Disney's 1986 Flight of the Navigator combines a strong ensemble cast and classic '80s soundtrack with dazzling special effects for a high-flying sci-fi adventure. While searching for his little brother in the woods, Even more mystifying is that David hasn't aged, nor can he account for the time lapse. Meanwhile, NASA officials stumble upon a futuristic spacecraft and are determined to assess what David knows about it by locking him in a top-secret lab for scanning and testing. His only chance of escape is in the spacecraft manned by Max, a wisecracking robot. Cramer gives an earnest performance, which overcomes an imperfect script, while enough one-liners and imaginative animation will keep families engaged. Watch for Sarah Jessica Parker in one of her first film appearances. Rated PG for language. (Ages 6 and older) --Lynn Gibson
A 12-year-old boy named David Freeman (played by Joey Cramer), lives with his parents and younger brother in Florida. On the 4th of July, he is sent to retrieve his brother from his friend's house. David goes through a wooded area and falls down into a ravine, knocking himself out. When he awakens what feels like moments later, he goes back to his house, only to find some other family living inside it! David is reported to the local authorities, who after searching their computer, find that David has been legally declared dead. David is then taken to another house, where he finds his family, now aged. Completely confused, David passes out, and awakes in a hospital, where he learns that 8 years have passed.
In order to find out what happened to David, mental tests are conducted at the hospital, showing 'erratic brain patterns,' and even a strange object. This catches the attention of some men at NASA, who have discovered and are harboring a spacecraft very similar to the one that was found in David's brain patterns. Unable to get inside the craft, they think David may hold the key to opening it.
The head of the team at NASA, Dr. Faraday (Howard Hesseman), meets with David and his family, and convinces them that he can help them answer the questions they have regarding David's disappearance. David is taken to a special room that is closely monitored at NASA, where he befriends an intern named Carolyn (Sarah Jessica Parker), who visits him regularly with a mechanical helper named R.A.L.F. (Robotic Assisted Living Facilitator). Through her, David learns about what has been going on in the world during the last 8 years, as he's sad to learn that his favorite show 'Starsky and Hutch' was cancelled, and intrigued by 'music videos.'
The scientists carry out a series of tests on David's brain. The results reveal alien star charts and other information. Using their equipment, David is shocked when he brain sends electrical impulses to the NASA computer, answering questions that he has no way of knowing. Along with the star charts, the information in David's brain tells the scientists that he has been on the planet Phalon. The scientists surmise that due to David travelling to and from Phalon at the speed of light, this explains why he was able to return 8 years later without having aged. Upset by the whole experience David runs from the room.
Some time later, Carolyn appears and tells David that she has overheard that NASA is planning to keep him for a longer stay. David tells Carolyn to tell his parents about this, which she does willingly.
The next day, David hears strange voices calling to him. As he listens, the R.A.L.F. robot enters the room, and David gets inside, as the service robot delivers him to the hanger with the spacecraft. As David approaches, the spacecraft opens up, and some steps materailize. Going inside, David finds the ship's pilot, who informs David that his mind contains the star charts he needs to complete his mission. David and the ship manage to escape from NASA, but Dr Faraday and his men are quick to try and follow them.
A ways off, David and the ship's pilot have a discussion. The pilot explains that he has been sent to collect specimens from various planets. David was chosen from Earth. As humans do not use all their brain, The ship's pilot decided to fill the extra space with star charts, but the test was unsuccessful, as the information 'leaked.' After returning David to Earth, the ship crashed into some powerlines, and as a result, it's star charts were erased. David
. David tells Carolyn that NASA planned to keep him a lot longer than they had told his parents and that she needed to warn them. The ship senses David's presence and calls to him. David uses a service robot that comes into his room to escape, crawling into its storage section. The robot is being powered by the ship. Because the security system is programmed to ignore the robot, the robot takes David right up to the ship. When he arrives, a hole in the belly of the ship opens, the surface of the ship pouring down to the ground like liquid metal to form a smooth-stepped stairway. David ascends into the ship, where he meets its robot pilot. He names the pilot Max. Max initially greets him in Bulgarian. When he realizes that David only understands English, he switches to that but tells David that he speaks thousands of languages. Max insists on calling David "Navigator".
The ship rises out of the NASA base despite their attempts to stop it. The Navigator and his ship escape and fly with speed through the skies. Max changes the shape of the ship to make it more aerodynamic to increase speed. The liquid metal melts and molds, reforming into a streamlined, pointed ship. The ship travels at remarkable speeds, can become transparent, travel underwater, through space and the skies, to hover, to move in any way at any time, and had inexhaustible power.
SPOILER SPOILER
David and Max spend time talking and David finds out that Max has been sent from his home planet of Phaelon to travel across the galaxy, collecting biological specimens to take home with him. David was one of those specimens. After abducting David, they had filled his brain with alien data. But David's brain "leaked" information. That was not intended. They decided to return him to earth, but Max took him back to the wrong time. Eight years had passed and Max did not want to travel back in time with David for fear his human form could not withstand it. After dropping David off, Max went to leave and accidentally crashed the ship into power lines. The electrical disturbance caused when this occurred erased the ship's star charts and the information needed to guide the ship safely home. Max called David back to the ship because he needed the information they had stored in David's brain in order to finish his mission and return home. Max scans David's brain and gets the information he needs, momentarily thrown off by other information he gets from David's brain, Max's system seems to go a bit haywire for a minute. Still being hunted by NASA, David and Max fly around for awhile trying to figure out what to do. SPOILER DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ENDING
David and Max finally do travel back in time to David's time, where he is returned to his family.
