Elementary? I didn’t study BASIC until high school.
I remember the turtle
Craig's rant about Baby Boomers is a top 10 WTTB moment.
I mean, he's totally right. I think we can trace a lot of the recent Events to the fact that the BBers are realizing that they will actually die one day, and are rebelling against that fact.
@@drskelebone He also brings up race twice in this video. I fear that Craig has just been indoctrinated by The Cult of Critical Theory.
Gen X invented hating Baby Boomers...but I'm sure we do the same shit.
Matt finally understands what a McGiffin is! Just call it a "Standy By Me Corpse" from now on
Yes! I was going to point this out, too. It struck me as the perfect MacGuffin!
The unfinished nature of this film makes a lot more sense when you learn that it really was unfinished.
Don't think I've ever been more excited for an unboxing episode, Matt's early acting work is some of the best content on the internet IMO
Love how the depth of movie discussion truly hasn't waned in the years this show has been on; still a fantastic show
That computer the kids used was a real life Apple IIc- the first computer I did some serious coding as a kid after I outgrew my Vic 20. Loved it. It looked portable but had a brick of an adapter and power cord on it. Still have all of it in a closet wrapped in bubble wrap.
god I just really parasocially love Craig. Matt, you’re wonderful too, but Craig was on fire in this one.
Thanks for teaching me what the word "parasocially" means. Had to look it up, but thanks. I worry that by acknowledging you and my appreciation for this that it might chip away at the whole parasocial aspect of things, so I'll leave it at that.
Imagine if the movie Contact had ended with Jodie Foster traveling dozens of light years only to find a rubbery green blob lip syncing to Little Richard.
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Craig's rant at 16:45 was so funny. Excellent episode fellas! I especially liked the utter disdain for that alien "comedy" routine.
12:58 Not even the awesomeness of Little Richard could make the aliens appealing.
22:27 “What this boy talkin bout ‘on the telephone’?” 😆
A random movie memory that comes to mind regularly is Delroy Linden defending Holly Hunter in the 3rd act of the movie A life less ordinary
I enjoy how they power a PC in the middle of a field. The first laptop.
Matt! You did it! You figured out what a MacGuffin is! The dead body in Stand By Me is a MacGuffin! It doesn't matter outside of being a catalyst for the story!
Nicely put about 'Spies Like Us', Doctor Craig.
Doctor... Doctor ...
That that was a very good John Lithgow, Can't wait to see the whole thing
I heard of Explorers but never watched it when I was a kid back then....and now seeing just a bunch of scenes of it, I didn't miss much, but it launched the careers of Ethan and River, so at least something good came out of this horrid movie.
P.S. - Please, please PLEASE, show the entire Footloose scene with Matt and Tona during next week's Unboxing episode!
18:00 "In Stand by Me, the dead body is a catalyst for doing something and these four kids to have a journey and change."
You might say that the dead body was a ...
...macguffin?
I absolutely love this movie! A lot of nostalgia for me as I saw it when it came out and the alien comedy was a lot funnier to me as a 7 year old. Also 33 years later I named my son after the main character, sure sometimes I say he's named after Ben Sisko but it was really Ben Crandall. (I'm glad Craig & Ethan have made healed their relationship)
So, there is a long story about explorers and it's ending. Basically this is one of Joe Dante's first studio movie after gremlins got big, and a LOOOOOT of studio interference happened in-between Dante and Paramount. There are some interviews with Dante himself saying it's one of the worst experiences when it comes of movie making.
Oh no, a diddy jump scare
Thank you guys for continuing to make these. I anxiously await each episode!
Thanks so much for doing my “seen it” guys! Y’all have been my favorites here on RUclips since 2013! Keep on keeping on Basment gang.
I never heard of this movie. Probably because I had just seen “Back to the Future” the week before I went to Live Aid. No joke. That’s is all 100% true. It was the summer of 1985, and I just graduated high school. Spent the day at JFK in sweltering heat for the rock concert of a lifetime. Great video as usual, gents.
