Released in 1986 , Flight of the Navigator is one of those movies I watch again and again as a tyke . Then , for probably twenty twelvemonth or so , I bury about it , mostly because it was n’t on DVD . But I recently revisited it — and I realise it ’s a much , much different motion picture than I retrieve .
Directed by Randal Kleiser ( Grease , Big Top Pee - Wee , The Blue Lagoon ) , Flight of the Navigator was one of Disney ’s big summer releases in 1986 . It did n’t do particularly well financially ( the # 48 movie of the year consort toBox Office Mojo ) , but was quite well - reviewed , still sitting at over 80 % Fresh onRotten Tomatoes . That means it ’s one of those movie that caught the imaginations of kids , once it hit the rising home telecasting market .
The history is about a boy named David ( Joey Cramer ) who , in 1978 , goes out into the wood , gets hurt , and wakes up eight years after , without having age a day . turn out , he was abducted by aliens and taken to their planet for tests . Everyone then tries to piece together the context around his mystifying disappearance , while the alien craft that took David also looks for him because the alien require his avail to get home .
Watching Flight of the Navigator now , almost thirty eld after its release , the first matter that echo through is just how dated it is . Not in a big way , but its geezerhood is incredibly detectable . Everything from Alan Silvestri ’s synth - hard grievance to the yellow - case opening credits and Transformers and G.I Joe toy put the film in a specific meter and place . There ’s also the complimentary use of the word “ retarded , ” a Slip - N - Slide and tyke playing with firework . Very Eighties .
All that is trump though by the phonation of Max the alien , which is done by none other than Paul Reubens . As Max and David become effective and better friends , Max goes from straightforward and robotlike dialogue to 100 % Pee - Wee Herman . By the conclusion of the moving picture , you could have retitled it “ Pee Wee is an Alien . ” In 1986 , that was probably refreshing , but now it really feels a little diffraction grating .
That say , the moving picture feels kind of ballsy . It runs only 90 minutes but we do n’t get to the starship stuff for over half the movie . Most of the narrative drive comes from this mystery of how did a young boy disappear for eight years without any clip seeming to pass for him ? Plus , that ’s manage in a form of shivery path for a Disney movie . Scenes of David belong into his former house and blazon out , see and being frightened by his aged parents , or take on his unseasoned , but now senior , brother , total with some very complex emotions and question , particularly for younger kids . If we ’re being honest , it ’s kind of a mind roll in the hay .
The mystery keeps the pic afloat though and , slowly , the amazing starship gets set up . Sarah Jessica Parker shows up , there ’s a lot of NASA product positioning and by the time you finally get to David ’s “ Flight of the Navigator , ” the film has more than earned its boastful musical interludes and flying montages . This scene , in particular , is just the best .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTxRveph1Ys
Honestly , you could n’t watch that view under the eld of 15 , and not desire to pump some Beach Boys and fell a ship across the mountains . It ’s infectious — and because you get laid how much stuff this kid has gone through , his purity in these scenes is a welcome relief .
Along the way there ’s some outstanding effects act upon , terrific creature work , and an ultra - trippy culmination , leading to the requisite Disney ending . But still , for a tight little Disney movie , Flight of the Navigator is super fun and before of its time . It ’s basically an alien abduction movie for Thomas Kyd . Fire in the Sky turned into a rousing adventure . The X - Files via Mickey Mouse . Not all of it hold up under a microscope , but it ’s very much a windowpane into its prison term . A window that ’s still well deserving open up .
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