Fantastic Voyage
Starring: Stephen Boyd, Racquel Welch, Donald Pleasence
Director: Richard Fleischer
The film: One of the more thought-provoking, if less plausible science fiction yarns of the 1960s, Fantastic Voyage was also among the most visually impressive films of that decade, taking Oscars for special effects and art direction, and even inspiring Salvador Dali to create a painting of the same name.
The injection of a miniaturised submarine into a human body may be as unbelievable today as it was in 1966, and the special effects now look rather dated, but somehow it's still quite easy to suspend disbelief and go along with the idea that our inner workings look a lot like the inside of a lava lamp.
Although much of the film's dialogue is fairly stilted, the guided-tour commentary comes thick and fast as our gallant crew of five navigate the inside of a comatose doctor whose death will mean the loss of information vital to United States national security (there's a potentially fatal clot on his brain and only the onboard laser can destroy it). Adding tension to the proceedings is the fact that the crew have only one hour to get the job done before they and their sub will begin to revert to normal size.
