Film

Zathura: A Space Adventure

Name: Zathura: A Space Adventure
Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure, Family
Released: 2005
Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Jonah Bobo, Dax Shepard, Kristen Stewart, Tim Robbins

A board game turns two feuding brothers' house into a genuine spaceship under genuine attack, with meteor showers, a marooned astronaut, and a very hostile robot lizard raising the stakes turn by turn. It's Jumanji's cousin — practical-effects heavy, briskly paced, and more interested in sibling wounds healing than in cosmic mystery. Good family-night pick for kids old enough for real jeopardy but young enough to still believe the game is the point.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you miss the Jumanji-style thrill of a board game that turns dangerous, and you enjoy siblings bickering their way through a crisis with wide-eyed, old-fashioned wonder.

Skip it if you want a slow, character-driven film, since this is brisk and goofy, with broad effects and a plot that prizes momentum over feeling.

What it asks of you: Little of your attention, really: a brisk hundred minutes of cheerful, unfussy movement, with the tone kept light and the dangers mostly cartoonish rather than bleak.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Jumanji1995

The obvious ancestor and still the gold standard: same author, same idea of a board game literally invading a house, and Robin Williams grounding the chaos with genuine feeling.

But You've almost certainly already seen it, and the effects now look distinctly of their decade.

Explorers1985

Three kids build a homemade craft and get yanked into space — same wide-eyed, backyard-ingenuity spirit, with a genuinely strange, dreamlike alien encounter at the end.

But The tone shifts abruptly in the third act and the pacing sags; it's more beloved in memory than on rewatch.

Flight of the Navigator1986

A kid, a talking spacecraft, and a genuinely eerie sense of scale — it nails that mix of childhood wonder and real fear that Zathura is chasing.

But Mid-80s effects and a slower build; patience required before the fun stuff kicks in.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Zathura: A Space Adventure

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

In the Shadow of the Moon2007

Zathura's astronaut is a fantasy stand-in for real spacefaring loneliness; this film gives you the unscripted, first-person version of that same experience.

A documentary where actual Apollo astronauts describe isolation, fear, and awe in space — the real version of what Zathura's marooned astronaut character is standing in for.

But No plot, no danger manufactured for entertainment — just old men remembering, which is a very different kind of moving.

Monster House2006

Kids alone, a threat that shouldn't logically exist, and a house that turns actively dangerous — the same jolt of domestic space becoming hostile, done in motion-capture animation.

But Genuinely scarier than Zathura in places; younger viewers might find it too intense.

The Goonies1985

Sibling bickering turned into a bonding adventure, high stakes played with total sincerity, and the same sense that being a kid is basically a survival sport.

But No sci-fi at all — this is pure treasure-hunt swashbuckling, so the space-adventure hook is absent.

Small Soldiers1998

Toys come alive and turn a suburban house into a war zone; Joe Dante's gleeful, slightly mean streak makes the danger feel more real than most kids' films dare.

But Sharper-edged and more violent than Zathura — this one bites.

Journey to the Center of the Earth2008

Family-friendly sci-fi spectacle with a similar mix of practical peril and CG wonder, plus a reluctant-guardian dynamic between generations.

But Leans harder into roller-coaster set pieces than character, so it can feel thinner emotionally.

Journey to the Center of the Earth poster

Race to Witch Mountain2009

Kids with strange powers, government pursuit, and a breezy, effects-driven adventure plot that never takes itself too seriously — solid comfort viewing.

But Forgettable plotting and a generic Disney sheen; it won't stick with you the way Zathura might.

Escape to Witch Mountain1975

The gentler, older cousin of the genre: two siblings, a mysterious power, and a low-key wonder that predates the CGI arms race entirely.

But Slow by modern standards and the effects are minimal — charming rather than thrilling.

Labyrinth1986

Same emotional engine — sibling resentment curdling into a rescue mission through a hostile magical world — but run through fantasy instead of sci-fi, with a teenage girl as the reluctant hero instead of a little boy.

A teenage girl resentfully saddled with her little brother gets pulled into a fantastical quest to save him — puppetry, Bowie, and genuine strangeness throughout.

But It's a musical fantasy with zero interest in science fiction logic, and the tone is far weirder and dreamier than Zathura's.

Event Horizon1997

Strip away the family-film rating and Zathura's premise — an enclosed space under external threat that the occupants must survive together — becomes this: the same skeleton, dressed for adults and nightmares instead of siblings and bedtime.

A crew trapped on a ship under attack by something malevolent from beyond — same bones as Zathura's house-in-peril structure, but pitched as full-throttle sci-fi horror.

But Genuinely disturbing and gory; absolutely not for kids, and not for anyone squeamish about body horror.