Flight of the Navigator (1986)
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A young boy is transported eight years into the future by an alien spaceship and must navigate the complexities of time dilation and extraterrestrial technology.
The story
On July 4, 1978, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 12-year-old David Freeman falls into a ravine and awakens to find that eight years have mysteriously passed. He is reunited with his aged parents and his now-16-year-old brother. Meanwhile, NASA captures an alien spaceship that crashes through power lines. Hospital tests on David's brainwaves reveal matching images of the spacecraft and a map of its galaxy origins. Dr. Louis Faraday persuades David to come to a NASA research facility for 48 hours to help them learn what happened to him.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After David Freeman is transported eight years into the future by an alien spaceship, he is reunited with his aged parents and his 16-year-old brother, Jeff. NASA captures the crashed ship and discovers David's brain contains alien technical manuals and star charts. Dr. Louis Faraday explains that David experienced time dilation, traveling 1,120 light-years in 4.4 hours. Faraday breaks his promise of a 48-hour stay to quarantine David for further study. David secretly boards the ship and meets its robotic commander, Max. Max explains that Phaelon scientists filled David's brain with information because humans only use 10% of their brains. Max needs this information to return home as his own databanks were erased. David bonds with a puckmaren, a tiny bat-like creature. While Max undergoes a mind transfer, he begins to contract human emotions. David and Max eventually escape the facility, but NASA agents track them. Fearing he will be treated as a guinea pig in 1986, David orders Max to return him to 1978. David awakes in the ravine in 1978, finding everything as it was. Max flies home across the fireworks-lit sky, leaving the puckmaren with David's brother.
- First release year
- 1986
- Runtime (minutes)
- 89
- Production countries
- United States; Norway
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Randal Kleiser
- Writers
- Mark H. Baker · story; Michael Burton · screenplay; Phil Joanou · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Joey Cramer · David Scott Freeman; Veronica Cartwright · Helen Freeman; Cliff DeYoung · Bill Freeman; Sarah Jessica Parker · Carolyn McAdams; Matt Adler · Jeff Freeman (16 years old); Albie Whitaker · Jeff Freeman (8 years old); Howard Hesseman · Dr. Louis Faraday; Paul Reubens · the voice of Max (credited as Paul Mall)
- Genres
- science-fiction adventure; children's; fantasy
- Themes
- time travel; alien contact; human emotion; scientific discovery
- Tone and mood
- family-friendly; adventurous; sci-fi
- Premise and plot tags
- time travel; alien abduction; NASA; robot
- Reception
- The film received mainly positive reviews, being described as a solidly entertaining bit of family-friendly sci-fi with impressive special effects and a charming performance from its young star.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 85% · review count: 33; Empire · score: 3/5 · scale: stars; Dave Kehr · score: 3 · scale: stars
- Production trivia
- It was one of the first Hollywood films to use extensive computer-generated imagery (CGI) effects.; It was the first use of image-based lighting and an early use of morphing in a motion picture.; It is one of the first Hollywood productions to feature an entirely electronic music film score, composed using a Synclavier.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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