The Fly / The Fly 2 (Widescreen): Amazon.ca: DVD: DVD

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The Fly
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 II
Chris Walas, the effects whiz who turned Jeff Goldblum into the gooey, grotesque Brundle-Fly in David Cronenberg's The Fly, makes his directorial debut in this equally icky sequel. Eric Stoltz is Brundle's genetically diseased offspring, a boy genius brought up in an experimental laboratory by a nefarious foster father eager to see what his inevitable metamorphosis will bring. No surprise here: like father, like son. Daphne Zuniga is his sweet young girlfriend, and John Getz reprises his role from the first film as a bitter alcoholic with a very bad fake beard. This cut- rate "Son of the Fly" knockoff pales next to Cronenberg's classic, degenerating into a gory revenge flick. Walas strains under a limited budget, and many of the more elaborate creatures (a monstrously mutated dog, the skeletal fly monster leaping about the warehouse-like lab) are rather shabby. The makeup is suitably gooey, slathered in ooze and pus, and the mayhem-filled finale is a nasty but impressive over-the-top frenzy of blood and gore climaxing in the nastiest piece of poetic justice since Freaks. The opening birth scene (with a look-alike subbing for mom Geena Davis) is an homage to Larry Cohen's It's Alive. --Sean Axmaker

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Customer Reviews

48 Reviews

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (48 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars i thought it was as good as the original,but definitely not for the squeamish, Aug 30 2007

By

falcon "disdressed12" (canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Fly II (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

this sequel to "The Fly" isn't all that bad,all things considered.it is
however,more disgusting,believe it or not.a lot of the really gross
stuff was overkill and gratuitous,i thought.in the original,the gross
scenes were sort of necessary to the story.not so in this movie.i also
found the movie to have some slow spots at times,which in my mind,took
away from the flow of the story.as well,this movie had a slicker more
polished look than the original,which i think kind of takes away from
the effect.the acting is not bad,and i liked the direction the story
went.i really liked the ironic ending.i actually almost cheered at
it.if you watch the movie,you'll know why.a word of caution:this movie
is definitely not for the squeamish.despite what i didn't like,i
actually liked the movie more than not.for me,overall,i'd say i liked
this movie as well as the first one.therefore,i give The Fly 2 a 4/5.

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3.0 out of 5 stars "The Fly" launches Cronenberg as a director to watch, July 30 2004

By

John Colville (Bridgetown, Nova Scotia Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fly / The Fly 2 (Widescreen) (DVD)

Forget about "Fly II", but the classic sci-fi movie "The Fly" is worth watching (about once every five years) as it's a truly romantic story, sensitively realised by Canada's David Cronenerg. "Romantic" actually means "Roman" plus "romain" for novel, plus "roamin'" for "On the Road": what a zesty multimedia stew these ingredients make!

"The Fly", like the wonderful 1957 movie, "The Incredible Shrinking Man", is really about men feeling badly about themselves - old, male lions in the myth-emersed world of postmodern consumerism. The plot line: We men have offended as youngsters, and now we must watch the pride from afar, as outcasts, much like Marlon Brando in "One-Eyed Jacks". And so it is with Seth Brundle. We love Seth because he's (like Cronenberg, I'd guess) the Roy Orbison archetype: weird but sweet. This guy LOVES sugar!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth buying just for the first one..., May 31 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fly / The Fly 2 (Widescreen) (DVD)

Cronenberg's masterful remake of "The Fly" is, simply put, one of the very best sci-fi movies in recent memory. Much like his "The Dead Zone," it mixes a character's terrifying journey with a powerful love story, and manages to do so successfully. Poor Seth Brundle's transformation is disturbing, suspenseful, and gory indeed, but Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis bring such conviction and sadness to their roles, your heart is pulled along for the ride. The metaphor of watching someone you love succumb to a disease which changes them utterly, is just as shocking as the mutations Brundle's body undergoes. Enough said. This is a great and powerful, albeit sad, movie experience.
"The Fly 2" is far less successful. It's always good to see Eric Stoltz, who is a strong actor with lots of appeal, and although his career has proven that he's not exactly leading man material, he comes close to pulling it off here. But the movie takes the formula from the first movie and screws it up: the gore is heaped on while the love story takes a back seat to it. Daphne Zuniga and Stoltz just don't generate the kind of chemistry and compassion that Goldblum and Davis did. Instead, the movie is basically an F/X vehicle. Once the two pretty young people hit the sack, it's pretty much downhill into head-smashing, face-peeling splatter movie territory. Too bad.
But Cronenberg's movie will live on forever; this two-movie disc is well worth the price for anyone interested in a frightening, suspense-filled human drama which doubles as a pretty darn cool horror show, even if its sequel is vastly inferior.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Legacy Lives On...
I'm addicted to these movies. I didn't know what to expect, seeing as I had only seen the original with Vincent Price. Read more

Published on April 13 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Have you ever heard of Insect Politics?
The Fly must have been one of the single greatest films of the 1980's because it left us with quotes, parodies, and astounding visuals that would change special FX in moviemaking... Read more

Published on April 4 2004 by Darko