Buy This DVD Set Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!
Buy This DVD Set Now By Clicking On The
Icon Below!
Title: The Fly II: Collector’s
Edition
Region: One
Genre: Sci-Fi Horror
Stars: Eric Stoltz, Daphne Zuniga,
Lee Richardson, and John Getz
Writers: Mick Garris, Jim and Ken
Wheat, and Frank Darabont
Based On A Story By: Mick Garris
Director: Chris Walas
Feature Length: 105 minutes
Extras: Feature Length Audio
Commentary With Director Chris Walas and Film Historian Bob Burns,
Never-Before-Seen Alternate Ending, Deleted Scene, “The Fly Papers”
Documentary, “Transformations: Looking Back At The Fly II” Documentary,
Storyboard-To-Film Comparisons With Optional Director’s Audio Commentary, Film
Production Journal, Christopher Young Composer Featurette, Original 1989 EPK,
Still Photo Galleries, Theatrical Trailers
Languages: English DTS Digital 5.1
Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Spanish
Language Dolby Surround Sound and French Language Stereo Sound
Subtitles: English Closed Captions
and English and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging: Two-Disc Keep Case
Chapter Stops: 24
Sound: DTS Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Surround Sound, and Stereo Sound
Year Of Theatrical Release: 1989/DVD
Release 2005
Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth
Century Fox
Home Video Distributor: Twentieth
Century Fox Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: R
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
It is hard to believe that Mel
Brooks, a man who makes people think of comedies like "The Producers",
"Blazing Saddles", and "Young Frankenstein," could ever make
such grotesque pictures through his production company until one remembers the
film adaptation of "The Elephant Man" directed by David Lynch. As
different as their directing sensibilities may be, I think Mel Brooks has an eye
for talent because getting David Cronenberg to direct “The Fly” is as
interesting a choice in hindsight as having David Lynch direct “The Elephant
Man.” Can anyone imagine what both films might have been like had the roles
been reversed and David Cronenberg directed “The Elephant Man” and David
Lynch directed the remake of “The Fly” for Fox? The possibilities are
amazing.
"The Fly 2” continues the
story several months from where the original left off with the birth of the
spawn of The Fly/Human Mutant, causing a cardiac arrest that kills the mother
eliminating Geena Davis' character from the story right away since she did not
return for the sequel and quickly recapping the main elements set up from the
original remake. Although the child appears normal, he is unbelievably adept at
learning with a photographic memory, enhanced strength, he never sleeps, and he
has an accelerated growth so by the time he is five years old, he is already a
young man named Martin portrayed by Eric Stoltz, who is being manipulated by
Bartok (Lee Richardson), a wealthy industrialist that funded his father Seth
Brundle’s research that lead to the creation of the telepods.
Martin Brundle is coaxed and encouraged into developing this
teleportation technology his father created to eliminate the flaws and discover
the secrets his father tragically was never able to unlock. Daphne Zuniga is the
love interest and Lee Richardson turns in a great performance as the greedy and
malevolent "Mr. Bartok." John Getz returns in the film as the now
resentful character he played from the original with a memorable cameo and
perhaps the dialogue in the entire film. Jeff
Goldblum appears on a computer monitor in scenes from the previous film.
The screenplay based on a story by
Mick Garris is co-written by Garris, Jim and Ken Wheat, and Frank Darabont.
Garris has since went on to direct some of the best television miniseries
adaptations based on the work of Author Stephen King like “The Stand” and
Frank Darabont has also distinguished himself as a respected Screenwriter and
Director by adapting the feature film versions based on the work of Stephen King
with “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile” Jim and Ken Wheat
had previously directed “Ewoks: The Battle For Endor” for Executive Producer
George Lucas. That film, which aired on American television in 1985, was
released theatrically abroad. Chris Walas improves on the gore and creature
effects he developed for the previous film, but as a first time director, he
seems a bit constricted and ironically the film feels more like a made for
television picture rather than a theatrically released movie. Yet while not as
good artistically as "The Fly" was, this sequel is still entertaining.
