TAD THE LOST EXPLORER AND THE EMERALD TABLET

Paramount Home Entertainment provided the featured products to ageekdaddy.com for promotional consideration

There were some great adventure movies featuring explorers looking for historical treasures playing on the big screen at movie theaters when I was a kid. Raiders of the Lost Ark, Alan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold, Romancing the Stone, Firewalker, River of Death and The Goonies had the youth of the day all wanting to become archeologists in search of excitement. Then as it was time to actually start pursuing careers, we discovered archeology was more about digging up shards of pottery and fossils rather than having rip roaring exploits looking for mythical artifacts. So, life went on for most of us in more traditional fields like business, construction, medicine or law, but for most 80s kids the dream of going on an exotic quest remains.

That is why Tad Stones is such a relatable character to us 40 and 50-somethings and his movies are a fun way to share the enjoyment of these action/adventure movies from our youth with our children today. Watching Tad, The Lost Explorer animated adventures make for great family movie nights. There is a trilogy of these films to enjoys: TAD THE LOST EXPLORER; TAD THE LOST EXPLORER AND THE SECRET OF KING MIDAS; and the newly released TAD THE LOST EXPLORER AND THE EMERALD TABLET. All of these animated movies are available to view on Amazon Prime.

Tad Stones is a bricklayer who lives in Chicago, working on the construction of the city's subway. Ever since he was five years old, he has dreamed of being a professional archaeologist. After being fired from his job for daydreaming, Tad visits his friend Professor Humbert to ask the archeologist to look at a vintage bottle of Coca-Cola he found on the construction site. While Tad is visiting his friend's office, the professor receives a mysterious message summoning him to Peru to re-unite his half of a stone "key" that will unlock the legendary Incan city of Paititi. On his way to the airport, the Professor suffers an accident preventing him from going on the journey. Tad takes the professor's place and this sets in motion a series of adventures that makes this unlikely explorer's wildest dreams come true.

Get ready to journey across the world with the most ambitious (and the most clumsy) adventurer of all time — “Tad” Stones! When a slight blunder destroys a rare sarcophagus, an ancient spell is unleashed. Now, Tad must team up with his friends Sara and his 'oldest pal' Mummy to race across the far corners of the Earth to stop the curse of the Emerald Tablet before things get really out of hand. 

TAD THE LOST EXPLORER AND THE EMERALD TABLET is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The MPAA rating is for action, peril, rude humor and language. It has a runtime of 1 hour and 29 minutes.

My family had a fantastic movie night experience excavating an Egyptian pyramid and watching TAD THE LOST EXPLORER AND THE EMERALD TABLET courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment sending us an Eduman Toys Ancient Egyptian Pyramids Dig Kit and a Digital Code for the movie. Utilizing archeological excavation tools we searched through a model pyramid uncovering replica relics including a mummy case, Tutankhamen's Funeral Mask and a statue of Queen Nefertiti as well as treasures such as gold coins and amethyst gems. This Egyptian Pyramid Dig Kit, intended for ages 6+, contained 12 Egyptian toys, chisel, hammer, brush, and an adventure guide to give young geologists a deeper understanding of ancient Egyptian civilization. After our archeological dig, we watched the hijinks of Tad as he embarked on his own archeological adventure. It was a fun evening of treasure hunting! 

TAD THE LOST EXPLORER movies are English voice over releases by Paramount Pictures of popular Spanish Las aventuras de Tadeo Jones films directed by Enrique Gato. These films are based upon the graphic novel Tadeo and the Secret of the Toactlum, illustrated and co-written by Juan López Fernández and written by Javier Barreira, Gorka Magallón, and Enrique Gato. The theatrical release of TAD THE LOST EXPLORER AND THE EMERALD TABLET was the second highest grossing animated film in Spain in 2022 and the second biggest opening weekend for a Spanish film for the year. An enjoyable family friendly movie with international flair. 

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TRANSFORMERS THE LAST KNIGHT

Summer blockbusters are meant to be a way to escape the realism of the world around us for a moment in time by being thrilled over watching a movie and snacking on popcorn.  They don't need to have a life altering impact on their audiences or masterfully written award-winning scripts.  What these movies must have are mind-blowing special effects, pulse raising action scenes, incredible stunts, and comedic situations.  People aren't looking for the film of the year but rather to have some summer fun where they'll be wowed and made to laugh while watching a movie.  TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT fits this mold perfectly!

The fifth movie in Michael Bay's cinematic saga, based upon the Hasbro Transformers toys that were popular when I was a kid growing up in the 1980's, THE LAST KNIGHT is a roller coaster of a movie that is meant to be a thrill ride.  It has adorable characters called baby dinobots that will make you go aww! Incredible vehicles that you wish you could drive or fly.  Stunts like Mike Wahlberg hanging out the door of a speeding car inches from the ground making the audience exclaim whoa!  Along with plenty of moments that will have you chuckling in your seat.  And let's not forget the stars of the show, incredibly detailed CGI fighting robots that while watching the movie you'll forget aren't real.

While TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT is based upon children's toys, parents should be aware that it is rated PG-13.  I took my eight year old twins to see the movie and personally didn't have any problem with them seeing anything contained in it.  There isn't any gore or nudity in the movie but it gets the PG-13 rating for intense action scenes, violence and cursing.  Because most of the violence is robot-on-robot in my opinion there isn't anything over-the-top concerning for parents to worry about when it comes to grade school aged and older children viewing it.  If you let your kids watch the Harry Potter or Star Wars films this movie should be just fine for them to see.

I wouldn't recommend taking preschool aged children to this movie for a few reasons though.  First there is a lot of swearing that young ears probably shouldn't hear.  You'll have to make a parent judgment on your comfort level about profanity. Second, while there really isn't any sexual content in the film there is a lot of innuendo which you may want to avoid young kids being exposed to.  Of course it may just go right over their heads like it did with mine.  Finally, there are some characters, robots and humans, who die in the film.  If death is a topic you want to steer clear of here's your heads up about that.

For adults if you enjoy action adventure movies with explosions and battle scenes go see this!  If you are more interested in movies with great dramatic plots than you'll probably want to go see something else.  I'll be honest the plot is full of holes like a piece of swiss cheese.  The script is OK while you are racing through THE LAST KNIGHT but afterward it will be hard not to think back and say that didn't make a whole lot of sense.  Of course it is a movie about larger than life alien robots so the script doesn't need to be more than meets the eye.

My son and daughter really enjoyed this movie, and my wife who normally doesn't share my appreciation of sci-fi/superhero type stuff admitted she had a good time too.  I really liked how King Arthur and Merlin were incorporated into the story and thought the dragon transformer featured in the show was just darn cool.  Being from the Motor City it was also interesting to see all the Detroit locations that were used in filming the movie. That combined with my really wanting to own a baby dinobot now gives A Geek Daddy nod of approval to TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT.  If you sit back and enjoy the ride you'll have a fun time!

For more information about THE LAST KNIGHT please visit www.transformersmovie.com.  You can also find out more about TRANSFORMERS by visiting the movie's social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  Click here to take a look at the newest Transformers toys from Hasbro.

Paramount Pictures & Hasbro Creating Film Universe

During the 1980's, Hasbro entertained children and promoted the toy manufacturer's products through several popular television cartoon and comic book series.  Paramount Pictures and Hasbro are going to try and bring back some of that magic from the 80's through the creation of an interconnected movie universe featuring popular toy brands from that era including G.I. JOE, M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand), Micronauts, ROM and the Visionaries.  I grew up watching the cartoons and reading the comic books tied to these toy lines, so it was exciting news that filled me with nostalgia when Paramount Pictures and Hasbro announced they've created a writers room of top Hollywood talent who will be focused on making these films a reality.

This group includes Academy Award Winner Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind), who will be responsible for overseeing the writers room as well as serving as Executive Producer on all the films within this cinematic universe, along with Lindsey Beer (Wizard of Oz / Kingkiller Chronicle ), Pulitzer Prize Winner Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay ), Cheo Coker (Luke Cage, Ray Donovan), Joe Robert Cole (Black Panther, People vs OJ ), Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel), Jeff Pinker (Lost, the Dark Tower), Nicole Riegel (Soldier Girls), Geneva Robertson (Atlantis, Tomb Raider) and Brian K Vaughan (Under the Dome, Lost).  Allspark Pictures, Hasbro's film label, plans to produce the films based upon the cross-property universe.  Hasbro also plans on bringing in an unprecedented number of top artists and designers to assist Goldsman and the writing team with visualizing this all-new cinematic universe.  I love movie concept art so am especially looking forward to seeing what emerges from these artists as they help the writers script these films.

Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

Paramount and Hasbro's movie partnership has had mixed results since it began in 2007 with the release of the first TRANSFORMERS movie.  That film franchise directed by Michael Bay has earned more than $3.8 billion to date and its movies are amongst the highest grossing movies of all time.  Unfortunately, on the other hand the G.I. JOE movies the Hasbro / Paramount partnership created have squandered the popularity and goodwill that brand had developed with consumers. While the G.I. JOE movies have earned $675 million worldwide each has been lackluster.  From someone who has such wonderful childhood memories of playing with G.I. JOE toys in my backyard, watching the cartoons every day after school and waiting in anticipation each month for a new issue of their comic book to arrive at the news stand, I just have to say it is a shame how immemorable the movies Paramount and Hasbro have produced for this franchise are.  Hopefully this new cross-over cinematic universe will not only reboot G.I. JOE with a film that will wow people but also mimic Disney's efforts with Marvel creating something special through a series of movies that the adults who enjoyed these characters as kids can now share and enjoy with their own children. 

G.I. JOE - RETALIATION (2013)

I am optimistic that these new films featuring G.I. JOE, Micronauts, M.A.S.K. and ROM will be exciting and enjoyable to watch because Hasbro and Paramount are investing the resources and talent to make them extraordinary.  I wasn't into the Visionaries as a kid and they were a bit of a flop back then so not so sure how that is going to fit into the mix with these other franchises which seem a little easier to interconnect with each other but we'll give them the benefit of the doubt and hopefully will be positively surprised with the outcome. Hasbro and Paramount have made some incredible movies featuring the Transformers so we know with the right amount of effort and leadership they can do it again with this new cinematic universe. So I'll be eagerly keeping an eye out for news and information about how this project is progressing. Stay tuned for future updates from A Geek Daddy!