Tonight we launch and tomorrow we kick ass!
Now, I just want to go watch D.A.R.Y.L.
..maybe Flight of the Navigator, as well.
And Young Sherlock Holmes and Cloak & Dagger
Always so psyched to see a new episode, thank you for making them.
12:31 - those are my expressions for every movie for the past decade.
It was years later when I realized the inertia sphere concept was utilized by Star Trek 20 years before this film was made.
I can't wait for Unboxing now, that Lithgow performance is great!
YAY!!! I adored this film as a 12yo kid!
Explorers had a lot of potential - I still love the first half of the movie when they build the field generator and spaceship. A remake would be a lot of fun if they left out the goofy green aliens lol. :-)
100% Craig! 17:20
I thought the exact! same! thing! about P Diddy on my first watch. Proud!
Man, that dig on yourselves sure was funny.
Also, it's amazing to think how natural Matt looks in all black.
Watched this so many times as a kid. It does not hold up
Crap, how did only ever see the Robocop Channel 101 remake and not Footloose one? I would've been floored to see surprise Matt.
Only know this from the Paramount Pictures 'happy days' ads that ran before all my childhood movies.
Never actually sat down and watched it, thanks guys
I didn't remember watching this until I saw their little spacepod & the aliens.
@14:42 OMG, Matt! I'm still laughing!😆😅🤣😂
I was trying to figure out the name of this movie for years and finally saw it on Prime or Netflix. I had memories from watching it when I was 3-4 and wanted to watch it again. I watched it and the ending seemed weird so I looked it up and found out they never finished the end, just like the PSX game Xenogears, and it made me sad, just like Xenogears...
6:59 Chopper, sic flying, impervious ball!
looking forward for that full scene next friday.
I was surprised when I didn't see Robert Picardo until the end.
oh my goodness craig that rant was something else
it's always the movies I'd least expect to wreck your guys' shit that end up just fuckin... obliterating your guys' shit hahahah
I'm with you Matt.
Matt, I appreciated your turtle reference
Thank you for this one. I haven't watched the "watch" yet (I'm @2:22), but this was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I was bizarrely weird when I saw one of the carnival car things they use at an actual carnival thing. ETA: Tilt-a-whirl. That's the actual thing. :)
Ok.
So it turns out my brain etched every bit of the first ~30 minutes into stone, so I have like all the details from when the movie starts to when they go into space. Then it's just that Simpsons "" and it's over.
Huh.
Craigs rant is incredible. The second half of the movie really did a number on you guys huh? lmao
Since Cartoon June is coming up, I'd like to suggest All Dogs Go To Heaven. It's one of my childhood favorites. It's got Burt Reynolds singing, Dom DeLuise whining, big lipped aligator moment (trademark Lindsay Ellis) and a beautiful story.
I loved this as a kid, up to the part when they get to the spaceship, then I always lost interest.
Matt has Lithgow down cold! (Also: Is the body in Stand By Me a MacGuffin then? )
The turtle was the cursor for the mouse in the 80’s
4:47 Ah... BASIC.
My Science Project came out the same summer as Explorers. It holds up better IMO. Seen it?
Information Society! (Pure Energy 🎶)
You gotta reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.
I remember the turtle, you're not alone
Craig joked about the kid who played Darren not having the career Hawke and Phoenix had, but based on these clips the real question is what happened to the kid who played Steve Jackson
Preach it, Craig! The worst part, though? Millennials and Zoomers think WE'RE Baby Boomers.
I have been waiting for y’all to talk about The Slap
Amazing review. I felt the exact same way even when I was 10 watching in the theater. The first half was so awesome. The aliens I wanted to walk out. Hehe. Great mute.
Great episode!
Craig's boomer rant is the most cathartic thing I've seen all year
I have no idea how this movie passed me by 👀
Great video.
Hello everybody ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
There's always a bigger ship.
