One of those all-time classics that has been spoofed so many times that I effectively already knew the entire plot before my first viewing. 'Fantastic Voyage' takes us on a lavish and self-serious adventure into inner space - the human body. It was directed by Richard Fleischer (and the book of the film, which fixes many of the plot holes, written by Isaac Asimov!) and stars Stephen Boyd, Edmond O'Brien, and Donald Pleasence. And Raquel Welch.
That's what turns a mediocre voyage into a fantastic voyage!
First, I'd like to mention the opening titles. They're awesome, and so sleek and imaginatively done that if I to have guessed I would say that they were from a movie from the late 70s or 80s. Shots of medical equiptment with overlays of timers and such, set to tense ticking music that as the titles are typed out. It all fits perfeectly together, and immediatey got my attention.
My attention remained, though it was strained occasionally, throughout. At times the pacing is slow, but this is understandable as its such an old movie. The shots are all beautiful, which makes up for it. In fact; every set is so well done, the design is excellent, and the moving parts come together nicely. Once we enter into the body the effects used become a little iffy to modern eyes, but still hardly laughable. A lot of these sets were really built, and many of them were HUGE. Like, seriously, as big as they look in the movie? That's how big they were. Football pitch sized things, often.
And while there are a few plot holes, they're mostly to do with the whole leaving shit behind that's going to expand thing. The actual anatomy stuff is spot on (and the details left out were left out because they hadn't yet been discovered). It was fun seeing them shoot along through an artery and land on a mass of skin cells. The factual exposition gets a little clunky now and then, however.
Other than that though the acting is fairly flawless. Some lines are mumbled and some of the monologues seem a little jerk-offy, but overall the script and the actors were spot on. A seriousness pervades the movie, in the acting and the story. It could have been played as a goofy drama, but with all the Cold War elements it's more grounded, which I think worked to the movie's benefit.
Fantastic Voyage: 73.0