If you look up “third act problems” in a film studies book, there should be a big picture of Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix. That’s something I realized recently, rewatching a film I loved as a child. A film that filled me with wonder and good memories. A film that, for some reason, I hadn’t revisited as much as some other films of the era. That film is called Explorers, and when I rewatched it, its odd place in my heart made total sense. Released in 1985, Explorers was directed by the legendary Joe Dante, who was just building that legendary status coming off the massive success of Gremlins. It stars the aforementioned Hawke and Phoenix as teenagers, who team up with a third boy played by Jason Presson to discover a mysterious ball of energy that allows them to build a spaceship and travel into space. You know, becoming “Explorers.” Having grown up in the 1980s and 1990s, Explorers was a movie I watched a lot. I have very distinct memories of the blue ball of energy that the characters create, their Tilt-a-Whirl spaceship, the Thunder Road, and the magic of them flying in both. At the same time, I had this inkling that wherever the film went next didn’t quite live up to the promise of the first half of the movie. Weren’t there weird aliens in it or something?