I sort of love Explorers! The first two thirds are endearing coming of age drama with sci-fi comedy adventure elements. I just feel like the alien stuff is so infantile and obnoxious it hurts Explorers. It goes from Stand by Me to a poor man's ET or Space Jam.
Joe Dante said the studio mandated a more child friendly alien finale, so it ruins the movie. If it had a more earnest and thoughtful alien encounter, Explorers would be as loved as Gremlins.
What Turtle is Matt Talking About at 4:54?
Logo, a software package used to teach rudimentary computer programming, popular in many ‘80s classrooms 🐢-----
Hey it's Rachel! Aka Chad's new girlfriend
I remember the turtle Matt.
Have you seen Abraxas? You should watch Abraxas.
I'm sorry but I just have to ask about two crazy films that I enjoyed a lot. Time Bandits and My Science Project. Even if you have seen them it was probably 20 years ago and your should watch them again after your illustrious career of movie watching. It would be highly entertaining. I just watched them again more recently and they kinda hit different now if you know what I mean. And King Koopa Denis Hopper as the crazy hippy science teacher? Forget about it.
Craig's boomer rant.... ::chef's kiss:: However, the counterargument is the existence of the Indiana Jones films. Also, I really love Dante's podcast (with screenwriter Josh Olson) The Movies That Made Me, all about film influences.
SEEN IT? Speaking of Dick Miller, can we expect to see a viewing of Joe Dante's 1993 masterpiece "Matinee"? Yes, it's set in 1962, 'cause Dante is a boomer and a Monster Kid like me. I know you guys are just jealous.
The dead body is the mcguffin!
i feel like the 'stoner' kid's lack of wonder should've somehow played into the plot. like how he says he doesnt dream, even though the whole movie started because of dreams. so that means he's different. like maybe hes not 'ready to evolve' like the other kids were. maybe he should've represented the form of humanity that feared the aliens and made the alien killing movies. and the other boys are more willing to accept new ideas and so they have to protect the aliens from their 'normie' friend.
now im just envisioning 'stoner kid' getting onto the alien ship, having a meltdown, and turning into Arnold S. from predator. abandons the group and disappears into the ship, only for them to find out later that he's stalking the aliens and trying to kill them. so the plot becomes reverse-predator, where the boys have to protect the aliens from their friend who is hunting them.
I forgot I asked about Footloose. So here's a new request.
Have you seen Turning Red?
For whatever reason, this film reminds me of Code Lyoko.
What a fantastic Craig rant!!
I remember Explorers and thinking it was a great movie (or at least the tiltawhirl space ship). But as an adult I am glad I haven't seen it in 30+ years. I recently saw a RUclips video that explains the 3rd act was never finished, and the studio rushed it to cash in on ET that they cut most of the story.
ruclips.net/video/QdhRNMf_mVc/видео.html
It would make a lot of sense if the alien's language really was Wingdings.
17:00 I think this movie finally broke Craig
Somehow I've seen this movie and the only thing I remember is that fucking annoying alien! I thought it was just some weird fever dream of many different 80's movies rolled into one.
Thanks for ruining a fond childhood memory as always. ;p
Is that -Ski Bum Matt- Samwise Gamgee?
No, that's Yogurt Jerk.
Movies like this and War Games, Flight of the Navigator, or Ewok Adventure: they look good on paper and they have talented people behind them, but there is a missing piece of storytelling or character development that makes them unmemorable. I can alway remember the premise, but no details.
Ne Jabba noh wanga.
Oh God I remember the turtle. I'm 35 and from Australia. I'm glad more ppl suffered
If you press mute then you can't give a sincere review of the film. I'm sorry Matt but you're gonna have to go back and watch that bit again with sound. Twice actually for muting it in the first place.
My least favorite part of Explorers was when Ethan Hawke wrapped himself in barbed wire.
Wait... nevermind.
Such a good episode and such an awful movie. It's hard to believe that Mac and Me starts to look watchable
i loved this movie as a kid, but i always remembered hating the alien stuff. it was either too scary or too boring for me. can't remember which.