12-year-old David is accidentally knocked out in the forest near his home, but when he awakens eight years have passed. His family is overjoyed to have him back, but is just as perplexed as he is that he hasn't aged. When a NASA scientist discovers a UFO nearby, David gets the chance to unravel the mystery and recover the life he lost.
| Tagline | David Freeman is eight years late for dinner, and his family wants to know why. But David's got an absolutely fantastic excuse. |
| Release Date: | Jul 30, 1986 |
| Genres: | Family, Science Fiction, Adventure |
| Production Company: | New Star Entertainment, Walt Disney Pictures, Viking Film, PSO |
| Production Countries: | United States of America |
| Casts: | Joey Cramer, Paul Reubens, Veronica Cartwright, Cliff DeYoung, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matt Adler, Howard Hesseman, Robert Small, Jonathan Sanger, Richard Liberty, Raymond Forchion |
| Status: | Released |
| Budget: | $9000000 |
| Revenue: | 18564613 |
Enjoyable enough. 'Flight of the Navigator' features an interesting concept which they bring to life rather well. It isn't anything special and it could've probably been more thrilling, but it still produces a fine 90 minutes. The special effects haven't aged amazing, yet they still suitably serve the intended purpose. Joey Cramer is good in the lead role as David, while Paul Reubens is fairly amusing as Max. A young Sarah Jessica Parker (Carolyn) also appears. The film doesn't quite hit the intended heartfelt spots with the plot, but there is an element of care for David from me in there minorly; if only at the end. Decent Disney.
This has stood the test of time remarkably well since it was released in 1986. Aside from a rather dated synthesised soundtrack, it's still quite a fun sci-fi adventure. When "David" (Joey Cramer) goes to meet his brother, he slips and bangs his head. Returning home he discovers that, well it isn't his home any more. The police soon reunite him with his parents but where has he been for the last eight years? Scientists decide to prod and poke him, and that's when he discovers they have a space ship - and that ship is calling to him. Once onboard, he realises that he was an experiment that went wrong for the ship's super computer - but can they sort it all out and get the youngster back to the correct timeline before the authorities catch up? There's no jeopardy here, so of course we now what's going to happen - but there are a couple of amiable efforts from the young Cramer, from his partner in crime at the lab "Carolyn" (Sarah Jessica Parker - no less) and Howard Hesseman makes for decent scientist "Dr. Faraday". The story is a simple family-friendly affair, with adequate visual effects as the ship changes shape, travels underwater, at high speed, etc. I like watching this every now and again - it has a inquisitive good-nature to it that makes for a good watch.
