{"id":33416,"date":"2026-04-27T16:06:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T23:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=33416"},"modified":"2026-04-27T16:06:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T23:06:47","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-review-innerspace-1987","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=33416","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! 4K Ultra HD Review: INNERSPACE (1987)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release from Arrow\nVideo is available on April 28th<\/sup>, 2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you grew up in the 1980s, you likely saw a great many\nscience-fiction pictures at the theater or on VHS. Of course, the Star Wars<\/em>\nseries was part of the reason, along with Back to the Future, Ghostbusters,\nE.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, The Last Starfighter, Labyrinth, Spaceballs, Bill\n& Ted\u2019s Excellent Adventure<\/em>, and too many others to list here (and\nthose are just the family-friendly efforts). One of the movies that didn\u2019t make\nas big of an impact\u2026 at least, initially\u2026 was the criminally underrated Innerspace<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The director, Joe Dante, had helmed the box office smash Gremlins<\/em>,\nbut was just coming off of another excellent title that had underperformed at\nthe box office, Explorers<\/em> (1985). Innerspace<\/em> was seen by all\ninvolved as a likely critical and commercial success. It ultimately did okay at\nthe box office, but didn\u2019t end up being as nearly as popular as expected. But\nat least the film won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and became a hit\non VHS, building its audience over the following years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Arrow Video is presenting a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra\nHD release of the movie (a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is also available) with a\nfantastic restored picture that really impresses, along with plenty of extras\nthat go through the production and try to determine why it wasn\u2019t an instant\nsmash for Warner Bros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The story takes place in San Francisco, with troublemaker\ntest pilot Lt. Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) accepting a role in a top-secret\nminiaturization experiment. He\u2019s on the outs with other aviators and his\njournalist girlfriend Lydia Maxwell (Meg Ryan), perhaps making the dangerous\njob easier to stomach. The pilot will be placed in a submersible, shrunken and\ninjected into a rabbit in order to study the inner workings of the animal. Just\nas experiment supervisor Ozzy Wexler (John Hora) successfully shrinks Pendleton\nand gets him into a syringe, the facility is raided by the crew of villainous\nbillionaire Victor Scrimshaw (Kevin McCarthy). The antagonist wants to take and\nsell the innovation on the black market to The Cowboy (Robert Picardo). Wexler\nescapes but is chased by henchman Mr. Igoe (Vernon Wells), and injects\nPendleton into unsuspecting grocery store clerk, Jack Putter (Martin Short).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jack is a hypochondriac who is taken advantage of by all of\nthose in his life. Pendleton manages to make contact with Jack and tries to\ncalm the panicked figure down, before informing the unlikely hero of what they\nneed to do… find the microchips required to bring Pendleton back to his\nnormal size, escape Scrimshaw\u2019s clutches, and finally get the pilot to the lab\nand out of Jack\u2019s body before air supplies runs out. Pendleton suggests Putter\nenlist Maxwell to help him accomplish this dangerous, multi-faceted task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The film moves at a rapid pace and is incredibly funny. This\nis in part thanks to the constant conflict. Naturally, there are the eccentric\nvillains, who want the technology and will do anything to get it. Pendleton has\nmade plenty of enemies in his work, meaning that most of those who might be\nable to help are less-than-thrilled when they are told by a stranger that\n\u201cTuck\u201d needs their assistance. This includes Maxwell, who has recently\nseparated from the pilot. Putter\u2019s life is difficult in a different manner,\nfilled with many phobias and personal issues, which makes Putter\u2019s and\nPendleton\u2019s job harder. There\u2019s plenty going on that makes the film\nconsistently exciting and fun to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the interplay between characters highlights humor and\nShort is hysterical as a man reacting to having another human inside his body.\nThe character is out of his comfort zone and he tries and fails to maintain\ncontrol, though he finally does attempt to stand up for himself against\nintimidating foes in some outrageous situations. Everyone in the cast is\nfantastic and there are bit parts from William Schallert, Henry Gibson, Dick\nMiller, Joe Flaherty and Andrea Martin that are sure to bring a smile to any viewer\u2019s\nface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And the special effects are phenomenal too. Even today,\nshots of Pendleton\u2019s capsule moving through Putter\u2019s body and hurtling through\nhis host\u2019s bloodstream (and even doing battle with an intruder late in the\npicture) look fantastic. It\u2019s easy to see why it won an Oscar and to this day\nmay still be the best-looking picture that has major sequences set inside a\nhuman body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s really nothing that doesn\u2019t work in Innerspace<\/em>,\nand the new 4K restoration should blow viewers away. The original 35mm negative\nhas been restored in 4K and is presented in Dolby Vision.  