The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

1988
PG
1h 32m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

4.1K

YOUR RATING

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.

Play trailer2:25

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81 Photos

Sea Adventure Action Adventure Drama Fantasy Mystery Sci-Fi Thriller

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.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.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.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

4.1K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 21 wins & 5 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 2:25

Trailer

Photos81

+ 74

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Storyline

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Did you know

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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).

Goofs
Unsurprisingly, the area around Ruapehu, with its three volcanoes, looks very little like Cumbria which doesn't have volcanoes or the vast open plains of the Central Plateau.

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."

Connections
Featured in Century of Cinema: Cinema of Unease: A Personal Journey by Sam Neill (1995)

User reviews53

Review

Featured review

9/10

One of the best

Some of the critiques I've read of this, from others on the database, complain about the clumsy imagery or the accents. Get a grip. The point isn't linguistic accuracy, or any other kind of "accuracy" but rather the theme and motifs. In 1348 a frightening "illness" swept Europe, killing thousands. People didn't understand what caused the illness, only that it offered a horrifying death. This movie is as much a critique of "christendom" as it is of contemporary politics. If the US nuclear submarine is for some too clumsy an analogy to the black death, imagine the fall out of nuclear bombing as analogous to the black death. The pervasive silent killer. This movie was fantastic, for its imaginative plot, the interesting motifs and imagery, the concept of a small boy's vision, and the possible universes.