Rating: 
Summary: That sinking feeling while shrinking feeling
Review: "Come with me on a voyage to the bottom of the sea". I declined the offer, on the grounds that the Lotharian singing suggested an expection of one's swimming trunks being removed on the way down. I try to rule that sort of thing out of my life, I don't know about you. Elsewhere, a shark in a pool exudes all the menace of a floating grey toothbrush in a sink full of water. This excludes those with a phobia of floating toothbrushes in which case I apologise for any distress caused by inadvertent exposure to this review.As for the sister feature, any voyage for a bright young lady in which she is expected to put up with the culinary enquiries of a borish sexist, can hardly be described as 'fantastic', even if travelling in a sub by it's very nature precludes any dipping in of oars.
In one amusing shot, we see two military generals lighting up and puffing cigars behind a scientist who is engaged in delivering what must have been a less than edifying lecture on personal shrinkage. One assumes the alarming lack of concern over the consequences of their actions may be due to the expectation that a subsequent crew will be injected into their chest to burn away any cancer cells. The flaw they may have overlooked is whether or not the government would be willing to fund such a mission, seeing as it is a result of personal irresponsibility, as opposed to the exigencies of foreign intervention. Your military types are expendable, you know. But I digress (and somewhat verbosely too, I might add.)
The film has some philosophical moments. There are some big bits in the universe and some little bits and if you happen to grasp that fact at any given moment, especially while floating in a submarine around someone's blood stream, then it can be, in the parlance of the sixties, 'far out, man'. Or far in, if one wishes to be pedantic. Or wearing a kaftan. Mysteriously, there are suggestions that a soul may inhabit the human body and that it is green and fuzzy. It goes in endless circles around roads doing nothing in particular. Just like the bodies it inhabits, then.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Voyage is Fantastic Fun
Review: "Fantastic Voyage" manages to combine, as the critic mentioned above, taut cloak-and-dagger suspense with colorful sci fi fantasy and adventure. From the exciting, dramatic opening involving an assassination attempt on a brilliant scientist to the satisfying conclusion, this riveting voyage lives up to its name. In an attempt to remove a brain clot from the scientist that can't be undertaken in a normal way, five operates, including special government agent Grant (Stephen Boyd), are miniaturized to microscopic size in an experimental submarine, the Proteus, and inserted by way of a hypodermic needle into his carotid artery. Along with Grant, the crew includes premier brain surgeon, Dr. Peter Duval (Arthur Kennedy); Cora Peterson (Raquel Welch), his assistant; Dr. Michaels (Donald Pleasance); and Captain Bill Owens (William Renfield), pilot and designer of the Proteus. Traversing through his arterial system, the team will attempt to eliminate the clot through the use of a high-powered laser. However, time is imperative as they only have sixty seconds in which to complete their operation before reverting to their normal size. World security hangs in the balance over this mission since the scientist holds the knowledge that would break a stalemate between world powers.
"Fantastic Voyage" is one of the most perfectly realized uses of Technicolor to come out of that period and a simply fantastic film. We might have become more advanced with special effects, but that certainly doesn't mean they are better; with all our advanced technology, in fact, architecture and even art has seemed to regress in some ways. In this case, even the hokiest special effects have a feeling of imagination, but more often the effects here are gorgeous in a psychedelic way. Apparently, as one reviewer pointed out, it is because some of the backgrounds are beautiful matte paintings. Whatever the case, it's a wild adventure as they scuba dive in the body, battle white blood cells, and pass through the heart. The film remains taut and electrifying, never losing its momentum. To make things more exciting, there is a mole on board who seeks to sabotage the mission. Absolute great fun.
My favorite moment: the antibodies attacking Welch. (In trying to remove them, the crew seem to be grabbing all the wrong - or right - places, but it's all done with complete deadpan!)
Rating:
Summary: 2 CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIES FOR THE PRICE OF 1 !
Review: "VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA" IS ONE OF THE MOST SUCESSFUL PRODUCTIONS OF THE SCI-FI'S MASTER IRWIN ALLEN, THE FIRST ADVENTURE OF THE NUCLEAR SUBMARINE SEAVIEW IS A MUST FOR SCI-FI COLLECTORS AND GENERAL FANS AND ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OF 1961. "FANTASTIC VOYAGE" IS ANOTHER SCI-FI'S'PIECE-OF-ART, A SURGICAL TEAM IS MINIATURIZED AND INSERTED INTO A DYING MAN, ONE OF THE MOST INCREDIBLE WORKS IN SPECIAL EFFECTS, A TRUE SCHOOL OF IT.
Rating: 
Summary: If you enjoyed "Fantastic Voyage"...
