The Fly (1986)

If you're looking for review of the film itself, look elsewhere. As I've done previously I wish to focus on the quality of the picture and audio and leave the writing of the film review for those better suited to it.

This movie is encoded on Blu-Ray using the AVC codec and is brought in using 1080p that most expect from Blu-Ray. The video itself is less than stellar in terms of presentation. Let me qualify this. This is likely the best the movie has EVER looked for home presentation, but it's not a visually impressive movie no matter how it's presented. There is some film grain but there is plenty of detail to be seen. It's just that the movie has no "pizazz" to it so to speak. There are no blemishes on the film and no weird compression artifacts at all. This is as it should be for an HD release.

The audio is DTS-HD lossless. The problem is that there really isn't much that requires any directionality here. It's mostly dialog driven with not much else going on in the sound field. The thing is, 5.1 audio in a movie like this really isn't needed and I'm glad that Fox didn't try to dress the audio up needlessly. I may sound like a broken record but this is also likely the best The Fly has sounded in the home market.

The extras, as seems to be the case on many releases of films that already have DVD editions packed with extras, are all in standard definition. There are some Blu-Ray exclusive extras that aren't particularly noteworthy. The first is pop-up trivia during the film (you can turn this on and off) with fun production facts and so on. The other is a very boring and annoying "game" called "Flyswatter." You have this slow moving fly flying around the screen with some scenes from the movie playing in the background and the objective is to swat the fly with an even slower moving flyswatter. It's time wasting and really adds nothing of value to the disc.

If you already have the special edition SD release, given the video and audio doesn't really stand out too much in the HD front, you may want to think twice about picking up the Blu-Ray edition of The Fly. If you don't own it and want a definitive edition with all the previous extras and the best possible audio and video, look no further.

For a back catalog release with limited appeal, I do think the MSRP is a little on the high side however.

As usual, I've titled my review with a crummy pun. I have no excuse and neither did I have to reference the Lord of the Rings in doing so but it was the first thing that came to mind so... my apologies.

I'm a bit late in singing the praises of this DVD since it came out last year already but as of late, I've been watching this film a lot because of how well produced this DVD is. They really did a good job with this disc and they finally gave the film the treatment it deserves. The picture is nice and clear and the 5.1 mixes (Dolby Digital and DTS) are pretty sweet. So what that translates to is that what was disgusting before in this film is made to be utterly revolting now. Vomiting never looked and sounded so clear before now, especially as it eats through the flesh of a poor guy's hand and foot!

This disc is loaded with special features and if they release this down the road with more stuff, I won't believe it. You get a Cronenberg commentary which is nice because his commentaries are always an enjoyable and informative listen. There are great featurettes, interesting deleted scenes, scripts, texts, pictures and a fantastic, lengthy making-of documentary which is worth the price of the disc alone. If I had to complain, I would've liked to see something said about Howard Shore's music for the film but they really don't make any mention of it. It's a very minor complaint and nothing that hurts the disc overall.

The Fly is a pretty nasty film and I think on that we can all agree on that. Few movies are as revolting as this one, that's for sure. But underneath the viscera, you have a very intelligent, thoughtful and genuinely moving film that has great performances by Jeff Goldblum in the title role, Geena Davis and John Getz. I really appreciate this film and I'm glad that they took the time to produce this edition to properly compliment it. Highly recommended, especially if you're a fan or even if you haven't seen this film at all.

Buy The Fly (1986) Now

A scientist on the verge of a technical breakthrough, is stymied by his failure to understand the body in other than intellectual terms. His affair with the reporter who enters his life to document his discoveries awakens him to the power of the flesh -but the flesh is nothing if not unpredictable and irrational and a "fly in the ointment" changes the outcome of a pivotal experiment, leading to disastrous concequences. The Fly represents a perfect blend of Cronenberg's b-horror sensibility and his obsession with the overlap between man and machine, flesh and technology. It takes what might have been a fairly campy remake of a fairly campy horror film and elevates it to a whole new level, giving it an intriguing science fiction premise and a horrific conclusion. Jeff Goldblum gives a brilliant performance, among his best, as a cerebral scientist who is gradually overcome by the flesh in the form of libidinal urges. The special effects are just right -not enough to overwhelm the story, but sufficiently convincing to horrify. I saw this with a large group very recently, many of whom had never seen it before, and there were uncomfortable laughs and gasps in all the right places. What is even better, as we talked about the film afterwards there was a lot to say. The Fly is right up there with Alien and Blade Runner and Total Recall and the Thing as one of the very best genre films of the 1980s (or of any decade for that matter -I can't think of anything in the 90s, except for the Matrix, and maybe Pan's Labyrinth in this decade, that matches these in terms of the combination of both thrills and intellectual excitement).

Read Best Reviews of The Fly (1986) Here

I'm someone who loves horror movies but I never had affection for this movie. It's not because The Fly was a bad horror film. On the contrary the opposite was true. When I first saw it at 12 it was SO scary I could not even watch the final transformation sequence at the end. This is the ONLY horror film which I could not watch from start to finish. Even to this day I never look at flies the same way. I've discovered that I like horror films that are scary enough to get my adrenaline pumping but not enough to make me feel disturbed for a long time afterwards.

The acting is superb, the special effects look real, and the script is good. In fact, if anything it is too perfect because if it wasn't I wouldn't have to take it so seriously! The reason why I'm giving it 5 stars is because, quite frankly, it deserves it as it is a genuine horror movie that does exactly what it sets out to do: scare you and disgust more in 2 hours than what your imagination could do in 2 years.

If you are looking for a GOOD horror movie this is right place to look. But be afraid. Be very afraid.

Want The Fly (1986) Discount?

I don't know why but I never was a big fan of David Cronenberg's films. Besides the frequent sex and T&A, I thought Crash was terrible and I never liked History of Violence. The Fly however was a blind buy, one of those frequent mentions on great sci-fi movies so I thought well why not and sure enough I found a great film and a surprisingly emotional one at that. It is sci-fi and it's got great makeup but it's also at times touching and even slightly disturbing.

Seth Brundle is a non-social scientist working on a scientist that in his own words "will change the world as we know it". Meeting with reporter Veronica, he shows her his invention: a teleportation device capable of sending objects from one pod to another. The 2 hit it off romantically and the kink the machine has works but one night while drunk and upset, Seth goes into the teleportation pod, unbeknownest a housefly went in with him. Coming out he finds a greater sex drive and athletic ability. But he keeps changing, where he'll become something else entirely.

In probably his best performance so far, certainly his most memorable, Jeff Goldblum is absolutely perfect as the awkward Seth and tragic as the "Brundlefly". Geena Davis is well-cast as well and there's not a whole lot of cast members besides certain bit players. The makeup is quite excellent as well being very well-done and grotesque. This is the 80's so it might not have the polish of today but it still comes across anyway.

What's handled remarkably well is that it doesn't just become a monster movie solely. There's regret and angst and it gets into the sadness of turning into a fly, or at least loving someone turning into a fly. The "insect politics" scene is a good example of this, as well as the end, which I won't spoil but it's touching and tragic at the same time. Besides the whole head exploding thing, I thought Scanners kind of sucked and besides James Woods, I found Videodrome kind of boring. The Fly however is a director coming into his own. Kind of like Peter Jackson doing Heavenly Creatures after a series of gory films.

It's certainly one of the better films of the 80's, Cronenberg's best and a sci-fi classic so there's not a whole lot of reasons left to persuade you to buy this.

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