- 3 months ago
In this installment, we take a glimpse at a science fiction cult classic by Disney about time travel, aliens and a whimsical computer sidekick, Flight of the Navigator.
Originally uploaded on May 23, 2011.
Originally uploaded on May 23, 2011.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The
00:04The
00:07The
00:11The
00:17The
00:23The
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00:29Groovy.
00:59Groovy.
01:29The summer of 1986 was a rough one for Hollywood.
01:43They were stuck in a declining slump, and a great majority of films ranging from Labyrinth
01:49to Howard the Duck proved to be unfortunate flops rather than the blockbuster hit one
01:55would hope.
01:57During this time, Disney released a science fiction tale that would not only be dramatic,
02:03but also be fun and whimsical at the same time.
02:08This was Flight of the Navigator, a feature that would go beyond the boundaries of imagination
02:15and provide something not only entertaining, but unique in terms of originality and the
02:21overall concept of meshing creatures from outer worlds and time travel.
02:27Flight of the Navigator is probably my absolute favorite live action Disney film, aside from
02:35Mary Poppins, Ben Nobbson Boomstakes, Beach Dragon, Pirates of the Caribbean, and so on.
02:42I think what made it so different from other fan films at the time is because, to me, it's
02:48probably the first modern Disney film.
02:52Like, if you look back at Disney films from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, they had kind of the
02:58same tone.
02:59They had the same, like, opening credits, the same type of whimsical music like you would
03:06hear at a World's Fair or a carnival, something like that, but when you see Flight of the Navigator,
03:15it feels so modern.
03:16The music is different.
03:18The tone is different.
03:20It treats its audience not like children.
03:23It treats its audience like grown-ups.
03:26And that's why I think it was different from other family films at the time.
03:33I think with the year 1986, it was a year of a lot of experimentals.
03:41For some weird reason, I always come back to it as one of my favorite years, because
03:46of the fact that, you know, so many good films were released around that point.
03:50And it was unfortunate to note that some of them tried and some of them failed.
03:54You had successes like Aliens and Little Shop of Horrors.
03:57And then you had the failures, such as Labyrinth or Howard the Duck, per se, which really didn't
04:06hold up that well to finding a way to engage an audience.
04:11Disney itself was coming out of the dark period, and, you know, they were very reluctant, I
04:16think at that point, in my perspective, to go back and test whether they could do another
04:22live-action film to engage another family-friendly audience.
04:26They tried it before in the 70s and the early 80s with much more darker material like The
04:32Devil and Max Devlin, The Watcher in the Woods, Something Wicked This Way Comes.
04:39So seeing them transition from that period where they were like, we're focusing on a much
04:44more older race of target viewers, and then switching off to going back to the family-friendly
04:50audience was sort of a very big transition back then.
04:55Because they had touched on it at the time, and that was meant for the much more older
04:58viewers because, you know, when you thought of Disney, you thought of animation.
05:03And if it wasn't for Flight of the Navigator, we wouldn't have Disney going in and doing
05:07all these live-action films that we see mostly today.
05:10I think the reason that Flight of the Navigator stands up with time is that it has the universal
05:16themes of family and especially siblings.
05:21The idea that anyone who has had a younger brother can imagine what a strange thing it
05:28would be to have the younger brother become an older brother through this time jump that
05:33happens in the movie.
05:35And how the loss of a child can affect a family, and then when he comes back to the time travel,
05:43he's still the same and the family has to adjust to it.
05:47It's all about family relationships with the, of course, the sci-fi aspect of it as well.
05:54I think that the family parts is what really makes the movie work, and then also we developed
05:59the first morphing and image-based lighting in a movie.
06:04The CGI that my brother Jeff created for the spaceship was the first of its kind, and later
06:11it was used in Terminator 2 for the mirrored clone robot or whatever it was.
06:18The same technology was used for that, but we did it in, I think it was 1986 when Flight
06:23of the Navigator came out.
06:25For me, what makes it different is that as a child watching it, you had a feeling that
06:30it was taking you seriously.
06:32It wasn't talking down to you.
06:34As a kid, I liked sort of being treated as an adult.
06:38I liked when the movie took me seriously, but I could still follow it.
