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The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

Adventure · Fantasy · Mystery · 1988

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.

Movie details

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey

“An Odyssey Across Time.”

1988 Adventure · Fantasy · Mystery 1h 32m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

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.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Vincent Ward

Written by

Geoff Chapple · Kely Lyons · Vincent Ward

Bruce Lyons

Bruce Lyons

Connor

Chris Haywood

Chris Haywood

Arno

H

Hamish McFarlane

Griffin

Marshall Napier

Marshall Napier

Searle

Noel Appleby

Noel Appleby

Ulf

Paul Livingston

Paul Livingston

Martin

Sarah Peirse

Sarah Peirse

Linnet

Court is in session

Put The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Prestige Tourist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.