The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)

Men seeking relief from the Black Death, guided by a boy's vision, dig a tunnel from 14th century England to 20th century New Zealand.

Director:

Vincent Ward

Writers:

Geoff Chapple (screenplay), Kely Lyons (screenplay)

Stars:

Bruce Lyons, Chris Haywood, Hamish Gough

21 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Lyons	...	Connor
Chris Haywood	...	Arno
Hamish Gough	...	Griffin (as Hamish McFarlane)
Marshall Napier	...	Searle
Noel Appleby	...	Ulf
Paul Livingston	...	Martin
Sarah Peirse	...	Linnet
Mark Wheatley	...	Tog 1
Tony Herbert	...	Tog 2
Jessica Cardiff-Smith	...	Esme
Roy Wesney	...	Grandpa
Kathleen-Elizabeth Kelly	...	Grandma
Jay Saussey	...	Griffin's girlfriend
Charles Walker	...	Old Chrissie
Desmond Kelly	...	Smithy

Storyline

A young boy in 14th century Cumbria (north of England) keeps getting visions he cannot explain. His village has so far been spared from the black death, but the villagers fear its imminent arrival. With the boy as their guide, a group set out to dig a hole to the other side of the world, so as to fulfil the visions and save the village. At the 'other side' is 20th century New Zealand !.. N.B. Flips from B+W to colour frequently.

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Plot Keywords:

england | 14th century | moon | mining | middle ages | 

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Taglines:

Time-Travel Adventure of the Year!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

The Official site

Country:

Australia New Zealand

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 December 1988 (Australia)

Also Known As:

The Navigator: An Odyssey Across Time

Filming Locations:

Auckland, New Zealand

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,333,379

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arenafilm, Film Investment Corporation of New Zealand, The Australian Film Commission

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min 82 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was this movie that convinced the producers of Alien³ (1992) to hire Vincent Ward as writer/director (although Ward would eventually leave the set of Alien 3 after many creative differences with the studio).

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Goofs

(at around 51 mins), during the pouring of the spike in the foundry, Griffin breaks the "fourth wall" by briefly looking up at the camera and then quickly away again.

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Crazy Credits

Some releases of the film display the following message before the film starts:

"You are about to watch the Time-Travel Adventure Film THE NAVIGATOR. DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET. The first minutes of THE NAVIGATOR are shown in the stark black and white of 14th Century England during the black plague.

At the moment when the Navigator's 14th Century travelers begin to reach the modern 20th century, the world of the Navigator bursts into color on your screen."

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Connections

Referenced in Joey Breaker (1993)

User Reviews

Definatly under the rainbow

This is truly a lost gem of a film. It is beautifully photographed, well-acted, well paced, and well written. It is a fantasy film that relies on the fantasy and not on the SFX budget. Something we see all too little of these days.

It is the story of a little boy that has visions during medieval times of a great city, and to save the village from the horrors of the Black Death, he, his brother Connor, and a few others must travel there and erect a spike on the cathedral there. Of course, this is a fruitless enterprise and Connor knows it, but no one would listen to him; they were stuck on a single idea and would hear nothing else.

Their journey to what turned out to be New Zealand is both humorous and sad. There were times when one would be brought almost to tears and at other times laughing hard enough to hurt, but the sad element was dominant.

As with all the films I like to review, it has a strong 'cult movie' appeal, but it is more accessable to general audiences than, say, Six-String Samurai was. Seeing that the Director (Vincent Ward) later did 'What Dreams May Come' (I'll review that one in a few weeks) this film deserves to brought back into the spotlight.