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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 23137
Released: October 4, 2005 |
| Our Price: $9.99 |
| Used Price: $9.23 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
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.
Description of The Fly (Two-Disc Collector's Edition):
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 (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) Reviews:
"Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid." 
2009-11-18 - No doubt, you've heard that classic line before in other films. Well, this is the legendary sci-fi/horror film they are referencing every time they utter those menacing words. Believe it or not, 1986's David Cronenberg film, "The Fly", is both a masterpiece and a remake at the same time, and here's the story:
Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) is a scientist working on a world-changing invention. He has developed a working teleportation system! With two intimidating telepods connected to a high-tech computer, Seth can send objects from one pod to the other by teleportation, but his crux is the human issue. Flesh in general, actually, which only confuses the computer thus far. Enter journalist Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis), who gets involved with both Brundle's invention story and Brundle himself. It's this love story between Seth and Veronica that is the strength of the picture, no small part being the unwelcome third party of Veronica's ex-boyfriend/boss, the insufferable Stathis Borans (John Getz). However, the core of the film is Brundle's transformation story, an allegory for aging, disease, and death. You see, as Seth and Veronica's relationship blooms, his project's development seemingly benefiting, a wrench is thrown into the gears in the form of a tiny insect. An otherwise harmless housefly just happens to fly into one of Seth's telepods as he decides to test it out on himself, and the confused computer ends up merging the two, sending Seth into a downward spiral of physical and mental decay and distortion that at times is more than a little difficult to watch. And you can imagine how hard it must be for Veronica, who soon discovers she is carrying Seth's potentially affected offspring.
Remakes and sequels are rampant these days, with the big Hollywood studios only wanting to take a chance on films that should guarantee some solid returns, and a lot of film fans seem to be more than a little put out about it. Granted, they can feel very uninspired, and many such films, especially the remakes, aren't worth the price of a ticket when you could probably own the usually superior originals for just as much. However, there probably aren't many better cases for the "remake" than Cronenberg's take on "The Fly". The first film version came out in 1958 and spawned a couple of sequels. It definitely had its cheese factor, but myself and many others still enjoy it today. It was bizarre, but very entertaining (as the bizarre often is). The remake takes the same basic premise of a scientist getting into his teleportation pod with an unnoticed fly and coming out in a bad way for it. However, at the same time, it is so very different and adds so much to the story. It's so much more than just an update. As I mentioned before, and as the director points out often in his commentary on this blu-ray disc, the film is largely two things: A tragic love story and an allegory of aging and death. In fact, it wasn't intended so much to be about disease, but the heightened fear of the AIDS virus at the time of the film's release certainly made it seem that way, especially considering the make-up effects used on Jeff Goldblum throughout that did take disease into account as an inspiration. Anyway, this combined romance story and personal disintegration story is so masterfully presented in "The Fly" that it is without a doubt one of the most unforgettable films you'll ever watch! The Oscar winning effects are high on the gross-out meter, but nothing about this film is over-the-top (deleted scenes aside), unless you count a very disturbing childbirth dream sequence. The troubling thing about The Fly is just how realistic it all is, and it IS downright horrifying. Actually, if I had one gripe about this film, it's that I do wish the final incarnation of Brundlefly looked a wee bit more like a fly, though Cronenberg insists that he wanted it to keep the ability to convey emotion. I still think body language could have said enough and Seth should have turned out even more fly-like, but it doesn't affect the movie's excellence and it remains a masterpiece to me.
The performances in "The Fly" (the cast is very small) are outstanding. Of course, Jeff Goldblum always is a treat to watch. The writing at times is sheer poetry. The music is excellent and I already mentioned the Academy honored effects. This is one of those sci-fi/horror films that really does the genre a service by going all the way as a work of storytelling art. The Blu-Ray is no slouch either. The film looks and sounds better than ever and there is a wealth of bonus features, including a very lengthy making-of featurette and a director commentary. There are also galleries, a fly swatting game, and pop up trivia, though the pop up trivia isn't really worthwhile if you listen to the commentary and watch the making-of. Trailers, at least one Easter Egg, and other bonus features are also included. I didn't really understand the Personal Scene Selections feature or how it was different from the regular Scene Selection. Over all though, a very impressive and highly affordable Blu-Ray release I definitely recommend. Sci-Fi horror fan or not, if you are trying to build a genre transcending library of the best films ever, you've got to have a space somewhere for Cronenberg's "The Fly".
Picture a bit soft, effects still pretty amazing 
2009-09-11 - I just watched this on my 42" Panasonic Plasma and BD35 Player. It was not the sharpest picture, but I'd say a 3.5/5 for PQ and 4/5 for AQ. The storyline, Jeff Goldblum and Gina Davis were great. The creature effects matched Jeff's eccentric personality well, and were a mix of funny, but still rather groundbreaking in the grand scheme of things. I can't say I'd buy this disc (mine came free with an early adopter BD promo in '07), but I definitely recommend you viewing it if you're a fan of the director,or actors, and like this type of flick. It still stands up!
THE FLYEST COUPLE
2009-07-07 - HEY THIS IS WHERE JEFF AND GINA MET!!! I THOUGHT IT WAS CUTE HOW THEY ROMANCED AND WORKED TOGETHER. SHE IS A REPORTER DOING A SYNOPSIS ON THE EXPERIMENTS OF JEFF(DR. SETH). HER BOSS IS OBSESSING OVER HER CAUSE HE LIKES HER,BUT AFTER JEFF(DR. SETH) BONES HER,THAT IS IT. HE INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR ANOTHER PERSON TO BE PRESENT DOES THE EXPERIENMENT HIMSELF ALONE,NOT KNOWING THE POD HE LOCKED HIMSELF IN,A FLY HAS COME ALONG FOR THE RIDE AND THE GENETIC TISSUE IS RECORDED CHANGING HIS WHOLE THESIS. HE HIMSELF STARTS TO TRANSFORM INTO A HUMAN FLY. SHE LEARNS SHE IS PREGNANT AND IS AFRAID OF KNOWING WHAT MAY BE INSIDE OF HER AS A RESULT TO HAVING SEXUAL RELATIONS TO DR. SETH.
THE FLY
2009-06-15 - 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."-
2009-04-16 - 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.
