Explorers 1985  PG, 109 min.
Genre: Family / Sci-Fi / Adventure / Fantasy
Director: Joe Dante
Cast: Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, Jason Presson, Amanda Peterson, Dick Miller, James Cromwell, Dana Ivey, Bobby Fite, Meshach Taylor, Danny Nucci, Bradley Gregg, Georg Olden, Chance Schwass, Taliesin Jaffe, Brooke Bundy
In this sci-fi family-oriented tale about aliens in outer space, Ben Crandall (Ethan Hawke), Wolfgang Muller (River Phoenix), and Darren Woods (Jason Presson) are given the chance of a lifetime: young boys blasting off on their own starship to encounter unknown beings.
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I Love You to Death 1990  R, 96 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Cast: Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullman, Joan Plowright, River Phoenix, William Hurt, Keanu Reeves, James Gammon, Jack Kehler, Victoria Jackson, Miriam Margolyes
Joey (Kevin Kline) owns an apartment building and a pizza parlor. He has been fooling around with other women all over the place for years, until he is caught by his up-to-now trusting wife (Tracey Ullman). She decides that the right thing to do is to kill him, but proves incompetent getting the job done. So, she hires some professionals, who are just as bad, while Joey doesn't catch on to what's going on. Based (loosely) on a true story.
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 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989  PG-13, 127 min.
Genre: Adventure
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, Michael Byrne, Vernon Dobtcheff, Paul Maxwell, Kevork Malikyan, Alex Hyde-White, Richard Young, Alexei Sayle
In this third installment in the "Indiana Jones" series, the quest for the Holy Grail sends Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and his father (Sean Connery) on an adventure in search of the Holy Grail–an artifact that is rumored to give eternal life to its owner. A problem lies in their way in the form of Elsa (Alison Doody) who just happens to be a Nazi spy with her own agenda for the Holy Grail.
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Little Nikita 1988  PG, 98 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Director: Richard Benjamin
Cast: River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, Richard Bradford, Richard Jenkins, Caroline Kava, Richard Lynch, Loretta Devine, Lucy Deakins
Russia planted agents in San Diego 20 years ago; they are now "the family next door" and are very well accepted in the area. Then, when an FBI check is run on them, suspicion results. Sidney Poitier plays the agent who tracks down the real story.
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The Mosquito Coast 1986 PG, 119 min.
Genre: Adventure / Drama / Thriller
Director: Peter Weir
Cast: Harrison Ford, River Phoenix, Helen Mirren, Jadrien Steele, Hilary Gordon, Rebecca Gordon, Jason Alexander, Dick O'Neill, Butterfly McQueen, Andre Gregory, Conrad Roberts, Alice Heffernan-Sneed, Martha Plimpton, Michael Rogers, William Newman
The theme of this film is the same as "The Swiss Family Robinson." This time, a father, Allie Fox (Harrison Ford), who is upset with what is happening to the culture of America, takes his family (Helen Mirren, River Phoenix, Jadrien Steele, Hilary Gordon, and Rebecca Gordon) to Central America where they attempt to set up a perfect community. At times beautiful and inventive and at times a drag, but in any event it will hit each viewer differently.
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 My Own Private Idaho 1991   R, 102 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Gus Van Sant
Cast: River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, James Russo, William Richert, Rodney Harvey, Chiara Caselli, Michael Parker, Udo Kier, Grace Zabriskie, Flea
Beautiful photography and fleeting images of nature highlight this story about Mike Waters (River Phoenix), a narcoleptic prostitute whose only friend is a hustler, Scott (Keanu Reeves). Scott is the son of Portland's mayor who, obviously, disapproves of his son's lifestyle, but Scott and Mike set off together in search of Mike's mother before going their separate ways. Strange, sex-filled film.
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 Running on Empty 1988 PG-13, 116 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Christine Lahti, River Phoenix, Judd Hirsch, Jonas Arby, Martha Plimpton, Ed Crowley, Steven Hill, David Margulies, Augusta Dabney, Lynne Thigpen
Danny Pope (River Phoenix) has been accepted to the Julliard School of Music. There is one major problem: his parents. It seems that 20 years before, they made an extreme political statement when they bombed a defense research installation. Ever since, they have been running from the FBI, and now the family may have to break up in order for the son to accomplish his dreams. River Phoenix was nominated for an Oscar (Supporting Actor).
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Sneakers 1992 PG-13, 121 min.
Genre: Action
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Cast: Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Ben Kingsley, Dan Aykroyd, David Strathairn, River Phoenix, Mary McDonnell, Timothy Busfield, James Earl Jones, Stephen Tobolowsky
Computer expert Bishop (Robert Redford) works with "Sneakers"–a group of men who know how to gather security information. Government agents use Bishop's shady past to coerce him and his group into stealing a "black box" that is capable of breaking any government code.
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 Stand by Me 1986 R, 87 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Rob Reiner
Cast: River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland, Wil Wheaton, Jerry O'Connell, Richard Dreyfuss, Casey Siemaszko, John Cusack, Bradley Gregg, Marshall Bell
This nostalgic comedy/drama is backed by a great sound track of 1950s' hits. Although the plot of four young boys searching for a corpse sounds ghoulish, the underlying story is really about the innocence of youth in the final days of summer. The story is taken from the Stephen King novel, "The Body".
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The Thing Called Love 1993 PG-13, 116 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Cast: River Phoenix, Samantha Mathis, Dermot Mulroney, Sandra Bullock, K.T. Oslin, Anthony Clark, Webb Wilder, Earl Poole Ball, Deborah Allen, Jimmie Dale Gilmore
In the last finished film of River Phoenix, he plays James Wright, an aspiring country singer who meets three others–Miranda Presley (Samantha Mathis), Kyle Davidson (Dermot Mulroney), and Linda Lue Linden (Sandra Bullock)–who also plan to hit it big in Nashville. They head for the Bluebell Cafe where many have found the way to stardom through the weekly singer contests. In the process love blooms, fades, and blooms again.
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| 1. Explorers (1985)
2. I Love You to Death (1990)
3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
4. Little Nikita (1988)
5. The Mosquito Coast (1986)
6. My Own Private Idaho (1991)
7. Running on Empty (1988)
8. Sneakers (1992)
9. Stand by Me (1986)
10. The Thing Called Love (1993)
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