Flight of the Navigator (1986)

In 1978, a boy is moved 8 years into the future and has an adventure with the alien ship that is responsible for that.

Director:

Randal Kleiser

Writers:

Mark H. Baker (story), Michael Burton (screenplay),

Stars:

Joey Cramer, Paul Reubens, Veronica Cartwright

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joey Cramer	...	David Freeman
Paul Reubens	...	Max (voice) (as Paul Mall)
Veronica Cartwright	...	Helen Freeman
Cliff De Young	...	Bill Freeman
Sarah Jessica Parker	...	Carolyn McAdams
Matt Adler	...	Jeff (16 years)
Howard Hesseman	...	Dr. Faraday
Robert Small	...	Troy
Albie Whitaker	...	Jeff (8 years)
Jonathan Sanger	...	Dr. Carr
Iris Acker	...	Mrs. Howard
Richard Liberty	...	Mr. Howard
Raymond Forchion	...	Detective Banks
Cynthia Caquelin	...	Woman Officer
Ted Bartsch	...	Night Guard Brayton

Storyline

A 12 year old boy goes missing in 1978, only to reappear once more in 1986. In the eight years that have passed, David hasn't aged. It is no coincidence that at the time David 'comes back', a flying saucer is found, entangled in electricity cables.

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Plot Keywords:

Boy | Flying Saucer | 12 Year Old | Alien | Doctor | 

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Taglines:

Come along on the greatest adventure of the summer!

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Genres:

Family | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA Norway

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 July 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

El vuelo del navegante

Filming Locations:

615 Idlewyld Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$18,564,613 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Star, Producers Sales Organization (PSO), Viking Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the prop hulls was refurbished and is now used as the topper to a drink station in Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

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Goofs

When the official at NASA tells Faraday that the ship stopped 20 miles up, a shot of a tracking screen is shown. One detail says "Target Altitude 184800ft". 184,800 feet is 35 miles, not 20.

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Quotes

Jeff Freeman, 16 Years: Don't take any shit, David!

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Connections

Referenced in Galaxy Quest (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Lovefire"
Written by Bob Esty and Michelle Aller
Performed by Bob Esty

User Reviews

Come along and ride on a fantastic voyage!

Flight of the Navigator is one of those terrific adventure films for kids, even after all these years. It also falls into a long line of fun 80s sci-fi/adventure family movies.

Davey (Joey Cramer) goes into the woods looking for his little brother one evening in 1978. When he wakes up after a brief period of unconsciousness, he turns into a scientific marvel. Nothing is as Davey remembers it, but he can't figure out why because he only fell asleep for a brief period.

Davey is told that his parents reported the young boy missing in 1978, the evening that he went searching in the woods for his younger brother, referring to the incident in the past tense because it is 1985. Only Davey is still exactly the same age and everything he was from 1978, while time has passed for everyone else. His little brother is now his big brother (Matt Adler). His parents are old. Everyone is confused and the scientific world find the situation fascinating.

The scientists turn Davey into their personal guinea pig, running tests and probing him and all that junk. And soon they discover, that Davey was abducted. Davey, understandably a confused little kid, can't figure out what's going on and he sure doesn't want to be locked up in some lab where people prod at him all day long and tell him very little. So, he breaks lose, and hops aboard the spaceship that took him through time before. While it is an escape from the scientists and their security (briefly), it also holds the answers to what happened to him. It is also an opportunity for Davey to learn everything from this spaceship. And a kid's movie isn't complete without personifying inanimate objects. The spaceship is essentially controlled by Max, which is like it's CPU, a CPU with a cool sense of humor who likewise tries to learn about human emotions and condition from his passenger, Davey.

Filmed around Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, it is still a cool movie for kids...teenagers...whatever, having a little bit of something for everyone. Great humor, cool special effects, and the like.