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DVD The Fly II (Special Edition)
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
The son of Seth Brundle, the unfortunate man-fly, is born with his mixture of human and fly DNA. He turns out to be uncannily brilliant, but also reaches adulthood (played by Eric Stoltz) in only five years. He grows up in the Bartok Industries facility, and is asked to carry on his father's work. Inevitably, the fly genes make themselves felt, and he begins to transform, and love interest Daphne Zuniga wants to save him.
The director is Chris Walas, who handled the makeup FX in the first film, and it is in this department that the sequel does well. The monster effects are (mostly) great, and the blood is copious, especially at the climax. But compare the opening scene of Cronenberg's film with this one, and the difference between the two films is painfully obvious. Scripted by Mick Garris (responsible for an endless succession of workmanlike but uninspiring Stephen King adaptations), this is just another monster movie that makes its way through predictable and often silly plot points with none of the wit and corrosive intelligence of its predecessor.
The sound comes in 5.1 and DTS. There is no real difference between the two, and they both sound fine. The colors of the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer are very strong.
On Disc 1, Walas is joined by monster enthusiast and historian Bob Burns. Their discussion is largely of the nuts-and-bolts variety, but has an engaging energy. Here too is a deleted scene, and alternate ending, and some trailers.
On Disc 2 there are two substantial documentaries. "Transformations: Looking Back at The Fly II" is informative and doesn't try too hard to suggest that this is some kind of neglected classic. Leonard Nimoy narrates "The Fly Papers: The Buzz on Hollywood's Scariest Insect," which looks at the whole series of films from the 1958 original on. In the featurette department, there's the original 1989 promo piece, a video production journal of the FX, and an interview with Christopher Young. There are three storyboard comparisons with optional commentary from Walas, and three still galleries ("Production Photos," "The Art of The Fly II" and "Storyboards"). Finally, there's the teaser and theatrical trailer. The main screen of the menu, as well as the intro and transitions, is animated and scored.
The extras aren't as copious as on the Cronenberg film, but they're still plentiful for an inferior sequel.
BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID
Possibly the best film by Cronenberg "The Fly" still looks good. It's really scary, tragic and different. More to it I have no doubt that it's the best work of Jeff Goldblum - his portrait of a mad scientist was far more truthful than all those red-eyed, disheveled psychos from other movies.
This is a horror, a drama, a love-story in one. Can you recall a horror film where you wanted to weep in the end? And the phrase "Be afraid, be very afraid" still gives me the willies - more than many other creepy moments from other films. "The Fly" is an epitome of the era when science was rather developed, humankind thought that it's on a verge of a great breakthrough, that now everything's possible. But David Cronenberg gave us a reminder that everything is not that easy. Science has to overcome a long way to reach perfection.
The second part is OK, I won't say it's not good, but nothing more than OK. Consider it as a little bonus-surprise for Cronenberg's classic.
Soon a new edition comes out with a lot of additional materials, I guess you'd want to buy it instead of this one. Maybe that's a wise choice - I'd have a new one than this.
Brundlefly Jr.
It would seem based on the entire premise of this movie that Veronica, aka "Brundlefly's Baby's Mama" was talked out of having that abortion... I for one am grateful for that fact because it does answer that big "what if...?" question left lingering after the conclusion of Cronenberg's masterpiece.
Now this film had a low budget and it shows in the fact that certain shots look a little "made for t.v.". also it should be noted that this film was directed by Chris Walas who designed the creature effects for the first film, so one can excuse the sequel for some lack of cinematic nuance. (incidentally he also designed the creature effects for Gremlins)
Those factors aside, the film still manages many clever and poetic moments that create a satisfying story. This may not be enough to say that the film surpasses its predecessor but it does give enough to merit that The Fly II carries the legacy just fine. This alone is rare for sequels.
The Story: Little Baby Brundle is born (I'll let you find out what happens to Mommy) and is immediately placed in the foster care of Bartok industries with it's very founder taking on the role of dad in little Brundle's life.
Well, we quickly find out that little Martin Brundle is special. Not only is he a child genius, but he is maturing at an extremely accelerated pace. This of course kicks off the plot point that Martin being the son of a hybrid fly-man, has inherited the actual life-cycle of a fly...which would make Martin in his human state the larva (and in fly terms would mean he's a maggot of sorts no?)
Martin is of course lied to and told that what he inherited "Brundle's Accelerated Growth Syndrome" or something like that. He is told that it claimed his father's life and that it will claim his life as well. This, naturally does not stop Martin from trying to keep himself occupied. I mean, the poor kid lives every waking hour of his presumed short life in a corporate laboratory.
Martin makes his first friend with a labrador retriever being kept around for experiments. That friendship takes a tragic turn when martin stumbles upon his fathers telepods from the first film. (Seth Brundle stated in the first film that he was being funded by Bartok) Martin happens to spy on scientists experimenting with the pods. Their next lucky contestant on "who wants to get mutated" is, you guessed it: the poor doggy.
