The Fly II: Special Edition (1989)

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General		Extras
Category	Horror	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Chris Walas (Director) And Bob Burns (Film Historian) Deleted Scenes Alternate Ending-Houseboat Scene Trailer-The Fly (1958), Return Of The Fly (1959) Trailer-The Curse Of The Fly (1965) Web Links Featurette-Transformations: Looking Back At The Fly II Featurette Featurette-1989 Theatrical EPK Featurette-CWI Video Production Journal Featurette-Composer's Master Class: Christopher Young Storyboard Comparisons-With Optional Director's Commentary Teaser Trailer Theatrical Trailer Gallery-Production Photos, Art Of The Fly II, Storyboards
Rating
Year Of Production	1989
Running Time	100:19
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Chris Walas
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Eric Stoltz Daphne Zuniga Lee Richardson John Getz Frank C. Turner Ann Marie Lee Gary Chalk Saffron Henderson Harley Cross Matthew Moore Rob Roy Andrew Rhodes Pat Bermel
Case	?
RPI	$19.95	Music	Christopher Young

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired English Audio Commentary	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    After the surprise success of David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986) a sequel was to be expected. The Fly II (1989) was released to less than positive reviews due to the different approach taken by director Chris Walas who was responsible for the creature effects of The Fly (1986).

    The Fly II (1989) opens with the birth of the child of eccentric scientist Seth Brundle and Reporter Veronica Quaife. Quaife dies during childbirth and the child becomes the property of Bartok Industries, the same company Seth Brundle worked for. The orphaned child is given a surrogate father in Anton Bartok (Lee Richardson) who has sinister motivations regarding the growth of the child named Martin Brundle.

    Martin Brundle shares the same genetic mutation as his father and is physically and mentally growing at an accelerated rate; he is highly intelligent but has the naivety and innocence of a child. Due to his accelerated growth rate, by age 5 he has the appearance of a young man as played by Eric Stoltz. Unbeknownst to Martin, he is in fact going through a painful metamorphosis and along with his love interest Beth Logan (Daphne Zuniga) he uncovers who he is and who he is going to become. As the tagline suggests - “like father, like son”.

    Unlike Cronenberg’s film which demonstrated a slow painful death which left the protagonist unrecognisable and tapped into the social concern of AIDS in the 1980s, Walas’ film is of a lesser quality and is a monster revenge film filled with remarkable special effects. There are a number of creatures in this sequel and a decade later they are still astonishing. Martin Brundle’s physical changes occur slowly and subtly throughout the course of the film and Stoltz plays the role with a quiet intensity. As Martin becomes the ‘Brundle-Fly’ he is repulsive and aggressive.

    The Fly II is an unapologetic B-Grade monster film and a well crafted one. There are a number of plot holes and average performances all round but Walas’ treatment of the Martin Brundle character in respects to special effects is impressive. The finale is unexpected and disturbing.

Video

    The Fly II is presented its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is particularly sharp. Most of the environments in the film are of a sterile quality, and being a horror film shadow detail is important - the transfer exhibits these elements well.

    There is minor dirt present on the print but nonetheless the picture quality is very good overall, and colour definition is excellent.

    The average Bitrate is consistent at 6.3 Mb/s.

    The subtitles are true to the onscreen dialogue.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    An excellent soundtrack to a horror film is vital and the DTS track on this DVD excels in being atmospheric.

    Dialogue is clear and audible.

    Christopher Young’s score is reminiscent of Hellraiser (1987) but in its own right it is incredibly well suited to the atmosphere of the film. The DTS track produces the score well, especially towards the latter scenes of the film.

    The subwoofer is well used and the soundtrack is well encompassing.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio & Animation

    The Main Menu is well themed with a fly which buzzes on the screen. In the background the telepods are visible. A well constructed and animated menu.

Audio Commentary

    The audio commentary is very relaxed with director Chris Walas and historian/archivist Bob Burns. Both comment on the production of the film but also the overall influences on the film. A funny commentary, in which neither Walas nor Burns speaks of the film critically as it was a fun production and supposed to be a fun camp film.

Deleted Scene

    The single deleted scene “Food For Thought” is very funny and perhaps may have ruined the atmosphere of the film but it is a nice addition to the DVD.

Alternate Ending

    Thankfully, the Alternate Ending remained the alternate ending.

Trailer

    Trailers for The Fly, Return of the Fly and Curse of the Fly.

Web Links

    Weblink for http://www.foxmovies.com.au/

Transformations: Looking Back At The Fly II.

    A nice feature focusing on director Chris Walas and the production of the film.

’The Fly’ Papers: The Buzz On Hollywood’s Biggest Insect

    This an excellent documentary at an hour's length which follows Hollywood’s interest in monster films involving insects from the 1960s to The Fly II. It is a very good inclusion on the DVD and is narrated by Leonard Nimoy.

The Fly 2 EPK

    The Fly 2 EPK is an electronic press kit. It is a standard vintage promotional feature.

CWI video production journal

    A recommended feature as it shows test footage regrading the special effects and creature effects.

Composer’s Master Class: Christopher Young

    This feature focuses on Young and how he tried to differentiate his score from Howard Shore’s memorable theme from the first film.

Storyboard Comparisons

    Three storyboard-to-film comparisons with optional commentary with Walas.

Teaser Trailer and Theatrical Trailer

Gallery

    Gallery one is production photos, gallery two is models and casts for the effects and gallery three is storyboards

    Region 1 and 4 are identical except the Region 1 includes trailers for Aliens and The Omen on Disc 1.

    The Fly II is well crafted in regards to the director’s intentions of making a camp horror film.

    The DVD is well produced, with an abundance of extras.

    Recommended.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall