Sticky -- how DVDs should be made

There's a fascinating film on this DVD, and it's not necessarily the popular David Cronenberg gross-out pic from the mid-'80s. David Pryor's smart and emotional DVD docu takes almost three hours to cover the story of a "horrible mess" of a project that resulted in one of the decade's top films. Pryor had plenty to work with: the tangled tale of the script; Mel Brooks' role as horror producer; the sudden death of the original director's daughter; the wooing of Cronenberg; the real-life romance of stars Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis; and Goldblum's miseries inside the rotting human-fly getup.

Cronenberg provides thoughtful and easygoing commentary. Revisiting the film, he was "really struck by how disturbing and emotional" it remains. He and other principals on the project see it as a love story, not straight horror. Cronenberg's direction of the film was partly a reaction to the death of his father, to cancer.

"The Fly" DVD really takes off on disc 2, packed with imaginative and interactive extras. Among the many highlights is the reconstruction of the notorious cat-monkey fusion scene, deleted as too sickening. Cronenberg's script and the original "Fly" short story are included.

The video is first-rate despite a few dropouts: Colors on the blood and guts look nicely saturated. Images are 1.85:1, as shot. The sound gets an upgrade from the previous DVD with the addition of DTS. Audio is mostly solid but stressed at peaks.

A masterful, classic movie

The Fly is a classic movie, a one of a kind gem that you rarely come across. It is Croenberg's piece of genius. To tell you the truth, I wasn't looking forward to seeing it. I thought it would be cheesy and not scary at all. Well, it's not cheesy and isn't scary. So, the horror section label doesn't give it that much justice. Yet, it is more a horror movie than anything else. The fact that it isn't scary doesn't take away from the movie whatsoever.

The movie has a nerdy scientist (Jeff Goldblum) trying to impress a reporter (Geena Davis) by showing his new invention. This invention is rather incredible. He has managed to teleport things from one probe ot another. He is now trying to do the same thing with animals and maybe even humans. They both fall in love and become partners as well as lovers. But the scientist tries to go through the teleportation process. It would have worked but a fly went in with him. At first, nothing's wrong. On the contrary, he thinks that he has know obtained super abilities from it. Until he starts changing and goes insane.

The development of the scientist is trully brilliantly executed. He is having a good time with his abilities..maybe too good a time. But then he becomes depressed, obsessive and crazy. Jeff Goldblum gives a riveting performance..his best. He plays the role with extreme perfection.
Geena Davis also does a nice job. Their relationship is excellently portrayed and shows how much they care for each other. And in the end, this allows the movie to be sad and tragic.

The makeup gets an A for effort and brilliance. For 1986, this is trully amazing how they show the different stages of the scientist's transformation. And in the end, his fully transformed body is excellently made. Awesome.
Now to my favorite aspect of the movie: the score. Trully brilliant and very powerful..it sets the mood for the movie and is what changes one scene to the next.
The arm wrestling scene is so memorable and very cool.

The Fly is an outstanding movie for the 80s and still remains today as a must see.

A Better Fly Swatter

Remakes and sequels are generally insulting and blatant attempts to cash in at the box office. Few of them ever repeat the original thrills. Oddly, a very few, such as "The Godfather, Part II" and Philip Kaufman's set-in-San Francisco remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," are actually better than the originals. Canadian director David Cronenberg's socko 1986 remake of the cheapo 1950s horror film "The Fly" is now another. Although it isn't the "masterpiece" its makers and some critics claim, it far surpasses the first film in its science, story plotting, social commentary and sheer moviemaking skill (see the director's 2005 "A History of Violence" for evidence of that.)

Jeff Goldblum, who also was in the "Body Snatchers" remake, plays a nerdy scientist and Geena Davis a reporter who is chronicling his "telepod" experiment, one which will change world transportation forever. The actors, who were dating at the time, have real screen chemistry. Their emotional bond is both terrifying and touching when his experiment goes grimly awry. The pre-CGI special effects are truly special, and the tinkering with human genetics is today weirdly current. This classy DVD collector's edition is full of interesting features, including a long documentary on making the film. Watch "The Fly" without the kids or you'll be dealing with their nightmares for at least a week.