Flight of the Navigator (1986) rewind review – a tender, warm, loving exploration of lightspeed theory, home, and friendship

Flight of the Navigator was one of several family-oriented science fiction movies to hit our screens following the success of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in 1982. However, like many mid-80s cult classics, Flight of the Navigator would earn its stripes years after its initial release through VHS and TV.

Directed by Randal Kleiser, Flight of the Navigator carried us away on a wave of adventure, science fiction and wonder, becoming a cult classic of mid-80s cinema. However, the narrative is far more detailed than most of us remember.

Twelve-year-old David (Joey Cramer) falls into a ravine and is knocked unconscious after a prank by his kid brother. When he wakes up and arrives home, he discovers that eight years have passed and he hasn’t aged a single day. After hospital checks involving NASA, it is revealed that David has subconscious memories of being taken to a planet called Phaelon, which may account for the passage of time on Earth while David remained stationary.

When David telepathically finds the ship that took him, he meets Max, the ship’s intelligent interface. There, he discovers he was a mere test to see if the human body could travel through time, a test that ultimately led to David being dropped off eight years after his accident. However, all this is only the beginning of David’s adventure, as Max needs the star charts stored in David’s mind to return home.

Flight of the Navigator was one of several family-oriented science fiction movies to hit our screens following the success of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in 1982. However, like many mid-80s cult classics, Flight of the Navigator would earn its stripes years after its initial release through VHS and TV. Kleiser’s film embraces three key themes: time displacement, self-discovery, and the importance of family. Its narrative would take the inherent darkness of a story about a missing boy and flip it into a cosmic coming-of-age journey.

While the science may be ropey, the result is a tender, warm, loving exploration of lightspeed theory, home, friendship, and adventure as childhood ends and teenage life begins.