Innerspace

"An adventure of incredible proportions."

1987 2h 0m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 1,474

ActionComedyScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Test pilot Tuck Pendleton volunteers to test a special vessel for a miniaturization experiment. Accidentally injected into a neurotic hypochondriac, Jack Putter, Tuck must convince Jack to find his ex-girlfriend, Lydia Maxwell, to help him extract Tuck and his ship and re-enlarge them before his oxygen runs out.

“An adventure of incredible proportions.”

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Cast

Dennis Quaid
Lt. Tuck Pendleton
Martin Short
Jack Putter
Meg Ryan
Lydia Maxwell
Kevin McCarthy
Victor Eugene Scrimshaw
Fiona Lewis
Dr. Margaret Canker
Vernon Wells
Mr. Igoe
Robert Picardo
The Cowboy
Wendy Schaal
Wendy

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Joe Dante
Writers: Jeffrey Boam, Chip Proser, Chip Proser
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 96% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

39 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Joe Dante, shot by Andrew Laszlo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Original score by Jerry Goldsmith. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kent Beyda shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Dennis Quaid and Martin Short and Meg Ryan carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "An adventure of incredible proportions.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0093260 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joe Dante directs. Andrew Laszlo behind the camera. Jerry Goldsmith scores. Kent Beyda cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 96% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
239 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Joe Dante, shot by Andrew Laszlo. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Jerry Goldsmith. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Kent Beyda shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Dennis Quaid and Martin Short and Meg Ryan carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "An adventure of incredible proportions.".
8IMDB entry: tt0093260 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Andrew Laszlo
Original score: Jerry Goldsmith
Editing: Kent Beyda
Production design: James H. Spencer
Costume design: Rosanna Norton
Makeup / hair: Rob Bottin
VFX supervisor: Dennis Muren
Sound: Elliot Tyson
Stunt coordinator: Glenn Randall Jr.
Runtime: 120 min · 2h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $27,000,000
Box office: $25,900,000
Return: 96% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Innerspace (1987)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Joe Dante

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-05-26
★ 8/10
Eat Me - Drink Me Innerspace is directed by Joe Dante and written by Jeffrey Boam and Chip Proser. It stars Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan and Kevin McCarthy. Music is by Jerry Goldsmith and cinematography by Andrew Laszlo. A hapless hypochondriac store clerk battles to save the life of the man who, miniaturized in a secret experiment, was accidentally injected into him. The premise is of course absurd, but everyone involved knows this and proceed to entertain with a mixture of thrills, spills and a good old fashioned good versus bad value. Narrative is based around the race against time thematic as miniaturised Tuck Pendleton (Quaid) fights from within the body of Jack Putter (Short). He has to keep Jack out the hands of crooks who are after the secrets of the miniaturisation process, whilst simultaneously being on a clock before he runs out of air - or fall prey to Jack's anti-bodies system etc. Dante strings together some terrific set pieces, while the realisation of the inside of the human body is smartly staged. Cast are on hugely engaging form, with the central relationship between Quaid and Short a pure joy and mined for constant laugh and peril tactics. The dual aspect is niftily handled by Dante and his crew, with the battle within Jack's body running concurrently with Jack's battles out in the real world. What wonderful sci-fi froth this is, as Dante has a blast of a time with the effects tools to hand to take the concept of Fantastic Voyage and make a top line action comedy adventure. Great soundtrack too! 8/10
Filipe Manuel Neto2023-09-04
★ 7/10
A funny, effective and familiar comedy that deserves to be brought back from obscurity. This is one of those “no bones” comedies that we can watch with the whole family without any fear of embarrassing or inappropriate scenes for kids or deeply critical grandparents. It's a film from the 80s, quite dated, but that's not a problem for people like me, who actually like old films. The story is very good and revolves around an experiment that goes wrong and involves the miniaturization of a ship with a human occupant, which should be introduced into a laboratory rabbit: when the laboratory is robbed by bandits who want to steal that technology, one of the scientists escapes and ends up injecting the liquid containing the ship into the body of an inadvertent citizen. What happens next is quite hilarious. Dennis Quaid does a decent job as the ship's pilot, a daring combat aviator who volunteers for the experiment. I thought that the actor doesn't leave his comfort zone, he doesn't have a complicated task, and he just brags. Better than him, Martin Short shone as the fearful and shy man who, by chance, was dragged into that mess after being injected against his will. The actor managed to give the character an interesting evolutionary arc, where the character gradually gains more confidence and an adventurous spirit. Meg Ryan has the worst material: she just needs to be attractive and look scared. Joe Dante deserves a shoutout for the work he did on this film. He's not a director I know very well, but I think this film is in line with what he likes to do most. The film may not be the most scientifically rigorous in the world (never, I believe, has the scientific community thought of anything similar to miniaturizing objects or people), but it makes up for it with humor and an unpretentious and good-natured spirit. The effects team did an excellent job, whether in the moments in which the ship is miniaturized or in the filming inside the human organism, where the realism is well achieved.