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The Fly [Blu-ray]

The Fly [Blu-ray] Information

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Jan 03, 2010 11:03:08

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The Fly [Blu-ray] Reviews By Customers
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”.
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Picture a bit soft, effects still pretty amazing – :::DIGITAL BABE::: – East Coast
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!
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Looks GREAT on blu-ray!! – Unclemano –
I hadn’t seen this movie pretty much since it first came out. A minor classic. For me, the blu-ray transfer was first class. The film looked crisp and sharp and I could see fine details in it so I was perfectly happy with it. I didn’t own it on DVD before so it was a no-brainer to buy it on Blu-ray, especially for under . If you don’t own it on DVD, get the blu-ray. If you already have the DVD, that’s a tougher call.
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“Metamorphosis” meets Betty Crocker – Automated Message – SF
I’ve seen a lot of films about drugs and I’ve seen a lot of films while on drugs, but only in Cronenberg’s “The Fly” have I visited the depraved heights and depths to which a drug addiction will send its victim. Sure, at first you’re flying around like a monkey from the rafters, and rocking and rolling the king-size with your Cassanova wiles. But soon enough, you despise other flesh, mumbling in the dim static, acid-reflux in overtime, dribbling all over your sugar cakes. And your acne has gone plaid.

It is by now fairly well known that Nancy Reagan was a scriptwriter on the latter installments of the “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th” franchises (as well as “April Fool’s Day” and “Happy Birthday to Me”) during her “Just Say No” campaign in the 1980s. Nancy would come up with the goriest ways to kill wayward teen campers loose from too much reefer, while having tea with Anhk, who was in charge of Ronnie’s naptime bed-wetting vision quests. These experiments were crude, but effective while humans were consigned to live in a clunky, pre-Internet world.

But it wasn’t until “The Fly” — which I at first mistook for a conspiracy involving scientists, under the command of the corporations, turning the populace insectile, a people consumed only with consuming, and rotting in self-made, technological wastelands — that I began to realize that drugs aren’t cool. Now I wear a special cloaking device and go on monthslong colonics. The man in the mirror was an inferior version of me.
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Add comment January 3rd, 2010