Innerspace on DVD

Innerspace may have been billed as a "Steven Spielberg Presents" film, and in fact it is, but it's a Joe Dante movie through and through.

And that's good. Joe Dante makes highly entertaining films that hearken back to the things he grew up with, 50's sci fi flicks and Warner Brothers cartoons and the like. He has brought us such romps as Gremlins, Small Soldiers, Explorers and this flick, Innerspace.

The story is superficially like that of the 1960's sci fi classic Fantastic Voyage, as in it involves miniaturization and the injecting of a manned submarine into someone's bloodstream. But Innerspace plays the concept strictly for laughs, and there are plenty of laughs to be had as Navy pilot Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) tries to get out of the body that belongs to Safeway cashier Jack Putter (Martin Short) while saving the industrial secrets of the process that got him in there in the first place.

Pendleton gets injected into Jack as a desperation measure when the lab in which the experiment takes place gets attacked by the strong arms of a competing company.

Jack doesn't know Tuck is there, at first, but it doesn't take long for him to catch on. Much to the milquetoast Jack's surprise, and chagrin, Tuck has the technology not only to see and hear what Jack does, but to communicate with Jack as well - and when Jack starts hearing this disembodies voice inside his head he initially thinks he's losing it.

Actually losing it isn't much of a stretch for Jack, who's a hypochondriac to begin with, but Tuck convinces him of what's going on, dragging Jack into an outrageous comedy adventure that had us laughing out loud several times.

Dennis Quaid is good, though basically redoing his Gordon Cooper from "The Right Stuff" (a fabulous DVD as well, though not a comedy), and Martin Short is appropriately nerdy as the little guy whose life is turned upside down - yet who eventually rises to the occasion despite himself. Meg Ryan is lovely and quite convincing as Tuck's love interest - and the supporting cast of Joe Dante regulars including Robert Picardo, William Schallert, Kevin McCarthy and Dick Miller acquit themselves admirably.

The situations are absurd, the performances over the top, the special effects spectacular, and the direction is full of inside jokes and references (including some fascinating cameos by such luminaries as Chuck Jones and Kenneth Tobey) but it all works and helps Innerspace become a whole lot of fun in the home theater.

And there are some great lines. For example, Bad Guy Victor Scrimshaw (McCarthy) admonishing his dog to "Never Beg!" had us on the floor, and Tuck's laid back attitude brings us such memorable moments as "We're gonna drink this one to Ozzie. A good man who tried to save my ass by injecting me into yours."

And car nuts will love Tuck's 1967 Shelby Mustang…

Innerspace is a romp, the wild ride one would expect from Joe Dante.

The DVD's darn good, too, featuring an excellent anamorphic widescreen (16x9 TV compatible) picture that's bright and sharp and full of rich color (the Mustang's red will give your CRT's a good test). The audio is supposedly Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and, though there's very little surround used (mostly effects while Quaid's sub is inside Short), the overall quality is very good.

The box says it's an all-new 2001 digital transfer, and it shows. We wish the studios would give this type of treatment to all their DVD releases, though thanks to the old adage of "garbage in, garbage out" the source material governs the eventual DVD quality as well.

The best of the extras is a running commentary featuring director Dante backed up by his longtime producer Mike Finnell and co-stars McCarthy and Picardo along with effects whiz Dennis Muren.

You also get some limited cast/crew filmographies and the trailer.

Innerspace, from Warner Home Video
120 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital 2.0
Starring Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan, Kevin McCarthy
Produced by Michael Finnell,
Written by Jeffrey Boam and Chip Proser, Directed by Joe Dante

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