Destination Inner Space (1966)

Overrated

Awesome Movie

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Watching "Destination Innerspace" again after so many years, one instantly notices how low this film's budget must have been. Also upon re-inspection, a few new qualities emerge. Namely, the unintentional laughs. Previous reviews have already noted the outrageously tiny-looking miniatures, and how some of the music cues (borrowed from the B-classic "Angry Red Planet") are not exactly subtle. Oh, and the sight of Gary Merrill trying to subdue a big, walking large-mouthed bass is certainly hard not to find amusing now. Such sad but funny indicators of low budget film-making aside though, what does still seem to work about this little movie is the premise: a monster preying on humans trapped in a confined space, which is basically how "Alien" works. Only here, we have an underwater facility "subbing" for the space tug Nostromo and being stuck on the ocean floor is not a bad setting if you're making a claustrophobic thriller. One sequence to admire is the alien ship's arrival on the scene. Watching as it soars directly over the sea lab, with the addition of sound effects giving voice to it's engines the space craft actually becomes kind of impressive. It's rather neat the way it "buzzes" the installation with it's nervous crew watching from inside. Clearly, they had the right idea here, and with a little more money this could have been a first rate sci-fi thriller. One can also definitely defend the sequence where the crew attempt to lure the alien creature into a booby trap of spear guns. It's rather suspenseful as the hero, Commander Wayne, using himself as bait, bangs on a metal door and waits forcing the viewer to sit and wait there with him for the monster's inevitable appearance. Speaking of Commander Wayne, this guy emerges as quite an enjoyable hero, and playing him like John Wayne underwater, Scott Brady is so well cast in the role that he really elevates the occasionally soggy proceedings to a level it never would have achieved without his capable presence. His smart alec, tough guy lines are funny, too like when he tells a cynical female marine biologist, "You listen to me, beautiful. I grew up with a couple of sisters, and let me tell you something: a brother doesn't always tell a sister "everything". Shove that under your microscope and study it awhile." In fact, Commander Wayne has a snappy answer for just about everyone on board: Dopey scientist: "do you realize the importance of this, Commander?"Wayne: "I realize the danger we're in." Dopey scientist again: "We've been cut-off from topside. Something must have happened to their communication equipment." Wayne: "More likely something happened to them.It's not a great script, nor is it brilliantly directed, and there are sure lapses in the pace here and there. All quite true. Still, this ancient sci-fi flick does achieve a modest measure of suspense. With the addition of an appealing star, some very funny lines and some unintentionally funny fx's, well, you could do worse than introduce your child to this enjoyable little monster movie.

Warning! Contains Spoilers! Destination Inner Space is almost so bad it's good. Almost. The special effects are simply laughable. It is set in an underwater lab the exterior shots of which clearly show it to be a miniture. The crew of this underwater lab encounter a alien spaceship (also an obvious miniture)and the hijinks ensue. Although it has a fairly decent cast the acting is incredibly wooden. What continually cracked me up was that the two female crewman (a marine biologist and a photographer)who were supposed to be in an deepsea lab ran around in brightly-colored turtlenecks, miniskirts, beehive hairdos, dangling earrings and long gold necklaces! The B-52s go nautical! And although it is supposedly set in the deep sea the lighting in the underwater scenes make me doubt that it was filmed in anything deeper than a swimming pool.

I cry more often now that Mystery Science Theatre 3000 quit making new episodes, and rarely harder than this evening after viewing "Destination Inner Space." This film features a yellow (sometimes orange, depending on aquarium clarity) crucifix-shaped Sealab ("Aquasphere") reached via a yellow-painted soup can on a string and filled with abrasive oxygen-depleting humans being stalked by the Wisconsin state record bluegill. I would applaud the many silent hours of scuba diving, but Scott Brady looks exquisitely uncomfortable in his extremely snug wetsuit; also the lovely silence is often disturbed by loud outbreaks of soundtrack. I like actress Sheree North and was sorry that her character was pressured into falling for the pickup line "Shove that under your microscope and study it." This movie hurts quite a bit, yet amuses in that painful MST3K style, so I recommend it highly to cheese admirers who can drown it out with their own commentary. Grab a puppet and wipe those tears away!

While the movie offers many standard Sci-Fi,B-Movie moments, several good aspects are evident. The action sequences, especially underwater scenes were filmed well,and diving enthusiasts may notice Wende Wagner's performance as vital to their success. Wende had appeared in a "Flipper" episode around same time frame, and her scuba performances are excellent. While I haven't seen this movie in many years(can't find it anywhere);the diving scenes still are memorable.