06:42They weren't speaking any sort of adult language that I couldn't follow.
06:46It was still a very human story about a kid, lost his family, can't find his family, which
06:53a lot of kids can relate to, but on top of that, you have the sci-fi element, of course.
06:57You have aliens, you have flying your own spaceship, which is great.
07:01So it sort of plays to both sides very well, sort of the emotional family aspect and also
07:07just the technical, fun, sci-fi aspect.
07:13The movie centers around 12-year-old David Freeman, who lives a casual life in Florida
07:18of 1978.
07:21That is until the night of the 4th of July.
07:24He falls into a ravine while retrieving his younger brother and becomes unconscious.
07:30Once he wakes up, it's discovered that he is in the year 1986, where his family has grown
07:37older, but he hasn't aged at all.
07:41What's even more mysterious is that at the same time, a spaceship shaped like a walnut crash
07:47lands and is immediately taken under the custody of NASA.
07:52After performing a brain scan on David, it's revealed that he and the spacecraft have a strange
07:59link between them and is convinced by the NASA operatives to help them perform some tests.
08:05Upon further brain scans, David's brain is found to have all sorts of star charts implanted
08:12in and even reveal where the ship came from.
08:16Once David learned that his stay is going to be longer than a mere 48 hours, he manages to
08:22escape the secret base with the help of the ship's robotic computer and pilot, which happens
08:28to be an artificial intelligence that claims to be a Trimaxian drone ship from the planet
08:33Falon, but simply nicknamed Max.
08:37All the while, David not only manages to pilot his own ship, but finds himself on an adventure
08:44that is truly out of this world.
08:47The interesting thing about Flight of the Navigator is how the two acts are completely different
08:53from each other.
08:54For the first half, there is a great amount of mystery and buildup around the strange ship
08:59and David's problem.
09:01It's not until once we enter the spaceship that has all become basic fun and we are treated
09:07to David's antics with Max and the film takes a different direction with a lighthearted tone
09:13that differs from the serious material it began with.
09:17I think the interesting thing about Flight of the Navigator, and this is sort of a little
09:22bit of a conspiracy theory in my opinion, but at the time it was originally being produced
09:28by producer sales organization and they were the guys that made Short Circuit, Never Earning
09:37Story, a couple other popular titles as well.
09:41And from what I recollect, they shot a great bulk of that film, but at the time they were going
09:46under.
09:47And so they sold a production of this film to the Walt Disney Studios for them to finish
09:52it up.
09:53And again, again, a little bit of a conspiracy theory, but I feel that they had a different
10:00film in mind and then Disney came in and they decided to lighten it up a little.
10:05Flight of the Navigator was financed by two entities, a producer sales organization headed by Mark
10:11Damon, which was an international kind of company that did action pictures and Walt Disney company,
10:20which did family pictures.
10:22And so both studios wanted to have their kind of film made and Disney, of course, is the
10:30more powerful.
10:31And so they kind of won out in most cases, like for instance, the producers sales organization
10:37people wanted the military to try to shoot down the spaceship and Disney didn't want that.
10:43And so they won on that point.
10:44The first and second half of the movie are very, very different.
10:47The first half can almost be a film for grownups, pretty much.
10:52In fact, I still show this movie to a lot of my friends and they get into it.
10:57They're wondering what's going on just as much as the kids do.
11:00You have the first act, which is so powerful and dramatic and strange and mysterious.
11:05You have the boy that goes into 1986 from the 1970s.
11:10He doesn't know where he is.
11:11He's confused.
11:13Everything is really coming at him.
11:15You know, everyone's older, times have changed, and he's not used to it.
11:19And we can connect to that considering how we're homesick from a different year.
11:24The first half is, you know, the scientists separating this kid from his family and the
11:33drama that they have to go through in order to find out where he's been for the past several
11:41years.
11:43And that's kind of the heartbreaking part of the film.
11:50As for the second half of the film, it's more of your typical family fantasy adventure
11:56film.
11:57David discovers the spaceship and, of course, he has an adventure flying all over the
12:03earth and just not into outer space.
12:06I gotta say, when I was a kid, this was one of the movies that my folks recorded off the
12:11TV, but they only got the second half of the movie.
