Occasionally films investigate their characters from the inside. Probably the most famous film in this genre is 1966’s Fantastic Voyage, though it’s not alone.

The Disney theme parks used to offer a ride called “Body Wars”. It reminded me of Voyage since both included sexy female protagonists in tight clothes.

Vintage Raquel Welch in a bodysuit or Elisabeth Shue in similar garb? That’s a win/win.

Although it sadly omits a sexy female scientist in a clingy bodysuit, 1987’s Innerspace otherwise follows the Voyage model. However, Innerspace diverges from that form in that it tries to combine comedy and adventure.

Formerly a hotshot test pilot, younger jocks take Lt. Tuck Pendleton’s place so (Dennis Quaid) gets drunk a lot and that means his journalist girlfriend Lydia (Meg Ryan) dumps him. Tuck takes a job as part of a daring miniaturization experiment during which Tuck and the pod he’ll pilot will shrink down to microscopic size and enter the bloodstream of a test bunny.

However, shenanigans related to the command of nefarious mogul Victor Scrimshaw (Kevin McCarthy) means head scientist Ozzie Wexler (John Hora) flees and injects Tuck and his vessel into random passerby Jack Putter (Martin Short). The two bond as Tuck tries to get out of Jack and also make sure the villains don’t gain control of the technology.

Innerspace definitely attempts a combination of action and comedy, and it does reasonably well in both regards. However, I probably prefer the comedic bits, if just because I’ve always liked Short.

An alumnus of the wonderful SCTV program, he helps make Jack’s idiosyncrasies come to life. Short takes some not-so-hot material and transforms it into something enjoyable.

Other cast members land some comic moments as well, and we get a brief but delightful scene in which Short interacts with fellow SCTV vets Andrea Martin and Joe Flaherty. That said, most of the jocularity falls on Short’s shoulders, and he manages that burden nicely.

As for the action pieces, they also work pretty well, though the movie doesn’t seem able to reach its full potential. I suppose part of this stems from the dual focus.

For most films of this genre, the adventure takes place inside the body, as the teeny folks fight off all sorts of natural occurrences. However, Innerspace adds more of an emphasis on the outside world.

Tuck doesn’t experience many direct threats inside Jack, as instead, most of the action stems from the attempts of Scrimshaw and his associates to nab Jack and Tuck. These scenes usually work fine but the split perspective means that the movie occasionally loses its focus.

Innerspace also takes too long to get going. After the filmmakers establish the various characters, we spend an awful lot of time in the lab as they run through different procedures.

This quickly gets old and wears out its welcome. Those scenes could get cut substantially and still work and this improve the pacing.

One minor oddity relates to the casting of Quaid. As noted in the disc’s audio commentary, the filmmakers originally planned to use an older actor to play Tuck.

This makes sense, as Tuck’s supposed to be over-the-hill, which seems strange for a character played by the then-33-year-old Quaid. The actor pulls off the role with enough charm and life to make the point moot, but it does seem confusing.

Overall, however, I think Innerspace offers a reasonably enjoyable experience. I can’t call it a classic, as far too much of the film falls flat for it to seem all that strong. Nonetheless, it provides a decent piece of action comedy that works pretty well.

Innerspace appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though it reflected its era, the image seemed satisfactory.

Sharpness looked fine. Occasionally, I witnessed a smidgen of softness, mostly in that “hazy 80s film stock” way. Nonetheless, the movie usually appeared pretty accurate and concise.

Jagged edges and moiré effects caused no concerns, and I also noticed no signs of edge haloes. As for print flaws, I detected no specks or marks, and the image came with a good layer of grain, so I didn’t suspect any issues with digital noise reduction.

Colors came across well. The movie boasted a natural and lively palette, and the disc replicated these tones well. Even with the standard “80s murk”, the hues seemed pretty peppy.

Black levels seemed deep and dense, while shadow detail was appropriately heavy but never overly opaque. Despite some of those age-related issues, this became a pleasing presentation.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, I felt even happier with the film’s surprisingly dynamic Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Most of the audio remained located in the forward spectrum, which offered a nice sense of environment. Music displayed fine imaging, and the effects added a good feeling of atmosphere.

