Opening

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—— Populaire May 17
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Coming Soon

—— The Hangover Part III May 23
79% Fast & Furious 6 May 24
—— Epic May 24
94% Before Midnight May 24

Zathura (2005)

tomatometer

75

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 158
Fresh: 119 | Rotten: 39

Dazzling special effects for the kids + well-crafted storytelling for the 'rents = cinematic satisfaction for the whole family.

76

Average Rating: 6.7/10
Critic Reviews: 33
Fresh: 25 | Rotten: 8

Dazzling special effects for the kids + well-crafted storytelling for the 'rents = cinematic satisfaction for the whole family.

audience

54

liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 259,039

My Rating

Movie Info

Two young brothers are drawn into an intergalactic adventure when their house is magically hurtled through space because of the board game they are playing.

Feb 14, 2006

$28.0M

Sony Pictures - Official Site External Icon

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All Critics (160) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (124) | Rotten (39) | DVD (19)

Favreau gratifyingly prevents the film from becoming a mere maelstrom of CG effects by pushing the brothers' amusing bickering to the fore...

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
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A smart and funny kids' movie that will also keep parents entertained.

November 14, 2005 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
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Zathura, Jon Favreau's adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg's kid-lit adventure of the same name, more than fills the bill -- though it's unlikely to draw anyone over the age of 11 (not counting baby-sitters).

November 11, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Daily News
New York Daily News
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Zathura salutes the low-tech magic that lurks inside a board game -- that hidden ability to bring people together.

November 11, 2005 Full Review Source: Washington Post
Washington Post
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In seeking to entertain adults as well as children, director Jon Favreau (Elf) may have overplayed his hand a bit on the grown-up side.

November 11, 2005 Full Review Source: Toronto Star
Toronto Star
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Zathura is most interesting and least predictable in its opening scenes -- before the impressive special effects take over.

November 11, 2005 Full Review Source: Seattle Times
Seattle Times
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Zathura is a space circus of the surreal that recalls a time when the likes of Joe Dante ruled the pre-adolescent pop sphere.

November 7, 2012 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine Australasia
Empire Magazine Australasia

It doesn't talk down its audience, it doesn't paint clichés, it doesn't insult our intelligence, and its entertainment is enjoyable for both adults and children. That's rare.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed
Cinema Crazed

Sci-fi adventure story for the elementary school set.

July 16, 2008 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

A heartwarming family flick which delivers a touching lesson about the true meaning of brotherly love.

May 30, 2007 Full Review Source: Upstage Magazine
Upstage Magazine

At times it seemed like events were occurring just so the kids, or the kids in the audience, could learn their lesson a little bit more.

April 8, 2007 Full Review Source: Cinematical
Cinematical

A lively, imaginative tall tale that should thrill young audiences and engage their parents.

February 22, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International
Film Journal International

A practically-perfect family flick which delivers a big lesson about the true meaning of brotherly love.

January 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Black Star News
Black Star News

Charming children's adventure with some superb performances from the young cast.

December 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine
Empire Magazine

For those who love the majesty of the solar system, the thrill of space battles, and the adventure of finding secret passageways in old houses, this movie should be just the ticket.

November 17, 2006
Christianity Today

full review in Greek

October 3, 2006 Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses
Movies for the Masses

Despite its peculiar name and the fact it bears a strong resemblance to Jumanji -- another film inspired by a book by children's author Van Allsburg -- it's hard not to like Zathura.

March 31, 2006 Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney Morning Herald

Any game is more fun to play than to watch others play, even if it involves death-defying stunts and harrowing alien encounters that would frighten even the heartiest souls.

February 21, 2006 Full Review
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)

...rarely dull...

February 18, 2006 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews
Reel Film Reviews

Audience Reviews for Zathura

Zathura is lame and anemic version of 90's adventure film Jumanji. Joe Johnston's Jumanji was nothing that special as a family entertainment neither but when compaired to an awful Zathura Johnston's film is almost a good one.
Jon Favreau, who is responsible of equally bad Iron Man films, is lacking style, originality and capacity of making his film into a entertainment worth to see. Children in this film are very unlikeable. They swear, yell and hate each other and it is extremely hard for viewer to like or care them at all. To make it simple, they are just plain annoying. Why should we in the audience care about these kids? It remains a mystery even when the film ends.
Zathura is film without good director, likeable characters, innovative approach and most of all screenplay that would actually make any sense. This film is so all over the place that after twenty minutes into it i was ready to give up.
Children will possibly forgive it's flaws, but for adult audience this is just painful to sit through. Not only it's a bad film but even worse as a family film, which it is aimed to be. If you want to see better film from the exactly same idea then i advice you to see Jumanji over Zathura.
July 29, 2012
emilkakko

Super Reviewer

So the pitch meeting for this one was basically, "Hey, how can we just copy Jumanji, but have even less plot?" There's barely a story here. Brothers fight, then a list of stuff happens as they pull cards, then a happy ending. Lack of imagination, an entire cast of unlikeable characters, and some sub-par effects (those creature puppets were horrible) make this a film we won't be watching again anytime soon, if ever.
April 8, 2011
shiftyeyeddog

Super Reviewer

    1. Danny: A card came out!
    2. Walter: Fascinating.
    – Submitted by Jed G (10 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Zathura: A Space Adventure (DE)
  • Zathura - A Space Adventure (UK)
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