The Fly: Special Edition, Double-Disc Set (DVD)

In a sea of remakes, especially these days, David Cronenberg’s update of the 1958 sci-fi horror classic, The Fly, rises to the top. Released in 1986, the grotesque, graphic film ruled the box office for weeks and was critically and publicly acclaimed. But does it still hold up, some 20 years later?

Having seen the movie during its theatrical release and on videotape (remember those?) originally, but not all at during the 90s and 2000s, I think I’m pretty well qualified to answer that question: Yes, it does — with just a few small tears in the fabric (and Cronenberg himself brings these up in his brand-new commentary).

Jeff Goldblum is an excellent actor, but he was particularly well-cast as the nerdy-yet-sexy scientist, Seth Brundle, who’s created the world’s first teleportation system all by himself in his modest lab/loft. At first he’s only transporting inorganic matter, but once he meets a beautiful journalist (played by Goldblum’s actual girlfriend at the time, Geena Davis) his confidence rises and he decides to try meatier experiments… using a steak, a baboon, and finally, himself. Little does he know that at that pivotal moment a fly has gotten into the pod with him, and when he comes out on the other side they are joined on a molecular level.

The Fly is a brilliantly directed, superbly acted movie that’s not only horrifying, gooey and gory, but is also thought-provoking and touching on an emotional level. The script can’t be faulted. The cinematography looks like silk. The transformation of our hero from brilliant scientist to frenetic fly is quite something to witness. Although each part works together to produce the whole, Cronenberg must be singled out as a master of fusing medical and scientific themes with all-out horror (Dead Ringers, The Dead Zone, Videodrome, eXistenZ) — The Fly is his piece de resistance in this arena.

The movie does shift into overdrive a little too much at the end, and the effects seem somewhat dated in a few spots, but those are very minor considerations. (And actually, I’ve seen much worse things done with CGI just this year, so 1986’s version of The Fly has a lot of wiggle-room in that regard.)

The additional release material put together for this disc is truly stunning. First of all, there is the fascinating single-person commentary by Cronenberg. It’s mainly fascinating because of the 20 years’ perspective, but he also offers up some interesting trivia about the making of the movie at the time (how he was at first reluctant to cast Davis opposite Goldbum because of their off-screen personal relationship; how the teleportation pods were modeled after the cylinders on Cronenberg’s Ducati motorcycle, and so on). The DVD would be worth buying for the film and this commentary alone. But wait… There’s more!

On disc 2 we have a two-hours-forty-minutes making-of featurette called Fear Of The Flesh – The Making of The Fly. You can either watch it all in one shot, or choose the broken-down option: Larva covers the pre-production, Pupa the shooting of the film, and Metamorphosis the post and the film’s release. This is a truly amazing feat in that it brings back all the principals for new interviews, shows footage from the film that includes raw dailies, deleted scenes and four finales that were shot for the movie but never used, and even an in-depth look back at the original movie starring David Hedison, Patricia Owens and Vincent Price).

There are also separate features that show several deleted and extended scenes — most interesting, probably, is the famous “Monkey/Cat” sequence which was scrapped for thematic and practical reasons. The puppets are quite dodgy in this sequence, but it’s still oddly chilling to view.

Also on The Fly Special Edition DVD:

Makeup tests

Effects tests

The Brundle Museum of Natural History featurette

Trailers, Teasers, TV spots

Vintage featurette from 1986

Profile On David Cronenberg

Five still galleries (Publicity, Behind The Scenes, and Visual Effects, Lobby Cards And Poster Art, and Concept Art)

George Langelaan’s original short story

Charles Edward Pogue’s original script

David Cronenberg’s screenplay rewrite

Magazine articles relating to the film

Everything is easy to read and navigate, and the interactive menus are quite clever (even the Copyright Notice/Warning has a fly crawling across the text!).

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson