How Hollywood ruined the most interesting sci-fi movies of the ’80s because they were so good.

Author: Jonathan Klotz | Published 1 hour ago

Hollywood is full of cautionary tales about studios getting too involved in filmmaking, which could force executives to hand-pick characters, add a giant mechanical spider, or, in the case of Joe Dante’s 1987 classic interior spacebad marketing decisions. expression of irony fantasy journey, interior space Full of Dante’s signature twisted sense of humor, and a unique blend of low-brow physical comedy and high-brow sci-fi concepts, it became a hit through sheer force of will.

The problem was that the movie was so good that Warner Bros. executives didn’t think it needed marketing. As a result, they launched one of the worst movie marketing campaigns of the 1980s.

The Amazing Journey of Martin Short

interior space It starts off as serious as a movie about micro-pilot Tucker Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) and injecting his spaceship into rabbits, until it slogs its way into manic comedy. To prevent the ship from falling into the hands of an evil secret society, the ship is injected into the hands of grocery store clerk Jack Putt (played by an unhinged Martin Short).

This sets off a race against time to restore Tucker to his normal size before he runs out of oxygen by acquiring the two computer chips needed to run the program. Jack must team up with Tucker’s ex-girlfriend Lydia (Meg Ryan), Pretend to be a criminal agent cowboy (Star Trek: Voyager idol Robert Picardo) and control his anxiety.

unlike wonderful journey, This put the entire crew into a coma, interior space Allows Jack and Tucker to interact. It’s a clever twist that separates Dante’s twisted vision from the original and gives Short and Quaid plenty of opportunities to play off each other.

live animation

you can say interior space Should not be taken seriously. According to Joe Dante, the original script was simpler until Steven Spielberg picked it up for his new studio Amblin Entertainment and encouraged his team to push the script into a live-action animated feature.

Despite the difficulties, the studio loved the film, which went on to become a huge cult classic. However, when it first came out, it was considered a huge disappointment.

Dante spoke candidly about the problem in an interview of internal space Theatrical screenings were given a clear call-back to the film’s poster, which depicted giant fingers holding tiny Tucker and his ship. There’s almost nothing to see but your fingers, and the poster doesn’t convey any of the sci-fi flair that made this film a favorite among those who gave it a chance.

Even the film’s title (Dante compares it to a trip to Disneyland) fails to convey the feel or tone of the story. This makes sense since it was a working title they kept after failing to come up with something better.

From drama to home video blockbuster

in the theater, interior space It grossed around $52 million, which isn’t bad for a family-friendly sci-fi comedy, but it had a reported budget of $26 million. However, when the film was released on VHS, it became a sensation, bringing in an estimated $50 million in revenue from rental copies based on word-of-mouth. While the term “cult classic” may be overused today, Ding admits that the film didn’t attract much attention until it was released in stores.

interior space It’s a delightfully weird movie full of physical humor and silly jokes that Hollywood has become allergic to because studios now pretend comedy doesn’t exist. Practical special effects wouldn’t hold up today, but they’re now a large part of the film’s kitschy charm. If you’ve never seen this movie, you should give it a chance, if only for the insane performance of Martin Short in his prime. CCTV reputation.

Hollywood doesn’t let them do that anymore, and even then they don’t know how to market a movie that dares to break the mold. Today you can find interior space Of course, it’s available for paid rental on YouTube, AppleTV, Amazon Prime Video, Fandango at Home and Google Play Movie.