Review of Flight of the Navigator (1986) by Stuart M — 06 Oct 2016
This is one of those films that flirts with greatness but never quite reaches it. The first half of the film sets up an amazingly unusual drama by having the kid discover he's somehow gone ten years into the future.
A bit like a modern Rip Van Winkle only as a child. This gives us so many opportunities to explore the curiously shifting relationships between a boy who hasn't aged a day and his eight years' wiser family (including a younger brother who's now older than him) who all thought he was dead.
It doesn't go deep but perhaps that would be too ambitious. Plus it doesn't have the time. The problem then becomes what to do with such an amazing setup. The answer involves alien spaceships.
Not a bad twist. The problem is that once he gets onto the ship all plot advancement halts. Instead of going to meet the aliens, or fleeing from the Feds, or capitalizing on the family drama he simply flies around looking for home.
I mean, I get why he wants to go back but it's not a very interesting conflict to watch. Especially since we rarely leave the ship. It's never exciting and it squanders the dramatic opportunities established earlier in the film.
Which is too bad because the film that could have existed had the potential to be truly amazing.
This review of Flight of the Navigator (1986) was written by Stuart M on 06 Oct 2016.
Flight of the Navigator has generally received positive reviews.
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