Ahhh … the 1980’s!
What a time it was at the cineplexes in the 1980’s. A great, great many theatrical outings definitely paved the way for pushing storytelling to its creative limits. Granted, not every flick that came out in that imaginatively fertile decade was an absolute blast; and yet almost every single feature tried in its own way to bring something a bit different to life. The effects that George Lucas and Industrial Light And Magic had pioneered in the mid-1970’s were finally in expansive use; and as one trick or technique became commonplace these magicians were pushed to “find another way.” New processes were emerging almost every summer movie season; and this certainly gave audiences one fundamental reason to keep going back to these screens one feature production after another.
Sadly and surprisingly, 1987’s Innerspace was one of those efforts that didn’t resonate with moviegoers of the day. Shot on a budget of $27M (per Google.com), the Science Fiction and Fantasy Comedy produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Joe Dante couldn’t even muster enough box office clout to make back its budget; and it only really found an audience once it was kinda/sorta dumped into the home video marketplace. (Frankly, that’s not a bad thing because a great many of these lesser efforts almost always found incredible success on VHS.) Granted, the film didn’t quite have any big names (of the time) attached to it, though lead Dennis Quaid was arguably emerging as one to watch in Tinseltown. Otherwise, Martin Short and Meg Ryan were really at the cusp of becoming known commodities, so maybe this little film never quite built the momentum it needed in its theatrical run to face the competition.
However …
Fate often has something to say about hard work paying off. Despite coming and going from screens fairly quickly, Innerspace still managed to see its technical experts behind-the-camera justly rewarded for their illusions when the team scored a huge Academy Award win in the category of Best Visual Effects. Their singular ability to bring to life and inner workings of the human body astounds to this day (with only a few dated blemishes); and perhaps its this notch in the film’s belt that gave it enough spark to light the fire it did on video. Decades later, it’s still a favorite to many; so I was thrilled to crack open Arrow’s newest release to reconsider what worked and perhaps some of what didn’t.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“When a test pilot taking part in a secret miniaturization experiment is accidentally injected into a hapless store clerk, the two must work together in order to prevent the technology from falling into the wrong hands.”
Growing up as I did through the 1970’s, I can assure you that there was one place wherein families could go for entertainment: the Walt Disney Company – with its plethora of very kid-friendly motion pictures – had an impenetrable lock on what was possible and probable for theaters. And – for the uninitiated – not each and every one of these entries were animated: in fact, the fabled Mouse House put out an incredible stable of live action Comedies – a great many of them with a fantastical angle – that kept the mommies and daddies and all their little children happen to spend an afternoon in the dark before the silver screen. From musicals like Bedknobs And Broomsticks (1971) to Freaky Friday (1977), Walt Disney chiefly worked to entertain (and only entertain), never much slowing down even when a lackluster clunker or two (and there were a few) slipped into the mix. Simply put, the studio just kept them coming. Even though many of these productions are forgotten today, they were the cat’s meow – even when they were something like The Cat From Outer Space (1978) – and families just couldn’t look away.
It really wasn’t until the early 1980’s that cracks began to show in the great damn separating the Disney Company from other studios. Of course, George Lucas’s Star Wars (1977) was the first strike – one that reverberated around the world, in fact – and the 1980 follow-up – The Empire Strike Back – really set the stage for a total industry takeover for producing family-friendly fare. By the time 1982 rolled around and Spielberg released his groundbreaking E.T. The Extraterrestrial it was increasingly clear that Walt Disney no longer held the monopoly on the nuclear family; and the consumers truly benefitted from this much needed change of pace.
In the latter half of the 1980’s, the theatrical marketplace had taken on a vastly different feel than only the decade before. Gone were the serious and sometimes dour Dramas; and in their place screens were filled with frenetic action, most of which relied heavily on special effects to deliver a good portion of the entertainment. Because there was so much of it, I suspect Innerspace (1987) couldn’t quite compete solely on those merits; and it needed something a bit bigger or grander in order to resonate. Screenwriters Chip Proser and Jeffrey Boam’s throwback to obviously more physical Comedy – the kind once elevated by the likes of Jerry Lewis or the bumbling Peter Sellers – hadn’t yet found a personae that showed the level of promise required to re-ignite a fickle moviegoing crowd. 1994’s Pet Detective would eventually do that (with a young Jim Carrey); but, alas, as good as Martin Short was in the role of blundering hypochondriac Jack Putter that just wasn’t quite enough.
Still, Short definitely wasn’t known as a box office draw; and the picture – which mixed some modest science with pratfalls and a rather adult love triangle – likely lacked the interest of the true nuclear family. While Quaid, Short, and Meg Ryan mustered enough chemistry to make this dubious relationship work, it never felt relatedly organic alongside Short’s comic schtick much less Robert Picardo’s downright tomfoolery as ‘The Cowboy,’ an international arms dealer with a bad accent who looked more like he was fired as an unnecessary extra from some failed 70’s disco comedy. The narrative highs never quite meshed with the low-brow antics in Innerspace; and those few moments when it all did congeal nicely just wasn’t enough to give the effort more than a passing nod.
