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Rating:  - DON'T PAY SELLERS CRAZY HIGH PRICES!!
They may have stopped printing these, but you can still get them for under 15.00 at Suncoast and bookstores. You don't have to pay 30.00 to 60.00. To hell with these guys. It just so happens this is slated for rerelease from Fox with extras. This is a great movie and so is Return of the Fly.
Rating: - The Classic is still the best choice... Heeelp! Heeelp!
I ordered this 2 DVD set, including both the original "The Fly" and "Return of the Fly" starring Vincent Price, the "Grand Seigneur" (the Master) of the fantasy and sci-fi genre.
I am glad I did.
I could have ordered the remake and its counterpart "The Fly II", but I preferred to start at the beginning and I was right.
The classics may have less sophisticated SFXs (Special Effects), but the acting is far superior. The ambience of the two, typically Fifties, adds to the charm of the whole.
The music is tense, but not overbearing as in eighties movies and the screaming girl is there, where one wants her, and at the right time too...
Who can forget the finale of the original "The Fly", almost a work of slapstick comedy, but so dramatically funny.
The second and follow-up, "Return of the Fly" is not so brilliant, lacking the glamour of color (although in CinemaScope), and its story comes and goes, but still a valid sequel for those very campy "drive-in" movies.
Whilst in the first, Vincent Price is just the shoulder to Al Hedison, in the second he truly becomes the star of the action.
Everyone who loves that particular feeling of Fifties Widescreen movies, won't be disappointed.
Both are not to be considered as Horror movies, or just Science Fiction ones, although elements of both genres are present, no, more likely, I would call them a twist in the "Film Noir" genre.
In fact, especially in the first one, the entire plot is told while a Police investigation is being conducted, to clarify a vicious murder case.
In the second, we have more of a crime movie, in which a mobster is blackmailing the hero, with obvious tragic consequences.
While watching these two installments, one has to keep in mind that in the Fifties, Science Fiction and Horror movies were considered a minor and secondary genre.
The taste of the time were Western Spectaculars and Crime Movies, such as said, the so-called "Film Noir".
Combining both in a Fantasy/Sci-Fi genre was a truly daring move, as well as a touch of pure genius.
Doing so, allowed the producers to take some liberties with its contents, emphasizing some elements and exagerating others, to build the necessary tension in style and reaching a well constructed climax at the end.
Both movies are more than worth the money spent, even for newcomers to the Fifties movies.
While the '80s version has its own appeal, being more modern and adding some truly scary effects to the story, it does not make it more interesting or more appealing to the viewers.
I like Jeff Goldblum as an actor, but I cannot see him stealing the seat of Vincent Price.
Granted, he does not play his role. While in the Fifties you have a happy Canadian family, with at its head, a hard-working scientist, we in the '80s, receive an eccentric scientist who slowly goes mad and moreover is a solitary guy with a lose tie to a female journalist.
This for "The Fly" Part One. For Part Two, we also have differences. As said, "Return of the Fly" (1959) is more a Crime Movie with the legendary rescue of the hero and the its final revenge scene. "The Fly II", in 1988, is a fumbled attempt to create a sequel.
Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis are gone altogether. They don't even get a chance at Cameo roles. We have totally unknown actors in something that is meant to be a new story altogether.
In "Return of the Fly" we have Vincent Price reprising his original role and stealing the show.
Nevertheless, now that both versions are out, when in doubt, buy them both. Also the 1980s "The Fly" series is available in a compact collection and also at an affordable price.
My suggestion to you, the viewers, is to buy them both and then compare them for yourselves.
But be warned. If you have a faint heart, the '80s collection is rather gory and could cause you some visual shocks, while the '50s versions are more stylized and a lot is left to your imaginations to work out.
It is up to you.
Rating: - Sci-Fi Classic
i saw this film many years ago in my early 20s and was impressed. innovative filmmaking for its era, THE FLY still manages to intrigue today. the concept of teleportation of solid matter, living or inanimate is a concept that has been pondered for many years. to disclose any major details of the plot would only deprive anyone who hasn't seen this little gem of the enjoyment of watching the first time.
i purchased this film for THE FLY only, but the other feature included, RETURN OF THE FLY, is watchable but inferior to its predecessor. avoid the remake with Jeff Goldblum. the only redeeming that one has is its modern use of special effects.
as for the DVD, the transfer is great. the colors are vibrant and rich. the audio is good too. no real extras, but who cares. it would make a good addition to anyone's library.
Rating: - A fly with a man's head, a man with a fly's head...what's the difference?
Yes, this is the apex of all sci-fi horror giant bug '50's late night drive in movies. Absolutely. So it starts with a woman smashing her man in a giant steam press. She smashes twice. When the reason for that is revealed, it is truly horrifying. Anyway, the movie of interest is a flashback from that scene. The woman's husband is one of these lucky scientists who have a fabulous modern laboratory in the basement of their houses. Within this basement, he has invented a way to transmit mass from one point to another by making a loud irritating noise and flashing a very bright light. It works, most of the time, for inanimate objects that do not have writing on them. However, when two critters, say a man and a housefly, get transported together...the fun begins. You know, I have seen the modern Cronenberg/Goldblum version of this movie and it is disgusting. This version conveys a lot of that disgust without the stomach churning quality of the newer one. MUCH prefered. I mean, you get it when you hear him eating, and when he tries to canoodle with his wife for the last time...eeeeeeee!!!!!
Anyway, this is an entertaining film with a genuinely scary ending (freaked out my 13 year old. I can agitate her by saying "help...me!" now. Great tool to have I must say). Performances are not that good, Vincent Price is is usual fey and stiff self. But the horror is there without the gross-out, and the truly scary ending (in spite of the teddy bear-like spider) all make it highly recommended.
Rating: - Emblematic and classic sci fi picture!
The man defying the Gods in Greek sense, like a modern Prometheus, seems to be the message between lines
About this sordid tale about a scientist who experiments with a disintegrating machine and has his obvious parallelism with the nuclear paradox . When Icarus flied closer the sun his wax wings simply melted and then he died falling to the sea: superb, greed and excess of self stem among other ephitets were the main causes of this disgrace: Help me, help me.
Almost forty years have elapsed since its release and this sci fi maintains its profile due perhaps, it cointains the essential elements of a mythical fable.
Consider this film among the emblematic quintet of the most pyramidal pictures which dealt with this genre: Them, Invasion of the body snatchers, The thing, I married with a monster from the outer space.
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