Max (Flight of the Navigator)

Max is the computer/robotic pilot of an alien vessel in the 1986 live-action Disney film Flight Of The Navigator. Identifying itself as a Trimaxian Drone Ship, it is dubbed "Max" by its selected human navigator David Freeman.

Film

In the film, Max's mission is to collect and study data from alien worlds and then return it to its homeworld Phaelon. In 1978, it visits Earth and abducts 12-year old boy David Freeman, keeping him unconscious while studying him. Due to the fragility of human physiology, Max is unwilling to take David back in time to when it found him, believing that time travel might kill the boy. It returns to Earth in 1986 and leaves David in the ravine where it found him, but as it leaves the drone ship collides with an electrical pylon which disrupts its systems and purges all of its navigational data. Prior to the crash, Max backed up all of its star charts into David's brain as part of an experiment, since humans only use 10% of their brains.

The Trimaxian ship is recovered by the US government and kept under close observation at a NASA base in Florida. The ship cannot leave without its star charts and Max sends out telepathic messages to David, who has been taken into custody following his return from an 8-year absence. Whilst being studied by NASA, David is contacted by the drone ship and sneaks out of his room to try and find it. He finds the ship in a hangar on the base and it opens up to let him in. David is naturally confused when he encounters the ship's robotic pilot, who refers to the boy as "the Navigator". After a brief introduction, the ship takes off from the base but NASA continually monitor its movement as it flies across the world.

David is shown the capabilities of the drone ship, which he dubs "Max". Max shows David its collection of alien creatures abducted from various planets and also scans the boy's mind in order to better understand him and his culture. Through this mind transfer, Max picks up various human personality quirks, particularly humour and sarcasm, and also discovers human music. It takes David on a flight across the world, from Miami to under the ocean, to Tokyo, to Texas and into orbit. Once its navigational data is fully recovered, Max tries to take David home, but David does not want to go back because he has missed eight years of his life and NASA still want to study him. Max warns David that he may be vaporised if he goes back in time, but David is willing to take the risk. And so the ship travels back and David survives the flight, finding himself back in the ravine he had fallen into. Max then leaves Earth to return to Phaelon.

Capabilities

Max possesses superior intelligence, though he develops a quirky and jokey personality after scanning David's mind. He is capable of speaking thousands of languages, analyze species from civilizes light years away, pick up radio waves and other signals and possesses limitless flight speed, allowing him to travel faster than light and even travel through time.

Design

Max's body looks similar to a periscope. His face is mostly a big eye which changes colors from red, orange, green, blue, and grey.