Fantastic Voyage [DVD] [1966]

This is one of those movies I remember as a child watching on t.v and being caught up in all the action and special effects, sometimes memories of a childhood film are better left alone and revisiting them years later can have a detrimental effect on the movie (looking at you Labyrinth) this film however thankfully is not one of those films. Yes sure the special effects arent so "Special" anymore however, like many films from days gone by it has a charm that still shines through. The picture quality is great and the sound is too, for a good old fashioned sci fi film this is definitely one to get and watch on a sunday afternoon. Great film

At the time when I first saw this as a kid it blew my mind. It was original and imaginative. We had already been wowed by The Incredible Shrinking Man (also original in its day). But this was the first time on the big screen that a movie maker dared to explore the inner space of a human body (to my knowledge at least). There is no point comparing the special effects to today's. It was brilliant in its time and the effects are still impressive, not least in their overall design and the sense of wonder that they convey despite their obvious shortcomings. The Blu-ray version is a treat and enjoyed watching the movie again after decades of not seeing it. Great purchase.

I'm not a doctor and biology wasn't my strongest subject at school but for a sci fi film from the 60s about shrinking a submarine and injecting it into a human body so it can perform medical operations from the inside this film actually seemed like a sensible and realistic expression of a completely unrealistic concept. The acting is strong, the effects look good and hold up pretty well.What strikes me the most is that as a film viewer watching in 2015 after seeing Interstellar and Moon and other recent 'now or near future' sci fi films with their huge budgets and top quality CGI effects, I found myself getting sucked into this film and NOT laughing at the sets or the practical effects or the overly obvious green screen. The film has a long surviving quality about it that I hope continues to last because despite the moments of cheesiness and points in the plot where the characters survive because they just get lucky, this is a fun film and as far as I'm concern a classic of sci fi.

EXCELLENT! One of best SF/adventure films ever and a real monument of cinema! I always LOVED this 1966 film and recently I was happy to confirm, that it didn't age AT ALL and is still a great watch! Below, more of my impressions, with some limited SPOILERS.Cold War. United States and the Soviet Union are both intensely working on technology of miniaturization of matter by shrinking individual atoms. Czech scientist Jan Benes, working under duress for the Soviets, made a great breakthrough, but doesn't want Moscow to have this technology. With the help of the CIA, he escaped to the West, but an attempted assassination leaves him comatose with a nearly impossible to remove blood clot in his brain.The only way to save his life is to operate from INSIDE his skull. It is decided to use the experimental miniaturization technology to reduce a small submersible, the "Proteus" as well as its crew, and introduce it into Benes body. The crew must then bring "Proteus" into Benes brain, remove the clot and evacuate before the miniaturization ends - indeed, at that time it is possible to miniaturize things and people just for 60 minutes...An ad hoc team is assembled for this mission: Captain Bill Owens (William Redfield) - pilot; Dr. Michaels (Donald Pleasence) - mission medical commander; Dr. Peter Duval (Arthur Kennedy) - brain surgeon; Cora Peterson (Raquel Welch) - assistant to the brain surgeon. Last but not least there is also CIA agent Charles Grant (Stephen Boyd), who is there - well, initially, we don't know why, but it will quickly turn out it was a good idea to place him on board... All that takes care of about ten first minutes of the film - and then the fantastic voyage begins and I will say nothing more...This is an almost perfect SF/adventure film, one of the best ever made! The vision of inside of human body as an alien, unknown universe is glorious and even today, after almost 50 years, makes a certain impression. For its technical aspect this film got two Oscars (Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects) and there is no question that they were TOTALLY DESERVED! The all shattering power of human heart, lungs hurricanes, earquakes (yes, you read well, it is NOT a typo) as well as merciless wars of extermination waged in this innerspace - all of this still connects with the viewer BIG TIME. And then there is of course the fact that human beings, once removed from their comfort zone, find quite quickly that all masters of creation that they may be, for some... well, things... they are just a new and welcome source of yummy proteins...))) As all not yet fully explored and mapped territories, the inside of human body also has "HERE BE DRAGONS" warning written on some more remote corners...Even if in principle Stephen Boyd, whose character is the muscle, security and counter-intelligence guy, was supposed to be the main star of the film, he is frequently outstaged by actors playing other members of the crew, especially one of greatest Hollywood workaholics extraordinaires, Donald Pleasance (the other one was Ernest Borgnine). Raquel Welch shapes are also used to the greatest possible extent (she keeps putting and taking off her diving suit).The scenario is strong, characters act mostly rationally, there are some twists (some of them really surprising and cruel) and as the clock is ticking, there is a real suspense in this film. The crew of "Proteus" faces many great dangers and must use some fast thinking to survive and accomplish their mission and it is not so easy to immediately find some plot holes. This scenario should be studied by present day Hollywood writers - they could learn A LOT from it...Another thing you must know before watching this film - THERE WILL BE BLOOD! In fact even more, this is LITERALLY the most drenched in haemoglobin movie EVER! OK, I stop here. Sorry for that, I couldn't resist...)))Once again, this is a VERY GOOD SF/adventure film, old but NOT AGED one little bit! I tried once to imagine how a modern remake would look - and I shivered in terror... Thanks God nobody ever dared to take another shot at this masterpiece - and let it stay that way. BUY IT, SEE IT, KEEP IT and never let it go. ENJOY!

This film is well worth watching. Anything and everything could go wrong in this film. Someone is trying to stop this mission. DP is the one person who is trying to stop the others from operating on a man who knows how to extend miniturisation. Who will win DP or the other 4 scientisists. Watch to find out. A brilliant film. My views are genuine and not fake. PC. 26. 10. 2020.