Daily Dialogue — November 29, 2016

MAX: Sit here, Navigator.

DAVID: Will this hurt?

MAX: You will feel nothing.

DAVID: Will I remember everything?

MAX: You will retain all data.

DAVID: How many times have you done this thing?

MAX: Zero.

DAVID: Zero? You mean never? I’m not going to let you try this out

on me. What if you fry my brain?

MAX: I will not fry your brain.

DAVID: How do you know?

MAX: I have been programmed with superior intelligence. Lie down.

DAVID: Okay. (Max scans David.) That’s it?

MAX: (Now speaking with the voice of Pee Wee Herman) That’s it, Davey.

DAVID: Davey?

MAX: If you want to learn to swim you gotta jump in the water! Don’t forget to feed Bruiser. Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. Whoa! Ha-ha! This can’t be happening. I think I’ve gotten stuff out of you that has nothing to do with navigating this ship.

DAVID: You sound just like a human.

MAX: No! That dumb dog will never learn to catch a Frisbee. You are an inferior species, you dumb dork!

DAVID: Butt-face!

MAX: Scuzz-bucket, Ha-ha!

DAVID: Hey, well, if you’re so perfect, what are you still doing here?

MAX: I told you, I blew a fuse when I totaled out that electrical tower. I was checking out some daisies.

DAVID: You crashed while looking at flowers?

MAX: Ha!

DAVID: Sounds like you’re the inferior species.

MAX: I’ll show you who’s inferior, Heads up!

DAVID: Hey, take it easy.

MAX: Well, ex-cuuuuse me!

— Flight of the Navigator (1986), screenplay by Michael Burton and Matt MacManus, story by Mark H. Baker

The Daily Dialogue theme for this week: Alien Invasion, suggested by Michael Waters. Today’s suggestion by Will King.

Trivia: Originally an independent film. The main production company, Producers Sales Organisation, put up two-thirds of the budget, while the rest came from Viking Film, a Norwegian company. Walt Disney Pictures picked up all rights for this film for North America, becoming the first distribution deal for the studio under new management led by Michael Eisner.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Will: “Rather than the massive, world-changing style of alien invasion, this is the story of an invasion of just a few lives. It makes use of both the alien invasion and time travel tropes. Max, the ship’s guidance computer, is initially played as a straight dramatic voice. In this scene, Max changes its personality after scanning David’s brain to better provide an age-appropriate foil for the protagonist. And, it doesn’t hurt to have Paul Reubens provide the voice.”