Director Joe Dante’s comedic take on FANTASTIC VOYAGE, and the film he made in between EXPLORERS (1985) and THE ‘BURBS (1989), is getting a 4K UHD and Blu-ray release from Arrow.
Washed up pilot Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) agrees to take part in a miniaturisation experiment in which he, inside a special submersible, is going to be injected into a rabbit called Bugs (well, this is a Warner Bros. picture after all). However, bad guy Victor Scrimshaw (Kevin McCarthy) and bad girl Margaret Canker (Fiona Lewis) plan to steal the miniaturisation technique so shifty character The Cowboy (Robert Picardo on top silly voiced form) can sell it to the highest bidder. When the robbery goes wrong Tuck ends up injected into supermarket assistant manager and hypochondriac Jack Putter (Martin Short). Will Jack listen to the voice that is now actually in his head and help Tuck get back to normal size?
According to a number of the (very good) extras on this disc, INNERSPACE started life as a straight idea but thanks to a complete rewrite by Jeffrey Boam (THE DEAD ZONE) and the efforts of all concerned, it became on Oscar-winning (for its special effects) comedy. While the script is funny and Joe Dante is no stranger to making things entertaining the real key to the success of INNERSPACE is its cast, especially Quaid and Short who only have one scene together but nevertheless have a dialogue chemistry that sparkles. The part of ‘the girl’ is played by Meg Ryan just before she got famous and her star quality is obvious as well. Combine that with familiar faces from the Dante repertory company and cult film fans will have a ball.
Arrow’s disc comes with two commentary tracks. The first is from 2002 and features Dante, producer Michael Finnell, VFX master Dennis Muren, and actors Picardo and McCarthy. Think you’re good at spotting Dante’s in-jokes? Well there are some here that completely passed me by but they’re all pointed out in this engagingly chatty track. Author and critic Drew McWeeny provides a brand new commentary that is as respecting of Dante’s work as it is enthusiastic and provides a nice ‘fan’ track to go alongside the film-makers’ one.
Other extras include a brand new hour-long making of featuring Dante, Finnell, Muren, Picardo and others where some of the material from the commentary is understandably repeated, while the VFX are gone into in greater illustrative detail. There’s 24 minutes of Joe Dante’s personal behind the scenes footage from the film and 20 minutes of footage from ILM. You also get storyboard galleries, continuity polaroids, production stills and a poster gallery. Arrow’s limited edition also comes with a booklet with new writing on the film, a double sided poster and reversible sleeve.
Joe Dante’s INNERSPACE is out on 4K in individual UHD and Blu-ray editions on Monday 27th April 2026
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