The Fly (1986)
Directed By: David Cronenberg
The Prologue
David Cronenberg is one of my favorite directors, period. And while I love The Brood and I love Videodrome (even calling it at one time David’s best film), I just have to rethink that after re-visiting The Fly. And The Fly is of course the 1986 remake of a very old film of the same name. But unlike remakes of today, this was done during a time when a remake could do a vast improvement upon the original. So, mixing the type of stuff David Cronenberg is famous for with a more science fiction twist, we get one of the better films of the 80s. And here we have it in a pretty snazzy looking Blu-ray.
The Movie
Seth Brundle, a brilliant but eccentric scientist attempts to woo investigative journalist Veronica Quaife by offering her a scoop on his latest research in the field of matter transportation, which against all the expectations of the scientific establishment have proved successful. Up to a point. Brundle thinks he has ironed out the last problem when he successfully transports a living creature, but when he attempts to teleport himself a fly enters one of the transmission booths, and Brundle finds he is a changed man.
Outside of the effects, the concept, and all that great stuff, it’s important we don’t forget one of the best things about The Fly. I am of course talking about the acting of both our leads, being played by Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis.The film is a very smart and well crafted film. But the cool stuff doesn’t happen really early and as a result it’s great to have two good acting performances to hold things down until stuff really starts to pop off later on. I remember watching this film as a kid and I remembered a lot about their performances, that says a lot.
But of course the effects and all that cool stuff does come along later, after our good scientist has a accident while testing out his experiment. Then we get to see the slow-ish but awesome transfermantion from a man to a fly, and it’s ever bit as epic as it might sound. If you’ve never see this film, then I do think this is what makes it worth seeking out. We have drama, we have nice effects, a bit of a love triangle and we have a man-fly puking up acid on stuff and people. It’s really a nice way to spend a Saturday night if you’re bored and want to catch a movie.
While there is a very long list of movies from the 80s that are really cool and enjoyable, there isn’t a ton that are still holding up well today. I think The Fly holds up really really well. A fact that is even more cool when you think about it being from 1986. The effects are ten times better than any CGI you might see today and the performances are head and shoulders above some of the cookie-cutter acting we see in a lot of films currently. Is The Fly David Cronenberg’s best film? It may just be, I can’t really answer that now. But any way you cut it, it is a damn good movie.
The Conclusion
Given to us here at 1080p 1.85 video encoded in MPEG4 AVC, the movie looks really clean for it’s age. It’s not a very bright film, most of it takes place in our nice doctor’s home, which is dark. But it’s perfectly acceptable and the film is just awesome. Plus, this is usually rather cheap, so I’d say it’s well worth a purchase.
The Rating (8/10)
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