Max is the computer/robotic pilot that commands a Trimaxion Drone Ship from the planet Phaelon in Disney's Flight of the Navigator.
Background[]
Appearance[]
Max's design is somewhat similar to that of the bottom half of a periscope. His face is spherical with a crest of sorts on top of his head, along with a similar one at the bottom. He has two huge flaps on the sides of his head in the shape of some parlor doors with words written in the language of his home planet, Phaelon, and two smaller ones on the bottom which move sort of like arms, sometimes using them to add emphasize on certain things. He has a large eye in the center of his head which changes colors to show his mood. His eye is surrounded by smaller black which is in turn surrounded by a silver-grey ring with Phaelon writing on it.
Max is grey/silver all over, while his eye is red, orange, green, blue, and grey, or even a mix of two colors.
Mission[]
Max is effectively the electronic brain/personality of a research ship - he identifies himself as a Trimaxion Drone Ship, much like the probes NASA launches to photograph distant stars etc. His purpose is to collect data from other planets and return them to Phaelon.
Equipment[]
Max is able to speak in thousands of languages, analyze species from civilization light-years from Earth, receive over 2 million forms of radio waves, move the ship at any speed, among other things.
Role in the film[]
Over the course of the film, Max comes to collect samples from Earth and return them to Phaelon. Along the way, he crashes into some power lines, knocking out his navigational information and disorientating him long enough to be literally picked up by the US government. The information he needs is stored in David Freeman who was abducted by him as a sample in 1978 and had the information implanted in the unused area of his brain as an experiment.
Unfortunately, due to the complexities of humans, Max was unwilling to transport David back to his time as he risked killing him, so he replaced him in exactly the same spot he was abducted from, with no memories of it eight years later in 1986. For David, the transition was seamless and, due to the warping of time as one approaches the speed of light, he hadn't physically aged. Meanwhile, Max is captured by the US government and subjected to experiments (mainly trying to find an opening to the ship) and does not attempt to escape as he has no navigation.
Eventually, David's unused implanted data leads him to Max and in exchange for the information, Max agrees to take him back home to his family. When Max does receive the information he needs, he gets something more — he gains the ability to feel and express emotions, making him more human-like in behavior, but also erratic, stubborn, and argumentative. He eventually adapts to emotions and also learns to enjoy music, forming a positive friendship with David.
After flying across the country, Max and David arrive back in Ft. Lauderdale so David could reunite with his family. Despite David being surrounded by NASA scientists, Max bids David a sad goodbye, but David changes his mind to stay and insists that Max attempt to travel back in time with him aboard, aware that he might not survive. The time travel is successful, however, and Max drops David off at the same place and time in 1978. As David reunites with his family, he looks up to the sky and smiles to see Max leaving for home, laughing cheerfully and saying "See you later, Navigator!"
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Max was voiced by Paul Reubens (credited as Paul Mall), famous for his childlike persona, "Pee-Wee Herman". Pee-Wee's characteristic laugh is uttered several times by Max after he "contracted" emotions and 1980s knowledge from David. This persona, speaking in an altered pitch similar to Pee-Wee, persists for the rest of the film, which is a stark contrast to Max's original tone, which is similar to HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
- The Imagineering team that developed Star Tours saw the film and cast Reubens as RX-24 based entirely on his performance as Max and many of his mannerisms found their way into Rex.
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