Sometimes I want to go back in time and slap a group of filmmakers with a phonebook only because of their poor choice in directing or casting. I've seen so many movies that have had the potential of becoming big blockbusters but fail right at the finishing line. If they only made the movie a little darker, invested in a little better costume, wrote a little better story. Just a little bit could have gone a long way. 

It's most irritating when they play with higher forces, like trying to make a sequel that has no relevance with the original or change the plot from one movie to another. All of the "Highlander" sequels have this problem, they tried to correct the problem with "The End Game", but I can't see that it's any bit better than "The Quickening". A phonebook is waiting for the person who thought of the "aliens from the planet Ziest" idea. Pathetic.

I'm not necessarily talking about the total success of the movie compared by its earnings, we've seen far too many times that moviegoers flock around the wrong movies or don't see the fantastic details in cult movies. "The Thing", "Fight Club" and "Equilibrium" are good examples of this, they failed at the box-office but made big money upon their release on VHS/DVD.

"Flight of the navigator" is in my mind a good/bad movie. Good because the plot is interesting, bad because they didn't take advantage of the potential of the story. It's still very entertaining because of the special effects accompanied the viewers imagination. I have to admit that I have a soft spot for this movie, it was frequently viewed during my childhood days.

On 4th of July 1978, David Freeman, a 12 year old kid, is out with his parents and pain in the butt little brother to shoot some fireworks. His little brother gets lost and David goes to find him, during his search he falls into a ditch and passes out. It seems as if nothing has happened and David picks up where he left and starts yelling after his brother.

He soon gives up and walks home only to discover that a totally different family is living in his house and much of the neighborhood doesn't look the same either. He gets help by the police to find his parent who for some strange reason live at a different place, have aged and look pretty shocked by seeing David. The problem is that the year is now 1986, David doesn't remember a thing and hasn't aged for the last 8 years.

A scan of David's brain shows that he has stored a large amount of encrypted information and star maps, at the same time NASA holds a UFO in a hangar nearby. There seems to be a connection with David and the alien object. As usual in Disney movies, we see David sneaking out of his room with the help of a intern ("Sex & the city" star Sarah Jessica Parker), it doesn't take long before he finds the UFO. Even though it seems as if one would need a can opener to get into the UFO, a opening is strangely opened as soon as David approaches the craft.

Long story short, the UFO has a Ai that interfaces with David. The Ai is called Max and explains that David was abducted by aliens 8 years ago in order to examine the human race (no, not the Cartman-way). Max needs the star maps to find his way home and David feels the need to return to the old days and continue aging from 1978. They make a friendly deal to help each other, this is a start of a great journey where David gets to sit in the driver’s seat while NASA is hot on their ass.

The plot is interesting enough to keep the viewers concentration throughout the movie, younger moviegoers as well as the older generation will appreciate the scenes with David’s wild ride. Some scenes of the UFO at light speed and under water are just breathtakingly beautiful to watch. The acting is "ok", nothing more nothing less. The only reason why I don't feel that this movie hits a home run is because it doesn’t know its audience.

Though the clear target group is younger viewers and those who have some interest in sci-fi movies, I think that they could have made something more powerful if they had changed the plot at certain parts. Maybe a older main character or a more darker side of the spacecraft would have done the trick, it would have also been cool to see some visuals of the aliens (other than the specimens that are kept by MAX inside the UFO)

The special effects are convincing, the UFO is originally clam shaped, but turns into a more aerodynamic form as it takes off in faster speeds. The most impressing part is the finish of the aircraft, it's really shiny and magnificent. This causes all outside shots of the flying to become a enjoyable experience.