12:18So I went a long ways not having seen the second half.
12:24Not having seen the first half, I mean.
12:27And it was, I have to say, the second half was definitely a lot more fun.
12:35I mean, you get to be in a spaceship, you get to see amazing creatures, you get to see this
12:42kid flying around and piloting a spaceship, and that's all really cool.
12:46It's light-hearted, it's fun, it really makes up for a lot of those dramatic dark elements
12:52in the first, where you didn't know what was going on, what was being portrayed there.
12:57And I think that was a very interesting shift in terms of the first and the second act of
13:04Flight of the Navigator.
13:05It offered two different films in one, and I think that's what made it pretty unique.
13:11It's like Back to the Future.
13:13It's in every genre film, it really puts in a lot to it that, you know, keeps you motivated
13:19until the very end when all answers are revealed.
13:22For the kids, I think the payoff is the second half.
13:26I think that's why the film is so good for kids, because the first half does teach you
13:31to be patient, to wait, and you will get, you know, the payoff.
13:36For adults, it's usually the other way around.
13:38Adults usually really like the first half, and not so much the second half.
13:42But maybe that was both the good thing and the bad thing about this movie, is that it
13:48did its job a little too well.
13:50The first half is so good, and sucks you in so much, that when you're writing a book,
13:56reminded it's a kid's film, it sort of jolts you.
13:59You sort of forget, oh yeah, this is made for my eight-year-old.
14:03The first half of the film seems, this might sound silly, but it actually seems a little
14:08darker than the second half.
14:10The second half is typical fun, where the first half is mysterious, and you want to know
14:16more about David's situation.
14:20Both halves are fun.
14:21To me, I like the second half more than the first half.
14:24I mean, I love a good mystery, but having your own spaceship to fly around in is just
14:30awesome.
14:33The centerpiece of the second half is placed on the spaceship and its computer, Max, voiced
14:39by Pee-wee Herman himself, Paul Rubens.
14:43What makes this stand out is how the design itself is new and completely alien, but has
14:50a light charm that distances itself from most famous aliens.
14:56Without either the walnut-shaped craft or Rubens' performance, the movie would be without its
15:02science fiction tone.
15:03My god, Paul Rubens as the computer Max.
15:08What is there to say about Max?
15:11The character of Max, the robot, shows that Paul Rubens definitely had a little bit more
15:21of a range than what was commonly expected of him at the time.
15:30You first start out, and he's this really monotonous, serious sort of character who has no emotion.
15:41He's almost like, he's almost like Hal from 2001.
15:50As soon as Max goes into his goofy mode, as soon as he, whatever, that brain thing where
15:57he reads the kid's mind, every kid knows it's Pee-wee, and I think every kid was driven
16:04nuts when they kept saying, that's Pee-wee, that's Pee-wee, and the adults go, no, look
16:08at the credits, it's not Pee-wee, we were right.
16:10Um, so of course, it's cool that if you're a little kid, you're flying a spaceship, your
16:16computer is Pee-wee Herman.
16:18That's pretty friggin' awesome.
16:20So of course I loved it, but what's interesting now, again, as an adult, is seeing just how
16:26restrained Paul Rubens could get in the first half of his performance.
16:32It's very low-key, it's a lot deeper, it's very monotone, but you can take it seriously,
16:39and you don't recognize him.
16:43So I think, again, the two work off each other very well, and even near the end when he has
16:47to do sort of a more emotional thing where he has to say goodbye to the kid and so forth,
16:52it works.
16:53I mean, he's actually a decent voice actor.
16:56I was producing North Shore, the surfing movie, and Paul was a friend, and he came over for
17:04the shoot when we were making that movie to just hang out on the set, and I started talking
17:09to him about Flight of the Navigator, and I believe that's how it all happened, and then
17:14I asked him to do the voice.
17:15I think that's the chronology, I'm not sure, this was many years ago, but I thought he would
17:22be especially the right guy for the Disney side of the character, and when he did it,
17:31he didn't want to take any screen credit for it.
17:34to have it be mysterious as to who did the voice, and so he used the name Paul Maul instead
17:41of Paul Reuben in the credits.
17:43One thing about Max that I like is his design.
