Navigator

'Flight of the Navigator' might have been produced in the mid-Eighties but it certainly hasn't lost it's charm over the last twenty years and it does stand up well against more recent family film offerings.

The story begins in 1978 with twelve-year-old David Freeman, a happy all-American kid who lives with his loving parents and typically bratty eight-year-old brother Jeff. One night he sets off into the woods to look for Jeff only to be knocked unconscious when he falls from a ravine. When David awakes in what seems like hours later to him, he discovers actually eight years have passed and it is now 1986. Although he is still twelve years old, the world has moved on and even his little brother is older than he is. NASA are very interested in David when his EEG scan reveal readings in the shape of a UFO they have discovered and other scans of the boy result in star charts of distant galaxies being spewed out from the computers. But our hero is determined to return to his family so he breaks free and hides aboard the UFO which holds the key to everything.

Joey Cramer gives a likable performance as David, a boy who enjoys adventures but ultimately just wants to be with his family. I think anyone watching the film would empathise with his character's anger and sense of helplessness when David discovers NASA have no intention of letting him go home. Matt Adler as sixteen-year-old Jeff is another notable actor in the film in the way he depicts his character's uncertainty of dealing with his little big brother and his developing protectiveness towards David. Also, look out for a younger Sarah Jessica Parker.

For those who watched 'Flight of the Navigator' as children in the Eighties, there is definitely a nostalgic feeling to it. However, I think children of present day would still enjoy the film as it has a little of everything and issues raised as still relevant and/or interesting today such as pre-teen crushes, annoying kid brothers, the thrill of following a hero on his 'quest', a fun mentor for the hero (even if it is metallic!) and arrogant scientist-types. It is important to remember that this is a children's film aimed very much at an eight- to twelve-year-old demography so it doesn't delve too deeply but the plot is quite unique, the characters are interesting and it is a film that is well put-together. Certainly one to enjoy with the whole family.

Flight of the Navigator is directed by Randal Kleiser and is adapted to screenplay by Michael Burton and Matt MacManus from a story by Mark H. Baker. It stars Joey Cramer, Veronica Cartwright, Cliff De Young, Sarah Jessica Parker, Howard Hesseman and the voice of Paul Reubens. Music is by Alan Silvestri and cinematography is by James Glennon and Eric McGraw.

Young David Freeman (Cramer) is out in the woods near his home in Fort Lauderdale when he falls down a ravine and is knocked unconscious. Waking up he finds that the world around him has advanced by 8 years but he hasn't. After being reunited with his overjoyed parents, it becomes apparent that David has had an encounter with a extra terrestrial life form, which of course greatly interests the authorities...

It's a family friendly sci-fi with a difference, in that it doesn't have to take us into space for its tale, yet this in no way detracts from how enjoyable Flight of the Navigator is. It is told from young David's perspective (with Cramer impressionable), thus it firmly engages the kids in the audience. The relationship between David and the Phaleon computer system (Reubens) engages with witty chatter and educational purpose, and the effects work should not be taken for granted either. If we are to be picky then the build up is a touch long before the pic goes "extra terrestrial", and Cartwright and De Young are barely given time to impact as parents coming to terms with a family life turned upside down. But small complaints really and this is a lovely film, one that isn't just for 1980s nostalgists. 7/10

You know the drill: 12 year old David falls into a ravine in the woods and discovers when he wakes up that he's been missing for eight years. He also discovers that he's hearing voices that seem to come from a mysterious craft housed in a NASA hangar.

My two cents worth: In a time when all the live action Disney movies seem to be a variant on "I was normal but just discovered I am/have just been mistaken for royalty/merperson/rock star/leprechaun/etc., this movie from the 1980's is a real breath of fresh air.

The scenario, waking up and discovering that everything except you has changed, and knowing you'll be somebody's idea of a guinea pig for the rest of your life, is instantly relatable and creepy, whether you're a kid or an adult. The kid fainting, the change in the two brother's relationship due to the age flop, parents trying to protect their son, government trying to exploit the kid's knowledge, everyone's reactions to the situation are all logical and believable.

And who hasn't wanted a chance to fly a saucer? Having Max, the ship's pilot, be a robot was another stroke of brilliance. So many movies have the aliens flying all the way here to come visit us face to face. But if we send machines to other planets because it's cheaper than going ourselves, why wouldn't they? And having him learn about Earth courtesy of a 12-year-old's TV polluted brain was hysterical.

The movie seems a little dated today; but it's forgivable because, like Back to the Future, it's set so specifically in a certain frame of time (you expect it to look and sound like 1986 because, hey, they keep telling you that's when it is.)

Recommendations: Back to the Future and Big are the two I can think of that are most along these lines.

This movie is an entertaining fantasy, but there's quite a bit more to it just beneath the surface. The protagonist is a 12-y/o kid raised, as most are in Western culture, to be incompetent, overly dependent on adults, and untrusting of his own judgment. When he finds himself aboard an alien spacecraft, he naturally first attempts to transfer that dependency to the robotic pilot Max, which, all-seeing eye and all, represents the omniscient grown-up. As time goes on, though, David begins to realize that: 1) his own interests do not in fact always coincide with Max's, 2)that therefore he must advocate for himself to achieve a favorable outcome, and 3) that he's the one who has to decide just what outcome will best meet his needs. Much unlike most "kid movies," this character shows real growth, and in the end confronts a real moral and personal dilemma. Whether you agree with his choice or not, you have to respect him for what he has become.

For the fist time I saw Flight of The Navigator when I was a kid, nearly twenty years ago. I remember young soviet kids flocked into the theaters to see a strange American movie and somehow taped it but too many time has passed and all these years it was like a rather unclear distant memory for me, a distant memory of something pretty good and even beautiful. Since then I was unable to find it and watch it again and only recently I caught in on a cable TV channel. Despite being twenty seven years old now I still liked it a lot.

Flight of The Navigator is a very good Sci-fi family movie despite (or some people could say thanks to) it is not as overloaded by the special effects as most of such modern movies. That left enough place not only for pure entertainment bit also for emotions and some pretty nice scenes with rather good dialogs. It the story of an eleven years old boy, who after a strange and quite inexplicable contact with something looked like an alien ship got moved through the time into future several years ago, which passed for him like a couple of hours. In this future he takes an adventure to find an explanation what really happened with him. Flight of The Navigator is a very enjoyable movie for whole family, which deserves much more appreciation than overwhelming majority of recent family movies.

9 out of 10