The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

1988 "An Odyssey Across Time."
The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey
The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

6.6 | 1h32m | en | Adventure

Cumberland, 1348. The plague is spreading in medieval England. The remote village of little Griffin is also threatened. But the 9-year-old boy has a recurring dream that holds the key to a tiny hope of survival: a lake with a coffin floating on it. A white church with an iron cross. A falling glove. A falling silhouette. A torch tumble through a dark shaft into infinity. With his brother he recognizes in it a prophecy to escape the Black Death. So they embark with a few men on a journey to a distant cathedral, where they want to set up an iron cross as an offering to God. Her path leads them through a deep and dark mine shaft into an unknown land and completely outlandish time - into the present-day New Zealand of the 1980s.

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6.6 | 1h32m | en | Adventure , Fantasy , Action | More Info
Released: September. 16,1988 | Released Producted By: New Zealand Film Commission , Arenafilm Country: New Zealand Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-navigator-1988
Synopsis

Cumberland, 1348. The plague is spreading in medieval England. The remote village of little Griffin is also threatened. But the 9-year-old boy has a recurring dream that holds the key to a tiny hope of survival: a lake with a coffin floating on it. A white church with an iron cross. A falling glove. A falling silhouette. A torch tumble through a dark shaft into infinity. With his brother he recognizes in it a prophecy to escape the Black Death. So they embark with a few men on a journey to a distant cathedral, where they want to set up an iron cross as an offering to God. Her path leads them through a deep and dark mine shaft into an unknown land and completely outlandish time - into the present-day New Zealand of the 1980s.

