Fantastic Voyage
| Year: | 1966 |
| Director: | Richard Fleischer |
| Writer: | Isaac Asimov |
| Cast: | Donald Pleasance, Racquel Welch |
Ripe for remaking in the CG era (and the precursor to 80s Spielberg-driven sci-fi comedy Innerspace, that title referenced from a line in this movie, this is the original miniaturisation movie.
A defecting enemy spy if injured returning to America, and only he holds the key to success the miniaturisation experiments the military has been holding.
On death's door because of a blood clot on the brain, the plan is set; a team of doctors, scientists and a communications specialist are to be miniaturised in a six-crew submarine and injected into his body where they'll destroy the clot.
Seemingly smaller than you imagine in scope, little time is spent exploring the special effects possibilities that would be pursued more relentlessly today. Back in the late sixties, ambitious set design and the blue-screen superimposing of oil droplets have to do the job instead.
One of the best aspects is the scientific realism - as much time is taken to effectively portray the pitfalls of miniaturising a crew for injection into a human body than the wonders of the environment once they're there. The sequences of transferring the craft into the body after miniaturisation has occurred, together with the care the crew must take to avoid the heart and other areas of high turbulence, keep it from being an Indiana Jones fun ride.
Understated, realistically performed and scientifically sound, it was more a starting point than the final word of a subgenre (also the inspiration for Disney World's Body Wars ride with Elizabeth Shue and Peter Coyote.
The only downside was the rescue and restoration of the surviving members of the crew, which seemed anticlimactic and over far too quick.
Fantastic opening credits sequence for its day.
A defecting enemy spy if injured returning to America, and only he holds the key to success the miniaturisation experiments the military has been holding.
On death's door because of a blood clot on the brain, the plan is set; a team of doctors, scientists and a communications specialist are to be miniaturised in a six-crew submarine and injected into his body where they'll destroy the clot.
Seemingly smaller than you imagine in scope, little time is spent exploring the special effects possibilities that would be pursued more relentlessly today. Back in the late sixties, ambitious set design and the blue-screen superimposing of oil droplets have to do the job instead.
One of the best aspects is the scientific realism - as much time is taken to effectively portray the pitfalls of miniaturising a crew for injection into a human body than the wonders of the environment once they're there. The sequences of transferring the craft into the body after miniaturisation has occurred, together with the care the crew must take to avoid the heart and other areas of high turbulence, keep it from being an Indiana Jones fun ride.
Understated, realistically performed and scientifically sound, it was more a starting point than the final word of a subgenre (also the inspiration for Disney World's Body Wars ride with Elizabeth Shue and Peter Coyote.
The only downside was the rescue and restoration of the surviving members of the crew, which seemed anticlimactic and over far too quick.
Fantastic opening credits sequence for its day.