Just as Twentieth Century Fox Home
Entertainment released an outstanding collector’s edition two-disc set for
“David Cronenberg’s The Fly” so has Fox released a good companion two-disc
collector’s edition of “The Fly II” that collectively makes the double
feature DVD released back in 2000 effectively obsolete unless having the two
films alone on one DVD is enough for some fans. Granted both “The Fly” and
“The Fly II” are hard to watch because quite honestly, insects are not the
prettiest creatures on the face of this Earth and the notion of a human being
slowly evolving into one is terrifying. The fly vomit sequences are still
nauseating for me to sit through, but that grotesque nature to this film series
is what also makes them quite compelling. Benefiting from the improved
technology of DVD authoring as well as the added room of a dual layered DVD,
“The Fly II” is quite clear to behold with solid colors and an excellent new
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Soundtrack. An English Dolby Digital
5.1 Surround Soundtrack as well as a Spanish Language Dolby Surround Soundtrack
and a French Language Stereo Soundtrack are encoded onto the dual layered DVD
along with English Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and English, and
Spanish Language Subtitles as options. Director Chris Walas and Film Historian
and famed curator for genre film memorabilia from around the world, Bob Burns,
participate in a conversational and retrospective feature length audio
commentary track like two friends getting together to relax and talk about a
movie the both love. Bob Burns is just a sweet guy with a great sense of humor
and a true love for the genre and respect for the props he preserves. He
appeared several times on the SCI FI Channel magazine “SCI FI Buzz” in the
mid 1990s in a segment called “Bob’s Basement” and has made items from his
collection available to the studios and filmmakers upon request for use in
various film franchises as well as exhibitions. Chris Walas’ comments are
interesting though he tends to say the same thing again in the brand new
documentary “Transformation: Looking Back At The Fly II” (48:29) that is
included on disc two. He also provides optional audio commentary for three
storyboards to finished scene comparisons from the film where the board occupies
the top half of the screen and the film clip occupies the bottom half of the
screen. These comparisons are labeled as “Opening Sequence” (3:01),
“Bartok” (2:35), and “Ending” (1:34). Interesting to note that according
to Walas, Geena Davis chose not to return for the sequel because of the birth
scene. She found the original experience from the first film to be emotionally
draining I suppose. Hindsight is crystal, but since Cronenberg had already
filmed what the birth of the baby could be like in a nightmare sequence for the
first film, I think that the sequel could have been restructured to eliminate
the birth sequence all together since it is sort of like repeating the same
information twice. Cronenberg already showed us a bad case scenario in the first
film so maybe Davis could have returned in a cameo like John Getz did had the
opening sequence been eliminated and the film could have then explored more
interesting character dynamics as a result.
Widescreen additional scenes labeled
as “Stopping For Food” (1:33) and an alternate ending (1:10) are also
included on the first disc along with trailers for the 1959 original film
adaptation of “The Fly” (2:00) and the sequel “Return Of The Fly”
(1:38), the 1986 remake of “The Fly (2:04), “Alien” (1:11), and “The
Omen” (2:13). Thank God the alternate ending was never used because Stoltz and
Zuniga have little onscreen chemistry as it was and the ending that appears in
the second film provides a nice ironic twist of fate that concludes the dualogy
as a whole.
In addition to the documentary and
storyboard comparisons noted above, the second disc also features the
documentary “The Fly Papers: The Buzz On Hollywood’s Scariest Insect”
(57:36), which is narrated by Leonard Nimoy and features many interview clips
and information covering the original short story publication in “Playboy”
magazine through the entire film series. The 1989 EPK (5:10), a featurette on
Composer Christopher Young’s music for the film (12:44) and video footage from
the actual production of the film (18:11) are also included.
Still galleries of production
photos, artistic examinations of the various concepts for “The Fly II,” some
of which look very alien, and storyboards can be examined with the teaser
trailer (2:45) and theatrical trailer (1:11) for “The Fly II” concluding the
bonus features within the two-disc set. Inside the keep case is an insert
detailing the scene selections, extra value features and some notes on the
makeup for the film. The menus on disc one detail the telepod room while the
second disc menus feature the observation area where the tortured victims of the
telepod exist and are studied. The interactive menus on both discs are also easy
to navigate.
“The Fly II: Collector’s
Edition” is available on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline along with
“David Cronenberg’s The Fly: Collector’s
Edition,” which is sold
separately, courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.
© Copyright 2005 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Set Now By Clicking On The
Icon Below!