Fantastic Voyage Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
The screen's most fantastic voyage
The most amazing science fiction ever conceived!
A Fantastic And Spectacular Voyage... Through The Human Body... Into The Brain.
Journey Into The Living Body Of A Man!
Four men and one woman on the most fantastic, spectacular and terrifying journey of their lives...
Scientist Jan Benes, who knows the secret to keeping soldiers shrunken for an indefinite period, escapes from behind the Iron Curtain with the help of CIA agent Grant. While being transferred, their motorcade is attacked. Benes strikes his head, causing a blood clot to form in his brain. Grant is ordered to accompany a group of scientists as they are miniaturized. The crew has one hour to get in Benes's brain, remove the clot and get out.
| James Brolin | Technician |
| Donald Pleasence | Dr. Michaels |
| Stephen Boyd | Grant |
| Raquel Welch | Cora |
| Edmond O'Brien | Gen. Carter |
| 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 |
| Brendan Fitzgerald | Wireless operator |
| Richard Fleischer |
6.80 out of 10 (3536 votes)
Visitor Reviews
`Grant, help! My hands are trapped! Get me out!! Get me out!!!'
posted on 28 Jul 2009`Fantastic Voyage' was the first sci-fi movie to employ psychedelic special effects. It was released in 1966 when LSD, hippiedom, and the word "groovy" took America by storm. A medical team in a far-out looking submarine are miniaturized to microscopic size and injected into a scientist's body to fix his brain. They travel through blood plasma, which resembles the inside of a lava lamp. Then they get lost in a rainbow whirlpool and have to journey through the heart, lung, and ear to find their way to the brain. Raquel Welch strips off some of her clothes in one scene, while God and Darwin lock horns in other scenes. God triumphs over Darwin in the end, and we never see Raquel get naked. Rated: GeeAlan Hale from `Gilligan's Island' was originally cast for `Fantastic Voyage', but was replaced by William Redfield. The actors that star in this film are all dead, except for Raquel Welch.
Delightful Sixties Miniaturisation Adventure Flick
posted on 19 Jun 2009In the future, miniaturisation technology has been virtually perfected. So when a key scientist receives an inoperable brain injury, a medical team in a small submarine are miniaturised and injected into his bloodstream. Their mission is to treat him from the inside, but there is an unknown saboteur amongst them ...Fantastic Voyage is one of those great how-about-this-for-an-idea science-fiction films. Not only is it visually stunning, brilliantly made and great fun to watch, it's also a fascinating lesson in human biology and physiology. The script is a bit wonky - at times it's like a mega-budget widescreen version of a daffy old schoolkids' biology class film - but the miniaturisation idea is so clever, who cares ? Where the movie really scores though is in the visuals, as the sub Proteus glides through amazing vistas; arteries, veins, lymph-nodes, pleural sacs, neural membranes. Veteran cameraman Ernest Laszlo and director Fleischer create an incredible world, with all sorts of inventive techniques - travelling-mattes, filters, actors on wires, shooting in slow motion. The special effects (by L.B. Abbot, Art Cruickshank and Emil Kosa Jr.) and the art design (by Jack Martin Smith and Dale Hennesy) are both superb, and both won Academy Awards, and there is a great tension-building atonal score by Leonard Rosenman. Like any good cult classic the film features some great mad acting - I particularly like O'Brien as the cigar-chomping, coffee-snorting general in charge of the operation, but it's also interesting to see a then-unknown Welch as the only female crew-member. And whilst Pleasence may be far too obvious casting as the villain, he is completely wonderful as the shifty Dr Michaels. This is a great piece of technical film-making, a terrific science-fiction classic and a must-see for any kid who ever wondered how the human body works.
White Blood Cells
posted on 22 Feb 2009Apparently the Proteus and Donald Pleasence are destroyed by the envelopement of white blood cells before the 60 minute time frame expires.
Good way to tie up loose ends at the finale. Solves the deminaturization problem.Moving flick for a 6 yr old at the movie theater in 1966! Widescreen mesmerizes nicely. Is this on DVD? Think I'll add this to my collection.High ratings here, if only because it takes me back to childhood. Good for youngsters to learn a bit about the human circulatory system, laser beams, and above all - fortitude in the face of disaster. I still hate hypodermic needles!
