Runtime:
89 minutes
Directed
by: Randal Kleiser
Starring:
Joey Cramer, Cliff De Young, Veronica Cartwright, Sarah Jessica
Parker, the voice of Paul Reubens, even if he billed himself as PAUL
MALL in the film
From:
Disney, although they made this with a Norwegian company
What a blast from the past this was:
I
was not expecting Turner Classic Movies to allow me to see a film I saw
a few times as a kid, but here we go. A few times a year TCM devotes an
evening to showing old movies, shorts and cartoons from Disney, and
last night was one of those nights.
I presume that many people
around my age (late 30's) watched Navigator as a kid and were big fans.
Seeing this as an adult, the first half is more impressive than the back
half, which was not how I felt back then. Now, I realize that it is a
rather terrifying scenario to be knocked out for what seems like a few
hours in 1978 after falling into a ravine but somehow it is 8 years
later and you have not aged a day... oh and there is mysterious alien
data in your brain. Not even Sarah Jessica Parker with 80's hair will
help you feel better about the scenario, where you are confused by how
things are different now and you are understandably baffled by a
Blancmange music video.
The second half of the movie becomes sillier as you find out all this is because of a spaceship that took our lead David back in '78, and he boards the ship and discovers it is sentient. Their interactions become goofy after a mind meld and the ship (nicknamed Max) acts and talks like Pee Wee Herman, because... it was voiced by Paul Reubens, who billed himself as Paul Mall in the credits. The film meanders around a lot during this section before reaching its conclusion.
Despite the silliness, overall I'll say this is fine. I don't know if it's nostalgia talking or not, but that's how I feel. Speaking of that, in 2018 how 80's the movie is really shines through: the synth score from Alan Silvestri and a sweet Miami Vice t-shirt are two shining examples there. It was a relief finding this film to still be watchable with my modern eyes. Not to end this on a downer, but only a few hours ago I discovered that Joey Cramer (who played David-real name Deleriyes Joe Cramer) was unfortunately a typical child actor in that as an adult he was screwed up... as in, developing a drug problem and getting arrested. Well, in this case he robbed a bank a few years ago! Of course he went to prison and him being sentenced is the latest news I can find, but hopefully Cramer can turn his life around.
The second half of the movie becomes sillier as you find out all this is because of a spaceship that took our lead David back in '78, and he boards the ship and discovers it is sentient. Their interactions become goofy after a mind meld and the ship (nicknamed Max) acts and talks like Pee Wee Herman, because... it was voiced by Paul Reubens, who billed himself as Paul Mall in the credits. The film meanders around a lot during this section before reaching its conclusion.
Despite the silliness, overall I'll say this is fine. I don't know if it's nostalgia talking or not, but that's how I feel. Speaking of that, in 2018 how 80's the movie is really shines through: the synth score from Alan Silvestri and a sweet Miami Vice t-shirt are two shining examples there. It was a relief finding this film to still be watchable with my modern eyes. Not to end this on a downer, but only a few hours ago I discovered that Joey Cramer (who played David-real name Deleriyes Joe Cramer) was unfortunately a typical child actor in that as an adult he was screwed up... as in, developing a drug problem and getting arrested. Well, in this case he robbed a bank a few years ago! Of course he went to prison and him being sentenced is the latest news I can find, but hopefully Cramer can turn his life around.
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