17:45I mean, he looks like one of those desk table lamps, and he has like these little things on
17:53the top of the bottom that actually make him look like eyebrows, like up and down, he blinks,
17:58he can move, I like how he can be attached to the ceiling, but then move down the slots
18:05to go onto the ship's side or onto the floor.
18:09And what I think is the most interesting about this character is how, as he goes along throughout
18:16the entire film, learning more of David's world, he somehow creates a personality of
18:21his own and becomes more childlike and youthful and funny.
18:26So by the tail end of that film, you can see sort of a little bit of a personality swap
18:30where Max learns to be more loose and fancy-free, and David learns to care more about what's
18:39around him and really appreciate where he is in a way.
18:43In terms of the design of the ship, it's very unique.
18:45I don't see that design often, sort of like a metal walnut, I suppose, but that's a very
18:52unique design.
18:53And to this day, I still don't know how they got those stairs to stay that way.
18:59We watch it, we look at it, we can't figure it out, that's a very, very good effect.
19:04When I was making this movie, I wanted to do all kinds of effects that hadn't been seen
19:10in movies before.
19:11So I decided to hire a real magician to help use stage tricks instead of cinema tricks
19:21in the movie.
19:23And so I hired Doug Henning, the famous magician, and I had him look at the script.
19:30I said, what can we do that would be done in the camera that would be using stage technology?
19:36And he came up with that idea.
19:37And those steps were, there were steel rods that went from behind the step down to the
19:44floor.
19:45And they held the step suspended, but the pole that was holding them was behind the step,
19:51so you couldn't see it.
19:52And that way they could step on it, and it would sort of bend just a little bit.
19:56But they could walk up the steps, but you couldn't see that there was a steel rod behind it holding
20:02it up.
20:03I also, I like the idea that the ship can shapeshift also.
20:07I think that's very, and the way they show it, you don't need a ton of CG, even though
20:13I think they used a little, but they don't need a morphing effect, it just turns.
20:17And you know how it was before, so that was very cleverly done.
20:20And just, I love the insides, the insides look alien because we can't recognize where
20:25a button is or what you're supposed to press.
20:29It looks like it's sort of written in a different language, it's all very metallic.
20:34The way things sort of appear and disappear, it all has sort of this technological aspect
20:39to it.
20:40So it has a lot of things that, kids really like that stuff, kids like it when you can look
20:46at something and not exactly know how it works, but you can see connections in there.
20:51You can sort of see the wheels turning a bit, even if you don't know exactly how they're
20:55turning.
20:56So kids really like that, and I think a lot of adults like that too.
20:59You know, I think compared to all the others that we've seen in times, like the Death Star
21:03and the Enterprise, it's just so unique and very, very original, even though it oddly enough
21:09looks like a walnut.
21:10I mean, I don't know who in the right mind had a walnut for a spaceship, but I still applaud
21:17them for that.
21:18It was very, very different from what we've seen from today's where it's so bulky, huge,
21:24and somehow mind-blowing.
21:27Here it's simplistic.
21:28It's this retroistic, silvery design that's smooth, slick, and unpredictable.
21:36And I think that's what really stands off for most of the traditional spacecrafts where
21:41it's all about bigger is better.
21:44In some cases, it isn't.
21:46And the spaceship in this film is pure proof of that.
21:48Well, I think later ships in later movies or television shows learned from Fly the Navigator
21:59to do their own sort of techno-organic ship.
22:03Aside from a wisecracking alien, Flight of the Navigator has a handful of characters with
22:09a good amount of likable quality and personality.
22:13They either help move the story along or provide some entertaining material for the viewer.
22:19Well, I think that the leading kid was just great, Joey Kramer.
22:23He was able to really convey all the emotions that he was going through, and he was great
22:29in the scenes where he was crying and very likable.
22:32Where's my mom and dad?
22:34To this day, there are two characters I always appreciate seeing when Navigator comes to mind,
22:42even though they're very, very small of a supporting cast.
22:46One is the nurse in the NASA section where she runs in and meets David and they both hit it off.
22:55The thing I like about that is how they're both very, very different from each other in terms of years.