The incredible journey
posted on 02 Aug 2008This movie is superb. As a science fiction fans, i always look at movies which can create full of imagination and creativity to the audiences. The story about group of scientists shrink in a microscopic size and transport into the human body. I saw "Inner Space" too so what i think "Inner Space" is much more better and realistic than this. The effects are good but i knew that the creators of Independence day and Godzilla would like to do the remake. Should have it and probably with today's technology, you guys from the effects team can make people admired the ability of science fiction movies in the new milennium.
very imaginative
posted on 01 May 2008I saw this movie as a child and loved it. It's nearly 20 years ago and it has always stayed in my mind. It captivated my eyes. It has developped my imagination.
- After seeing this movie I 've always been thinking that there could be a whole new universe inside the things we are seeing.
- I recommend it if you like original sciences-fiction movies. - - Vincent
Good, classic SF flick
posted on 29 Mar 2008This is a good, focused, suspenseful movie, a classic in its genre and of lasting interest. Since the Good Doctor was allowed to fix plot problems, this movie is pretty tight in scientific accuracy and consistent suppositions. This sets it *way* above the typical fantasy junk the studios foist upon us as "science fiction". On a small screen (like 17" TV), the grandeur of the effects loses something, and the movie develops slow spots. Of course, the effects of 1966 appear a bit tame against current technology, but still hold up well overall. Also, this being an Asimov/1960s combination, the characters are a little shallow, as the story focuses on roles and plots more than depth of characterization. This focuses the viewer on the adventure rather than complex motivations -- the simple roles are plenty to drive the secondary plot. The casting also supports the movie well: strong, established character actors in their accustomed range. For the intended audience of adolescent male science geeks (remember: 1966), there is Raquel Welch in a white, form-fitting uniform.
Innovative basic concept, but FX extravaganza only
posted on 08 Mar 2008For its time, "Fantastic Voyage" was an innovative concept: a miniaturized atomic submarine goes on a voyage of exploration and rescue thru the human body itself. They are saving the scientist whose body they are traveling thru, by reaching his brain and curing an inoperable blood clot there.Unfortunately, beyond this promising start, the movie has little else to recommend it. You are supposed to sit there awed by the depiction of the voyage thru familiar organs of the body: heart, lung, inner ear, etc. So they have all these adventures along the way and eventually accomplish their mission. End of story. Big deal.The special effects are dated. But is it fair to criticize a 37-year-old movie for dated effects, given how FX technology continually advances? It depends.There are movies that are even older whose effects have held up much better--especially "Forbidden Planet" (1956). And classics like "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (1951) remain charmers today despite effects that had quickly become dated.The reason is that such sci-fi movies were more than just a special-effects extravaganza. They had engrossing, imaginative scripts, interesting characters, and something significant to say. The special effects supported the scripts, rather than the effects carrying the movie."Fantastic Voyage" was one of the movies that started us down this trend of weak sci-fi scripts masked by stunning effects. That's risky because as the effects inevitably become dated, the movies no longer seem worth seeing.
Didn't do much for me
posted on 09 Nov 2007I rented this on a double dvd with 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea', and I'm afraid to say I enjoyed that one much more than this one. It really had better effects, a better story and better acting than Fantastic Voyage, which is only interesting for it's main idea, a ship inside a human body.This human body is scientist Benes, who is shot (by 'the other side') and in a coma. A group of 5 (2 scientiests, one assistant, a steering man and a guard), within some sort of spaceship, are being shrunk and shot inside Benes' body, to find the injury and cure it.Sounds like a lot of fun but I was left disappointed. There isn't much going on and the voyage was trippy more than exciting. Also, we don't even see Benes waking up at the end... so did he survive or didn't he? Good thing to see Arthur O'Connell appear in it: I loved him in The Great Race!4/10.
Nice little SF movie, Raquel doing one of her patented frigid roles
posted on 10 Sep 2007OK, I have to tell this story. I went to see it, first run - 1966, on a double date. This was back in the days when you could walk in anytime and stay as long as you wanted.So, we got there, sat down and (Spoiler coming), it's almost the end of the previous showing, and I'm thinking, OK, the climax must have happened about 5 minutes earlier and this is the denouement (concluding scenes winding down).So we watch the entire movie and I realize as we get to it, that I saw the climatic scene when we first got there - they have abandoned ship (the Proteus) and are shooting through a mass of tangles and then make it through the optic nerve to the eye and are rescued. That was the climax.Was I let down. It was actually interesting to that point - even Stephen Boyd's almost wooden acting, and Raquel Welch doing her best to look all sciency and proper. It was a nice average mid-60's SF movie, nothing special, but adequate.I watched all Raquel's movies during this time - Fathom, Biggest Bundle. etc. She sure gave Jill St. John a run for iceberg queen. All show and maybe just the barest hint of double entendre's - her slightly undersized high collared uniform.Of course, Donald Pleasance made the movie, like he usually did.
