Customer Reviews

The Fly (1986 Film)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With the astonishing scores to the The Lord of the Rings movies just behind us, I must admit that I still find Howard Shore's score to The Fly more enjoyable...

This is grand orchestra horror mingled with fine tuned romance, in combination with soaring and truly emotional drama! Program the following tracks in this order in your cd player and you will know why: Stathis Enters, The Jump, The Ultimate Family, The Creature, The Plasma Pool, The Last Visit, The Finale. These follow the order of the final scenes, but can be listened to without thinking of the film!

A beautifully dramatic score with tear-pulling qualities!

Pay attention to the horns in The Jump... Howard Shore even managed to underscore the stomach-turning small bursts of melting flesh from Stathis' leg... yeaghhh, BUT GREAT!!!

Beginning with his work as musical director of Saturday Night Live, Howard Shore quickly established himself as a unique and highly talented composer. Of all his film work he is most often associated with another Canadian, director David Cronenberg. They first collaborated on Cronenberg's "The Brood", and have enjoyed a successfull working relationship ever since. Shore's score for "The Fly" is simply one of his best. As typifies Shore's music, each piece delivers a strange and somber concoction of strings and horns, each selection more disquieting and foreboding then the last. The main overture is simply one of Shore's best pieces, and one can hear the similarities between it and his work on Cronenberg's "Scanners".

The musical score is one particular element in a film that is seemingly always glossed over -- and perhaps the most important among those concealed... That element in 'The Fly', if it should be exampled by any score, is Howard Shore's haunting -- HAUNTING -- composition, which ranks as one of the utmost moving, resonant musical underpinnings I've ever heard within the context of a film. His score is so unbearably heartbreaking, as well as possessing an intellect and discourse all of its own, that it becomes every bit as critical as Goldblum's tour de force of a performance. Shore's expression of the material within the film is, like Goldblum's contribution, responsible for bringing a male (!) such as myself to tears, weeping like a wounded child whenever 'The Fly''s fateful end bears itself. His reoccurring theme for Brundle is established from the beginning in a sort of neutral stance, but by its conclusion, there are deep felt, multi-layered affections wrapped around it. There are two cues, in particular, that are beyond words. The latter of the two comes the very second that Brundle-Fly devastatingly ejects from the pod in the very last moments of the film. As he crawls towards Ronnie, Shore's score makes me cry almost immediately, every time: despondent, devastating, tender and glorious. The fatalistic sense of Brundle's ambition and natural urge, given his predisposed brilliance and fascination with science -- guided somewhat, sympathetically, by a desire to overcome his personal struggle with an infliction that leaves him unable to travel along with modern transportation, due to physical nausea -- gives way to a feeling of touching inevitability amongst the circumstances. And yet, his attained vision to break new grounds in scientific invention -- literally transporting Humanity to a new frontier -- is interwoven with the tragedy in a coat of glory and sacrificial nobility. Mere strings and brass can convey so many things... Shore is a brilliant composer, and 'The Fly', though it will always be overshadowed by the excellent but relatively superficial (that's really not fair nor true) scores to the 'Lord of the Rings' trio, is exemplary of that.

And, if you think I'm wrong regarding the forgotten nature that the score has garnished and will most likely continue to -- it appears you can't even order it here on Amazon. Such a shame.

I give the score four stars for this reason -- as a FILM score this is unquestionably worth five --:

1) The tracks are bizarrely out of order. My guess is that the producers of the album figured this strategy would provide for a more well-rounded listen. To me, if any score needs to be heard in chronological order -- especially for those who've seen the film -- it's Shore's 'The Fly'. Thankfully, with a bit of effort (and it took me about thirty or so minutes), one's able to rearrange the tracks to proper effect.
2) This one is a nail biter, though to what degree I'm not sure. Missing from the album is the film's most important sequence -- the few moments that conclude the film, and the one I elaborated on above. How this disregard could have occurred I'm not quite sure, but my theory is that it's a bit too similar in composition to that of the album's best track (the second track I mentioned above, but neglected to construe), "The Last Visit" (again, completely out of place on the album as the third track). Nonetheless, I'm pretty certain it varies, if only slightly, from that piece, and its rendition would have proved invaluable.

But, to hurdle over the finish line lazily here, I'll conclude hastily with what I've already summarized:

This is a work of genius.

This is the first among the collaborations between Shore and The London Philharmonic. Be it so, they are already in quite perfect synch, the musicians aptly handling Shore's spare and dissonant use of strings and horns. This is a big score, a loud score, an operatic score reflecting the mythic and transgressive elements of the film. "Main Title" and "Finale" are real standouts with the rest of the tracks being nice if a bit too short. While not as austere as some of his other work, Shore work here is admirable for it's scale and unabashed emotionality.
(Also check out the score by Christopher Young...a great score!)

The score by canadian composer Howard Shore is the perfect counterpart to the astonishing visuals of Cronenberg. I highly recommend to get this album. Once you have listened to the haunting Overture you are completely hooked!!! A perfect score for a perfect picture

"The Fly" happened to be my first Howard Shore CD, and it still gives me the creeps. Shore's work is a marvelous blend of horror, drama, and tragedy that conveys whatever the character of Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) is going through. In fact, this score is one of the reasons why I loved the movie.
The main title is fantastic, composed in the best vein of the classic 50s horror movies. Suspense music is best experienced when 'Stathis Enters' Brundle's lab and discovers his outrageous plan; giving way to 'The Jump', a cue with a tremendous beginning that makes you jump from your seat. There are tender moments in 'Ronnie Comes Back' and 'Particle Magazine'. Chilling tracks like 'The Creature' and 'The Phone Call' are also noteworthy. However, I must say that I love the tragic moments expressed in 'Plasma Pool' and 'The Last Visit', which can be tracked when Brundle is in his final stages of his transformation and in the brutal final scene when he, already transformed, directs the shotgun in Ronnie's hand to his head like asking her to end his miserable life; I mean the music there impressed me so much that it made me shed tears. What a great job! Of course, The Finale gives more tragedy to the movie's resolution.
In spite of the fact that all the tracks on this CD are too short, "The Fly" remains one of my favorite Howard Shore scores, and it made me interested in his works.