``Fantastic Voyage'' A science fiction masterpiece of outstanding quality from the 1960s before ``2001: A Space Odyssey'' (Part 1)

Planning begins for “Fantastic Voyage”

The scenario for ``Fantastic Voyage'' was created by agent and producer Otto Klement , who wrote the screenplay for the science fiction television series ``Space Exploration'' (1959-60) and the third season of the famous ` `Mystery Zone .''・Jerome Bixby , who had written the original novel for Episode 8, "Children's World" (61), compiled the original idea in 1965.

Furthermore, science fiction/mystery writer David Duncan has enriched the story, and Harry Kleiner, who wrote `` Bullitt '' (1968) and `` Le Mans '' (1971), has adapted the story.

The producer was Saul David , who worked on `` Dengeki Flint GO!GO Operation '' (1966), and he took a big gamble on this project. The film was made on an unprecedented budget (*1) for a science fiction film at the time, with a direct production cost of $5.12 million and a total production cost of $12.6 million.

“20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” preview

The director was Richard Fleischer . He is the son of Max Fleischer , the producer of the cartoon series ``Betty Boop,'' and later became the American director of `` Tora Tora Tora! '' (1970). Perhaps the deciding factor was the production of ` `20,000 Leagues Under the Sea '' (54), which depicts a submarine adventure.

He The Graduate from Brown University's medical school with the aim of becoming a psychiatrist, but he gave up on becoming a doctor and instead enrolled in the drama course at Yale University's Graduate School of Drama. The day has come when medical knowledge will be useful in unexpected places.

*1 By the way, when comparing sci-fi movies from the same period, the direct production cost of `` Forbidden Planet '' (56) was 1.9 million dollars, `` Crisis on Earth '' (61) was 1.58 million dollars, and ``The Earth Will Be Destroyed'' (65 ) is $870,000.

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