When a famous creator passes away, it's normal to reflect on their body of work, and Paul Reubens has a lengthy list of credits to appreciate. Out of all the projects Reuben's completed during his six decades as a comedian, one of my favorites is Flight of the Navigator. While he may only be in a fraction of the film, his sequence as Max, who is some type of alien artificial intelligence, is the most exciting and captivating. Max is one of the most memorable characters in Disney's live-action film history, and he makes The Flight of the Navigator a film that so many children like me from the 80s and 90s remember fondly.
Disney had a lot of options when it came to voicing Max. The tone of the film up to the point when David initially boards the ship is dark and mysterious, and they could have continued in that direction by using a robotic, HAL-like voice. They also could have used something warm and friendly, such as a pleasant woman's voice or a grandfatherly intonation. Instead, the studio hires Paul Reubens to basically do Pee Wee Herman. The choice is brilliant. It represents a sharp turn in the film's tone that relieves a lot of tension and gives the ship a strong personality that David can play against.
Reuben's performance of Max is complemented by the film's special effects, which while not amazing, are good enough to let the audience suspend its disbelief for the final forty minutes. Seemingly decent visual effects may not be impressive when watching a fuzzy CRT television from the 80s or 90s, but the film's visuals hold up really well on modern HD screens with high-def resolutions. The teardrop, chrome ship flies gracefully through water, air, and space, and the inside has slick features and intuitive controls that would make sense for an advanced lifeform, or AI, to have.
Flight of the Navigator successfully avoids all the family movie pitfalls that will plague Disney's projects going forward. The gluttonous fat kid, unnecessary mobsters, forced love interests, and pointless conflicts would all start appearing regularly in the studio's scripts just a few years after the film's release. It would also stray from sci-fi and fantasy genres to more films based on sports and holidays. This wouldn't be a good thing.
While Disney's output of films in the 1980s is somewhat frowned upon until the release of The Little Mermaid, its live-action family films from the decade represent some of the best in its catalog. In addition to Flight of the Navigator, you have Tron, Never Cry Wolf, and The Legend of Natty Gan, all of which have generally positive reviews. You also have dreck like Popeye, which is one of Robin William's most regrettable performances, but you can't expect perfection from an outlet the size of Disney. Let's hope the producer will have the insight and restraint in the future to create more family movies like Flight of the Navigator.
