LIFE AFTER NAVIGATOR
Navigating The Past
W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K |^055
A YOUNG MAN RETURNS HOME,
only to fi nd that nothing’s quite as he left
it. Any fan of 1986 cult classic Flight Of The
Navigator will recognise the basic premise
of the fi lm from that description. What they
may not realise is just how closely it fi ts the
life of the fi lm’s star.
Joe Cramer’s story is at the heart of a
new documentary, Life After The Navigator,
which takes us on a poignant journey of
redemption and renewal. His character in
Flight Of The Navigator, 12-year-old David
Freeman, fi nds himself trapped eight years
in the future: not a day older, long thought
missing by his family, and pursued by
scientists desperate to uncover what he
knows about alien spaceships. Rousing
adventure and an imaginative spin on
youthful insecurities, backed by memorable
special effects, have ensured the movie’s
place in genre legend.
The documentary’s been crafted by Lisa
Downs, the fi lmmaker responsible for 2017’s
acclaimed Life After Flash. That fi lm dug
deep into behind-the-scenes anecdotes from
another fan favourite, 1980’s Flash Gordon,
while shedding light on the experiences of
its star, Sam J Jones. As Downs makes clear,
her new project has a slightly different tone:
“The trailer I’ve released to the public doesn’t
have any of the cast and crew in it. It’s
certainly more melancholic than Life After
Flash, but there is still that same kind of
redemption story about how he got to where
he is now and what he became, which is
obviously a pretty special story. Then there’s
the cast and crew talking not only about the
fi lm but about what happened to Joe as well.”
When Downs fi rst reached out to Cramer,
he was in a dark place, as he’d be the fi rst to
admit. Serving time for robbery in his native
Canada after a long struggle with substance
abuse, he was at his lowest ebb. The only
way was up, and Downs’ request for an
interview proved to be a turning point.
“The biggest hurdle originally was getting
in contact with Joe, because he was still
in jail when I fi rst reached out to him, and
we became penpals. To be honest, [Flight
Of The Navigator director] Randal Kleiser
has been so fabulous. He came on board as
executive producer, and he’s just gone above
and beyond in helping me get in contact
with people.” She laughs with disbelief,
remembering another treasured fi lm Kleiser
directed. “And also, being a massive fan of
Grease, it’s a dream come true! He knows
how incredible Joe’s story is, and he’s still in
touch with Joe all these years later. He’s just
gone out of his way to do whatever he can.”
Downs speaks with fondness of Cramer,
who’s blossomed over the past few years.
As the trailer shows, he’s making music,
working hard on his acting career, and
rediscovering the simple pleasures of
freedom, in more than one sense. “You
can’t fi nd out about it just from looking at
Google. It’s not just what happened, it’s why
it happened: how it got from A to B. The fi rst
interview we did with him was three hours
long, and he just broke down. When we did
LIFE AFTER NAVIGATOR
Navigating The Past
W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K |^055
A YOUNG MAN RETURNS HOME,
only to fi nd that nothing’s quite as he left
it. Any fan of 1986 cult classic Flight Of The
Navigator will recognise the basic premise
of the fi lm from that description. What they
may not realise is just how closely it fi ts the
life of the fi lm’s star.
Joe Cramer’s story is at the heart of a
new documentary, Life After The Navigator,
which takes us on a poignant journey of
redemption and renewal. His character in
Flight Of The Navigator, 12-year-old David
Freeman, fi nds himself trapped eight years
in the future: not a day older, long thought
missing by his family, and pursued by
scientists desperate to uncover what he
knows about alien spaceships. Rousing
adventure and an imaginative spin on
youthful insecurities, backed by memorable
special effects, have ensured the movie’s
place in genre legend.
The documentary’s been crafted by Lisa
Downs, the fi lmmaker responsible for 2017’s
acclaimed Life After Flash. That fi lm dug
deep into behind-the-scenes anecdotes from
another fan favourite, 1980’s Flash Gordon,
while shedding light on the experiences of
its star, Sam J Jones. As Downs makes clear,
her new project has a slightly different tone:
“The trailer I’ve released to the public doesn’t
have any of the cast and crew in it. It’s
certainly more melancholic than Life After
Flash, but there is still that same kind of
redemption story about how he got to where
he is now and what he became, which is
obviously a pretty special story. Then there’s
the cast and crew talking not only about the
fi lm but about what happened to Joe as well.”
When Downs fi rst reached out to Cramer,
he was in a dark place, as he’d be the fi rst to
admit. Serving time for robbery in his native
Canada after a long struggle with substance
abuse, he was at his lowest ebb. The only
way was up, and Downs’ request for an
interview proved to be a turning point.
“The biggest hurdle originally was getting
in contact with Joe, because he was still
in jail when I fi rst reached out to him, and
we became penpals. To be honest, [Flight
Of The Navigator director] Randal Kleiser
has been so fabulous. He came on board as
executive producer, and he’s just gone above
and beyond in helping me get in contact
with people.” She laughs with disbelief,
remembering another treasured fi lm Kleiser
directed. “And also, being a massive fan of
Grease, it’s a dream come true! He knows
how incredible Joe’s story is, and he’s still in
touch with Joe all these years later. He’s just
gone out of his way to do whatever he can.”
Downs speaks with fondness of Cramer,
who’s blossomed over the past few years.
As the trailer shows, he’s making music,
working hard on his acting career, and
rediscovering the simple pleasures of
freedom, in more than one sense. “You
can’t fi nd out about it just from looking at
Google. It’s not just what happened, it’s why
it happened: how it got from A to B. The fi rst
interview we did with him was three hours
long, and he just broke down. When we did
