# The Curse of "The Navigator" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2007, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651 "2007-10-14T04:57:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/1 "2007-10-14T04:57:46Z")
That would be [The Navigator: A Mediaeval Odyssey](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095709/). A movie I’ve wanted to see for years. The DVD Ogs have things in mind for me, it seems. I just received my THIRD damaged disc of this title. The first two were broken, and the one I just pulled out of my player has a crack almost half-way through it. I’ve been getting DVDs through the mail for a couple of years without any problems. This latest one came at the same time as another title, and _that_ one doesn’t have a scratch. Does some USPS worker hate this movie? Has anyone ever gotten a watchable copy of this DVD from Netflix? Are there dark digital forces at work? Someone must have the answers I seek.\* \*Yes, I called Netflix each time, they’re at a loss to explain it. As is my local mail carrier. (Well, that’s not exactly right–he just doesn’t care.) ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/2 "2007-10-14T05:33:18Z")
How weird. I love that movie, but I can see where someone could watch it in the wrong frame of mind and take it out on the disk. It’s **so** depressing. Or maybe the DVD Ogs think you should own it. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/3 "2007-10-19T00:52:16Z")
Update: I got two DVDs from Netfilx today. One was broken…care to guess what the title was? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/4 "2007-10-19T02:16:06Z")
Are they sending you the same disk over and over? I’d be tempted to break it into at least two pieces. At least you wouldn’t get **that** one back again. How much of Netflix’s operation is mechanized? Sounds like all of it. Are you going to keep trying? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/5 "2007-10-19T02:30:49Z")
It is really worth seeing so don’t give up. Can you write on the disk with a marker to make sure you’re not getting the same one over and over. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/6 "2007-10-19T02:48:10Z")
As to getting the same one over and over–the break was different in **two** of the DVDs. So, I suppose _one_ of them _could_ be a re-ship. Perhaps I’m naive in thinking that they would flag a DVD in their system when it’s reported as damaged. If I got that kind of complaint, I’d have someone check the inventory. Is it possible that the movie was burned on to low-quality discs? Maybe they’re cheap and flimsy and just don’t like going through the mail-handling machinery? Paging Mulder and Scully! ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/7 "2007-10-19T03:24:31Z")
It really is worth watching - I’m with the “Og wants you to \*buy \*it” team. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/8 "2007-10-19T03:35:43Z")
There’s a VHS copy on eBay right now. Don’t try to outbid me, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/9 "2007-10-19T04:07:07Z")
It’s full to overflowing with New Zealanders and Australians. I hope that doesn’t put you off. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/10 "2007-10-28T01:50:58Z")
Update: the curse has lifted. Got an intact copy all the way from Harrisburg, PA in the mail today. Crossing my fingers, I popped it into the player… TAH-DAH!!! It works, dammit! Verdict: worth the wait. Thumbs up. A surreal film that had me scratching my head at times. Thought-provoking as well–did life in the Dark Ages really look like that? The film has some scenes with remarkable imagery. I thought Connor’s train ride was quite amusing. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2007, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/11 "2007-10-28T06:59:23Z")
So this wasn’t about [The Navigator](http://imdb.com/title/tt0015163/)? Rats. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/12 "2007-10-28T17:12:56Z")
[QUOTE=blondebear] Thought-provoking as well–did life in the Dark Ages really look like that? [/QUOTE] Wasn’t it bleak and dreary and dirty though? I was shocked. Amazing that any peasants survived, if that was even half-accurate. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-curse-of-the-navigator/422651/13 "2007-10-28T17:34:28Z")
One of my favorite movies. A great movie a lot of people don’t know about. I liked how dirty and miserable the Dark Ages looked and imagine that this is a much more accurate depiction than we see in most movies which take place before the advent of plumbing. I thought the dirtiness of the people in the 1996 version of “The Crucible” made it more realistic also.