23:00You have someone who's very accustomed to the 80s and all these different, different things,
23:05spewing all these pop culture items that were part of 1986, like New Coke, these videos, Twisted Sister,
23:13which is very interesting when she confronts David and he's like,
23:17Uh, where's my Starsky and Hutch? There's one too many Cokes? What type of year is this?
23:25And I think I find it more interesting that this is one of the earliest roles Sarah Jessica Parker was in.
23:32So it's very interesting to see someone so young being a marvelous, marvelous film like that.
23:38But every time I see this movie, I don't know why, but for some weird reason,
23:42it always clicked into my head that she should have been the girl at the beginning
23:48that he's, you know, spying in and looking her over and all that stuff.
23:52And I just felt that if there was a connection between those two, it would have been interesting to see
23:57someone that he, you know, was, you know, in puppy love over.
24:01And then finally, years later, she's at NASA taking care of robots and stuff.
24:05I don't know why. I know this is not in the movie, but I always thought it would be interesting if
24:11that was her later on in 1986 and it would make the film, you know, much more sense,
24:15showing where everyone is in life because you got the family being older, uh, the brother,
24:22and, uh, all that such. The dog is much more older and he can finally catch frisbees.
24:29I just felt if they had that connection, it would really improve the film at least a bit
24:34because it would have made more sense and it would tie the knot in a lot with, um, a lot of the elements
24:40set up. But, you know, I, I got nothing to complain. The film's, uh, fine the way it is.
24:44I'll have to say my favorite character in the movie would be David's younger brother.
24:48Not when he's a kid, uh, when he's grown up. Uh, when he's a kid, kid's a brat. I mean,
24:55you just want to punch him in the face or kick him in the butt. But after, like, David comes back
25:01after eight years and he's older, that's when he's likable. I mean, he apologizes to David for all
25:09the mean things he did as a kid. He, you know, like, likes, he loves his brother, of course. And
25:16I think the part I like about him the most is how he helps out during the end of the film.
25:21He actually goes up on the roof and sets fireworks in order for David to find their house in Miami.
25:26I thought, doing that, he's redeemed himself. When you see the dynamic between those two change,
25:35uh, as our characters age differently, um, it's a complete role reversal. I, I felt like that little
25:47brother at some times when, when I was growing up. And, uh, I thought, um, I think looking back, I,
25:56uh, I was, uh, I was kind of a jerk to my older brother at times, but, um, but then it was interesting
26:05to see this character, uh, flip-flop and become the older brother. And of course, when David goes back
26:15eight years in the past and he sees his younger brother, I think he's going to change the way he
26:21acts just because he's going to be nice to his younger brother. And I think that will help his
26:26younger brother grow up to be a good person, much like how he is earlier in the film, eight years
26:33later. It's complicated. I think, I hope you know what I mean. The other character I like is actually
26:39more of a creature and that's the, uh, Puck Maran that David, um, discovers on the ship among the other
26:45specimens that Max has collected through his, um, time travelings. And I think I find it interesting
26:51because I always thought he was the more difficult to, uh, puppeteer as opposed to Max, who's this
26:58obvious, you know, crane, remote controlled, uh, creature. And I think what makes it more different
27:07from most of the other aliens that we've seen in the cargo hold is how he's much more cuter in my
27:13opinion. He's this little soft fuzzy wuzzy guy that's, uh, you know, in comparison to Gizmo is
27:19something that we would probably have lying around. He's sort of this little creature that's harmless,
27:24uh, has a real good personality and, you know, he's a very small, cute creature. What else can I say
27:33about him? He should have been the next Gizmo for all I care. You know, as a kid, my favorite character
27:39was the computer. Of course, I love the computer. Um, as an adult, I really like the NASA guy. I like
27:47the guy who's trying to get them and trying to catch them because he's not a bad guy. I mean,
27:52he's an everyday, you know, sort of scientist. And if you were in that position, you'd be doing the
27:58same thing. And it's not, he wants to get them to expose their secrets or something. I mean, he,
28:03this is a big discovery and anybody in that position would do the same thing. And the guy playing it
28:08doesn't play it like a villain. And I think that's very smart. Uh, he plays it like a hardworking
28:14person who sometimes has to do, you know, bad things, but you could, he doesn't enjoy it. He
28:19doesn't do an evil laugh. They don't get creepy angles of him or anything like that. You know,
28:24he's just somebody who, like anyone in that situation, wants to find out what's going on
28:29and wants to see what impact this will have on mankind pretty much. So, uh, I really like him now. I
28:37actually, when I was a kid, I didn't like him, but now I think he's a pretty well-developed character.
