It
was a time of innocence. A time when children’s films where a gateway into
imagination. The 1980s and 1990s saw countless films geared towards kids that
till this day remain classics and bring a smile, at the mere mention of their
titles, on the face of adults who grew up enacting scenes and characters from
these films. Flight of the Navigator is
a film that, even though I don't remember watching growing up, brought about
memories from my wonder years.
Flight of the Navigator is a story about a boy, David (Joey Cramer), who is abducted by an alien, Max (Voiced by Paul Reubens), only to return to Earth 8 years later to find everyone has aged except for him. What follows is an escape and chase movie as the scientists at NASA want to study the boy and the spaceship that crash-landed along with him while the alien in the spaceship needs him for maps that have been stored in his brain.
The film is full of subtle humor and moments that will warm your heart. Like most kid-centric films of the time there is always a strong moral behind each action and lessons to be learnt. The adventure quotient is good enough to make children run to the nearest enclosure and imagine a spacecraft taking them around the planet at speeds faster than light. Another aspect of the film that really stood out was the dialog which although is geared towards entertaining the kids has stood the test of time and sounds fresh enough to have made me chuckle quite a few times during the film.
Max: I crashed into electrical towers and my star charts were erased. I need the ones in your head to complete my mission. David: So you need ME and my INFERIOR brain to fly that thing? Max: Correction, I need the SUPERIOR information in your INFERIOR brain to fly this... thing.
David: Where do you go next, Max? Max: Back in time to when I picked up my creatures. By now they're so hungry, they could eat a zigzog. David: What's a zigzog? Max: Kind of like a hippo, but with feathers.
For most adults Flight of the Navigator is a journey back to their childhood, while fans of Sex and the City can find a young Sarah Jessica Parker in a small role sporting pink highlighted hair, something I'm not too sure Carrie Bradshaw would approve of? As for the younger generation, they can enjoy the film for what it is, fun, adventurous, humorous, and a feel good family entertainer that should be in everyone's home collection.
Rating: 4/5
DVD Information: Special Features - Commentary by director Randal Kleiser & Producer Jonathan Sanger UK Release Date - 19 November 2012 Running Time - 86 Minutes Region Code - Region Free Certificate - U