Like Lt. Tuck Pendleton inside his famed capsule, Innerspace shrunk in the marketplace when it should’ve grown. It wasn’t a bad experience in any measure: it just wound up being so thematically uneven that no one knew what to make of it, and there’s no greater treachery for completed art that possible misdirection. While looking good, the film brought nothing new to the adventure … but like so many 80’s flicks it’s still a welcome spot to revisit.
Innerspace (1987) was produced by Warner Bros., The Guber-Peters Company, and Amblin Entertainment. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Arrow Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure audiences that the provided sights and sounds are exceptional: the effect sequences still work very well decades later, though a few obvious miniatures might throw a viewer or two for a loop. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? This is Arrow, and they do definitely set a high standard. The archival audio commentary is the better of the two: critic Drew McWeeny’s newly-recorded one is good, but I found it a bit light in spots. Additionally, there’s a FABULOUS one-hour documentary that should be standard viewing for fans of the flick: Joe Dante and an immensely talented effects crew take the audience from start-to-finish, reflecting on what they feel they got right along the way. They even have some opinions as to why Innerspace maybe didn’t quite work back in the day, and their love for the work still shows. Lastly, there are a few other extras – much of it provided from Dante’s personal collection – so buckle up for a wild behind-the-scenes ride.
Recommended.
Critically, 1987’s Innerspace has always been a tough nut to crack for me. While it definitely stands shoulder-to-shoulder with so many other great films that emerged from the 1980’s, the script and its supporting lunacy occasionally goes a bit too far into farce for my tastes: that may not be a dealbreaker for some, but Dante tonally could’ve dialed back those few scenes and produced a more cohesive Comedy. Regardless, I’ll still insist that Innerspace arguably proved that that once-entertaining juggernaut that was the Walt Disney Company no longer had a stranglehold on Hollywood as to provided quality family fare: Warner Bros. and Amblin Entertainment – under Steven Spielberg – finally broke through that firewall and set their own fires creatively to give other studios a better chance at getting the nuclear family’s butts in the seats for good.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Innerspace (1987) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
What a time it was at the cineplexes in the 1980’s. A great, great many theatrical outings definitely paved the way for pushing storytelling to its creative limits. Granted, not every flick that came out in that imaginatively fertile decade was an absolute blast; and yet almost every single feature tried in its own way to bring something a bit different to life. The effects that George Lucas and Industrial Light And Magic had pioneered in the mid-1970’s were finally in expansive use; and as one trick or technique became commonplace these magicians were pushed to “find another way.” New processes were emerging almost every summer movie season; and this certainly gave audiences one fundamental reason to keep going back to these screens one feature production after another.
Sadly and surprisingly, 1987’s Innerspace was one of those efforts that didn’t resonate with moviegoers of the day. Shot on a budget of $27M (per Google.com), the Science Fiction and Fantasy Comedy produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Joe Dante couldn’t even muster enough box office clout to make back its budget; and it only really found an audience once it was kinda/sorta dumped into the home video marketplace. (Frankly, that’s not a bad thing because a great many of these lesser efforts almost always found incredible success on VHS.) Granted, the film didn’t quite have any big names (of the time) attached to it, though lead Dennis Quaid was arguably emerging as one to watch in Tinseltown. Otherwise, Martin Short and Meg Ryan were really at the cusp of becoming known commodities, so maybe this little film never quite built the momentum it needed in its theatrical run to face the competition.
However …
Fate often has something to say about hard work paying off. Despite coming and going from screens fairly quickly, Innerspace still managed to see its technical experts behind-the-camera justly rewarded for their illusions when the team scored a huge Academy Award win in the category of Best Visual Effects. Their singular ability to bring to life and inner workings of the human body astounds to this day (with only a few dated blemishes); and perhaps its this notch in the film’s belt that gave it enough spark to light the fire it did on video. Decades later, it’s still a favorite to many; so I was thrilled to crack open Arrow’s newest release to reconsider what worked and perhaps some of what didn’t.
(NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …)
From the film’s IMDB.com page citation:
“When a test pilot taking part in a secret miniaturization experiment is accidentally injected into a hapless store clerk, the two must work together in order to prevent the technology from falling into the wrong hands.”
Growing up as I did through the 1970’s, I can assure you that there was one place wherein families could go for entertainment: the Walt Disney Company – with its plethora of very kid-friendly motion pictures – had an impenetrable lock on what was possible and probable for theaters. And – for the uninitiated – not each and every one of these entries were animated: in fact, the fabled Mouse House put out an incredible stable of live action Comedies – a great many of them with a fantastical angle – that kept the mommies and daddies and all their little children happen to spend an afternoon in the dark before the silver screen. From musicals like Bedknobs And Broomsticks (1971) to Freaky Friday (1977), Walt Disney chiefly worked to entertain (and only entertain), never much slowing down even when a lackluster clunker or two (and there were a few) slipped into the mix. Simply put, the studio just kept them coming. Even though many of these productions are forgotten today, they were the cat’s meow – even when they were something like The Cat From Outer Space (1978) – and families just couldn’t look away.
