PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):
The United States and the Soviet Union have both developed technology that can miniaturize matter by shrinking individual atoms, but only for a limited amount of time, depending on how small the item is miniaturized.
Scientist Jan Benes, working behind the Iron Curtain, has figured out how to make the process work indefinitely. With the help of the CIA, he escapes to the West, but an attempted assassination leaves him comatose with a blood clot in his brain.
To save his life, agent Charles Grant (Stephen Boyd), pilot Captain Bill Owens (William Redfield), Dr. Michaels (Donald Pleasence), surgeon Dr. Peter Duval (Arthur Kennedy) and his assistant Cora Peterson (Raquel Welch) are placed aboard a specially designed submarine at the C.M.D.F. (Combined Miniaturized Deterrent Forces) facilities. The submarine, named the Proteus, is then miniaturized and injected into Benes. The ship is reduced to one micrometer, giving the team one hour to remove the clot. After 60 minutes the submarine will begin to revert to its normal size and become vulnerable to Benes’ immune system.
The crew faces many obstacles during the mission. An arteriovenous fistula forces them to detour through the heart, where cardiac arrest must be induced to avoid turbulence, through the inner ear (all outside personnel have to remain silent to prevent turbulence) and replenish their supply of oxygen in the lungs. When the surgical laser needed to destroy the clot is damaged, it becomes obvious there is a saboteur on the mission. They cannibalize their radio to repair the device. When they finally reach the clot, there are only six minutes remaining to operate and then exit the body.
Before the mission, Grant was briefed that Duval was the prime suspect as a potential surgical assassin. But as the mission progresses, he pieces the evidence together and begins to suspect Michaels. During the critical phase of the operation, Dr. Michaels knocks Owens out and takes control of the Proteus while the rest of the crew is outside for the operation. Duval successfully removes the clot with the laser, but Michaels tries to crash the sub into the clot area to kill Benes. Grant fires the laser at the ship causing it to veer away and crash. Michaels is trapped in the wreckage and killed when white blood cells attack and destroy the Proteus. Grant saves Owens from the ship and they all swim desperately to one of the eyes where they escape via a teardrop seconds before they return to normal size.
REVIEW:
If you were around in the mid 90s or so, you may remember that Coolio was one of the biggest names in the rap industry. His hit, “Fantastic Voyage”, was inspired by this film, Fantastic Voyage, even though they have little to nothing to do with each other. If you look throughout music history, though, this is something happens more often than you think. One such coupling that springs to mind is Billy Idol’s “Eyes Without a Face”, which was inspired by The Man With No Face, I believe.
What is this about?
A group of medical experts miniaturize themselves to enter the body of an ailing scientist, but traitor seeks to undermine their dangerous mission.
What did I like?
Research. As we can all attest to, movies and TV shows that to deal with science and medical topics tend to be hit or miss with the facts of how things are done, depending on if they took the time to do the research and/or bring in someone who actually knows what they’re talking about as a consultant. While not everything in this film is 100% spot on, it is apparent that they took the time to do the research and get at least a few facts about the inner workings of the human body straight, rather than just make up stuff as it goes along.
Sub life. A group of people in a tiny, cramped sub. This is surely going to result in some, shall we say incidents? A submarine is small enough as it is, but throw in the fact that this one was miniaturized and one of the crew members has claustrophobia from his days in the war, and it surely makes for some uncomfortable-ness. Also, with one woman aboard, even if it is only an hour, surely someone is going to try to hit on her, and sure enough, it does. These are things that are just part of normal day life, magnified by being in an enclosed space. It was ingenious of the filmmakers to include these little touches of humanity.
Fear. If you were shrunk down, injected into someone else’s blood stream, had a task to do with everything working against you and had to be out of the body in an hour, wouldn’t you be scared to death? I know I would, especially knowing that, more or less, I hold a person’s life in my hands. If the laser didn’t work to destroy the affliction in the brain, the guy would die. If the ship didn’t escape within the hour, they would be destroyed by the white corpuscles and/or grow to full size, destroying the patient, and of course there are the other dangers in the body. I felt that these were given enough emphasis as to push the thriller/suspense angle that this film veers off into in places.
What didn’t I like?
Physics. As I just mentioned, when the time was up, the ship and crew would begin to return to their normal size. Not to spoil anything, but when the ship is destroyed and left inside the body for the white corpuscles to destroy and devour, it still should have returned to normal size, even if it was just the fragments. However, perhaps because of technology restrictions, this didn’t happen, but it should have. Maybe that should have been the ending, rather than the non-ending the film has.
Corruption or insanity? I really shouldn’t be surprised that there was one guy who was against everything. He was the downer for the whole expedition. I wonder, though, was he corrupt or just driven insane? His motivations are never made clear and in just one scene he turns on the crew, endangering the mission and getting one of them killed, I won’t say who, to avoid spoilers. Surely, they could have done a better job of this. If it was insanity, then just say he went insane. If it was corruption, then a few scenes of him communicating with the ones that paid him to sabotage the mission would suffice. After all, the patient isn’t laying on that operating table for no reason. Someone made an attempt on his life!
Keep her covered? Google Raquel Welch and see what comes up. I’m sure one of the top 5 pictures is her furry bikini from One Million Years B.C., correct? That is pretty much the film that gave her a career and it is because of her rocking body. So, why would you take one of the living embodiments of sex appeal at the time and cover her up from head to toe for the entire film. The only hint that she has any kind of feminine form is when she is in her wetsuit. Now, I understand that she is a scientist, and this was probably done in the spirit of the character. Also, there wasn’t much room for her to show skin. Still, I can imagine that more than a few horny teenage boys at the time were severely disappointed.
At the time when Fantastic Voyage was released, sci-fi was shifting from the cheesy, kitschy films of the 50s and early 60s, to more serious faire. I believe that this film actually creates a solid bridge between the two worlds. The story itself is actually a pretty good sci-fi tale, that has been parodied, spoofed, and used in all kids of media. Much like The Incredible Shrinking Man, many Saturday morning cartoons and other media have used this at some point during their run, to comedic affect. The special effects, though, are quite cheesy. At times, I felt like I was watching Land of the Lost (which wouldn’t air for another 10 yrs or so after this was released). Still, it got the point across and technology wasn’t the best back then. Can you believe in 40 or 50 yrs, someone will be saying the same thing about what we have today?!? Do I recommend this? Yes, very highly so. It may not be the best classic sci-fi film out there, but it sure is entertaining. Enjoy the ride!
4 out of 5 stars