11 January 2013

Flight of the Navigator (1986)




By Daniel Bradley

When I found out they were planning on remaking this, I could not contain my excitement. An 80's sci-fi children's classic, Whilst other parents weened their kids on Snow White & the Seven animated Disney classics, (I was indifferent to these), my Mum and Dad brought me up on a healthy diet of Escape to Witch Mountain, Short Circuit and Flight of the Navigator.

Imagine a boy wakes up after a fall and 7 years have passed for the rest of the world, whilst he hasn't aged a day. Then imagine the same boy's head is suddenly, inexplicably & subconsciously full of star charts and NASA want him in connection with a crashed UFO…

Back when muppets were new and NASA was one big conspiracy, this film is equal parts sinister child thriller/ridiculous puppet sci-fi adventure.

Best Bits: Solid science-fiction story, classic 80's feel, portrayal of aliens as puppets, gas-filling station scene.

Worst Bits: "Compliance, Daaaavey."

For fans of Escape to Witch Mountain, Return from Witch Mountain, Short Circuit.

Rating 7.5/10