THE FLY
RATING: 8 / 10 --> Great movie
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
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 David
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, and
starred as the protagonist in Clive Barker's 1990 film
NIGHTBREED. In fact, in the last scene of this film, the priest
revives Decker (Cronenberg's character), by sticking his hand
into his stomach a tribute to Cronenberg's 1983 film VIDEODROME.
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 the 1985 film TRANSYLVANIA 6-5000,
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.)
This film was shot entirely on location Toronto, Canada.
Ex-boxer George Chuvalo has a small part as the
arm wrestler Marky in the bar.
(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
Movie Reviews by Berge Garabedian