28:44Another factor that makes such a wonderful film come together is the musical score. Known for
28:51composing great films such as Back to the Future and Romancing the Stone, Alan Silvestri would provide
28:58a very upbeat tone to the picture as well as capturing the mysterious feel of it. Silvestri's
29:05score manages to add on to the dramatic and kid-friendly tone that the film goes for and
29:11achieves in presenting it. The music's great because it's both dated and timeless in a strange way.
29:19You listen to it, you know what time period it came from. Oh, this sounds like the 80s. Uh, but it also
29:25sort of creates its own strange sound that you didn't hear much back then. You don't hear much now,
29:30sort of the, uh, it sounds like, but it sounds like alien music. It sounds like alien music from the
29:3980s, if that makes sense. There's this one part of the film where David goes inside this little robot
29:46on wheels, the one that goes, you know, pardon me, coming through, and he uses it to try and sneak
29:52over to the alien spaceship that's calling to him. Uh, during that scene you hear this beat,
29:56it's called robot romp. It goes . . .
30:13And that's awesome to listen to. I love 80s music. Uh, early 80s is okay, but, uh, but mid 80s and late 80s
30:22music is phenomenal just because of the techno beat. But, as I said earlier, the score can also
30:29be beautiful and mysterious too. Uh, take the scene where the ship takes off from the hangar in NASA.
30:36People are surrounding the ship and all of a sudden it slowly starts to take off.
30:52And it's the kind of music that makes you awestruck. I mean, when the ship's taking off and you hear that
30:59music, you see the people surrounding it with guns. They're staring at them. They're like,
31:02awestruck, like, whoa. And of course, you also hear that same track during the end of the movie.
31:11And every time I hear that track, I almost start to cry. It's that beautiful. It has moments where it knows how to be
31:19mysterious. It knows how to be amazing. And, personally, in my opinion, I think Alan Silvestri really
31:28had that sort of same thing in mind. He wanted to make a film. He wanted a score movie that was both
31:34mysterious, compelling, and impressive. I think one of the big, uh, moments where the score actually
31:43made an impact was near the end of the movie when the character, when the, they're traveling back in
31:54time and there is a sequence of rapid flash shots between David and everything else. It's very,
32:06very, it's a, a collage of sort of insanity, uh, if you will. And, uh, Alan Silvestri's score picks up
32:18and brings you into that, that mood, that excitement to see if this is really gonna work.
32:25And, uh, uh, what do you know it does?
32:28It works great. Alan Silvestri's music is, is always a lot of fun. I think it captures
32:34the atmosphere of a film, uh, very well. Especially kids' films. I think he, uh, he's very good in that department.
32:41Throughout the film, there are certain moments or scenes that can get the viewers' attention
32:47and remain among their favorite in the end. They can range from something serious, hilarious,
32:54and pure fun to completely heartwarming. Either way, they remain a key memory to the audience.
33:02I think the, I don't know why, but the moment that stands out the most from the entire film is where
33:08they go into a gas station and here you have David going in, making a phone call and grabbing, like,
33:14a little crunch bar. And at the same time, the, uh, spacecraft is just sitting there and mocking the,
33:22uh, gas station attendant and also the family that comes in with the kids thinking,
33:26wow, this is a really good attraction. Let's take photos and souvenirs of it.
33:30I always thought that was like something out of a cartoon, in my opinion. And to me,
33:34I always like things that are just out of the ordinary, unusual, and just out of nowhere surprising.
