7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.3 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A diplomat is nearly assassinated. In order to save him, a submarine is shrunken to microscopic size and injected into his blood stream with a small crew. Problems arise almost as soon as they enter the bloodstream.
Starring: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence, Arthur O'ConnellSci-Fi | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Japanese: DTS 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
French: Dolby Digital Mono
French: DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
German: DTS 5.1
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Fantastic Voyage may strike some younger viewers especially as being a bit on the quaint side, but in its day the film was a state of the art special effects wonderment and probably the single most influential science fiction outing of the sixties prior to Stanley Kubrick’s immortal 2001: A Space Odyssey. While the Kubrick – Clarke offering dealt with the vast, infinite reaches of outer space, Fantastic Voyage of course penetrated into the virtually unrecognizable confines of inner space— the body of an important scientist who has suffered a debilitating, and possibly mortal, wound during an assassination attempt. A team of American scientists is called upon to test out an exciting new technology—miniaturization. Boarding a nuclear powered submarine, this crew is then shrunk and injected into the comatose scientist’s body, where they battle all sorts of natural phenomena as they attempt to proceed to a blood clot resting on the injured man’s brain. Fantastic Voyage was a riot of practical effects shots and photochemical techniques, and if it can’t match the pristine clarity of CGI manufactured visual effects, it stands as one of the prime examples of what “old school” craftsmen could achieve back in what now seems like the Dark Ages of filmmaking (when there was actual film involved). While Harry Kleiner’s screenplay is a bit on the over serious side at times, the film itself is rarely less than viscerally exciting and is often almost hallucinogenically mesmerizing as it depicts the voyages of the Proteus, the miniaturized sub that treks through a “brave new world” of organs and bloodstreams.
Fantastic Voyage is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. A lot of this 'Scope film may well tend to strike younger viewers as being somewhat soft, especially considering the fact that this was reportedly sourced from a 4K scan (I personally have not been able to confirm this; if any member can provide authoritative information, I'll update the review). This perception of softness however may not put the film in its proper context of being comprised of a huge variety of optical shots, special effects sequences that in and of themselves will lend additional softness. There's also some intentional softness in at least one major sequence, the kind of steam enshrouded finale (see screenshot 19 for a good example). Well schooled viewers will accept the built in softness here as a largely accurate representation of the film's original appearance, though to be fair this is not the sharpest looking 'Scope transfer that Fox has offered over the past couple of years, again due at least in part to the film's ubiquitous effects shots. What may trouble discerning cineastes more than any perceived softness is some minor though noticeable color fluctuations and density issues which occasionally plague this presentation, albeit in fairly small doses. Flesh tones, for example, are often spot on (or at least within striking distance), but at other times vary to slightly yellow or pink. These are admittedly relatively minor gradients, but eagle eyed viewers will most likely catch them. There are also one or two instances of motion judder (watch at around 48:00 when the film reverts to the lab and the camera pans down from the viewing window to the doctors surrounding the patient). This is still a major upgrade from the DVD, with much better saturated color, and an overall crisper, more clearly delineated, appearance. A relatively hefty average bitrate and a roomy BD-50 means that no overt artifacts crop up, and there are also no obvious signs of typical digital bugaboos like DNR or edge enhancement.
Fantastic Voyage original mono mix is recreated here via a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track, and the DVD's repurposed 5.1 track is presented here via DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. While purists will of course probably want to stick with the original, they may want to at least sample the 5.1 mix, for it does offer some significantly opened up use of the film's wonderful sound effects and Leonard Rosenman's interesting score. In fact the 5.1 mix not only beautifully supports Rosenman's score (much more than the mono track, which has a tendency to sound slightly boxy at times), it also adds significant low end, helping both the music and the effects become much more viscerally immersive. Fidelity is still excellent on both of these tracks (aside from the aforementioned boxy quality on the mono track), and dynamic range gets a nice workout courtesy of some of the "internal" workings of the body.
Most but not all of the supplements from the Cinema Classics Collection DVD have been ported over to this Blu-ray release. They include:
Fantastic Voyage is easily one of the most distinctive science fiction films of the sixties, and I personally would rate it —in terms of concept if nothing else—as second only to 2001: A Space Odyssey. It's easy to look back on the practical and photochemical effects from the vantage point of shinier technology and find them somehow less than convincing, but that's like holding Georges Méliès to the same standard as James Cameron. While some of the performances and even the dialogue are a bit on the clunky side now and again, overall the film is a viscerally exciting piece of filmmaking, well paced (even if it takes a while for the miniaturization and insertion into the body to happen), and, ultimately, extremely tense and suspenseful. Older viewers and even those who first saw Fantastic Voyage on television as kids are going to be delighted by this new Blu-ray, and younger viewers may well find themselves unexpectedly entranced by it as well. Highly recommended.
Fox Studio Classics
1961
Warner Archive Collection
1955
1966-1967
1972
North Sea Hijack
1980
1979
10th Anniversary Collector's Edition | Limited
2014
1966
1980
1967-1968
Doppelgänger
1969
1966-1969
Remastered | Limited Edition to 5000 | SOLD OUT
1959
15th Anniversary Edition
2002
1965
1966-1973
1966
1956
1971
2017