Exploring Your Inner Spaceship-Builder

Explorers (dir. Joe Dante) USA, 1985 - 109min

This Sunday, the Film Club continues with Joe Dante's (Gremlins) 1985 boys-meet-alien-tale Explorers which marked the film debuts of both River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke. The teenage boys build their own spacecraft and head off on an exploration into outer space where things aren't quite what they seem.

The film was released the same weekend that Bob Geldof and the Live Aid gang were doing wonderful things at Wembley and the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, and the clash cost Explorers dear. After a poor first weekend, the film quickly disappeared from cinemas, but at a time when VHS players were making their way into people's sitting rooms, the film was able to enjoy a life on VHS. It regularly features at the top of cult family film lists, and nearly 30 years on, it's just as enjoyable as it was back in the mid-80s.

Taking inspiration from the young Phoenix and Hawke, we want you to create your own spaceships and bring them along to the screening. Use anything you can find - egg carton boxes, old pots and pans, empty tins, parts from old toys, etc. Let your mind run free and if you're all out of inspiration, then check out the examples below (empty bottles seem to be the way forward!)...The best spaceship on the afternoon wins a prize!

Tickets are £5 and £1 for children under 12 and can be purchased here. Studio Theatre, Library of Birmingham, Sunday 18 May, 2pm.