Seen: July 1st, 2007
Format: DVD
Rating: 7
I am ashamed to admit that I'd never seen this film until now. I was a big fan of Science fiction as a kid and remain so today. I heard more people talk about this, in awe when I was a kid, and with nostalgia and ridicule as I got older. I kept meaning to see it, but kept missing it or watching something else.
I'm not disappointed.
Unfortunately the plot had been spoiled long ago for me, so tension was lacking in a few key spots. But overall, I really enjoyed this. There are many ideas expressed here that have aged remarkably well. While the take on technology is forty years old, it's representation still holds up.
Part of the reason for this is the attention to detail taken by the writers and designers. The handling of the miniature Proteus, while a bit tedious, demonstrates this well. This process should be tedious due to its delicate nature, degree of precision and danger to the crew.
The acting here is good. While there are no stunning performances, they do tend to serve the story well. With the exception of Grant, the characters aren't particularly well rounded, but they each have their function and tend to be complete within the realm they occupy. Grant is the wild-card and Stephen Boyd plays him a touch understated. This is good choice; he leads by example instead of with his ego.
The real star of this picture is the effects, though. Again, there is a lot of effort put into making this as accurate as possible. While the sets and effects may seem primitive today, they still convey the experience well. They were very difficult to accomplish at the time, requiring a great deal of imagination on the part of the effects team. Fantastic Voyage may mark the genesis of the modern effects movie.
This is a hallmark film for the Science Fiction genre. While the actual science themes become subservient to the drama, effects and action (something that plagues almost all films in this genre) the film works well as a whole. It was a revolutionary work in its time and isn't too anachronistic to be enjoyed today.
The Good: Good Science Fiction with awesome effects in the pre-CGI world
The Bad: Too easy to spot the bad guy.
The Ugly: Antibodies get a bad rap
No comments:
Post a Comment