33:40It's like the Addams Family, where they have a great satire on life and how something out of the
33:46ordinary unexpected comes in and really messes around with that. And I like stuff
33:52with that. If it's executed well, it works very well. And I think for this film, they have a lot
33:57of those moments, like the ship going all the way to Japan and the spectators looking at it like
34:03something out of a Godzilla film. It's moments like that, that really add on to, um, the humor of it
34:09all. Then you have very, very tense and suspenseful moments, such as when they're doing the, uh, second
34:16brain scan at NASA, where we get to learn where the, uh, ship is from. And that really adds on to the,
34:22uh, tension and drama of the film in general as it slowly builds to what we get to see inside the
34:28spaceship as we start taking in the information of where it came from. My favorite moment is when
34:35they have the mechanism attached to his brain and it's answering the questions before he can. And the
34:42one moment I can still show people, and this shows that the movie's working, is that when they ask
34:49them where have you been for the past several years, the computer says on the planet Phelan,
34:54which if you're watching it with a crowd, you always hear the same sound. You hear this,
34:58whoa. And you know people are invested by that point. And you know it's doing a good job sucking you in
35:04because that always blows people out of the water. And it gets the exact same reaction that the people
35:10have in the movie, and that's perfect. Uh, and yeah, I think at that point that's where people, you know,
35:16start to lean forward and really start to get invested. So I really like that scene now as an
35:24adult. As a kid, the ship flying around. That's the fun part, of course. But as an adult, that scene,
35:31uh, it always gets a reaction from me. I think it gets a reaction from other people, too.
35:35One of the most emotional moments is when the kid comes back and sees his family, and they're all
35:41back to normal. You know, we did a lot of makeup changes when they were, uh, eight years later, and
35:46they were all haggard. And then when you see them at the end, all looking happy, and, uh, it's just a
35:51really nice moment when he comes walking along the deck and sees them again and all that. I just felt that it
35:56really worked well, you know, emotionally. And in terms of the, uh, cinematics, I, I really liked
36:04when they found, first found this flying saucer, the dolly shot, where it knocked down the power,
36:11power cable, uh, powers, powers, and sparking, and you first see the spaceship. I thought that,
36:17that shot kind of really looked pretty cool. My favorite scene in the entire film is where David
36:23is in Texas, and he's listening to the Beach Boys' I Get Around. I mean, it starts off, uh, David
36:34and Max are in Texas, and they try and ask directions. Of course, that doesn't work because
36:39they scare people away. And Max is curious to the sounds coming from their car. David says it's music,
36:45and Max wants to hear more. So, he searches through radio stations that he picks up,
36:50and one of the songs is I Get Around by the Beach Boys, and that's the song they listen to.
36:55My buddies and me, you're getting real well known. Yeah, the bad guys know us, and they leave us alone.
37:03Oh, I get around, I get around, I get around, I get around, I get around, I get around, I get around, I get around, I get around, I get around, I get around.
37:10That's awesome! Yeah!
37:14I always thought as a kid, if I was piloting a spaceship, I would have to be jamming to
37:30the Beach Boys.
37:32That's just how it would go down.
37:36Flight of the Navigator was released in the summer of 1986 and only returned with 18 million
37:43dollars.
37:44One can't say it was a financial success, but little is known on how successful it was.
37:51The good thing is that it managed to gain a strong cult following after repeats airing
37:57on the Wonderful World of Disney and VHS sales, where it not only became a staple, but also
38:04reception was much better.
38:07However, not all news was good.
38:10To this day, the spaceship that was used for film was placed in the Boneyard along with
38:16other props, which is part of the Studio Backlot Tour in Disney's Hollywood Studios in the
38:22Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.
38:26Photographs of the craft surfaced online and depicted the iconic prop in such poor and rusted
38:32quality.
38:33Currently, there has been a restoration underway to bring the ship back to its original form
38:39as close as possible.
38:42In May of 2009, plans for a remake were reported with Brad Copeland writing the script and Mandeville
38:50partners David Haberman and Todd Lieberman serving as producers.
38:56Only time can tell when Max himself will launch into the skies again for a new generation.
39:04I guess I should first start off by saying that there have been many remakes over the past
39:08few years, and a lot of them are hit and miss.
39:12People go to see them just because they want to either nitpick about something or see how
39:17it holds up.
39:20There hasn't been much currently at this point on what they're going to do for the remake,
39:26but I have hope, and then there are points where I don't have hope.
39:30I'm going to say right off the bat, as far as the remake goes, please don't.
39:36Just leave the film as it is, it's fine.
