by Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Watch enough science fiction, and you'll come across some themes that every series ends up immersing itself in, starting with And then there was no one The mysterious murder bottle episode of evil twins or parallel universes. Among these topics is the somewhat forgotten but once very popular idea of a miniature journey into the human body.
Long before Ms. Frizzle rides the Magic School Bus to one of her students and Futurama The crew traveled to Fry's bowels, Great trip Explore the inside of a Soviet dissident. The film won numerous awards, features a star-studded cast, and to this day, provides the visual language of every movie or TV show you've ever seen that's in circulation.
Where no one has gone before
Issued in 1966, Great trip It is a technical marvel. The film's original trailer advertised a “new kind of moviegoing experience,” and for once, that wasn't an exaggeration. It was real.
In order to save the life of a Soviet defector named Dr. Benes, who invented the science of miniaturization, a crew of five board the submarine Proteus. The submarine and its crew are then reduced to the size of a microbe (one-tenth the size of a human cell) and are given the task of trying to remove an inaccessible blood clot.
The journey to reach their destination takes them through an unknown world inside the human body. It's a place full of things they've never seen before, and they only have one hour to survive.
The diving crew consists of brain surgeon Dr. Peter Duvall (Arthur Kennedy), his assistant Cora (Raquel Welsh in her first role), circulatory specialist Dr. Michaels (Donald Pleasance), Captain Owens (William Redfield), and the Proteus. The pilot and finally CIA agent Charles Grant (Stephen Boyd). Grant is sent by the United States Combined Miniature Deterrent Forces (CMDF) to prevent another attempt on Dr. Benes' life. This is of course exactly what happens.
All you have to do is look at the cast, and you'll know exactly who the traitor is by now, but this was one year before Donald Pleasance made his debut as James Bond's arch-nemesis, Blofeld. At the time, it was an evolution.
Triple visual display
The traitor aboard the Proteus ramps up the tension when sabotage starts unfolding, but the story could have been about saving a life without a Cold War subplot, and it would have been just as good. Great trip It is at its best when the crew is exploring the inside of Dr. Benes' body, traveling through the circulation through the heart, which must be stopped to allow them safe passage.
They travel to the lungs to collect oxygen, to the ear, and even through the nervous system. Each new body part is another stunning visual playground for the actors to explore, and although the special effects are incredibly primitive compared to modern film VFX offerings, there's a comic appeal to the “antibodies” that are clearly spectacles Thick strings thrown by crew members from off screen.
The backgrounds and visual effects of the Proteus traveling through the body were adequate Great trip It won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and a second Academy Award for Best Art Direction, now known as Best Production Design. It was a well-deserved win, and even with the 1960s special effects, the creepy white blood cells look like monsters from deep space rather than a necessary, functional part of the human body.
A must-see film that defines the genre
Pioneering and revolutionary like Great trip Visually, it's the story, which finds conflict and danger through the simple process of exploration, that helped it become a genre-defining film. Isaac Asimov, one of Greatest science fiction authors Of all times, he wrote the film's novelization that came out before the film. This is what the masses were led to believe Great trip It was an adaptation when the film was first developed.
Asimov was a bit disappointed by some of the science in the film. While he honored her in the novel, he went on to write its sequel, Fantastic Journey II: Destination BrainThis was more accurate from a scientific standpoint.
today, Great trip It stands out as a turning point in Science fiction films by exploring a completely new environment that has never been done on this scale before. The story It focused on exploration and discovery, which Hollywood films had replaced, even at the time Aliens And monsters. It's a simple plot, but even if there is There was no external conflict, and the time limit of only one hour to complete the mission added enough tension to make it compelling all the way through.
You can stream Great trip Today through video on demand via Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Playand Fandango at home. It's worth the trip.
