Innerspace (1987)

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.

Director:

Joe Dante

Writers:

Chip Proser (story), Jeffrey Boam (screenplay)

Stars:

Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Tuck Pendleton is a cocky pilot, who is taking part in a miniaturization experiment. When some bad guys break into the lab to steal the technology, one of the scientists takes a syringe which contains the miniaturized Tuck and vessel. Now in the vessel is part of the material needed to restore him. But the other part which is the lab is stolen. The scientist's shot but before dying he injects Tuck into Jack Putter, a hypochondriac, who feels that something is wrong with him all the time. When Tuck links himself to Jack's systems, he discovers that something happened. So they go back to the lab, and discover what happened. Now they are told that unless they retrieve the material that was stolen they won't be able to restore Tuck before his oxygen is depleted. Now the government rep decides that the only thing that matters that as long as they have the other half of the material, it is useless to the thieves. So Tuck eggs Jack to go out and find the thieves. They enlist the aid of ...

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Plot Keywords:

miniaturization | hypochondriac | trapped in a human body | heroine | male objectification | 

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Taglines:

Take a trip you'll never forget.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 July 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Viaje insólito

Filming Locations:

377 Filbert St., San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,739,000, 5 July 1987, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$25,893,810

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., The Guber-Peters Company, Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The computers in the lab display Apple 2 assembly language listing from the ROM monitor.

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Goofs

Towards the end of the movie, when Jack sneezes onto Dr. Niles' glasses, a lab tech calls for tweezers. When they are put in his hand, he approaches the lenses to retrieve the miniaturized pod, at which point you can see that the tweezers are backwards with the tweezing end pointed away from the glasses. When the scene changes to a close up they are flipped so that they work properly.

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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]

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Crazy Credits

The Special Effects credit at the end of the movie states "Mr Short's Interiors by Industrial Light and Magic".

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Connections

References Gremlins (1984)

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Soundtracks

TWISTIN' THE NIGHT AWAY
Written and Performed by Sam Cooke
Published by ABKCO MUSIC, INC.
Courtesy of RCA RECORDS

User Reviews

a nice little comedy

Why INNERSPACE was not the hit it should have been will remain a mystery for years to come. And old concept (FANTASTIC VOYAGE) is given an update with spectacular (for the time, but still good) special effects and an excellent cast. Martin Short is a real delight as a neurotic supermarket clerk who at first thinks he's possessed, only to discover that the only thing in his body is a miniaturized Navy test pilot, Dennis Quaid, who was accidently injected into him instead of a lab rabbit. Meg Ryan is cute as ever, and Robert Picardo co-stars in one of his best roles, The Cowboy. The late screenwriter Jeffrey Boam keeps the story simple but allows for some good suspense and laughs, and director Joe Dante keeps the pacing just right. The battle between Quaid and an enemy inside Short's stomach is the highlight of the film. I remember how much I wanted to be Quaid's Tuck Pendleton (and have his little pod) when I first saw the movie. The ending seems obvious for a sequel, but due to the film's surprising box office failure, it was not to be. Still, this is a really fun movie for the whole family, and I hope a Special Edition DVD is not far away.