39:43I think it's amazing that to revisit this movie after 16 or so years of not having seen it,
39:53and it's still holding up, even as far as the special effects go, it doesn't need a reboot
40:03or a remake or anything.
40:05I would just say leave the movie as is.
40:08Personally, I don't want there to be a remake of Flight of the Navigator.
40:11I mean, the original was so beautiful and wondrous and breathtaking.
40:16Modern Disney remakes just plain out suck, with some exceptions.
40:21I mean, if they do remake it, how are they going to do it?
40:25Are they going to make it slapstick comedy, like the remake of Shaggy Dog?
40:30Or are they going to play it too serious and dark, like Race to Witch Mountain?
40:36I think Disney should leave their classic films alone and just have the younger generation,
40:43the new generation, watch the old film instead of just giving them a remake.
40:48If you want to introduce the newer generation to Flight of the Navigator, then let them watch
40:53the original movie.
40:55Let them watch the old film and not remake it.
40:59The film still holds up. It's still good.
41:02You can tell it was made in the 80s, but so what?
41:06It doesn't date it that badly.
41:09It still has a very timeless story.
41:11It's a very clever story.
41:13I don't know much about the remake. I don't know if it's happening or not.
41:18I know that they hired somebody to do a remake. I don't know anything about it really.
41:23I did talk to them about looking at the script when it's done, but I haven't heard anything.
41:28It's been almost a year now, so I don't know if it's worked or not.
41:32But I think the movie holds up because it's got that universal family theme and the special effects sort of,
41:43although today they look maybe not so new, they still hold up story-wise.
41:48You know, the whole idea of this ship changing shape to go fast and the idea of a kid flying it.
41:58Those are the things that, for children, are always going to be interesting.
42:03If you want to introduce people to Flight of the Navigator, don't remake it.
42:07Just show them the original film.
42:10And Disney is kind of doing that with showings on the Hallmark Channel on Disney XD.
42:16That's what you should do. Show the original film on TV or release it on DVD and Blu-Ray.
42:23Don't remake it. Just show them the original film.
42:28And I guarantee you, you will get a lot of fans.
42:31If you remake it, you'll just ruin what made the original film so special.
42:36In terms of a remake, they can try. They can do it.
42:41There are certainly some things that can be updated, but they have to be very careful.
42:46This can very easily go bad.
42:49You know, all the things I've mentioned before, you can throw in pop-cultural references.
42:54You can throw in bad language and stuff like that when it's not neat and when it's not necessary.
43:01And it could suck out that reality that it creates for you.
43:06So, I don't know. It could work. You'd have to try very, very hard though.
43:12You had to have a very, probably a very different vision that you take just as seriously.
43:18Because I think that is what makes the film so unique.
43:21Is that it did take itself seriously. It had a vision and wanted to tell it.
43:25And it wanted something for everybody. And I think it hit everybody in the audience.
43:32So, obviously, I really, really enjoy it. I think it's a great film.
43:36I think there is hope that if they make a version that retains the original source very, very well,
43:44there'll be some hope for it.
43:46In terms of the film as a whole, you know, there's a lot of junk-ed people out there that really love 80s movies.
43:52They love that zaniness, the strangeness, the unpredictability.
43:57And that's how great Flight of the Navigator is. It really holds those elements together.
44:02It's in every genre film, as I said before.
44:05It's the next Back to the Future, in my opinion.
44:08It's something that I think, over time, people will pick up more and actually appreciate.
44:14It's, you know, it's everything that you can hope for. Time travel, science fiction, heartwarming, family...
44:23What else do I need to say about it?
44:25It's a really, really good film. And I think it will really hold up over time, aside from being outdated.
44:31There's an audience out there that really loves, you know, films from the 80s.
44:35And if you're one that really loves films of such great caliber, then this is your movie.
44:44While not ready to fade completely into obscurity forever,
44:47Flight of the Navigator has plenty of charm and wonder to present a science fiction film unlike any other.
44:55With a great plot and memorable characters, this is a grand feature that only comes out once in a lifetime,
45:03and worth to take flight again and again.
45:25When you look at the first half, the first half is almost an adult film.
45:44It's... I'm doing that again because that sounds like porno. Okay.
45:55Cut.
46:04Cut.
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