Innerspace (1987)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Joe Dante

Writers:

Chip Proser (story)
Jeffrey Boam (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 July 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

This summer take a trip you'll never forget.

Plot:

A hapless store clerk must foil criminals to save the life of the man who, miniaturized in a secret experiment, was accidentally injected into him.

Plot Keywords:

Hypochondriac | Rabbit | Hero | Miniaturization | Secret

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Dennis Quaid	...	Lt. Tuck Pendleton
Martin Short	...	Jack Putter
Meg Ryan	...	Lydia Maxwell
Kevin McCarthy	...	Victor Eugene Scrimshaw
Fiona Lewis	...	Dr. Margaret Canker
Vernon Wells	...	Mr. Igoe
Robert Picardo	...	The Cowboy
Wendy Schaal	...	Wendy
Harold Sylvester	...	Pete Blanchard
William Schallert	...	Dr. Greenbush
Henry Gibson	...	Mr. Wormwood
John Hora	...	Ozzie Wexler
Mark L. Taylor	...	Dr. Niles
Orson Bean	...	Lydia's Editor
Kevin Hooks	...	Duane

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:G | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Norway:11 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 (w)

Filming Locations:

California State University Northridge - 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Amblin Entertainment

Trivia:

This was the first film commercially released in Dolby Stereo "Spectral Recording" (SR). SR is a vastly improved noise reduction system which replaced Dolby's original "A-type" noise reduction used for decades in all professional analog recording mediums (including all previous Dolby Stereo movies).

Goofs:

Continuity: While the man and woman are shrunk to half size and trying to use a phone booth, the sky behind the booth changes in every shot. It goes from blue with distinct clouds, to grayish and cloudless, to a mixture of both and back again.

Quotes:

[Jack and Lydia encounter a henchman in the stairwell; Lydia aims a gun at him]
Scrimshaw's Henchman: Hold it!
Lydia Maxwell: You hold it!
Scrimshaw's Henchman: I bet it ain't even loaded!
Lydia Maxwell: Oh yeah?
[she aims the gun at the ceiling and fires; it clicks emptily]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Game K N B: (2007-03-03)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

IS IT REALLY LOVE?

A very funny and exciting adventure!

What a funny thrill ride this movie is! A man (Dennis Quaid) volunteers to be shrunk down to the size of a cell and injected into a rabbit. But terrorists are after this scientific breakthrough and by various hijinks he winds up being injected into the butt of a nervous grocery clerk, played by Martin Short. And that's just the beginning.

Innerspace shows Dennis Quaid at his most winning, and Short at his funniest. And of course, there's a very young Meg Ryan as their love interest. The jokes resonate with both kids and adults, and unlike most action-adventure films, the plot here is never short of ideas. And the effects are pretty neat too: as we see Quaid's character wander within the human body, we feel as much amazement and wonder as he does. LOTS of movies attempt to put you in outer space and worlds far away, but I can't think of one that has made the creative attempt of exploring our inner space.

I first saw "Innerspace" when I was 11. I didn't know who any of the lead actors were. I'd never seen Saturday Night Live. And I thought it was a great movie. Twelve years and hundreds of movies later, I still think it's wonderful.