Fantastic Voyage

Starring: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence, Arthur O'Donnell, Arthur Kennedy
Directed by: Richard Fleischer
Rating: PG
Genre: Adventure, Science Fiction
1966

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A brilliant scientist falls into a coma with a blood clot in his brain that threatens to kill him before he can reveal his amazing discovery about how to control the process of miniturization. To save him, a special team is shrunk down to microscopic size and injected into his bloodstream. They must travel up his artery and destroy the clot- in 60 minutes- or they will revert back to their regular side- inside the scientist's body.

Review:
Tim: There are quite a few things to like about Fantastic Voyage. There have been numerous movies about exploring outer space, but this is really the first film to explore an equally mysterious realm- innerspace. I absolutely love the idea of a team of specialists being miniturized in order to destroy a blood clot. The human body is an amazing creation, and the intricacies and complexity of it are astounding. It is a perfectly bizarre environment as a setting for this movie.

It is easy to get caught up in the amazing world here- arteries and veins that look like giant pipelines, scuba divers fighting off white blood cells, the powerful winds of the lungs, and even more. I loved this aspect of the movie. I was not surprised that Fantastic Voyage won two Academy Awards- Best Art Direction, and Best Visual Effects. These are deserving awards.

The cast of this movie is where things start to unravel. I can only describe the cast as lackluster. There are some wooden, surprisingly bland performances. The dialogue isn't great, and there are some big holes in the script (no one seems to notice that the entire trip is basically one problem immediately following another). Stephen Boyd definitely looks the part, but his acting was oftentimes atrocious. I wanted to scream at him to show just a little bit of emotion. He sleepwalks through the film in the exact same demeanor from start to finish. Raquel Welch was cast for her looks- not for her acting ability (that should say it all). Donald Pleasence was one of the better actors- his performance was actually enjoyable (mostly). I also enjoyed Arthur Kennedy as Dr. Duval. However, the entire cast was boring, which made it impossible to really care about anyone here.

I also admit that this movie is somewhat hurt by the seeming gaps in logic. Yes, I love the idea of the whole movie, but I have to admit that the science is incredibly spotty. Because of the amazing visuals and the good nature of the film, I was able to suspend my disbelief, but I occasionally was jolted to awareness by the impossibilities that occur around every corner.

Fantastic Voyage deserves credit for being the first film to explore innerspace, and to do it in such an impressive environment. However, the huge gaps in logic and science combined with the disappointing, mind-numbing performances of the cast really hurt this film. While there are certainly some strengths, the movie is pulled down into the abyss by its weaknesses. I don't think this is a very good movie- even though it certainly looks impressive.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Innerspace, 2001: A Space Odyssey, One Million Years B.C.