Seth Brundle is a quirky but brilliant scientist who is working on a new method of transportation, one that will change the world forever: teleportation. After ironing all the kinks out of the process, he decides to teleport himself. Unbeknownst to him, however, a fly got into the machine during his experiment. Everything seems fine at first, but slowly and surely, he starts to change...

THE FLY is a film that any true movie lover is sure to enjoy, that is, as long as they have a strong stomach. If I were to spend an entire review pointing out everything that’s great about it, your hand would get tired from scrolling too much. Because of this, I’ll just cover the basics, starting with the story itself. One word: breathtaking. The changes made to the original plot are actually the reasons this movie is so amazing. Instead of just the features of the fly and Seth being switched around, they actually get merged together, and thus a metamorphosis is presented before our very eyes. Not only is it an enrapturing experience, but it’s an extremely intense one too. The intensity stems from various elements, including (but not limited to) the acting, the make-up effects, and of course, the gore. If you feel like upchucking when you see blood, then you better starve yourself for a week before seeing THE FLY. It’s that gross. And hey, I loved every second of it.

I don’t think I’d consider THE FLY to be a horror flick. In my eyes, the emotional draw of the movie highly surpasses the sickening stuff, although some gore-mongers may disagree. To each his own I guess, but for me, THE FLY is a straight-up drama. Don’t let that fool you though, since it could just as easily be labeled a thriller, or hell, even a comedy (if you’re a sadistic f*cker, that is). The first half of the movie does an excellent job of involving you with its characters and story, so that when the second half starts, you are totally attached to this guy who’s transmorphing into some bizarre creature. By the time the credits roll, your eyes will be wide with awestruck amazement and horror, and you wont be able to look away for at least an hour of staring at the blank screen in front of you. Or maybe I’m just weird like that.

Video: Presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. The main reason Cronenberg was intent on releasing a new edition of this movie was because he wanted to improve on the merely mediocre previous transfer. I was not let down. THE FLY looks wonderful, with absolutely no flecks or smears or over-contrasting issues or lack of detail or anything else you could think of. This is the best the film has ever looked on your TV, to be sure.

Audio: English 5.1 DTS, English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and Spanish/French 2.0 Surround. By itself, the 5.1 surround audio transfer already delivered the goods with a very strong and dynamic presentation. The movie isn’t huge on sounds, but during the scenes where it matters most, the audio definitely holds up. The DTS track furthers the quality with even more “oomph”.

Movie fans, eat your heart out. Fans out there wanted the royal treatment with THE FLY, and that’s what they’re getting.

Disc 1:

Audio Commentary (with director David Cronenberg): You can always count on Cronenberg to give excellent commentary, and THE FLY proves it. He discusses every aspect of the movie, including the original story, the previous film, his ideas on how to change them, production, the characters, and plenty more. Very interesting, intriguing, and engaging - just like the movie.

Disc 2:

Fear of the Flesh: Making of The Fly (2:15:52): Woah! Talk about extensive! This documentary is over two hours in length, and that’s not even including the extra 26 minutes of extra footage in the enhanced version (which includes even more interview footage on specific subjects discussed). The extra is split into three sections: Larva, Pupa, and Metamorphosis. Within this three-hour runtime, everything you could possibly question is answered. The original story and movie, the creation of the new movie, the casting, the filming, post-production, marketing – all of it discussed. To be honest, as interesting as most of this documentary is, I think I would have preferred a less, shall we say, “cumbersome” making-of featurette. Regardless, this is still a great documentary, as long as you have a lot of time on your hands to watch it.

The Brundle Museum of Natural History (11:52): This extra a nice, enjoyable tour of some of the modeled concepts and props from THE FLY. Chris Walas is our guide, explaining their development within the making of the film.

Deleted Scenes (16:50): There are 6 deleted scenes, two of which are extended. There’s also a scene in script form for your reading pleasure. All of the scenes are worth watching, especially the monkey-cat scene (which also features the scene in storyboard and script format). I’m really glad these deleted clips were presented on DVD, even though I don’t think they would’ve worked in the final cut.

Written Works: You ready to read? I hope so. Included here are George Langelaan’s Original Short Story, Charles Edward Rogue’s Original Screenplay, David Cronenberg’s Rewrite, and three Interactive Magazine Articles (one from Cinefex, and the other two from American Cinematographer). Holy shit, that’s a lot of reading!

Film Tests (7:54): This is a bunch of test footage from the opening sequence, lighting, make-up, and creature effects. Worth checking out.

Trailers and TV Spots: Here we have 2 trailers for THE FLY, 2 for THE FLY II, 3 TV Spots, and 2 more trailers for the older FLY movies.

1986 Electronic Press Kit (11:25): The first part of this is a standard making-of made for people who haven’t seen the movie. The second is a profile featurette of David Cronenberg. I only recommend watching the second one, mainly because Cronenberg is in it.

One Sheet and Lobby Card Gallery: There are 15 images, most of which are actual pictures, and the rest different poster variations (although the idea is essentially the same in each).

Still Galleries: There are four sections for these pictures: publicity, behind the scenes, concept art, and effects. Check out concept art and effects if you’re interested.

Also available are DVD Credits, because we all know how much people love to read these.

Where do I begin? Perhaps I should start with the most obvious: BUY THIS DVD. Can’t get simpler than that. Not satisfied? Fine, I’ll humor you. THE FLY is an incredible experience, sometimes pleasant, and sometimes not so much, but always interesting and engaging. The extras are also terrific, if a bit too lengthy for my tastes. Overall, this Collector’s Edition is an outstanding DVD in every sense of the word, so if you don’t go out and buy it right now, I’ll spew fly vomit on you (if that doesn’t disgust you, then you obviously haven’t seen THE FLY yet). There you go; you’re humored.