Flight Of The Navigator (1986)

Sometimes when you are in the mood for something, you just have to go with your gut and you go with it. That is kind of what happened to me today when I was trying to decide what to watch and so I turned to good ol' Walt Disney and I checked out 1986's Flight Of The Navigator which was directed by Randal Kleiser (Honey, I Blew Up The Kid). The film stars Joey Cramer (The Clan of the Cave Bear) as 12 year old David Freeman, a regular kid who is about to have his world turned upside down. You see, one night David is tasked with bringing back his little brother back home, but David has an accident and is knocked out. The only problem is that when he wakes up, it's eight years into the future and he hasn't aged at all. Everyone is stunned when David arrives at home and his issue might have to do with a wisecracking alien ship. The film also stars Paul Reubens (Pee Wee's Playhouse) as Max, Cliff De Young (The Craft) as Bill Freeman, Veronica Cartwright (Invasion Of The Body Snatchers) as Helen Freeman, Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex In The City) as Carolyn McAdams, Howard Hesseman (Head Of The Class) as Dr. Louis Faraday, Robert Small (Spring Break) as Troy, Raymond Forchion (Point Break) as Detective Banks, Albie Whitaker as 8 year old Jeff, and Matt Adler (Teen Wolf) as 16 year old Jeff.

The life of a child star is always a hard one it seems especially for some Disney stars and that goes for Joey Cramer who was convicted of robbing a bank in Canada. Nonetheless, he did a fantastic job in the film as this films version of E.T.'s Elliot. The real thing that gets me is that Pee Wee Herman was the voice of the alien technology in the film and the whole time I was like why is this guy copying Pee Wee Herman because his name is Paul Mall (that's how he was credited). After thinking about it, I was like that's definitely Paul Reuben and sure enough it was. If we were using he Disney Pixar formula, then Paul Reuben was the comedic relief in this film for sure and he was definitely my MVP. I definitely appreciated how they used real shows and real bands of the 80's during the film when Cramer's character was trying to figure it all out including the fact they introduced him to MTV. There was a lot of cheese in the film to go along with it, but this was an enjoyable 80's flick to watch especially in a time when tons of films just like it were coming out like Explorers or even D.A.R.Y.L. or maybe even *batteries not included. The film did kind of make NASA look incompeitent at times, but isn't that fun of these movies that kids seem to be more willing to take risks then adults and so that is where the adventure is. The spirit of being a kid and feeling alive rather than dragged down by bills and other adult stuff. The film is a lot of fun and you can check it out now on Disney Plus and with that being said, I am going to give it an B-/C+ (somewhere in there) for a final grade.