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Innerspace (1987)

Zulu Romeo

Zulu Romeo

World Famous Starship Captain
Admiral
Is it just me, or are there a huge number of Innerspace fans here on the BBS?

To me, it's the ultimate entertaining 80s comedy adventure flick. Bonkers sci-fi premise (updating "Fantastic Voyage" - a film that influenced me like no other - for the VCR generation), larger-than-life characters (from Mr. Igoe to The Cowboy :guffaw:), and Quaid and Short have never been better.

Besides, any film featuring Robert Picardo in skimpy underwear and a silly accent and great one-liners ("Women... love me.... but you know that!") has to be worthy of your attention. :scream: :bolian:

For me, forget Gremlins, this was Joe Dante's finest hour. :D
 
Absolutely agree, bloody fantastic film! It's got everything! Excitement! Comedy! Things that where exciting and impressive in the 80s that are now not as exiciting and impressive! Silly Robert Picardo! Melting baddies with stomach acid! Baddies with odd corner offices in warehouses! Facetwitching from hell! Dennis Quaid! Cute Meg Ryan! Jerry Goldsmith score that I've been hunting for a while!

I surely do love it :D
 
There was a period in 87-88 where I was damn near obsessed. I'd perster my parents to rent it every time we stopped by the video store.
 
I have to get the dvd i've only seen the tv edits

"I'll be a son of a BUCK i'm in a strange man!"

the early CGI,inner body work was great. I wanted a toy of Quaid's pod!

How weird is it to be eating food(looked like Chicken Nuggets) when your inside a person? :wtf:
 
I just got this on DVD the other day. Used to always be on TV in my youth but I haven't seen it for years
 
I like it too. We should have many more films made in the same style.

Hopefully, one day, film producers will see the light. :)
 
I think the hardest genre in films to make, a form that hasn't been mastered, is the "bubble-gum" movie, and not bubblegum as in a negative thing. Films that might not really be based on comic books but are nonetheless comic-booky, aware of their own distance from reality, and while they have lots of action, they are also funny with out being full spoofs.

Here are some example of films that tried. Not all succeeded, but it seems to be a rarer thing these days:

Innerspace
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins
Hudson Hawk (unfortunately, much of this film was too over the top, but I think certain scenes nailed exactly what I'm talking about. My favorite part is when Hawk meets the candy bars in the Roman Square, the scene starts with the phone booth and ends with "thanks Yogi." One of the most twisted and entertaining two minutes of film ever. Also, how can you not like the Pope annoyed that he can't watch Mr. Ed!)
 
Tuln said:
I think the hardest genre in films to make, a form that hasn't been mastered, is the "bubble-gum" movie, and not bubblegum as in a negative thing. Films that might not really be based on comic books but are nonetheless comic-booky, aware of their own distance from reality, and while they have lots of action, they are also funny with out being full spoofs.
Click to expand...


I can relate to that.

It's a solid story. We know where the story is heading. The progress to the conclusion is consistent and steady. There's no dead areas in the film, and it isn't one of those annoying films where everything happens in the last 5 minutes.

Innerspace has comedy, but it isn't forced down your throat. It's all passive and indirect, which is how comedy should be. There's no direct jokes, so there's no time that it prompts us to "laugh now", which is also good. Forced humour isn't humour.

But it's a difficult comedy balance: taking itself serious enough to not be spoofy, but not taking itself so seriously that the it stops being light hearted and fun.

In the centre of the film we've got:

A hypochondriac -- okay :)

...with a miniaturised human pod inside him -- it's okay. it' sci-fi :)

...being kidnapped by a cigar smoking camp guy with a pure white suit and a fur coat. -- that's okay, it's just his way. :)

...in a meat truck -- it's okay, it happened to be there at the right time to be stolen. :)

...driven by a mute hit man -- he's cool :cool:

...with a fake hand that has gun and blow torch attachments -- :lol:

...who listens to angel of death -- doesn't really fit, but never mind


But all in all, in retrospect, that's just absurd.

You see a recipe here for how to make similar films?
 
It is a great film:)

Picked it up on dvd a few months ago. I do think Robert Picardo does look a bit odd in it though:lol:
 
I agree with everything said in this thread. IMHO, this is Dante's best film. It remains infinitely entertaining and I consider it one of those 80's Amblin classics they don't make anymore (see BTTF, Gremlins, Goonies, etc.).

This film is just full of little fun moments. Some of my favorites include everything in the supermarket ("Smell this."), the wide shot which reveals Scrimshaw's office is just a corner in a warehouse, Martin Short dancing to Sam Cook (re-enacted for the video camera by my brother and I when we were younger), and the henchman who keeps fainting.

I. Love. This. Movie. It's a shame Goldsmith's score isn't available (legally, anyway) but I'm hoping Intrada or Film Score Monthly gets to it one day. :)
 
Great movie from way back when Meg Ryan was such a sweetheart (and before all of that awful cosmetic work).
 
Yeah Meg Ryan was really cute back then. Joe Versus the Volcano is another one of those bubblegum 80s movies. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, pure gold. I think JVtV, Innerspace, BTTF1,2,3, Ghostbusters, Short Circut, Iron Eagle and the Last Starfighter were some of my favorite movies growing up in the 80s. Movies which seem really cheesy now, were golden back then and still fun to watch now.
 
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