Innerspace Gets Trailers From Hell Treatment From Max Landis
I’m not going to lie to you guys. It has been many a year since I sat through the 1987 sci-fi adventure/comedy Innerspace, and while I didn’t think the movie was amazing or anything when I saw it as a kid, it made me laugh and gave me a lot to consider as far as science went. I probably had some terrible dreams accompanying the viewing. And anyway, that was years before I realized the entire idea was seemingly ripped off of Richard Fleischer’s superior 1966 film Fantastic Voyage. But I still haven’t forgotten about the movie, and I can only assume it isn’t because a tiny Dennis Quaid is inside me, fighting to keep the memory alive.
Max Landis (Chronicle), son of John Landis (Twilight Zone: The Movie), certainly hasn’t forgotten about it, as he covered the film for a Trailers From Hell segment on YouTube. He assumes people aren’t still talking about it, but he’d be wrong. I’m sure Martin Short still brings it up. Joe Dante (Gremlins) made the film soon after the family sci-fi flick Explorers flopped — and cinema still hasn’t forgiven audiences for that — and though Innerspace had his familiar sense of humor and high concept, audiences weren’t that kind to this movie either. Landis presumes that if this film came out today, it would star Seth Rogen and Channing Tatum. (I’m guessing a lot of ladies want a little Tatum in them too, am I right?)
As per usual with these videos, Landis rips through the trailer, calling Quaid’s Navy pilot out for being a fucking pimp and then generally just talking about the film’s plot, which takes Quaid’s character down to a minuscule size so he can be injected into Short’s body. While Landis isn’t a comedic genius or anything, he correctly assuages anyone’s need to be told how ridiculous this film really is, when removed from whatever context it’s viewed in normally. Regardless of how silly the plot and dialogue are, the film’s special effects were good enough to win the Academy Award. Why no mention of that, Landis? (And as good as the effects were, it just goes to show you just how 1987-feeling 1987 really was.)
Check out one of Joe Dante’s Trailers From Hell below, in which he covers the ridiculous 1953 cult classic Robot Monster, also known as Monster From Mars.
And because we could watch these things all day, here’s John Landis himself with a segment on the Three Stoges sci-fi “epic” Have Rocket Will Travel, which featured the lackluster Curly Joe instead of Curly.
