The Fly [1986] [DVD]

Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) meets Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) at a party, he's a brilliant scientist and she's a journalist. Seth tells Veronica about something he's working on that would "change the world as we know it", convinced by this she goes back to Seth's apartment/lab to see his invention. Once inside Veronica is shown two "designer phone booth" looking objects, Seth then teleports Veronica's tights from one telepod to the other. Skeptical at first, she soon realises that Seth has discovered a new way of travelling that could make all other forms of transportation a thing of the past. The pods are only able to transport inanimate objects, so Seth and Veronica come to an agreement that she will document him as he works on the project so that living tissue can pass between pods. During the documentation, Seth and Veronica fall in love much to the annoyance of Veronica's former boyfriend and editor Stathis Borans (John Getz). One night after finally perfecting transporting living tissue between pods, he and Veronica are celebrating when she has to leave to stop the jealous Stathis from printing the story early. A drunk Seth starts thinking that maybe Veronica and Stathis were working together to get the story, so he decides to go through the pod himself. Unfortunately for Seth, a housefly got into the pod and his dna is spliced together with the fly's. The movie then follows Seth as his body begins to turn into a 6 foot fly, and the relationship between Seth and Veronica who love each other deeply but are horrified by his appearance.

The acting by Goldblum, Davis and Getz is fantastic, I don't think any of the three have ever given better performances than what they gave here. When director David Cronenberg announced that he wanted to cast Jeff Goldblum, he was told Goldblum wasn't a bankable star but insisted that he get the part. Geena Davis was Jeff Goldblum's girlfriend at the time, it was Goldblum who suggested Davis for the role which was also met with quite a bit of opposition until Davis gave an outstanding reading for the part. Cronenberg himself turned down making The Fly because he was supposed to be filming Total Recall, Robert Bierman was then set to direct until a tragic accident led to the death of his daughter. The film was put on hold but Bierman later decided that the material was to dark and he still wasn't ready to make the film, by this point Cronenberg had left Total Recall and was free to direct. Along with Videodrome, The Fly is in my opinion Cronenberg's best work. I am a fan of his earlier movies such as Rabid, Shivers, The Brood and Scanners, and his recent drama movies A History Of Violence and Eastern Promises but none of those have intrigued me as much as The Fly. Cronenberg who is a decent actor whose performance I really enjoyed in Nightbreed, has a small cameo as a Gynecologist.

As good as the acting and directing is, this is the sort of film that would fall apart if the effects weren't top notch. Thankfully the make up effects are outstanding and the giant fly puppets towards the end of the movie hold up really well. It took Jeff Goldblum five hours to have the make up applied, it's brilliantly grotesque and would probably be done today with CGI which would have lost the human inside feel that we have here. The Fly isn't particularly gory but it is gruesome, such as when Seth's ears, teeth and nails fall out and when he has to vomit onto food so it can be digested. The Fly is also one of only four remakes that I consider to be superior to the original along with The Thing, The Blob and Invasion Of The Body Snatchers which also starred Jeff Goldblum. The original is a very decent movie but was also a little silly with the human head on the fly and the giant fly's head on a human body, it also seemed like a film the whole family could watch on a sunday afternoon. This version is definitely not for children, and is the only film along with The Exorcist that i've read stories of people vomiting in the cinemas. The other great thing about The Fly is despite the horrific events and images we're shown, deep down it is a tragic love story.

The blu-ray is excellent, the picture isn't what would be referred to as demo worthy like Avatar, but what would you expect, it was shot for $15,000,000 back in 1986. What good blu-rays are supposed to do is to show us the film in the way the director intended it to be seen, and i'm pretty sure Cronenberg didn't want the film to be crystal clear with colours that pop off the screen, it wouldn't suit the feel of the film at all. The picture is clean and crisp and looks far better than it did on dvd, in certain scenes there is a thin layer of grain that isn't intrusive and certainly never detracts from the movie. In some close up's of Jeff Goldblum after he's started to change, the detail is fantastic. Every pore on his face is visible and i'd never noticed the few thick fly hairs on his face before. I was delighted with the upgrade and the sound was also much improved from the dvd. The dvd I owned was a bare bones double pack with the disappointing sequel, so I was very happy to get the blu-ray regardless of picture quality just so I could get the extras i'd never previously had. There's a 136 minute in depth making of called Fear of the flesh, everything you could possibly want to know about the film is shown here. A very interesting commentary from director David Cronenberg, trivia track, the Brundle museum of natural history, deleted scenes, extended scenes, film tests, written works, promotional materials, still galleries and high definition trailers.

A great film and a great blu-ray. There's English, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, French, German and Norwegian subtitles. The Fly is a film that fans of horror, sci-fi or romance, if you can look past the graphic imagery should definitely enjoy.

