No One Told Me This Sci-Fi Movie Was on Disney+

In the world of streaming, there is no shortage of content. Pick a streaming service and you can find almost anything you could possibly want to watch — and that includes Disney+. The streamer, particularly since it bundled with Hulu, has a lot to offer. But while some content is expected, like Marvel offerings and all things Star Wars, it’s not just more current or bigger IP that are available. There are some other movies people may have forgotten, including some older Disney classics. However, of all of the movies available to stream on Disney+, there’s one that no one told me was even streaming and now that I know, not only do I have next watch planned but you should check it out, too: Flight of the Navigator.

Flight of the Navigator was first released on August 1, 1986, and while it’s been almost 40 years since, it’s still a great watch. The film follows 12-year-old David Freeman who, after falling down a ravine while walking through the woods in 1978, ends up abducted by aliens. When he wakes up, eight years have passed but he hasn’t aged a day. While David is reunited with his family, it’s soon discovered that David’s brainwaves match images of a spaceship that recently crashed and has been captured by NASA and it turns out that David ends up being the key to the ship being able to get home — because Max (the ship’s robot commander) filled David’s brain with all kinds of information as part of an experiment.

Flight of the Navigator Was Groundbreaking for its Use of CGI

While Flight of the Navigator is just a fun adventure, story-wise, the movie was actually pretty groundbreaking — which certainly makes it worth watching now/ The film was one of the first Hollywood films to extensively employ CGI effects, including an early use of the “morphing” special effect. It also used image-based lighting and other techniques which, at the time, were revolutionary. The film also was the first to use reflection mapping, something employed to create surprisingly realistic reflections on a (simulated) chrome surface — in this case, the spaceship.

[RELATED: Flight of the Navigator Reboot in the Works For Disney+]

Outside of the effects, Flight of the Navigator was unique in other ways, the big one being its score. It will likely come as a surprise to Marvel fans, but Alan Silvestri composed the score for Flight of the Navigator, but it was a major departure from his work before it — and he’s done nothing quite like it since. The score, composed and performed by Silvestri, is entirely electronically generated using a Synclavier. The Synclavier is one of the first digital multitrack recorders and samplers. While electronic soundtracks aren’t a rarity anymore, at the time this score was among the first.

A Charming Movie With a Surprising Cast

Story wise, Flight of the Navigator is pretty charming. You get a family-friendly sci-fi adventure, that is thrilling without being scary. There’s a nice balance there. But what is really cool about the film is its cast. The film stars Sarah Jessica Parker in one of her early film roles but the real casting surprise is Paul Reubens. He’s credited in the film as “Paul Mall”, but the Pee-wee Herman actor is the voice of Max, robotic pilot that commands the Trimaxion Drone Ship that David was on. Given that Pee-wee’s Playhouse debuted just a month or so after Flight of the Navigator hit theaters, it makes for a nice little moment — especially since Max’s laughter sounds a lot like Pee-wee’s.

A Remake is Reportedly in the Words

While Flight of the Navigator is a bit of an unexpected gem on Disney+ — the movie has been difficult for fans to find for years — it also might not be the last word when it comes to the movie It was announced initially in 2009 that Disney was looking to remake the film and most recently in 2021, it was announced that Bryce Dallas Howard would direct and produce a remake for Disney+, this time featuring a female lead. There haven’t really been any updates since then, but fans remain hopeful.

Flight of the Navigator is now streaming on Disney+.