It really wasn’t until the early 1980’s that cracks began to show in the great damn separating the Disney Company from other studios. Of course, George Lucas’s Star Wars (1977) was the first strike – one that reverberated around the world, in fact – and the 1980 follow-up – The Empire Strike Back – really set the stage for a total industry takeover for producing family-friendly fare. By the time 1982 rolled around and Spielberg released his groundbreaking E.T. The Extraterrestrial it was increasingly clear that Walt Disney no longer held the monopoly on the nuclear family; and the consumers truly benefitted from this much needed change of pace.
In the latter half of the 1980’s, the theatrical marketplace had taken on a vastly different feel than only the decade before. Gone were the serious and sometimes dour Dramas; and in their place screens were filled with frenetic action, most of which relied heavily on special effects to deliver a good portion of the entertainment. Because there was so much of it, I suspect Innerspace (1987) couldn’t quite compete solely on those merits; and it needed something a bit bigger or grander in order to resonate. Screenwriters Chip Proser and Jeffrey Boam’s throwback to obviously more physical Comedy – the kind once elevated by the likes of Jerry Lewis or the bumbling Peter Sellers – hadn’t yet found a personae that showed the level of promise required to re-ignite a fickle moviegoing crowd. 1994’s Pet Detective would eventually do that (with a young Jim Carrey); but, alas, as good as Martin Short was in the role of blundering hypochondriac Jack Putter that just wasn’t quite enough.
Still, Short definitely wasn’t known as a box office draw; and the picture – which mixed some modest science with pratfalls and a rather adult love triangle – likely lacked the interest of the true nuclear family. While Quaid, Short, and Meg Ryan mustered enough chemistry to make this dubious relationship work, it never felt relatedly organic alongside Short’s comic schtick much less Robert Picardo’s downright tomfoolery as ‘The Cowboy,’ an international arms dealer with a bad accent who looked more like he was fired as an unnecessary extra from some failed 70’s disco comedy. The narrative highs never quite meshed with the low-brow antics in Innerspace; and those few moments when it all did congeal nicely just wasn’t enough to give the effort more than a passing nod.
Like Lt. Tuck Pendleton inside his famed capsule, Innerspace shrunk in the marketplace when it should’ve grown. It wasn’t a bad experience in any measure: it just wound up being so thematically uneven that no one knew what to make of it, and there’s no greater treachery for completed art that possible misdirection. While looking good, the film brought nothing new to the adventure … but like so many 80’s flicks it’s still a welcome spot to revisit.
Innerspace (1987) was produced by Warner Bros., The Guber-Peters Company, and Amblin Entertainment. DVD distribution (for this particular release) has been coordinated by the fine folks at Arrow Films. As for the technical specifications? While I’m no trained video expert, I can still assure audiences that the provided sights and sounds are exceptional: the effect sequences still work very well decades later, though a few obvious miniatures might throw a viewer or two for a loop. Lastly, if you’re looking for special features? This is Arrow, and they do definitely set a high standard. The archival audio commentary is the better of the two: critic Drew McWeeny’s newly-recorded one is good, but I found it a bit light in spots. Additionally, there’s a FABULOUS one-hour documentary that should be standard viewing for fans of the flick: Joe Dante and an immensely talented effects crew take the audience from start-to-finish, reflecting on what they feel they got right along the way. They even have some opinions as to why Innerspace maybe didn’t quite work back in the day, and their love for the work still shows. Lastly, there are a few other extras – much of it provided from Dante’s personal collection – so buckle up for a wild behind-the-scenes ride.
Recommended.
Critically, 1987’s Innerspace has always been a tough nut to crack for me. While it definitely stands shoulder-to-shoulder with so many other great films that emerged from the 1980’s, the script and its supporting lunacy occasionally goes a bit too far into farce for my tastes: that may not be a dealbreaker for some, but Dante tonally could’ve dialed back those few scenes and produced a more cohesive Comedy. Regardless, I’ll still insist that Innerspace arguably proved that that once-entertaining juggernaut that was the Walt Disney Company no longer had a stranglehold on Hollywood as to provided quality family fare: Warner Bros. and Amblin Entertainment – under Steven Spielberg – finally broke through that firewall and set their own fires creatively to give other studios a better chance at getting the nuclear family’s butts in the seats for good.
In the interests of fairness, I’m pleased to disclose that the fine folks at Arrow Films provided me with a complimentary Blu-ray of Innerspace (1987) by request for the expressed purpose of completing this review. Their contribution to me in no way, shape, or form influenced my opinion of it.
-- EZ
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