Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well worth buying just for the first one..., May 31, 2004
By A Customer
Cronenberg's masterful remake of "The Fly" is, simply put, one of the very best sci-fi movies in recent memory. Much like his "The Dead Zone," it mixes a character's terrifying journey with a powerful love story, and manages to do so successfully. Poor Seth Brundle's transformation is disturbing, suspenseful, and gory indeed, but Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis bring such conviction and sadness to their roles, your heart is pulled along for the ride. The metaphor of watching someone you love succumb to a disease which changes them utterly, is just as shocking as the mutations Brundle's body undergoes. Enough said. This is a great and powerful, albeit sad, movie experience. "The Fly 2" is far less successful. It's always good to see Eric Stoltz, who is a strong actor with lots of appeal, and although his career has proven that he's not exactly leading man material, he comes close to pulling it off here. But the movie takes the formula from the first movie and screws it up: the gore is heaped on while the love story takes a back seat to it. Daphne Zuniga and Stoltz just don't generate the kind of chemistry and compassion that Goldblum and Davis did. Instead, the movie is basically an F/X vehicle. Once the two pretty young people hit the sack, it's pretty much downhill into head-smashing, face-peeling splatter movie territory. Too bad. But Cronenberg's movie will live on forever; this two-movie disc is well worth the price for anyone interested in a frightening, suspense-filled human drama which doubles as a pretty darn cool horror show, even if its sequel is vastly inferior.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Fly/ The Fly 2, March 16, 2001
By A Customer
"The Fly" is one of the greatest science fiction movies of all time. Both Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis give excellent preformances, and the film has wonderful direction by David Cronenberg. Being a fan of the orginal fly series ("The Fly" and "The Return Of The Fly"), I was extremely happy to see the remakes. Overall, "The Fly" is a masterpiece that deserves a better treatment than just trailers. It has a great plotline that amazes me after watching this movie many times. You can see why it was given an oscar for make-up. Chris Walas does an amazing job. Very suspenseful and effective. 5 stars. "The Fly II", although an OK film, does not at all live up to it's predicessor. It has a plotline that barely passes. This is an unnessicary sequel if I have ever seen one. Most of the beginning is dull, although it does have it's moments. Few. As it winds down to the end, it becomes very, very gory. The first Fly remake was gross when Stathis' hand melted off, but this is disgusting. Mostly whan the guy's head blows apart, and whan the guy's head is spat on, resulting in one of the most gory sequences ever shot. Beware. It becomes dependent on the gore. The first film maintained suspense. Even with the gore, "The Fly II" is an OK film in my opinion. Although it lookes like director Chris Walas did all he could with it, I give it 2 stars. The combination of both films is genus, since I usually go out and buy a film and end up wanting to buy the sequel. I like to complete my colection of a series. The DVD is superior to the VHS in picture as well as sound. Buy it today. This combination on DVD gives a new meaning to the phrase "Be afraid. Be very afraid."
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
David Cronenberg's The Fly, One of the Best Film's Ever..., March 10, 2001
David Cronenberg's The Fly has got to be one of the most powerful films ever made. Too often it gets praised: "good for a horror film.", that is just pure ignorance. The Fly was one of the best films of the 1980's and one of the best films ever made, for few films have the impact this one does. Jeff Goldblum turns in the performance of his career as Seth Brundle, the brilliant, lonely scientist on the verge of a discovery that will certainly change the world. Geena Davis is also excellent giving a genuine performance as a skeptical reporter who falls for Brundle after he convinces her to check out his invention. What begins as a love story more involving and moving than any other film in the last twenty years, eventually turns to tragedy when Brundle tests his invention on himself and begins to lose all traces of his humanity. Slowly, Seth Brundle is metamorphasizing into a new breed of fly. What really works about Cronenberg's best film are the superb actors in the leads, a series of gruesome (maybe that's an understatement) yet convincing fx and a wonderful script by Charles Edward Pogue (who also penned the brilliant and complex Psycho III). The script centers on the humanity of the whole thing and never loses sight of the focus, not once. Pogue's script is about two people in love and the tragedy that befalls them, for Brundle does turn into a fly by the finish of the film, but it's all a metaphor for disease. Made in the 1980's when the AIDS virus was still a new and mysterious disease, Cronenberg's gutsy film also tells a story of a man being consumed by a terrible disease for which there is no cure. The Fly is a flawless film and a real treat for film lovers, horror fans, and those who just want to see a really good movie. It's just about one of the goriest movies you'll ever see, but if you're willing to go along, you won't be sorry and you'll never forget this film.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