Well, Martin moves on with his life- such as it is. On his 5th birthday he is looking and feeling more like 20. Bartok gives him his own place (still on the facility grounds) and makes him head of the project to get the telepods fully operational. Well all work and no play makes Martin a dull boy...so fly-boy meets girl.
Yes, Martin meets Beth Logan and they develop a passionate relationship which gives him the inspiration he has been seeking to finally get those pesky pods up to full capacity. So at this point everything is going swimmingly for all. That is until Martin finds...the dog.
And that's where events start to spiral out of control for young Martin. The dog that was his first friend is still being kept alive in freakish misery. Also Martin discovers a strange sore on his body which he feels the doctors at the lab are lying to him about. It should be said that on top of constantly lying to Martin, the doctors and security guards at Bartok industries are all...well, jerks. Martin then discovers that his supposed private home housed a camera that was used to film he and Beth in bed. At the same time he also discovers the horrible truth about his "condition". Beth is transferred to a building across town for sleeping with martin and Bartok reveals to martin that he has been waiting for Martin to mutate.
This, of course sends Martin into a rage. He escapes from the facility to find Beth. Then they take off together to find Stathis Boranz who's hand and foot were melted off by none other than Martin's father. Martin is told more or less what he already knew- that the cure for him is in the pods. Martin also knows from previous research that using the pods to cure himself would involve taking another life, which he is unwilling to do.
Martin by this point is already looking more like his dear old dad. He and Beth find shelter in a motel where he tells Beth that he is not getting worse, he is getting better- in a speech reminiscent of the "I'll hurt you if you stay" speech in the first film. Bartok's lackeys track them down and bring them both back to the lab...
Well, Martin is now fully in his pupa or chrysalis stage and it doesn't take him long to emerge as the fully formed "Brundlefly Jr.". Martin, being second gen fly-man and all has thus far had a considerably more tidy transformation than Seth Brundle did. It's no surprise than that Junior is a leaner, meaner and more symmetrical creature.
So here we have at last the grand finale which plays out like a cross between Alien and The Incredible Hulk. We definitely get to know this monster better than his predecessor and this movie delivers on some serious rampaging unlike the first one(not that this makes it better). Junior gets revenge on all the doctors and security guards with some creative uses of fly acid, shows that he recognizes Beth with a longing glance and has a final showdown with Bartok. Let's just say Bartok ends up with a fate worse than death.
So all in all, I liked this movie. Perhaps I'm a little biased because I saw it before the 1st film. Or maybe because I'm a sucker for sci-fi horror and films where the monster and the hero are one and the same.
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... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jeff Goldblum - Geena Davis Director(s): David Cronenberg DVD Release Date: Released the 04 October 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The plot device is so damned great that it simply had to be revisited: a scientist invents a device that transmits matter by disintegrating it in one chamber and reintegrating it in another. When he attempts to transmit his own body, he accidentally allows a fly into the chamber, and the resulting man-insect hybrid runs rampant across the Canadian countryside. Philippe, the son of that ill-fated scientist, is told the family history by a benevolent uncle (an oddly prim Vincent Price); possessed with the scientific will-to-know, he becomes determined to re-create his father's experiments. The legendarily silly costuming of the original Fly returns, and with it, the perplexing logic of transmogrification--it becomes difficult to decipher which of the man-insect hybrids we're meant to... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Edward Bernds DVD Release Date: Released the 04 September 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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For fans and newcomers, this boxed set holds a great collection, including all four great movies. The first in the series, Batman (1989), and arguably the best of the four movies, exudes the moodiness of the Dark Knight's character. Tim Burton's direction and Michael Keaton's rendition of Batman are an electrifying combo. Together they capture the sinister atmosphere of Gotham City and Batman's darkness. Jack Nicholson as the fiendish Joker and Kim Basinger as the resourceful and gorgeous Vicki Vale lend their charm. Three years later, in 1992, Burton and Keaton reunited for Batman Returns. This time our pointy-eared hero has to combat two villains: Danny DeVito as the disturbed and freaky Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. In Batman Forever (1995), Joel... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Michael Keaton - Danny DeVito - Michelle Pfeiffer Director(s): Tim Burton DVD Release Date: Released the 05 September 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Predator wreaked havoc in the jungle and struck box-office gold, so Hollywood logic dictated that Predator 2 should raise hell in the big, bad city. Los Angeles, to be specific, and this near-future L.A. (circa 1997) is an ultra-violent playground for the invisibility-cloaked alien that hunted Arnold Schwarzenegger in the previous film. Scant explanation is given for the creature's return, and because Ah-nuld was busy making Total Recall, Danny Glover was awkwardly installed as the maverick cop (is there any other kind?) who defies a government goon (Gary Busey) to curtail the alien's inner-city killing spree. But why bother, when the victims are scummy Colombian drug lords? Don't look for intelligent answers; director Stephen Hopkins favors wall-to-wall action over... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Danny Glover - Gary Busey Director(s): Stephen Hopkins DVD Release Date: Released the 25 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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