Flight of the Navigator is a 1986 sci-fi adventure movie directed by Randal Kleiser. The movie begins with 12-year-old David Freeman, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and has a passion for flying.
One day, David goes out exploring in the woods with his younger brother Jeff. David then sees a strange silver spaceship floating nearby and gets knocked out by an energy beam. When he wakes up, he realizes that he has been missing for eight years, and his family and the world he knew no longer exists.
David is taken to a hospital, where doctors and scientists are baffled by his apparent lack of aging. His parents are overjoyed to see him again, but he is traumatized by the loss of his childhood and the alien abduction he experienced. David discovers that while he was missing, the strange spaceship that he saw earlier was taken by NASA to investigate it.
He nervously agrees to participate in tests led by Dr. Faraday, a NASA scientist who plans to study David's ability to access the ship's computer system. David gradually remembers his time in the spaceship and meets the robotic pilot, Max, and discovers that it was the ship that abducted him.
Together, David and Max embark on a journey to unravel the mystery of David's eight-year disappearance, and the other secrets the spaceship holds. They eventually uncover a plot by an alien race to dominate Earth, and David, with the help of Max, NASA and his family, must stop them before it's too late.
Throughout the film, we see a bond develop between David and Max, which is both funny and charming. Flight of the Navigator has a strong focus on family values and friendship, blended together with humor, action, and science fiction. It's a classic '80s movie that still holds up today, and a perfect option for a family movie night.
