The Fly (1986)

Almost twenty years have passed since it was released in 1986 and The Fly remains one of the most disturbing films I've ever seen. What makes it so effective, even today, is the approach to the material which is discussed at great length on this 2-Disc Collector's Edition DVD. This is one of those movies that actually requires a second disc. Geena Davis plays Victoria Quaife, journalist for the science publication "Particle Magazine." She meets Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), an eccentric scientist who, desperate to impress and bed her, shows off his secret invention: a mechanism that will teleport something from one teleportation "pod" to the next.

Of course, there's a hitch. While the pods successfully teleport inanimate objects, attempts to teleport the living are met with disaster (you'll know what I mean when you see what happens to the first baboon attempt). After a lot of thinking and a lot of sex with Geena Davis, Brundle is able to crack the code and at long last teleport a live baboon with apparent success.

Things go wrong from there. Brundle gets jealous of Victoria's relationship with her boss and former lover Stathis Borans (great name). He gets drunk one night and decides to teleport himself. Problem: unbeknownst to Brundle, a fly finds its way into the pod during the process. And that's when things go really wrong.

He soon finds he is transforming into the fly, or rather, the fly and Brundle are engaging in a unified metamorphosis that will make the first baboon experiment look like a success. His skin starts to rot, his ears fall off, and food can't be digested properly without him throwing up on it first. Victoria is torn as she watches the man she loves turn into a monster (literally).

As Cronenberg, cast and crew all point out, The Fly is a love story between Victoria and Seth. It also works as a drama. For example, Seth's deterioration could just have easily been due to cancer. That it blends this drama and romance with science fiction and, eventually, gory horror, is all the more remarkable. Things get pretty sick pretty fast but the film never loses its emotional grip on the audience. You sympathize with Brundle to the very end, this is partly why this film is so disturbing.

The first disc contains the movie, which looks great, as well as an insightful director's commentary. On the second disc, there's a 136-minute, three-part documentary -- the three parts are labeled "Larva," "Pupa," and "Metamorphosis" -- on the making of the film called "Fear of the Flesh: The Making of The Fly." This fascinating documentary, which can be extended to another thirty minutes by clicking on little fly icons, is thorough and excellent.

The actors are interviewed along with producer Stuart Cornfield, original screenwriter Charles Edward Pogue, Oscar-winning special effects guru Chris Walas and many others. Perhaps most interesting are the interviews with Robert Bierman, the original director of the project who had to excuse himself after a tragedy in his family occurred.

There is a smaller, 12-minute documentary called "The Brundle Museum of Natural History" where Chris Walas guides us through a collection of conceptual fly designs. Deleted and extended scenes are aplenty complete with some script comparisons (be warned, there is one deleted scene titled "Monkey-Cat"). It appears the cut scenes were wise decisions and the extended cuts reflect the remarkable job editor Ronald Sanders (who is also interviewed in "Fear of The Flesh") did on this film.

Meanwhile, a micro-mini doc section called "Film Tests" briefly shows some of the experimentation on makeup and effects. There's also original featurettes, promotional item layouts (TV, posters, etc.). Oh, and more...we get George Langelaan's original short story, Charles Edward Pogue's original screenplay, David Cronenbeg's rewrite, and accompanying articles from Cinefex and American Cinematographer. Yes, that's drool coming out of your mouth.

With The Fly, Twentieth Century Fox has released arguably the best studio Collector's Edition of the year. If you're a fan of the film or a fan of the genre or even if you have a mild interest in great filmmaking, pick up this DVD right now. -- Andre Rivas