'' is a
1966 science fiction film written by
Harry Kleiner .
20th Century Fox wanted a book that would be a tie-in with the movie, and hired
Isaac Asimov to write a novelization based on the screenplay. Because the novelization was released six months before the movie, many people mistakenly believed Asimov's book had inspired the movie. The movie inspired an
Animated Television Series .
The
United States and the
Soviet Union have both developed technology that allows matter to be
Miniaturized using a process that shrinks individual
Atom s, but its value is limited because objects shrunk will return to normal size after a period of time - the smaller an object is made, the less time passes before it reverts.
A scientist named Jan Benes, working behind the
Iron Curtain , figures out how to make the shrinking process work for an unlimited time. With the help of the
CIA , Benes escapes to the west, but an attempted
Assassination leaves him
Coma tose with a
Blood Clot in his
Brain . The US Government is anxious to save his life so that he can share the secret of unlimited miniaturization.
A group of scientists including Grant, Capt. Bill Owens, Dr. Michaels, Dr. Peter Duval, and his assistant, Cora Peterson, enter a .
Many obstacles hinder the crew as they proceed on their journey. They are forced to travel through the
Heart (a temporary
Cardiac Arrest must be induced to avoid destructive turbulence), the inner
Ear (all in the lab must remain quiet to prevent similar turbulence) and the
Alveoli of the
Lungs (where they replenish their supply of oxygen). They cannibalize their communications radio in order to repair the surgical
Laser used to remove the blood clot. It becomes obvious there is a
Saboteur on the mission. They finally reach the brain and the clot with only some five minutes remaining, barely sufficient to operate and then follow the veins to the removal site. The saboteur acts overtly at this point.
In the original movie the crew (apart from the saboteur) manage to leave Benes' body safely before reverting to normal size, but the ''Proteus'' remains inside, as do the atoms of the saboteur's body (digested together by a
White Blood Cell ). Isaac Asimov pointed out that this was a serious logical flaw in the plot, since the submarine should also revert to normal size, killing Benes in the process. Therefore, in his novelization Asimov had the crew provoke the white cell into following them, so that it drags the submarine to the tearduct. The submarine then expands outside Benes' body.
- , was written by Isaac Asimov as an attempt to develop and present his own story apart from the 1966 screenplay. This novel is not a sequel to the original, but instead is a separate story taking place in the Soviet Union with an entirely different set of characters.
- is a third interpretation written by Kevin J. Anderson , published in 2001. This version has the crew of the Proteus explore the body of a dead alien that crash-lands on earth, and updates the story with such modern concepts as Nanotechnology (replacing killer White Cells ).
The set design used for the brain has a strong resemblance to a set used in the
Lost In Space series' second episode, suggesting that parts of Fantastic Voyage were filmed during 1965 and the brain set used for Lost In Space.
