Movie: 3 1/2 stars
Extras: 4 stars
Featuring equally magnificent and disgusting visual effects, “The Fly” has landed on an exhaustive two-disc DVD for its 20th anniversary. It’s about time this underrated science fiction drama gets recognition as a contemporary masterwork.
Right away, the talented and gore-loving director David Cronenberg arrests your mind by allowing you to see with the vision of a fly in the opening credits sequence. Then the story kicks off rather quickly, with ambitious scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) assuring journalist Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) that she should cover him and his revolutionary scientific discovery. Brundle has developed telepods to transport things from one location to another. However, only nonliving matter can be teleported intact. Brundle proves this true by trying to transport a baboon in a scene that would enrage PETA supporters.
Of course, Brundle and Quaife hit it off, but Quaife’s old boyfriend and current editor Stathis Borans (John Getz) provides a frustrating barrier between the two lovers. All the while Brundle gets closer to his goal of transporting living matter. Finally, an inebriated and jealously paranoid Brundle chooses to test himself in the telepod. Little does the scientist know that a fly somehow enters the telepod as the experiment takes place.
After his successful teleportation, Brundle feels physically enlivened at first; he’s able to perform Olympian gymnastics, and sex has never been better. But other signs, like an unnatural craving for sugar and the ability to climb walls, show Brundle and his reporter girlfriend that he is becoming a full-fledged human insect.
This is one physical transformation that you shouldn’t miss. The patient, yet never boring, script lets Brundle’s fate as a fly slowly emerge in a series of stages. And as Brundle’s appearance changes from scene to scene, so does Goldblum, in his most effective and blazing performance.
Some of these changes will be bearable for everyone. Goldblum scales the ceiling and walls before Tobey Maguire could even think about being a spandex-wearing wall crawler. And he takes coffee with his sugar, as Davis quips in a restaurant scene.
On the contrary, other changes will gross out and appall many viewers, even the most unmovable. Goldblum’s skin gives severe acne victims hope, and he peels off fingernails in his bathroom. If I went into further detail, it would spoil the movie and potentially any meal you’ve had today.
Even though the make-up and nasty effects rule, everything would have been for nothing if Goldblum was any less amazing in his role. The audience can clearly see instinctive fidgety fly movement slowly work its way into Goldblum’s mannerisms, dialogue delivery and posture. And you can’t help but laugh when the actor raves in his usual unusual, spontaneous way: “Human teleportation-molecular decimation, breakdown and reformation-is inherently purging. It makes a man a king!”
Accordingly, Davis does a good job of balancing out Goldblum’s growing insanity with a sweet and grief-stricken performance. Not only that, but she and Goldblum share believable chemistry in their romance. It’s unsurprising that the two stars were together in real life when they worked on this film.
Unfortunately, Getz doesn’t favor as well with his arrogant, gotta-get-her-back ex-squeeze role. Granted, he does have a few funny lines, but overall he often distracts from the tragic mood of the movie. He especially feels out of place as a character near the film’s end.
Despite that minor flaw, the rest works well. “The Fly” pulls off something that is difficult. It intrigues you with science. It repulses you with slimy and bloody horror. It depresses you with an underlying feeling of tragic hopelessness. It’s primarily a visual piece, yet it slices open emotional veins in the same shots. All the while you forget that this is a remake of a beloved Vincent Price flick from the 1950s.
As a director, Cronenberg has been criticized for being too gory with his work. But his use of revolting imagery never overshadows the pensive and powerful story of a man who unknowingly destroys himself.
“The Fly” will hover in your mind for days.
These are the most impressive extras I’ve seen this year. The first disc has a commentary track with Cronenberg, a director who doesn’t disappoint with what he has to say. But it’s the second disc that provides the more expansive features, starting off with the documentary, “Fear of the Flesh,” which is separated into three appropriate parts: larva, pupa and metamorphosis. This documentary lasts more than two hours long, and hardly one bit of it wastes your time. Another doc, “The Brundle Museum of Natural History,” guides us through a collection of the film’s models for its impressive visuals. The second disc also offers four deleted scenes, with one being script only. Apparently, one scene was too much for test audiences: “Monkey-Cat.” Another scene is an alternate ending, and it’s a good thing it didn’t make the cut: the goofiness would have taken away from the dramatic force of the climax. There are two extended scenes as well.
Not done yet. You’ll find the original short story from Playboy that inspired the first movie, along with the first screenplay for the remake, Cronenberg’s rewrite and a few interactive magazine articles. Five film tests, trailers, TV spots, a profile on Cronenberg and numerous still galleries round out the gargantuan amount of extras.
Overall, this DVD is definitely one of the best of the year, right beside the “Raging Bull” special edition that came out in the spring. Hardcore Cronenberg fans will rejoice, and newcomers to the film are in for an equally disturbing and entertaining cinematic experience.