History Film / Innerspace

Tuck Pendleton (Quaid) is a U.S. Navy aviator assigned to pilot an experimental submersible pod which is to be shrunk down to miniature size and injected into a rabbit. Unfortunately, bad guys after the shrinking technology break into the lab, and one of the scientists, after escaping with the syringe containing the shrunken sub with Pendleton in it, is forced to inject Pendleton into the nearest available subject... namely, unwitting Safeway grocery clerk Jack Putter (Short).

* AmbiguouslyBi: The Cowboy doesn't seem alarmed when Jack bursts into his room while The Cowboy is holding a bottle of champagne and wearing nothing but underpants and boots. In fact he smiles tells him "don't knock, just come!"

** The first we see of the Cowboy is a close-up on his posh leather boots.

* ForcedPerspective: After Scrimshaw and Canker are shrunk 50%, there are a few scenes where they are seen with full-size actors. These shots were filmed using forced perspective. For the car scene, the rear of the car is actually twice as large as a normal car rear, and was about 20 feet away. During the scene half-size hands and double-size heads were used. Using this method, the filmmakers didn't have to worry about compositing two separate shots in post-production, so the shots could be completed quicker. Even in the final scene with the suitcase, the case was twice as large, but the hand that closes it was real, closer to the camera in sync with the closing.

* NowYouTellMe: Tuck demanded to know what went wrong with the experiment (having ended up in the wrong body), his superior Pete tells him the lab's lack of security.

** The opening credits occur over weird, shifting, oddly colored shots which suggest a bizarre, alien world, in keeping with the film's plot. Then, the camera pulls back...to reveal we've been watching ice cubes swirling around a glass of whiskey.
** When we first see Martin Short's doctor's office, its a closeup of some palm trees. But then the camera zooms out to reveal its simply a poster.

* CardCarryingVillain: Dwayne's background check on Scrimshaw establishes him as this. He's legal council to organized crime figures, administrator to four Teamster pension funds and suspected of black market arms dealing yet manages to stay clean. On the CRT of the terminal that the co-worker is reading off of, there's even more detailed biographical information. That includes his education, his formal business partnership with Dr. Canker, that he's an ex-Marine that attained the rank of Major and has multiple club and fraternity memberships. He's also rumored to have Jimmy Hoffa's wrist watch in a desk drawer as a souvenir.

* CatchPhrase: "The Tuck Pendleton machine, zero defects."
** "The Jack Putter machine, zero defects!... ''[-[[AsideComment God help us...]]-]''"

* ExplosiveDecompression: What would happen to the minisub if the cockpit were breached, which is why Tuck can't just go to the lungs to resupply his oxygen tanks. It's unmentioned in the film, but there's also the fact that Tuck is simply much too ''small'' to breath unminiaturized air.

--> '''Lab Assistant''': "[[Literature/AliceInWonderland Maybe it was drink me?]]''

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Jack has an [[AnxietyDreams Anxiety Dream]] about the old lady with a (cigarette lighter) gun and the high prices of her groceries.

* ThreeAmigos: Tuck, Jack, and Lydia, in a sense. Fitting that Martin Short is one of them.

* TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot: Despite 60,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body, forming a huge maze that goes through the heart every minute, Tuck manages to make his way around a human body pretty quick - ear, eye, abdomen, stomach, mouth. Zip-zip-zip. TruthInTelevision in that human blood makes that trip ''[[http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/questions/question/3418/ every minute]].'' Tuck's just along for the ride.

-->'''Mr. Scrimshaw:''' God in heaven, deliver us from Satan!

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Jack has an [[AnxietyDream Anxiety Dream]] about the old lady with a (cigarette lighter) gun and the high prices of her groceries.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Jack has an {{Anxiety Dream}}s about the old lady with a (cigarette lighter) gun and the high prices of her groceries.

''Then'' [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs things get weird]]. (Well, weird''er''.)

* RuleOfRomantic: Tuck's accidental journey from Jack into Lydia's womb and then seeing their unborn child is contrived but who cares as long as the result is heartwarming.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Jack's dream about the old lady with a (cigarette lighter) gun and the high prices of her groceries.

* HowUnscientific: While the film's sci-fi elements mostly involve advanced technology, Jack's dreaming an event that later happens to him for real seems to imply he possesses some kind of precognitive ability. It's never mentioned again, and seems to be used for [[RuleOfFunny little more than a gag]].

* HowUnscientific: While the film's sci-fi elements mostly involve advanced technology, Jack's premonition dream seems to imply he possesses some kind of precognitive ability, which is never explored beyond two scenes where it's used for [[RuleOfFunny little more than a gag]] and never mentioned again.