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Cast

Bruce Lyons , Chris Haywood , Marshall Napier

Director

Mike Becroft

Producted By

New Zealand Film Commission , Arenafilm

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Reviews

Andy B Avoid! Avoid! Avoid! What the heck did I just watch??? The whole time I didn't know what was happening. It's in black in white, and full of shaky cuts. We all think you have to be on drugs to enjoy this "movie". I'm a big fan of time-travel movies, but that element of the movie is barely touched on. Don't let the other reviewers fool you into seeing this movie - ever! We all were confused during this movie - right from the very beginning, through the time travel and at the end too. Some of the scenes were comical (although there were not supposed to be). Strongly suggest you don't see this movie for any reason. I'm rating this a 2 and not a 1 because it had a nice twist at the end.
ma-cortes Very good film with interesting as well as weird plot , nice acting and exceptional , colorful cinematography shot on location and has the feel of a great medieval fable . As men guided by a boy's vision, dig a tunnel from 14th century England to 20th century New Zealand . This Time-Travel Adventure set in Middle Age begins with a real sense of wonder and intrigue with pest causing ravage and winds up with continuous feats climbing a cathedral and including a surprising finale . As a psychic boy called Connor (Bruce Lyons) lives in 14th century Cumbria (north of England) , a tiny medieval English village . Connor keeps getting visions he cannot explain , he attempts to protect villagers from the bubonic plague . His village has so far been spared from the pest , but the villagers fear its imminent arrival and seeking relief from the Black Death . With the illuminate young boy as their guide , a group (Chris Haywood as Arno , Hamish McFarlane as Griffin , Marshall Napier as Searle , Noel Appleby as Ulf) set out to dig a hole to the other side of the world . As in an age of darkness , circa 1348 , a motley group will face the ultimate battle against deadly plague . Then , Connor leads a tunneling expedition so as to fulfill the visions and save the village , but they emerge in a modern city from New Zealand , XX Century . Gripping and evocative film about Middle Age and full of fantasy when a group of men from Dark Ages emerge in a modern city in 1988 . In Middle Age one young boy along with some reckless countrymen will take on an impressive fight against bubonic Death . It is a genuine as well as imaginative medieval tale written and directed with great sensibility , fairness and clarity . This one contains a Bergman style , as ¨Seventh Seal¨ comes to mind , as the first part results to be filmed in Bergmanian wake . It was not just the artistic vision or imagination, but above all , religion , God , devil and sacrifice . This engrossing picture contains powerful and haunting images , being divided in two parts : Middle Age and Modern Times . It's plenty of scenes that stay in the mind as when the group appears at the 'other side' that results to be 20th century New Zealand , as the appearance of Black Death and church bell conquest . This thought-provoking story deals with holy fate , religious awe , the passion , Catholic Church and several other 'Age of Darkness' issues . The interesting perspective is intimate and it lends a great deal of excitement to the movie experience . Beautiful scenery, tense , intriguing and a stirring climax lift this story . There's something for everyone here ; fans of history , fans of Sci-Fi/Fantasy , fans of medieval adventure should all find something to enjoy about this film .Wonderfully directed is all strongest for being brilliantly photographed in an excellent black and white during Middle Age and colorful imagine for recent times , excellently shot by cameraman Geoffrey Simpson , filmed on location in Auckland, Mount Ruapehu, Tongariro National Park, Southern Alps, Waitomo Caves, Waikato, New Zealand . Emotive as well as atmospheric musical score plenty of religious sounds and chores by Tabrizi . The motion picture was stunningly written and directed by Vincent Ward , though on a short budget . It was this movie that convinced the producers of Alien 3 (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 . It's a masterpiece who made his major impact gaining international acclaim . The picture won several prizes in a lot of Festivals such as Australian Film Institute , Cannes Film Festival , Fantasporto and Sitges Catalonian Film Festival . The great filmmaker Vincent Ward has produced, executive produced and/or written and directed feature films including What Dreams May Come , The River Queen and The Last Samurai , developing the underlying material he chose the director, before acting as an executive producer on this film . Ward's films have earned critical acclaim and festival attention whilst achieving a wide, eclectic audience as Vigil (1984), and Map of the Human Heart (1993) and this The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) . Rating : Above average but is deemed by many to be the Vincent ward's best .
Gabriel Negrusa I watched this movie with little expectations and it managed to surpass them. I stood and thought why it isn't more acclaimed, since it has many elements that stand up compared to more well known films. I realized Navigator's main flaw is it doesn't succeed to induce the right state of mind to the audience from the very beginning. If you watch Terminator 2 expecting a realistic SF you'd find many things making no sense, but if you watch it with the action movie conventions in mind you find everything it's on it's place. Every single movie needs to make the viewer familiar with it's rules and conventions, to set him in the right mood. Navigator has a pretty ambiguous beginning, and it's not very consistent after that either, leaving me confused at times if i'm watching a kids fairytale with some serious undertones, an actually profound artistic movie, or just an exploitation on the concept of "what if medieval people traveled in our time".Otherwise everything else about Navigator: A Mediaeval Odyssey is great. The characters are very well designed, when i was a kid i had myself an idol like Connor (we probably all did), the man that is a natural leader, knows every time what is right and doesn't afraid of anything. But in real life even this kind of persons are still human beings, they mess up sometimes, they lose hope sometimes, no one's perfect, and i really liked this little touch of humanity Connor has. Ulf even though he's the oldest in the group he's the clumsiest and most insecure. He's still a child at heart, even more than Griffin, the actual child. The fact that his friends care about him so much despite him being more of a liability to their mission is really touching. Overall all medieval characters are very realistic compared to what we see in the genre.Maybe some people that watched this movie would expect the reactions of the medieval villagers to the modern city to be different, more powerful. The truth is, it's hard to imagine how would such people react in a situation like that, and i can't think of films that get this aspect right and believable, but i think Navigator comes quite close. There was a lot of unknown during that ages, and for the villagers of a remote mine everything was new, a big medieval city would be just as new and strange as a modern city with skyscrapers, cars and trains. They expected to see strange things, and they saw strange things, not too much reason to get overexcited.Somewhere about 6-7.
cmittica I stumbled across this flick on VHS, in a s-mart basket (the ones that gather lot of rubbish, and a few jewels, at a cheap price). I was haunted by the cover (different from the one IMDB shows) and the plot and the prize won at some Mistery Festival (or whatsoever). It was the right choice: the story is not so original, but it works. A sort of metaphisical trip through time and space, an ordeal for ancient knights surrounded by contemporary evil. A little treasure in the fantasy gender. It deserves more than it's got.