How an All-Time Great Sci-Fi Comedy Was Sabotaged by Greedy ’80s Executives Because It Was Too Good
By Jonathan Klotz | Published
Hollywood is full of cautionary tales of studios getting too involved in the production of a film, which could force an executive to choose a carefully chosen role, adding a giant mechanical spider or, in the case of Joe Dante’s 1987 classic, a role. Interior spacebad marketing decisions. A satirical version The fantastic journey, Interior space was filled with Dante’s twisted sense of humor and a unique blend of modest physical comedy and sophisticated sci-fi concepts that made it a success through sheer force of will.
The problem is that the film was so good that executives at Warner Bros. didn’t think it needed to be commercialized. As a result, they launched one of the worst movie marketing campaigns of the 1980s.
A fantastic journey in Martin Short
Interior space begins as serious as a film about miniaturizing pilot Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) and injecting his ship into a rabbit can be, until it takes a very difficult turn into manic comedy. The ship, to keep it out of the hands of an evil secret organization, is instead injected into grocery store clerk Jack Putter (played by a deranged Martin Short).
This sets off a race against time to restore Tuck to his normal size before he runs out of oxygen by obtaining the two computer chips needed to run the program. Jack must team up with Tuck’s ex-girlfriend, Lydia (Meg Ryan), pretending to be criminal agent The Cowboy (Star Trek: Voyager icon Robert Picardo), and keep his anxiety under control.
Contrary to The Fantastic Journey, who puts a whole crew in an unconscious man, Interior space allows Jack and Tuck to interact. It was a brilliant twist that separates Dante’s twisted vision from the original and gives Short and Quaid plenty of opportunities to clash.
A live cartoon
You can say it Interior space is not to be taken seriously. According to Joe Dante, the original storyline was simpler until Steven Spielberg took it over for his new studio, Amblin Entertainment, and encouraged his team to push the storyline to the point where it became a live-action cartoon.
Against all odds, the studio loved it and the film became a cult classic. However, when it was first released in theaters, it was considered a huge disappointment.
Dante has been candid in interviews about what was wrong with Interior space a theatrical release, explicitly referencing the film’s poster, which depicts giant fingers holding a small Tuck and his ship. It’s hard to see anything other than the fingers, and the poster fails to convey the sci-fi craziness that made the film a favorite among those who gave it a chance.
Even the film’s title, which Dante compared to a ride at Disneyland, fails to convey the mood or tone of the story. This makes sense, as it was a working title that they kept after failing to come up with something better.
A theatrical flop towards a home video blockbuster
In the cinemas, Interior space grossed around $52 million, which isn’t bad for a family sci-fi comedy, but the budget is said to be $26 million. However, when the film was released on VHS, it exploded, grossing approximately $50 million from copies rented through word of mouth. Although the term “cult classic” may be overused today, even Dante admits that the film was not noticed until it was available in stores.
Interior space is a delightfully strange film, filled with the type of physical humor and silly gags that Hollywood has become allergic to as studios now pretend that comedies don’t exist. The practical special effects don’t hold up today, but they’re now a big part of the film’s kitsch charm. If you’ve never seen the film, you should give it a chance, if only for Martin Short’s manic performance from the top of his SCTV fame.
Hollywood doesn’t make them like that anymore, and even then they didn’t know how to market a film that dared to break the mold. Today you can find Interior space as well as, of course, paid rental on YouTube, AppleTV, Amazon Prime Video, Fandango at Home and Google Play Movies.