Not so creative anachronism
posted on 07 Sep 2007I have recently seen parts of Fantastic Voyage, and it struck me just how backward the technology looks today. For example, Proteus Navigation systems consists of rolled up charts, and its communication system is a wireless Morse code key. They may as well be aboard Titanic. As for the purpose of the mission, that is to remove a potentially fatal blood clot from the brain of a defecting scientist, they do much the same things these days with catheters and arthroscopic surgery. The sub seemed to be over crewed as well. I suppose someone had to roll and unroll all those navigation charts. Of course even the best views of the future often collide with the actual future. Think of William Shatner with a cell phone.
Still fun but dates badly
posted on 09 Jul 2007Caught this on TV the other day,after not having seen it for ages. Was surprised at how dated it had become. Despite being set in the 90s all the characters act like they're in the 60s. I remember being terribly impressed by this when I first saw it as a kid. To some degree the special effects still work,and the art direction and sets are still as garish as I remember. The cast with the exception of the wonderfully underrated Donald Pleasance is unexceptional. Rachel Welch became a star after this movie. She was kind of the Pamela Anderson of her day. She's actually improved over the years but here she's merely a sexy distraction. Can't speak for the scientific accuracy although even when it came out many felt it was laughable.(For instance why wouldn't the molecules of the ship return to normal size even though it had been absorbed ny the antibodies?) Still the movie is still fun to watch and for that I'd give it a solid 8/10.
A trip through the human body
posted on 08 Dec 2006Fantastic Voyage is one of the more interesting sci-fi movies to be made and I found it very enjoyable.After a scientist is shot and seriously injured, the only way the cure the injury is to inject a group of fellow scientists and a mini sub and go into the human body. They enter his body and head for the brain, where the injury is, a clot. They only have 1 hour to remove this clot before they revert to normal size, so they cannot afford to lose much time. One of the scientists is a baddie though and trys to sabotage the mission towards the end, but he is killed himself and the others emerge through one of injured man's eyes.This movie has excellent special effects and gives you an idea on what the human body really is like in the inside.An excellent cast too: Stephen Boyd, a pre One Million Years BC Raquel Welch, the always excellent and creepy Donald Pleasence (Halloween, You Only Live Twice), Edmond O'Brien (DOA) and Arthur Kennedy.Fantastic Voyage is a must for all sci-fi fans. Fantastic.Rating: 5 stars out of 5.
Original SF Film still unequalled
posted on 15 Oct 2006This is still one of the most original Sci-Fi movies in film history. The "Cold-War" story and special effects and sets in the "normal-sized" sequences are a bit dated, but when miniaturization occurs and we discover the inner workings of the human body - prepare for a truly fascinating film that delivers top notch entertainment and is a lot of fun to watch in repeated viewings. A later film, Innerspace (1987) tried to achieve the same storyline with much more comedy, but this film is by far the original and the best.. try viewing this on large screen television in letterbox to get the best visuals from the film.
You're going to see things no one has ever seen before…
posted on 30 Sep 2006"Fantastic Voyage" follows a surgical team of three scientists: Dr Peter Duval, the top brain surgeon in the country (Arthur Kennedy); Cora Peterson, his technical assistant (Raquel Welch); Dr Michaels, chief of the medical mission (Donald Pleasance), plus the skipper of the ship (William Redfield) and Grant (Stephen Boyd) the security agent for security purposes... The sealed vessel—The Proteus—is reduced down by a secret branch called CMDF (Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces) and injected into one artery of a defecting Russian scientist who has suffered brain injury and he's in a coma from an assassination attempt... The crew must navigate to the scientist's brain (within exactly 60 minutes) where Dr Duval will attempt to dissolve the coagulum with a laser beam… After that everything starts growing back to its original size…"Fantastic Voyage" is a film of authentic wonder: An ocean of life, the corpuscles, the heart, the lungs of the human body through which the crew move are exquisitely designed in great detail with artistic quality...The plot creates unceasing moments of suspense as the ship and its crew are continually threatened by the scientist's natural defenses: white corpuscles, reticular fibers, antibodies and other factors… Leonard Rosenman's futuristic score nicely complements the adventure on screen with the strange sound of the human blood rushing through arteries, veins, rhythmical muscular movements, and of course, the sabotage occurred on board… With two Oscar Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction, 'Fatastic Voyage' is certainly the most unusual journey into the human body, where the 'medieval philosophers were right. Man is the center of the universe. We stand in the middle of infinity, between outer and inner space. And there's no limit to either.'