Jeff Goldblum stars as the ingenious yet over-ambitious scientist/inventor Seth Brundle. During a unique teleporting experiment he accidentally merges his DNA with that of a common house fly. A journalist (Geena Davis) documenting his scientific endeavours can only watch in horror as Seth's often horrific and shocking transformation into the fly begins.

Great acting all around which is becoming increasing rare in the sci-fi/horror genre. Goldblum's portrayal of going from the caring inventor who only wants to do good in the world through his decent into madness as the hideous fly is flawless. Geena Davis' performance as the journalist who falls in love with Seth is also very persuasive.

With Cronenberg realising that a transformation into a fly would not be a beautiful thing he has managed to create a repulsive, gradual, and no holds barred transformation into the fly. The brilliance here is the fact you feel sympathy for this misunderstood monster which Cronenberg has captured perfectly.
Even nowadays this film would still hold an 18 certificate purely because of the final and over-the-top transformation into the fly, and some parts leading up to it. The greatest triumph with this film is the sympathy you feel for the doomed inventor. It's rare that a horror film such as this has the key ingredient of sympathy that too many movies in this genre lack. Although this film is horror, the horror elements take a back-seat to the relationship between the journalist and the inventor.

The DVD itself I had no problems with. However, it did lack in the special features department. Only containing a six minute behind the scenes featurette which is really just the retelling of the story from the actors, producers and the directors point of view with only a short insight into the production. The same can be said for the cast and crew interviews. The main language for this film is English but does you do have the option for subtitles in Czech, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish and of course English.

Fans of the original may be surprised by the different interpretation Cronenberg has taken of the same story. Instead of an instant transformation from inventor to the fly. The fly is completely absorbed into the inventor making the transformation slow and gradual but only creating one monster, another difference from the original.

In my opinion this is an unforgettable film and a classic of this fading genre. Today horrors are all about the violence. Here we have an enjoyable movie that has elements from many genres: science fiction, romance, drama and obviously horror. But don't be put off by this; what you get is unbearable tension that is so rare from many recent films. For £5 it is definitely a movie you need to add to your collection.

Sam

David Cronenberg's update of '50s dodgy horror The Fly is proof that sometimes remakes can be superior to the original.

Jeff Goldblum is incredible as the geeky, eccentric Seth Brundle who is on the brink of a discovery which will revolutionise the world - a teleportation machine. He manages to portray the scientist in a way which suggests he rarely gets out to experience 'real' life but still injects Brundle with plenty of personality. His meandering way of talking is a stream of consciousness which exposes his childlike excitement and his intellect. He's not your typical movie mad-scientist, he's very human - and remains so even when he looks otherwise.

His human side is best displayed when he begins a romance with journalist Veronica Quaife, their relationship means that this is as much a doomed love story as a horror film. When Seth becomes the first human to be teleported, and inadvertently combines his genetic code with the housefly who hitched a lift along with him, Veronica is left to witness the tragic decline of her lover into something new - a hybrid species.

The visual effects in The Fly showcase what was possible before the lazy reliance on CGI. Imaginative make-up with hand crafted model work and prosthetics being to life a hideous creature. There are distinct stages of transition to "Brundlefly", each becoming steadily more alarming. The capabilities of this creature change too but one thing which remains constant is the dry humour of the man within. Seth collects the various fallen body parts in the medicine cabinet which he refers to as "The Brundle Museum of Natural History", his quips and light-hearted comments only seem to highlight the perceived madness of a man who is literally falling apart. It is darkly comic and the humour helps to prevent the man from being a true monster, he is scary - there's no doubt about that, but he's also curiously heroic as he videos himself and gives a jovial narrative of what he is experiencing.

Brundlefly is grotesque and tragic, as you recoil you also pity it and the final moments of the film bring with it an emotional moment, a gesture which could easily bring a tear to the eye. Making a monster is easy, but making one which has emotional depth takes effort and investment in the central character. Cronenberg created a sci-fi masterpiece here and it's rightly become a cult classic.

This Blu-Ray release shows the visual flaws of a film which is now a quarter of a century old, although it might not pop with great contrast and lively colours it still looks good and the package includes an impressive set of extras on top of a commentary by Cronenberg himself. The main extra is a 'making of' documentary which goes on for nearly 3 hours! It does drag a bit but it covers everything from the visual effects, score, and the experience of the actors whilst filming. One thing I found interesting was a collection of deleted scenes which I'd heard about before but not seen - they are particularly gory (apart from one which is quite optimistically beautiful).

In a nutshell: a gory Science-Fiction horror masterpiece which is compelling because of a small cast of great characters - particularly Jeff Goldblum as the afflicted scientist, it's a career defining performance which turned a good film into a great film.