thejcowboy22 As a child I was given chores to do around the house. My least favorite chore was pulling weeds in my backyard. I would complain to my Father who would answer me this way. "See how much you can get done in an hour!" How much can one get done in an hour? When it comes to sci-fi movies, Twentieth Century Fox has it's share of Sci-Fi classic films. The Lost World, Poseidon Adventure, Logan's Run, Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green and Avatar just to name a few. Fantastic Voyage which could mean anything just by it's title alone. Could be a movie about the fifteenth century explorer's (Columbus) with his three ships floating to the new world? Maybe the movie is about the migration of the settlers in the mid Nineteenth century America? Maybe it's a film about a lost dog seeking out his or her owner? My imagination wasn't even close. Fantastic Voyage is a movie about shrinking 4 scientists to microscopic size in a submarine. Then injecting them inside a human body and do inverted brain surgery to remove a blood clot. I'm there! The concept is so fresh and out of the ordinary, just the thought of looking inside the most complex equipment ever produced by the big bang theory has my curiosity racing. Man is the center of the universe as stated by the submarine's surgeon Dr. Duvall (Arthur Kennedy). But lets backup and set up the scenario. The U.S. and Soviet Union have developed a method that can shrink matter. The power to miniaturize anything, but for only a short while. Professor Benes pronounced Banash (our injured scientist) who escaped to the west has the formula to extend the miniature process for an indefinite time. An assassination attempt and a car crash causes the elderly scientist to bang his head causing him to fall into a coma. Benes is rushed off to an underground secret complex C.M.D.F.(Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces). Grant (Stephen Boyd) was hired and briefed by General Carter (Edmund O'Brien) and Colonel Reid (Arthur O'Connell) to find out which one of the crew members will sabotage the voyage/surgery. Grant was hired as the communications officer and will handle the wireless. The Ship itself is a cute curvy vessel . Reminds of the board game called TROUBLE with the Pop O' Matic bubble which protrudes at the top of the submarine piloted by Captain Bill Owens (William Redfield). The curvaceous Raquel Welch (Cora Peterson) will handle the laser gun with Dr. Duval (Arthur Kennedy) earlier mentioned, and rounding out the crew is Dr. Michaels (Donald Pleasence) as an expert in the anatomy. The miniaturization process is a sight to behold as the special effects take center stage. The fearless crew travels from the bowels of the arteriosclerosis fistula to detour through the heart to cause cardiac arrest to the patient. Many obstacles in this journey through the human anatomy with one hour to get the job done before our crew begins to grow back to normal size. One of the most imaginative stories ever seen on the big screen. It's no wonder this movie won an Academy Award for special effects in 1966. I was 9 when I first watched this movie. The next day, as was the case in those days, when using ones own imagination rather then electronic devises to pass the time away. My friends and I would rein-act the movie. My younger sister Lori wanted to play the part of Miss Peterson and in retrospect Lori's acting job was far superior than Raquel Welch's. Watch out for the white corpuscles Sis!. We used my Father's Station wagon with the glass roof as "The Proteus". We would go as far as using Johnny Weinz's pool for scenes but what I remember most was when we finished playing out the movie my friend George turned to me and started shaking my hands and congratulating me just like the scientist at the conclusion of the movie. It just broke me up! So much accomplished in ONE HOUR!

poe-48833 Like both VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA and 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, FANTASTIC VOYAGE is set aboard a submerged craft on a perilous mission- only this time around, the journey isn't under the sea but deep inside a human brain. While many of the effects are garishly colorful and not always convincing, the movie's a lot of fun. (It would've been far more suspenseful had the inner workings of The Human Body been presented SANS the garish lighting throughout, and doing scenes taking place in Bodily Fluids should've been done in a lightless tank, at the very least.) Anyone so inclined can find George Romero's Calgon commercial online: it's a takeoff on FANTASTIC VOYAGE, with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD's Karl Hardeman doing an over the top take as a scientist; it's definitely worth hunting down.

Hitchcoc Of course, the premise is so hokey, that it's hard at time to accept it. The idea of shrinking a submarine full of people is a bit too much. Once we accept that, it is a fun trip to places unknown. The cool thing is that it is not outer space; it is inner space. The show is well researched and the what if factor is continually embraced. I'm sure scientists and medical people were brought in to factor the possibilities of encounters in the bloodstream. The antibodies should be there because of an alien presence. We are really looking through a gigantic microscope. Of course, we are also into the political issues that are in the way of trying to accomplish the mission. There is quite a host of very good actors. The script is a bit shaky, but it's OK. Overall, a creative new venture.

Parker Lewis Fantastic Voyage was way ahead of its time. It's hard to believe it was released half a century ago...50 years ago!! It still stands the test of time.Fantastic Voyage was directed by Richard "Tora! Tora! Tora!" Fleischer and the premise is intriguing and with current medical advances, you can see they may have been inspired by the premise of Fantastic Voyage.Stephen Boyd and Raquel Welch lead the impressive cast as they seek to save a guy by being miniaturized in a submarine to save a top scientist. Dr. Michaels (Donald "Halloween" Pleasence) is the villain at the end, and he dies from an attack of white cells. I wonder how Dr Michaels' obituary would read. What would be the cause of death reported?