During chase sequences, elements moved cleanly around the domain, and they blended together well. The shots of Tuck while inside Jack provided the best auditory moments, as they created an involving ambience from this unusual point of view.

Audio quality seemed quite good. Speech came across as generally crisp and distinct, and I heard no problems related to intelligibility or edginess.

Music fared best, as Jerry Goldsmith’s score appeared bright and vivid. Highs were accurate and clear, and bass response sounded pretty rich.

Effects demonstrated very nice reproduction. These elements showed good range and impact, with crisp highs and deep lows. The audio held up awfully well over the last 39 years and became consistently satisfying.

How does this 2026 Arrow Blu-ray compare to the original 2015 Warner BD? The Arrow release went with Atmos instead of DTS-HD MA 5.1. The new remix came with a bit more involvement but the two remained fairly similar.

The same went for visuals, as the 2026 Arrow Blu-ray looked a lot like the 2015 Warner disc. Though the 2026 release might’ve seemed a bit better defined and more natural, I didn’t witness any obvious improvements in picture quality.

On the other hand, the Arrow disc comes with many more extras than the 2015 version did, and we get two separate audio commentaries. The first comes from director Joe Dante, producer Michael Finnell, visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren, and actors Kevin McCarthy and Robert Picardo.

All five sit together for this running, screen-specific track, although Picardo doesn’t show up until the midway point, which is when his character enters the film. McCarthy also doesn’t appear in the first half or so of the movie, but he stays with the others the whole time anyway, even though he doesn’t say anything until his character comes on-screen.

Even then, McCarthy offers very little to the commentary. Dante dominates the piece, and Finnell also contributes a lot of information. Picardo adds the occasional humorous comment, and Muren provides a little bit more info about his work, but frankly, the track would work as well with just Dante and Finnell.

I don’t offer that remark as a complaint, for those men give us a lot of very good information. They cover the genesis of the project and talk about all manner of production details as they discuss the cast, the effects, story points, and various facets of the shoot.

Although a few empty spaces occur, for the most part the chat remains lively and entertaining. Overall, I find this to provide a chatty and compelling piece.

For the second commentary, we get a circa 2026 chat from film critic Drew McWeeny. During his running, screen-specific piece, McWeeny looks at cast and crew, production elements and his thoughts about the film.

McWeeny makes this a combination of “film historian” elements and appreciation. He offers enough useful info to mean the track deserves a listen, but he tells us what he likes about the movie too often.

Video programs follow, and Shrinkage goes for 58 minutes, 53 seconds. It involves Dante, Muren, Finnell, Picardo, VFX art director Harley Jessup and model shop supervisor Bill George.

The documentary examines Dante's precursors to Innerspace, the latter's path to the screen, casting and performances, various effects, Dante's impact on the set and the movie's release. Unsurprisingly, we get a moderate amount of material repeated from the commentary with Dante and the others, but "Shrinkage" brings plenty of new info and becomes a solid overview of the production.

Joe Dante’s Behind the Scenes Video Compilation spans 23 minutes, 32 seconds and provides VHS-quality footage from the shoot. Nothing thrilling emerges, as we mainly see cast/crew as they joke around, but we still find some fun moments.

In the same vein, an ILM Behind the Scenes reel lasts 20 minutes, 16 seconds and gives us video recorded by Muren of the effects folks at work. While dry, we get a good view of their efforts.

Along with the movie’s trailer, we get four stillframe collections. These cover “Storyboards” (96 screens), “Continuity and Behind the Scenes” (119), “Production Stills” (172) and “Posters” (15). These add up to a fine compilation of elements.

Innerspace offers one of those films that largely entertains but fails to make much of an impression. The movie provides acceptable levels of fun and adventure, but something about it seems less than spectacular. The Blu-ray presents solid picture and audio along with a good array of supplements. Though never a great movie, Innerspace offers a pleasant diversion, and the Blu-ray reproduces it well.