Hard to place
posted on 07 Aug 2006On one hand, this movie is absolutely incredible. The special effects, suspense, and adventuristic elements are very well done and very engaging. In general, it's definitely entertaining and fun to sit back and just allow to take you along, like the ship in the bloodstream. It also throws random thoughts about religion and philosophy out in a way that should at least be appreciated for trying to cater to an intellectual audience, I suppose...On the other hand, it has terrible dialog, pretty bad acting, one-dimensional characters, is so caught up in the Cold War, and fails to make those philosophical shout-outs mean anything.Thus, while we're thrown from one aspect of pretty well researched anatomy to another, it can take your breath away two ways: by dazzling with visuals, and by derisive laughter at the total inanity of the writing. It's just too silly to take seriously, and yet it doesn't seem to have been created to be comedic but awe-inspiring.Modern day audiences, as well, will get a good hearty chuckle at the little Intelligent Design situation. Good to know we haven't gotten any further, really, in our intelligence than when we were scared to death of Russian saboteurs.--PolarisDiB
Is there a doctor in the house?
posted on 05 Jul 2006When my sister came home from seeing Fantastic Voyage at the State Theatre in Spokane in 1966, she raved about how scary it was for the crew of scientists, miniaturized by a secret government organization to destroy a blood clot in the brain of a wounded official, to be attacked by "ant-bodies," or that's what I thought she said. Since sisters are hopelessly stupid--and even I knew there were no bodies of ants swimming around in us--I figured the movie was too. A few years later I found out how the body fights off infection--ANTIBODIES! I saw FV on ABC a few years after it came out. Boy, was I wrong about the movie (not my sister)! FV is a wonderfully exciting sci-fi adventure with all the right ingredients: Stern, bold heroes, sweating generals, a heroine with D-cups and a jump suit (Quit giggling out there; that means you, mister!), a cringing, rat-like villain, state-of-the-art special effects (ohmygosh, we've come a long way) and the coolest little radar dishes flapping back and forth around the wounded man's head.This really is one of the best examples of good science fiction I've ever seen--it's adventurous, suspenseful, weirdly believable, and those those death defying D-cups! Houston, we've got a problem!
Pretty good little film.
posted on 20 Jun 2006To answer everyone's question about how did Issac Asimov resolve the Proteus issue at the end of the movie; in his novelization of the film (which is a very good sci-fi book on its own), the sub comes out with everyone else in the teardrop along with "a very surprised white blood cell." The scene with Donald Pleasance gave me chills when I saw it as a child and having recently seen it again, it still is creepy. I think this is due to Pleasance's performance more than anything else. I do have to say that seeing Stephen Boyd being driven around the LA Sports Center (subbing for the top secret research center; they had to have everything removed by 5:30 in the afternoon the week they filmed there because sporting events were going on at night) in a golf cart seemed a bit silly but I guess that showed how important he was. With these kinds of films, one has to ignore all certain types of questions about how come this did or didn't happen when the scientists did this and just relax and enjoy it.
A classic science fiction movie about the odyssey of a submarine in the interior of a human body
posted on 28 Mar 2006A great scientist, victim of an attempt against him, is dying because of a brain coagul. His American colleagues decide to risk on a surgery from the interior of his body, thanks to a revolutionary process. A medical team on board of a submarine is miniaturized till microscopic dimensions and injected in the jugular of the wounded. Through the veins and arteries, passing by the lungs and heart, the small submarine has to arrive in brain to execute the mission with success. But there is a problem. In the submarine is a saboteur who will try everything to blow the operation off. Fantastic Voyage is one of the most famous science fiction movies of the sixties and created enormous sensation for his visual effects (won an Oscar). Today, these effects are laughable, but we have to think that they were made in a time where there were no computers. The film is an inspired fantasy of a journey to the interior of a human body. A nice movie from director Richard Fleischer with the presence of Stepen Boyd and the beauty Raquel Welch.
Fantastic Movie
posted on 27 Aug 2009This movie really set the bar as the Academy Award Winner for visual effects. The special effect were on the leading edge of the technology at that time, and still are awe-inspiring. The story had a few technical holes (which were corrected in the famed Sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov's concurrently published book), but did not detract from the pace or credibility of the story. The cast was populated from Hollywood's best with Raquel Welch for eye-candy - a trend of the times. Apparently, the scene where she was tightly wrapped in anti-bodies was particularly enjoyable for the male cast members. The special effects did not detract from the plot line, which was fast-paced with believable acting showing a great depth of drama for a sci-fi/action genre film.