Revisiting INNERSPACE in 4K

INNERSPACE Limited Edition (4K UHD)

Also available on Blu-ray

1987 / 120 min

Arrow Video

Review by Princess Pepper😺

Back in the ‘80s, director Joe Dante was never a household name, though his films reflected a style and tone that were distinctive among all the big studio blockbusters being made at the time. They often displayed quirky humorous touches and cultural allusions you typically didn’t see in high-concept summer fare. While not always hits, most are fondly remembered these days by those who grew up on them.

The sci-fi comedy, Innerspace, is certainly not Dante’s best film. That honor will always go to Gremlins (though I’d listen to arguments in favor of Matinee). With hindsight though, this might be the one movie that benefits the most from having him in the director’s chair. Otherwise, it likely would’ve ended up being just another studio product with Steven Spielberg’s name above the title for marquee value. Sure, Spielberg ‘presents’ this one (serving as executive producer) and it certainly has a similar aesthetic. But without Dante’s amusing approach (and Jeffrey Boam’s re-writes), it might’ve been little more than a rip-off of Fantastic Voyage with better special effects.

Worse yet, we'd have been denied all those unique character moments featuring familiar faces Dante loves putting in his movies, such as Kevin McCarthy, Dick Miller, Chuck Jones, Wendy Schaal, Henry Gibson and especially Robert Picardo, whose hilarious performance as “The Cowboy” is one of the film’s highlights. The story itself is interesting and the primary cast of Dennis Quaid, Martin Short and Meg Ryan do a decent job competing with the special effects (though I never personally found Short all that funny). It does drag on a little longer than necessary, however, exacerbated somewhat by a main protagonist, Tuck Pendleton (Quaid), that isn’t particularly likable.

"Sorry...most people enjoy my Katherine Hepburn."

But that’s just me. Like a few other Joe Dante films from the ‘80s that didn’t initially set the world on fire, there’s undoubtedly that core of fans who consider Innerspace to be a lost classic. For them, this 4K limited edition release from Arrow Video is definitely worth picking up. In addition to an solid overall video restoration and three audio options (including a newly remixed Dolby Atmos track), there’s an hour-long retrospective documentary among the supplements, as well as some archival material and a few physical goodies (the latter of which were not made available to review). Now, if someone would just give Gremlins the same amount of love.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review. 

SHRINKAGE: THE MAKING OF INNERSPACE is a new retrospective documentary featuring interviews with director Joe Dante, actor Robert Picardo, producer Michael Finnell, FX artists Dennis Muren, Harley Jessup & Bill George. Running nearly an hour, a majority of it is related to the special effects, though Dante does discuss how he came to direct it, while Picardo provides a few amusing anecdotes.

FEATURETTES - Behind the Scenes with Joe Dante includes on-set footage; Behind the Scenes at ILM includes production footage related to the special effects.

2 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By critic Drew McWeeny (I think I ordered one of those from McDonalds once); 2) By  director Joe Dante, actors Robert Picardo & Kevin McCarthy, producer Michael Finnell, FX supervisor Dennis Muren

ORIGINAL STORYBOARDS

CONTINUITY & BEHIND THE SCENES POLAROIDS

POSTER, PROMO & PRODUCTION STILLS GALLERIES

TRAILER