Mutant Reviewers from Hell do
"Yes, Max. Those were geeks."

1986 PG / Scifi Comedy Directed by: Randal Kleiser Starring: Joey Cramer, Paul Reubens, Veronica Cartwright

Tagline

Take off on the ultimate fantasy adventure!

Summary Capsule

Kid gets shot forward in time due to a flower-sniffing alien ship... how will he ever get home?

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Justin's Rating: Flying spaceships and alien abductions — just another day in 1986 for us!
Justin's Review: If you were a kid in the 80's, then a copy of Flight of the Navigator was in your video collection. Maybe it was bought, borrowed, copied or stolen, but it was there. Maybe you even hated it, but some kindly aunt deemed that you should be gifted with every Disney-related film by the time you were 18. Maybe little Disney sweatshop gnomes smuggled it into your room and whispered not-so-subtle "suggestions" in your sleeping ear that you watch it. It doesn't matter; everyone had this movie. And whether you liked it, hated it or were ambivalent towards it, you probably saw it a number of times, just like me.

"This sends NASA into full-fledged evil mode, which comprises of imprisoning David and forcing him to watch Twisted Sister."

12-year-old David (Joey Cramer) is your average Floridian 1970's suburbanite, living it up with a cool dog and an annoying brother. After a number of misleading teasers suggesting the presence of UFO's, Davey finally gets his probing. Probably that was in a deleted scene that I hallucinated. Anyway, David falls into a gully and wakes up in 1986, eight years after his fall, yet he's still the same age. His rediscovery of his (aged) family is compounded by the appearance of a genuine, certified Special Effect of a flying spaceship. This sends NASA into full-fledged evil mode, which comprises of imprisoning David and forcing him to watch Twisted Sister.

NASA didn't get a great rap with this movie, which makes me wonder why they allowed their geeky brand name to be used. Like in E.T., government scientists are not to be trusted, and only kid power can escape to save the day. David makes his big escape in the hold of the cheapest robot ever built, and climbs aboard the UFO to meet Pee Wee Herman. This isn't his day.

The weird joy of this 90-minute flick is the full-fledged salad bar of kid-approved concepts that were smooshed together in the obvious attempt to appease everyone. A little bit of time travel, a smidgen of kids vs. adults, a heaping of robots, a platter of aliens, a side dish of transforming, and a dessert made entirely out of fireworks. Cramer isn't the best child actor I've ever seen — he constantly blurts out stuff like "What's going ON? That's IMPOSSIBLE!" and has a stage hand shooting a steady mist of fake tears onto his cheeks — but he fills the part and offers a nice foil to Max, the robot/alien/spaceship voiced by Paul Reubens, who gets the lion's share of wisecracks and quotables.

Max touts that he's a superior intelligence, which doesn't exactly explain why he's in the business of abducting kids and then later letting them fly a mach 20 spaceship manually. The ship itself is kind of cool, offering a number of factory floor options including:

• Widescreen plasma TV
• Slimy alien zoo critters
• The universe's most uncomfortable barcalounger
• An FM radio tuner
• A flux capacitor

There's no real "meat" to the film; it's just a flimsy series of escapades that ends up with David and Max flying the ship all willy-nilly before going home and deciding that home isn't so hot after all. Still, there's some reason we watched it a buttload back then, and still don't "mind" if channel flipping comes upon it even now.

Ah, Sarah Jessica Parker. My old nemesis. We meet again. Kids, watching TV this close will hurt your eyes. Also, being this close to Paul Reubens. Attack of the Fluffy Cottonballs

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• The toys in David's NASA room include G.I. Joe and Transformers!
• David's brother's way 80's shirts and specs
• That has to be the flimsiest, dumbest NASA robot I've ever seen
• Max mooing
• The alien menagerie… including the Snot Alien!
• I like how the robot has two metal sliders to approximate some sort of eyebrow expressions
• Why does every alien and robot in movies need humans to teach them how to laugh?
• Pee Wee Herman's voice coming out of the robot is… strangely appropriate
• In his room in Nasa base, David asks when "Starsky and Hutch" is broadcast. Director Randal Kleiser also directed "Starsky and Hutch"

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

No.

Groovy Quotes

Max: I told you, I blew a fuse when I totaled that electrical tower. I was checking out some daisies.
David: You were looking at FLOWERS?

Max: I crashed into electrical towers and my star charts were erased. I need the ones in your head to complete my mission.
David: So you need ME and my inferior brain to fly that thing?
Max: Correction, I need the superior information in your inferior brain to fly this... thing.

Max: Were those geeks, David?
David: Yes, Max. Those were geeks.

Max: Hey, blimpo... too many Twinkies.

Max: If you wanna learn how to swim, you have to jump in the water. Don't forget to feed Bruiser. Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun... Whoa! I think I got some stuff out of your head that has nothing to do with navigating this ship!
David: You sound just like a human!
Max: No! That dumb dog will never learn to catch a frisbee. You are the inferior species, you dumb dork!
David: Buttface!
Max: Scuz-bucket! Ha-ha!

Jeff: This is totally rad, dude! You're my big little brother!

If you liked this movie, try these:

• Back to the Future
• Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
• The Time Machine