I owned an\nolder Blu-ray of the title, and this version is vastly superior, boasting sharp\nimages and colors throughout. There is a natural amount of grain that appears\nhere and there, but nothing that will distract from the generally gorgeous\nappearance. Again, I was particularly impressed with the visual effects work\nwithin the body, and even outdoor scenes in Safeway have greater detail and\nclarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The disc\u2019s extras are also phenomenal. There is a film\nhistorian commentary from Drew McWeeny, who goes over how he discovered the\nmovie and what he appreciates about it, while providing plenty of background\ninformation about the production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, of course, the best tracks are always those that\ninclude the moviemakers, and there is an archival commentary featuring Dante\nwith the cast and crew that delivers specifics about the shoot. Everyone\ninvolved sounds like they\u2019re having a good time and it\u2019s a fun and informative\ntrack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another big plus is the hour-long, new documentary on the\nmovie featuring Joe Dante, producer Michael Finnell, the visual effects team,\nactor Robert Picardo and many others. It\u2019s very revealing and charts everything\nabout how this picture came to be. Dante and his producer knew of the project\nwhen it was in development as a science-fiction feature. The director suggested\nthat taking an approach similar to Fantastic Voyage<\/em> wouldn\u2019t work, as\nthe material was inherently silly. When the concept was rewritten as a comedy,\nit played much better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dante also notes that one of the stipulations from Warner\nBros. was that Andrew Laszlo serve as director of photography, instead of the\ndirector\u2019s usual choice, John Hora. He notes that Laszlo was a fine D.P., but\nwas still a little disappointed by the order. When the filmmaker was casting,\nhe felt that the Ozzy Wexler character had the same personality as Hora, and\nasked him to take on the role. Thus, the main scientist was not played by an\nactor, but rather a cinematographer (The Howling, Gremlins, Explorers,\nGremlins 2: The New Batch, Matinee<\/em>). Indeed, Hora is perfectly suited to\nthe role and is very likable and completely convincing in the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Robert Picardo shares some interesting tales of working on\nthe picture and how The Cowboy character was developed. There is a long take in\na hotel room in which Short\u2019s Putter has taken on the appearance of The Cowboy\nand Meg Ryan\u2019s character runs out of the main area into the bathroom, only to\nsee the real Cowboy undressed and tied up in the bathtub. Indeed, Picardo had\nto perform the first part of the scene, race off-camera, run around the set and\nchange, then throw himself in the tub before the camera got there\u2026 all in a\nsingle shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Several interviewees talk about the film underperforming\nupon its release. The producer notes that the title itself was confusing to\naudiences, while Dante states the poster and marketing push for the picture was\nterrible. Promo materials completely changed just after the film\u2019s initial\nrelease, and it was resold to the public a few weeks later, but it all seemed\ntoo late by then. Dante also laments that Explorers <\/em>had been deemed too\nstrange by the studio and that this film was an attempt to deliver something\nmore commercial. He admits this movie ended up being just as quirky, which may\nhave initially put the studio and even average moviegoers off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also behind-the-scenes video from Dante\u2019s personal\ncollection showing the cast like Short and McCarthy, as well as Dante and crew\nmembers joking around on-set between takes.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, an ILM behind-the-scenes compilation of\nfootage the crew shot is shown creating the interior environments of Jack\nPutter. The way the bloodstream footage was created, with large, clear tubing\nand real material being pumped around in a circle is fascinating to witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A storyboard gallery is also included, as well as Polaroids\nfrom the set and a behind-the-scenes provided by Dante himself. Regular promo\nmaterials like production stills, a poster gallery and a trailer is also\nincluded. New and original artwork for the film is provided on the reversible\nsleeve, and there is a double-sided fold-out poster featuring the two pieces. A\nbooklet is also featured with more writing on the movie and its continuing\nimportance in film history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Innerspace<\/em> is a great 80s film that (despite having won an Oscar) that is easily as good as the titles mentioned at the beginning of this piece. The movie simply never got the attention it deserved from the public. Thankfully, Arrow Video is helping to change all of that with this \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release. The picture is phenomenal, highlighting the exemplary effects work, and the performances are equally exceptional, making for a highly entertaining science-fiction comedy with a unique spin. Anyone who enjoys titles from this era should pick this disc up!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release from Arrow Video is available on April 28th, 2026. If you grew up in the 1980s, you likely saw a great many science-fiction pictures at the theater or on VHS. Of course, the Star Wars series was part of the reason, along with Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":33428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[120,1836,2933,4660,5730,9824,9825,9826,9827,9828,9829,9830,10775,10867,11629,13325,13630,15762,17776,23728,23989],"class_list":["post-33416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-120","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-comedy","tag-dennis-quaid","tag-innerspace","tag-innerspace-4k","tag-innerspace-4k-ulra-hd","tag-innerspace-4k-ultra-hd-review","tag-innerspace-film-review","tag-innerspace-movie-review","tag-innerspace-review","tag-joe-dante","tag-john-hora","tag-kevin-mccarthy","tag-martin-short","tag-meg-ryan","tag-pasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-review","tag-science-fiction-2","tag-vernon-wells","tag-warner-bros"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33416\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}