Fantastic Voyage (1966)

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writers:

Harry Kleiner (screenplay)
David Duncan (adaptation)

Release Date:

24 August 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The screen's most fantastic voyage

Plot:

A diplomat is nearly assassinated. In order to save him, a submarine is shrunken to microscopic size and injected into his blood stream with a small crew. Problems arise almost as soon as they enter the bloodstream.

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Submarine | Tympanic Membrane | Coffee | Military

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Stephen Boyd	...	Grant
Raquel Welch	...	Cora
Edmond O'Brien	...	General Carter
Donald Pleasence	...	Dr. Michaels
Arthur O'Connell	...	Col. Donald Reid
William Redfield	...	Capt. Bill Owens
Arthur Kennedy	...	Dr. Duval
Jean Del Val	...	Jan Benes
Barry Coe	...	Communications Aide
Ken Scott	...	Secret Service
Shelby Grant	...	Nurse
James Brolin	...	Technician
Brendan Fitzgerald	...	Wireless Operator

Also Known As:

Microscopia
Strange Journey
Die phantastische Reise (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Le voyage fantastique (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Viagem Fantástica (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Den fantastiska resan (Sweden) [sv]
Den fantastiske rejse (Denmark) [da]
El viaje fantástico (Venezuela) [es]
En fantastisk resa (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Fantastiko taxeidi (Greece) [el]
Fantastinen matka (Finland) [fi]
Fantastyczna podróz (Poland) [pl]
Fantasztikus utazás (Hungary) [hu]
Viaggio allucinante (Italy) [it]
Viaje alucinante (Spain) [es]

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild violence and language.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) | Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #20942) (original rating) | Canada:G (video rating) | Portugal:M/6 | Australia:G | Finland:K-12 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Exposition Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

As a college student, director Richard Fleischer was a pre-med student for a time.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The crewmen reported before the sterilization procedure that Benes' heart rate was 32 beats per minute and it was his respiration that was 6 breaths a minute. But even so, these heart rates were still inconsistent.

Quotes:

General Carter: [after the briefing before the mission] Any questions?
Grant: Yes. When can I catch the next train back to town?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Mighty Boosh: Journey to the Centre of the Punk (#3.2)" (2007)

And What A Trip It Is!

This film was originally introduced to me at about 8 or 9 years of age on a Saturday afternoon and it quickly became a favorite of mine. This film tells the story of a brilliant scientist who is injured on his way to offer the U.S. military some much needed info for miniaturizing people and objects and allowing them to stay in the miniature state beyond the now 60 minute time limit the military is faced with. With a top-notch cast that includes; Stephen Boyd, Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence and Raquel Welch as the medical Dr.'s and scientists that are miniaturized and injected into the scientists body in an effort to repair a wound that can't be fixed through the usual means. The effects in this film are truly amazing and make for a lot of fun as the sub/crew journey through the body and face problems along the way, especially as they are attacked as foreign bodies by the scientist's own natural defense system. If you haven't had the pleasure of seeing this little gem, by all means find it and rent it and if it's been a while, why not revisit this film, I'm amazed at how well it stands up, even after almost 40 years since it's release.