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.