The film ends abruptly and doesn't try to explain what happens to Benes the patient and the Proteus still left inside him. I cannot remember exactly how the book ends, I read it about 30 years ago. Maybe the film script departed from the book ? I am not sure but here are some comments from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Voyage#Logical_flaws
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He exploded as the Proteus wreckage grew back to full size; they weren't allowed to show big hunks of metal exploding out of people's heads when the movie was made, so they had to cut to the credits before it happened.
In the book, the sub was eaten by a white blood cell, and they got it to follow them to the eye as they escaped along the optic nerve; the wreckage was taken out of the body when they were.
Of course that in itself requires a significant suspension of disbelief, because if even a small piece of the sub had been left behind he'd have been dead; imagine a two inch long piece of glass or metal deminiaturising inside your brain!
If the white blood cells devour the Proteus, why does there have to be any wreckage?
shareDoesn't really matter what the white blood cell does to the submarine, it still has a few tons of metal, plastic and glass inside it in some form. If you imagine suddenly transporting ten tons of metal inside your head I think you can see why the remains returning to their original size might be problematic :).
one ton sub turns to one ton of goop-which will still expand inside his body
share[deleted]
"Maybe the film script departed from the book?"
Actually it's the other way around. The movie came first, then Isaac Asimov wrote a novelization based on the screenplay. The book went into much scientific and pseudo-scientific detail about the miniaturization process that was never mentioned in the movie.
As another poster pointed out, in the novel, the surviving crew members somehow get the white blood cell that ingested the Proteus to follow them along the optic nerve, through the tear duct, and out Benes’ eye. When they return to normal size, the sub, now reduced to a pile of eroded metal fragments, deminiaturizes along with them.
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Imagine leaving something as small as a watch behind, or a pen---that would suck
If a small object like that grew back to its normal size inside Benes' brain, it's possible he might survive. Then he could sue CMDF for malpractice!
All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?
It never goes over this in the book or any film interviews? I thought when they said that the antibodys will attack him, it meant they will devour the ship and thus reduce it to even smaller size inside the antibody thus when it expands it goes to not a much bigger size then the antibody.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TzcANOHiDo
Even if the white blood cell digested the sub down to its basic elements, the molecules of metal, plastic, etc. that the sub was composed of would still enlarge back to normal size. Benes' body would be permeated throughout by matter that had once been the Proteus, killing him instantly.
All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?
LOL Well whether that is true or not I beliee that what the movie was trying to say is the anti-body would eat it up and just grow revert to something close to it's size.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TzcANOHiDo
That's precisely it. The movie more than once stresses that anti-bodies will devour completely the Proteus if it starts to enlarge and while that may not be perfect science for some people, it at least is an explanation that suits the purpose of the storyline as the film establishes it, and thus it should be a non-issue for those of us watching. I think maybe in a film that requires us to accept the premise of miniaturization, we should be willing to cut some slack on this point for heaven's sake!
sharePerhaps, but I'm kind of enjoying this discussion.
shareBy the logic of the movie, the antibodies or white blood cells apparently make anything they attack disappear completely so there's nothing left that gets bigger. Asimov's novelization attacks this, saying that even if the sub is crushed to atoms, THOSE atoms will deminiaturize and kill Benes. It's begs credibility that (a) the white blood cell can hold what's left of the Proteus together until they leave the body and (b) both the humans and the cell can swim the incredibly long distance (which must be thousands of kilometers) from the blood clot to the eye.
shareActually it goes like this.
Asimov took the script and agreed to write the novelization on the condition that he be allowed to correct the scientific inaccuracies. He wrote it so quickly that the novelization was published months before the movie was released which is why a lot of people believe the movie is based on the novel rather than the other way around.
HANG ON HANG ON
If the white blood cell follows them out the eye and is extracted with the submarine inside wont' that enlarge too and becoem a giant white blood cell?
No, because it wasn't permeated with the miniaturization rays. In other words, when the sub's debris go back to normal, they explode the now tiny cell from the inside out.
In the movie, this is much simpler: the sub gets consumed and decomposed by the antibodies, period.
Of course, even if the sub and crew and all solid objects were safely removed before deminiaturizing, Benes should still be killed when the miniaturized water that was injected into him returns to its original volume of several gallons. That would be messy.
"The truth 24 times a second."
Asimov told an amusing story about this problem. He told the story that he argued with the powers-that-be regarding this 'loose end' of the Proteus. The producers waved it off saying that the audience wouldn't be following the logic that closely - the audience wouldn't be that smart to notice. Asimov countered that the science fiction aficianados would very definitely pick up on the problem. However, no matter how Asimov argued the case, they would not allow the film to incorporate a solution to the Proteus problem.
Asimov continues: that he took his 6 or 7 year old daughter at the time to a showing of the film and as they are walking out if the theater she asks him: 'But, Daddy, what about the submarine - its still inside the man - what will happen to him when it gets bigger?'
Not only the sub, but the saline from the syringe and Dr. Michael's body too. Whatever the case Mr. Benes would be dead no matter what. In the film, most of this stuff is just written off and Benes is saved.
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Movies I've Seen Recently In 2013
Man of Steel
Pacific Rim
World War Z
Dragon
Maybe "How It Should Have Ended" could make a proper ending. :-)
shareI know I'm replying to a thread that has been dead for over 3 years but I saw this movie last night and had to add my own 2 cents: Did anyone notice what they did with the laser after operating on Benes? Neither did I the first couple of times I watched this but last night I noticed it wasn't with them when they swam towards the eye for extraction.
Guess they just dropped it in place when making their escape. Oops!
"Did anyone notice what they did with the laser after operating on Benes"
good point
Yeah, sure, Asimov's daughter figured it out. But she's ASIMOV'S DAUGHTER! Of course, SHE'S going to figure it out.
I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.