Review: ...then you should check out "Innerspace", from the mid eighties, which is based on a similar idea and is also a fun movie. It will be released on DVD in July 2002.
Rating:
Summary: "Classic" SciFi
Review: A bit of a mixed bag here. Both movies have Cold War overtones. Fantastic Voyage is a good yarn. Though full of plot holes (how many SciFi movies aren't?) it's fun to think "what if?" The
FX are quite good for the late 60's. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a bit more realistic perhaps, but less entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: EDEN Vs. WELCH
Review: Again FOX steps up and delivers another winner - their growing series of double feature DVD's are a must for fans of their minor gems and lost classics. As with the two FLY double features, you get both films in widescreen with a crisp and sharp transfer and good sound. Navagational menus are easy, clear and each fit the theme of their respective films. No new previews here - you get both feature previews plus the FLY originals and their remakes (just like on the other double feature DVD's). As for the movies themselves (one guess as to which is the more serious of the two) FANTASTIC VOYAGE is the best. A science fiction milestone, a political thriller and a medical drama all in one (ER could use a few plot twists like this). There is not a moment wasted here. The effects still hold up - but you do get the feeling once they enter the human body that it's more lava lamp than hemoglobin - but it is still very well done. VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA is pure Allen - a large cast of past stars (Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lorre, Joan Fontaine), pop talent (Frankie Avalon) and a newcomer (Barbara Eden), mixed with little plot, lots of effects and rapid fire dangers (the sub is attacked not once, but twice, by a giant squid!). VOYAGE is pure seat of the your pants entertainment and a head scratcher all in one (you know... they never actually voyage to the bottom of the sea - and don't even think twice about the Van Allen belt catching fire). This double feature DVD is a solid buy and a must for fans of either film.
Rating:
Summary: Great Quality reproduction
Review: As I've viewed more DVD's I have found that there is a lot of quality difference, especially when porting old movies. This DVD, although burned on both sides, has fine quality and produces a good viewing experience. There aren't a lot of extras, which is disappointing, but there are some trailers for other classics such as all four The Fly movies (that is the two with Vincent Price, the one with Gena Davis, and the other one ;) The movies themselves are Irwin Allen classics. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea features Peter Lorre in one of his last movies, and a close up of young Barbara Eden's rear end doing some version of the twist. Global Warming, 60s style! This movie launched a TV series with the same name but with different actors. Good adventure yarn. Fantastic Voyage is a little more substantial offering. I believe THE Issac Asimov was the technical advisor/script consultant. I remember when this came out the special effects were considered fantastic. They still hold up pretty well, although the computers and electronics are dated. It's sort of a proto-nanotechnology exploration. Raquel Welch is the babe in this one. They shrink some scientists and a submarine down to molecule size and inject them into a VIP's bloodstream to cure him from injuries he received from an assasin. In many ways it was ahead of its time conceptually.
Rating:
Summary: One classic, one not-so-classic
Review: As is often the case with double-feature DVDs, there is usually one decent movie and one lousy one, the B-side being a movie which probably would not sell well on its own. In this case, Fantastic Voyage is the good movie and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea the weak flip side. In Fantastic Voyage, several people are reduced to cellular size to heal a man from the inside. The science may be flimsy (Isaac Asimov had enough problems with the ending to rewrite it in his novelization), but the tale itself is good and the special effects are nice. The human body comes off as a surrealistic dreamworld, far from reality but neat to look at. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, however, is a seriously flawed movie. The science is below par even for a movie like this (in one scene, we see ice sinking in water!), and the story and characters are nothing very spectacular either. Even the effects are not very great, although there are a couple scenes that do look nice. Fantastic Voyage is a four star flick, VTTBOTS just two stars. As a pair of movies, this is okay, but if you only watch the former film, you will still get your money's worth.
Rating:
Summary: Barbara Eden and Frankie Avalon
Review: Barbara Eden is the Best actress and is Great.The best scene is with Barbara Eden dancing and Frankie Avalon playing the trumpet in the movie.Frankie Avalon sings the theme song of the movie.Buy this DVD if you Love Barbara Eden and Frankie Avalon.
Rating: 
Summary: Both movies are now dated beyound watching.
Review: Both these movies were made at a time when effects work in Hollywood was not that advanced. Hollywood pretty much treated Science Fiction films as B-pictures (and only the Ray Harryhausen films seemed to be getting the most serious attention, maybe because their effects work was the best and the hardest worked on). But all this changed when Stanley Kubrick made 2001; A SPACE ODYSSEY in 1968. After that, tons of science fiction films that had been made in the 1950's and 1960's became out dated (only a very few films from those years still stand up today). But these two were not among them.
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