World Famous Comics: The Fly (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
The Fly (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, George Chuvalo, Michael Copeman, Leslie Carlson Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Label: 20th Century Fox Number of Items: 2 Region Code: 1 Release Date: October 04, 2005 Running Time: 96 minutes Theatrical Release Date: August 15, 1986
Description: Seth Brundle, a brilliant but eccentric scientist attempts to woo investigative journalist Veronica Quaife by offering her a scoop on his latest research in the field of matter transportation, which against all the expectations of the scientific establishment have proved successful. Up to a point. Brundle thinks he has ironed out the last problem when he successfully transports a living creature, but when he attempts to teleport himself a fly enters one of the transmission booths, and Brundle finds he is a changed man.
Amazon.com essential video: David Cronenberg's 1986 remake of the science fiction classic about a scientist who accidentally swaps body parts with a fly is both smart and terrifying: an allegory for the awful processes of slow death and a monster movie with a tragic spin. Jeff Goldblum gives a masterful performance as a sweet, nerdy scientist whose romance with a writer (Geena Davis) makes him more fully alive. Next thing you know, a tiny oversight in an experiment causes him to transmogrify, gradually, into something more like an insect than a human. This is Cronenberg (Scanners, Videodrome) country, so expect The Fly to be a gross-out, but in the way that disease corrupts the body and can make a loved one unrecognizable on every level. This is one of Cronenberg's best films, and certainly one of the important movies of the 1980s. --Tom Keogh
THE FLY An old film that I always liked and wanted to experience it in Blu-ray. Still one of my favorites.
"I'm an insect who dreamt he was a man and loved it. But now the dream is over... and the insect is awake."- David Cronenberg took the same approach as John Carpenter did with his remake of "The Thing"; he created a film that is every bit as unique as the original film returning to the themes that interested him. The screenplay by Charles Edward Pogue and Cronenberg focuses on Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldbloom) who creates a device to teleport things but he's failed at teleporting humans. Science writer Ronnie (Gena Davis) chronicles his attempt to figure out why he can't transport humans. He licks the problem and foolishly decides to make himself the first human test subject. When a fly accidently gets into the telepod, the computer combines the DNA of Seth and the fly creating a bizarre hybrid in the process.
The blu-ray looks good but not as brilliant as I had hoped. Keep in mind that the source is over 21 years old. The fly does look better than the DVD with a sharper image, better depth and detail but it doesn't look as good as a more recent film. Make no mistake though it IS an improvement but it's incremental not a huge leap.
We get all the extras from the previous two disc edition including the excellent documentary on the making of the movie. The new extras here include a swat the fly game (which like the annoying "Build a Gort" a game on "The Day the Earth Stood Still" is a waste of resources). We also get a good trivia track and blu-ray search index. All the other extras including the commentary tracks and featurettes are ported over from the regular DVD.
While the Blu-ray transfer here isn't a huge leap compared to the DVD (I suspect the previous high def remaster that was prepared for the DVD reissue forms the basis for this version), it does look better than the DVD. It's a pity that Fox didn't elect to do an upgraded high def transfer but what we do get looks quite good. The film which came out during the beginning of the AIDS epidemic was seen as a metaphor for that outbreak the film manages to touch on a number of common themes in Cronenberg's work. It's a terrific film that manages to be creepy, humorous and touching. I'd give the film five stars, the transfer three and the extras four.
Sci-fi Brillance This movie is the pinnacle of what science fiction in film should be -it's emotional, thought provoking, gut wrenching, and awe inspiring. Jeff Goldblum is magnificent in this film. The FX are the initial draw, but the characters are so well drawn and the film so expertly acted, that you, the veiwer, almost believe that that a man could really be undergoing a transformation into a fly. Try watching the "Insect politics" scene- a truly brillant bit of film making- and not being horrified and saddened that the characters in the film are suffering through such an ordeal. This film represents Cronenberg at his hieght as a director. The scripting is tight and skillful and the makeup and animatronics on display are as enthralling as any current CGI-relient blockbuster's FX. This film proves that a slavish devotion to realism is not needed in order to make veiwers emotionally connect with a film. All that is needed are a skilled set of filmmakers coming together to make a film that matters... and a bit of luck doesn't hurt either. Watch this movie. Own this movie. And love this movie as I do. You want regret it.
The Fly Review This is a great version of this movie. Jeff Goldblum is a scientist who builds a machine that he says can teleport things from here to there. To test it, he uses himself. By accident, there is a fly in the machine too, and so he and the fly merge into one being. Geena Davis is his journalist girlfriend, and as he changes into this combination human-fly, she is more and more grossed-out by how icky he gets. Understandably. Because he really does get icky in this movie. Hideous is not a strong enough word. Jeff Goldblum is absolutely fantastic in this movie. Special effects are very good. I highly recommend this movie.
A very terrible film to see... David Cronenberg's version of "The Fly" has little in common with Kurt Neumann's 1958 film of the same title, one of the cheaply made 'creature-features' of the 1950s... Instead, it reveals many of the director's obsessions...
Jeff Goldblum is Seth Brundle, a Mad Scientist who is working on 'teleporting', a means of transporting objects through space... Geena Davis is Veronica Quaife, a magazine writer who becomes interested in his work, and in him... They start an affair, but Seth believes Veronica is still seeing her former lover... In a rage he tries to transport himself, and his genes become caught up with a fly that gets into the machine... Slowly Seth takes on the features of an insect...
As in other Cronenberg's films, sexuality is seen as a dangerous force that leads to disaster... Seth cannot get his amazing machine to transport living creatures until he has experienced the delights of sex with Veronica, but then almost immediately his jealousy leads more like a fly he develops a raging libido; the more physically repulsive he is, the more he wants sex...
Like many successful films of the 1980s, "The Fly" is a hybrid, fusing elements of both horror and science fiction... Considering that the plot is from the latter genre, the elements of fear and disgust with the human body are traditional to horror... Both genres, as this film will illustrate, benefited greatly from the increasing sophistication of contemporary special effects technique, and the make-up abilities... The success of the film led to sequel in 1989, in which the son of Seth and Veronica begins to display familiar symptoms...
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
