flight of the navigator

An honest attempt to explore a phenomenom reported in Nome, Alaska, The Fourth Kind walks a fine line between science fiction and reality. Videotaped interviews with a psychologist (played by Milla Jovovich) and her patients are recreated as she employs hypnosis to dig into disturbing memories. Our own Jenni Miller found it "pretty damn scary" while Todd Gilchrist questioned the validity of the "actual" footage and felt the movie unraveled quite easily. Personally, I appreciated the effort by director Olatunde Osunsanmi to make a different kind of UFO movie, even though his concept of mixing documentary-style footage with high-gloss narrative didn't entirely succeed. You can decide for yourself when The Fourth Kind opens in theaters tomorrow.

Aliens and UFOs are a common sight in sci-fi movies, though most often they come in peace or come out fighting. Abductions, the so-called "fourth kind" of alien encounter, are relatively rare. Television shows have explored this arena much more than films, but here are the top ten alien abductions in sci-fi movies; it's another very subjective list, to be sure, so your recommendations, additions, and disagreements are welcome.

1. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Presenting a more "fantastical" kidnapping, little Barry (Cary Guffey) is stolen right from under the nose of his frantic mother (Melinda Dillon). Steven Spielberg made this a heavy-duty workout for his special effects team, from the rolling clouds to the suddenly animated toys and kitchen appliances. The best special effect, though, was the look on little Barry's face when he sees his abductors. Close that door, boy!

This must be kind of what Bill Murray felt like in Groundhog Day -- only we're not talking a single day being relived again and again, but an entire decade. Joke not about this '80s property or that, because tomorrow they're made official via the trades.

The latest to stop being a joke and become reality is The Flight of the Navigator which is being prepped by Disney. According to The Hollywood Reporter, they've set Brad Copeland to pen the remake, and it's being produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman. There's not much more information than that, but I imagine they'll keep the same story, and just beef it up a bit.

You remember the story, right? A young boy is abducted by aliens in 1978 and experiences a serious case of missing time, as he returns eight years later. His family has moved, his kid brother has grown up, and NASA puts him in lockdown. (The boys will remember he's waited on by a ridiculously cute Sarah Jessica Parker.) It was horribly traumatizing if you saw it as young as my sister and I did ... but then it becomes exciting and cheery with a cool silver ship, and cute pocket-sized aliens. Then the "navigator" becomes hideously obnoxious as it talks like Pee Wee Herman and makes fart jokes for the rest of the film, which was disappointing to me even when I was young enough to like fart jokes. I imagine he'll talk like Dane Cook now.

So, yeah. I'm not going to scream "This is raping my childhood!" or anything as the movie hasn't held up that well, and has remake room. But it's just terrifying to watch an entire decade trotted out and dusted off like this. Kids need new sci-fi, not retreads!

By: Elisabeth Rappe