THE FLY RATING: 8 / 10 --> Great movie
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Canadian director David Cronenberg remakes the original 1958 Vincent Price semi-classic film and warns all audiences to "Be afraid...be very afraid." This film was followed by a supposedly lame sequel, FLY II, starring the omnipresent Eric Stoltz, and directed by the man who won the "Best Makeup" Oscar for this film, Chris Walas.
PLOT: Cooky & brainy scientist invents a method of teleportation, wherein a human being could be transported from one place to another in a matter of seconds. While testing his own invention, el geeko scientist does not notice the presence of an insect in his transportation pod, and soon finds himself fusing into an amalgamate of two living creatures. Geena Davis plays the roving reporter who begins to follow the story on the grounds of historical posterity, but ultimately maintains her interest by the strength of her love.
CRITIQUE: Creepy, moody, and downright gory science-fiction horror flic that generates many moments of utter disgust, revulsion, pleasure and sympathy. This film was wonderfully stylized by Cronenberg, with a true feel for the life of this poor soul, and the solitude that roomed with his extreme intelligence. Goldblum seems to have finally found a place for his stammering acting bit, and works wonderfully as the goofy, and wildly intelligent, scientist with a plan. He brings caring to the character, and allows you to give a crap about his future.
This film does actually contain a few extremely graphic scenes of ickiness (which Mrs. JoBlo could've done without), and worked as a complete slithering piece of pulp-sci-fiction. Many horror and science-fiction movies have a tendency to overplay their fiction, while dismissing the reality check that audiences look for in a credible film. But this film moves along at a decent pace, always keeps you informed on what and why everything is going on, and eventually turns into a wild make-up fest that truly does make you feel and sympathize with the Goldblum character (The horror, the horror!!).
Having said that, if nachos are your game for this one, I suggest you salsa down during the first thirty minutes or so, because soon thereafter, many of the gory scenes make their move. All in all, this film does still manage to creep you out after all these years, with kudos going out to Cronenberg's grisly mood setting, Goldblum's kickass performance, the incredible makeup job and the solid plotline that makes us all want to believe in this unbelievable scenario set forth by this man.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Director Cronenberg has a small cameo in this film as the gynecologist who delivers a "baby". He also had a small cameo as the "man at the lake" in Gus Van Sant's TO DIE FOR (6.5/10) starring the ever-white Nicole Kidman. He has frequent references to ``the flesh'' in his films, and often uses explicit carnage. This film won an Academy Award for "Best Makeup" at the 1987 Oscar ceremonies. Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis met on the set of this film, and fell in love. They got married in 1987, and got divorced in 1990. Jeff stands 6'4 and his middle name is Lynn. Geena stands 6', her real name is Virginia Davis, she speaks Swedish and is a proud member of MENSA (Private club gathering smart people with extremely high IQ's.) Ex-boxer George Chuvalo has a small part as the arm wrestler Marky in the bar.
Review Date: October 24, 1998
Director: David Cronenberg
Writers: David Cronenberg & Charles Edward Pogue
Producer: Stuart Cornfeld
Actors: Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle
Geena Davis as Veronica "Ronnie" Quaife
John Getz as Stathis Borans
Genre: Horror/Science-Fiction
Year of Release: 1986
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(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
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