Other Titles • Zathura • Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) • Jumanji 2
Synopses for Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
1.
After their father (Tim Robbins) leaves for work, leaving them in the care of their older sister (Kristen Stewart), six year-old Danny (Jonah Bobo) and ten-year old Walter (Josh Hutcherson) either get on each other’s nerves or are totally bored.
When their bickering escalates and Walter starts chasing him, Danny hides in a dumbwaiter. But Walter surprises him, and in retaliation, lowers Danny into their dark, scary basement, where he discovers an old tattered metal board game, “Zathura.” After trying unsuccessfully to get his brother to play the game with him, Danny starts to play on his own.
From his first move, Danny realizes this is no ordinary board game. His spaceship marker moves by itself and when it lands on a space, a card is ejected, which reads: “Meteor shower, take evasive action.” The house is immediately pummeled from above by hot, molten meteors.
When Danny and Walter look up through the gaping hole in their roof, they discover, to their horror, that they have been propelled into deepest, darkest outer space.
And they are not alone.
So begins an exhilarating, sometimes frightening, but always unpredictable adventure. Danny and Walter realize that unless they finish the game they’ll be trapped in outer space forever. With every turn, they confront one incredible obstacle after another: They accidentally put their sister Lisa into a deep cryonic sleep, are chased by a crazed, malfunctioning six-foot robot, rescue a stranded astronaut (Dax Shepard) and are besieged by lizard-like, carnivorous creatures called Zorgons.
With the help of the astronaut, Danny and Walter begin to put their petty fraternal differences aside, work together to overcome the obstacles they encounter and attempt to finish the game so they can go home.
But all their efforts may be in vain when they face their biggest challenge of all — a battle against an intense gravitational pull into the void of the dark planet Zathura.
(44 votes)
2.
Actor-turned-director Jon Favreau (SWINGERS, ELF) delivers another work of intelligent, charming family fare with this space adventure, based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg (JUMANJI). Older brother Walter (Josh Hutcherson) and the younger Danny (Jonah Bobo) are constantly at war with one another, bickering over the mediating voice of their long-suffering father (Tim Robbins). When he has to go to the office to replace some papers the boys destroyed in their crossfire, he leaves them in the dubious care of older sister Lisa (Kristen Stewart), who is sleeping upstairs. When Danny discovers an old board game called Zathura stored in the basement, his excitement is lost on Walter, who has no time for such old, boring toys. Soon, however, the game becomes impossible to ignore, as the boys are transported into space, and one of them must win in order to make it home again. Each turn brings a new, often dangerous, surprise, and the boys are faced with a murderous robot, an explosive meteor shower, and lizard-like aliens, while poor Lisa is cryogenically frozen early in the game. The adventure yields some heartwarming, family-friendly life lessons, and Dax Shepard (IDIOCRACY) is unusually subdued in his role as a stranded astronaut.
(38 votes)
3.
In Columbia Pictures' heart-racing sci-fi adventure Zathura, two squabbling brothers are propelled into deepest, darkest space while playing a mysterious game they discovered in the basement of their old house.
On their fantastic journey, they are joined by a stranded astronaut and must survive meteor showers, hostile lizard-like aliens, a rocket-propelled robot run amok and an intergalactic spaceship battle.
But their greatest peril lies ahead. For unless they finish the game and reach the planet Zathura, they are doomed to be trapped in outer space forever.
Zathura is based on the best-selling book by the acclaimed children's writer Chris Van Allsburg (The Polar Express, Jumanji) with a screenplay by David Koepp and John Kamps. The film stars Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo, Dax Shepard, Kristin Stewart and Oscar winner Tim Robbins. The film is directed by Jon Favreau (Elf) and produced by William Teitler, Scott Kroopf and Michael De Luca.
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