Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Six degrees of the 80s

I'm a proud child of the 80s. I strongly believe that there wasn't a greater time to be a kid than the decade of horrible hair, break dancing and He-Man. When not thinking about family, jobs, bills, or what's for dinner I'm generally daydreaming about the 80s.

If I'm thinking about it, I might as well write it down. This is going to go a little like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon game. I'm going to start off with the first 80s thing that pops into my head and after I do a little write-up, I will find a way for it to awkwardly flow into another 80s nostalgia trip.

First up, off the top of my head, right this very second is: Flight of the Navigator. Wow, I didn't see that one coming.

Now, this is all from memory, but I believe Flight of the Navigator tells the tale of a young kid who gets taken away on space craft. I believe the robotic intelligence that runs the ship wants to study different species. Highlights from my memory involve the kid flying the spacecraft, a little snot-like rodent in a cage on the ship, and, of course, the robot talking exactly like Pee-Wee Herman.

I also recall being slightly disturbed that while the kid was off having a grand time in the ship his parents assumed he had been kidnapped and freaked out for years and years thinking he was dead. Yeah, not very Disney-like.

So, a robot that talks like Pee-Wee Herman will lead me to my next 80s topic. Stay tuned.

1 comment:

  1. I love this movie and have it on DVD if you want to borrow it.

    As for the disturbing part ... it was near the time of the Adam Walsh murder. Adam went missing in Hollywood, FL, whereas the Navigator, David, went "missing" in Fort Lauderdale, FL. It was the pulse of the early to mid eighties. As a kid I would often confusing the real life story with that of the Navigator.

    I also loved that Sarah Jessica Parker was in this film looking very 80's teen, new wave, glam rock-ish.

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