Flight of the Navigator is a 1986 American science-fiction adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser and written by Mark H. Baker, Michael Burton, and Phil Joanou.

It stars Joey Cramer as David Freeman, a 12-year-old boy abducted by an alien spaceship who, as an unfortunate side-effect, is transported eight years into the future.

It features an early film appearance by Sarah Jessica Parker as Carolyn McAdams, a key character in the future whom David befriends.

It is also known to be one of the first Hollywood productions to feature an entirely electronic music film score, composed using a Synclavier, one of the first digital multitrack recorders and samplers.

Dr. Faraday discovers that his mind is full of alien technical manuals and star charts far exceeding NASA's research and that he was taken to the planet Phaelon, 560 light years away, in just 2.2 hours (about 2,105,990.4 x c).

They escape from the facility and Max tells David that his mission is to travel the galaxy collecting biological specimens for analysis on Phaelon before returning them to their homes.

While Max prepares for a mind transfer, David meets other alien specimens on board and bonds with a puckmaren, a tiny bat-like creature that is the last of its kind after a comet destroyed its planet.

Fearing that he will be institutionalized and treated like a guinea pig for the rest of his life should he remain in 1986, David orders Max to return him to 1978, accepting the risk of vaporization due to the time travel.

[7] Some of the scenes with the Trimaxion Drone Ship were rendered in CGI by Omnibus Computer Animation, under the supervision of director Randal Kleiser's brother, Jeff.

The consensus reads, "Bolstered by impressive special effects and a charming performance from its young star, Flight of the Navigator holds up as a solidly entertaining bit of family-friendly sci-fi.

"[18] In May 2021, independent filmmaker Alan Melikdjanian released a documentary about the film, explaining the various types of visual effects utilized to create the alien spaceship.

[21] In September 2017, Walt Disney Pictures and Lionsgate announced that a reboot of the film is in preproduction with Joe Henderson from TV's Lucifer writing the script.

[23][24][25] In September 2021, plans for a remake were announced, with Bryce Dallas Howard set to direct and produce the Disney+ release featuring a female protagonist.