Warner Bros. Pictures
By the time director Joe Dante made Innerspace in 1987, he was already something of an auteur who had his own cinematic language that told you immediately that you were watching a Joe Dante film. Starting with Dante’s first feature in 1976, Hollywood Boulevard, you could see his signature style on every film leading up to Innerspace, including Piranha, The Howling, the third segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie, Gremlins, Explorers and his two episodes of Amazing Stories. (Not to mention some of the films that came afterwards like The ‘Burbs, Amazon Women on the Moon, Gremlins 2: The New Batch and the criminally overlooked Matinee.)
Dante had a remarkable resumé during those nine years leading up to Innerspace, and those successes coupled with his relationship with Warner Brothers and Steven Spielberg, helped him finally get the movie made. In fact, the movie bounced around several studios, and very well could have ended up as a straight science fiction film akin to Fantastic Voyage if it hadn’t ended up with Dante and Spielberg, and now it is regarded as a comedy classic … even though audiences at the time assumed it was just a sci-fi movie (Dante calls the movie a cartoon).
Innerspace is filled to the brim with bits and pieces of many film genres including sci-fi, screwball comedy, romantic comedy, buddy movies and espionage thriller, and Dante manages to blend them all pretty seamlessly. The story focuses on Air Force Lt. Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid), a charmer with a big mouth and some bad habits, and investigative journalist Lydia Maxwell (Meg Ryan in her first big movie role) who tries to run away from him but keeps getting pulled back in by his charm.
Tuck is chosen to be a lab rat of sorts for a new experiment that will miniaturize him and a rather clunky pod to then be injected into a living test subject to study and ultimately treat any internal ailments. The subject is a rabbit, named Bugs. But an evil corporation known as Vectorscope, invades the military lab to steal the technology and Tuck once he’s miniaturized, but a doctor manages to escape. Before he’s shot by a Vectorscope henchman, he injects Tuck into a hapless, neurotic bystander, Jack Putter (Martin Short), who has just been told by his doctor that he needs complete rest and no excitement.
Once Tuck figures out that he’s not in Bugs and devises a way to communicate with Jack, Jack’s life becomes anything but relaxing as he first thinks the voice in his head is his own neuroses (or demonic possession), and then understands what has happened once he tracks down Lydia, and Vectorscope tracks him down. Screwball mayhem ensues with Short getting to do what Short does best (in only his second major film since his SCTV days — ¡Three Amigos! was the first).
Short gives a remarkable performance interacting with Quaid considering they never share a scene together until the very end. The secret to the success of both his and Quaid’s performances was that Dante insisted they both be on set to run their lines with the other actor to give the scenes that realism and not feel disjointed. Dante also allowed the actors to improvise much of their dialog when they all felt a scene, as written, could have been better.
In addition to the cast, Dante has a couple of behind-the-scenes stars to thank for the film’s success: Industrial Light and Magic, which won an Oscar for the film’s miniature effects work (all done with models long before the advent of photo-realistic CGI), and makeup master Rob Bottin (with whom Dante worked on The Howling), who contributed one of the film’s most astonishing, cartoonish sight gags.
Another way you can have a pretty good clue you’re watching a Joe Dante film is by the talent in front of the camera. Not necessarily the leads, but the bit players and cameos Dante always infused his films. Dick Miller, whom Dante calls his good luck charm and has been in every Dante film, appears as a cab driver. If you see Dick Miller, it’s a good chance you’re watching a Joe Dante movie. But there are other familiar faces as well including Kathleen Freeman (The Penguin in The Blues Brothers), Vernon Wells (Wez in The Road Warrior) as bad guy Mr. Igoe, animator Chuck Jones and character actor Rance Howard (Ron’s father) as grocery store customers, and Short’s former SCTV co-stars Joe Flaherty and Andrea Martin as patients in his doctor’s waiting room. Dante favorites Kevin McCarthy and Robert Picardo also have co-starring roles. It’s just as much fun picking out the familiar faces as it is watching the movie.
Presented on Blu-ray for the first time, the folks at Warner Home Entertainment have done a spectacular job of spiffing up the film for high def (just have a look at the included trailer — in standard definition — to see the difference). The newly transferred 1080p AVC-encoded Blu-ray, approved by Dante and Amblin Entertainment, looks spectacular for a film of this vintage, especially considering the varying lighting from scene to scene and the myriad effects shots, both composited and in-camera, that had to be upscaled for Blu-ray. Bright scenes are nice and sharp, the dark scenes inside Tuck’s pod have solid, deep blacks, and minute detail is visible throughout with a very fine film grain. The disc is also a BD-50 which allowed Warner to give the encode a very high bit rate for the best image possible.
The film was originally released in Dolby Surround and there was also a 6-track mix for special 70mm engagements. The Blu-ray contains a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track but it is unclear which audio track was used for this release (most likely the same one on the 2002 DVD but with a new lossless mix). The surrounds kick in mainly when there is activity with the pod, and also emphasizes the wonderful score by Jerry Goldsmith that goes from romantic to wacky without ever missing a beat. (Note that some users of some Sony Blu-ray players have experienced a persistent crackling every few minutes. I did not experience the same issue with my LG Blu-ray player).
The Blu-ray extras are the same as on the 2002 DVD, including a commentary track with Dante, producer Mike Finnell, FX supervisor Dennis Muren and actors Kevin McCarthy and Robert Picardo. Dante and Finnell can recall many details from the film’s production including what scenes were ad-libbed, and Muren chimes in on the effects and how they were achieved and the pros and cons of today’s CGI revolution. McCarthy speaks a bit about his role and Picardo joins the group halfway through the movie. The original theatrical trailer is also included.
While some things in the movie — like Meg Ryan’s wardrobe and hairstyles — have not aged well at all, as a whole the comedy still holds up remarkably well with an almost timeless quality. If you’ve never seen the movie, this new Blu-ray release is the way to go. And if you’re a fan, you probably already have your copy in hand (the Blu-ray was released August 4). Innerspace is a funny, romantic, action-packed movie that is ready to be enjoyed by longtime fans and a new generation.
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