The Fly (1986)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

David Cronenberg

Writers:

George Langelaan (short story)
Charles Edward Pogue (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 August 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Something went wrong in the lab today. Very wrong.

Plot:

A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Experiment | Teleportation | Science | Mutant

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 21

6:00 AM

AMC

Cast

Jeff Goldblum	...	Seth Brundle
Geena Davis	...	Veronica Quaife
John Getz	...	Stathis Borans
Joy Boushel	...	Tawny
Leslie Carlson	...	Dr. Brent Cheevers (as Les Carlson)
George Chuvalo	...	Marky
Michael Copeman	...	2nd Man in Bar
David Cronenberg	...	Gynecologist
Carol Lazare	...	Nurse
Shawn Hewitt	...	Clerk

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (1986) (cut) | Iceland:16 | Canada:R (Ontario) | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1989) (VHS) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (2006) (DVD) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1986) (theatrical) | Ireland:18 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | France:-12 | Italy:VM14 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Australia:R

Filming Locations:

John Anderson Charcoal Broiled Hamburgers, 5270 Yonge Street, Willowdale, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Brooksfilms

Trivia:

When David Cronenberg was hired as director, it was contingent that he'd work with the same crew of filmmakers he's always worked with that included Editor Ronald Sanders, Production Designer Carol Spier, Director of Photography Mark Irwin and Composer Howard Shore.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Brundle is sat at his computer, he bites the pencil and his teeth fall out onto the keyboard making a mess. A later shot of the keyboard reveals no teeth or blood on the keyboard.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Seth Brundle: What am I working on? Uhh... I'm working on something that will change the world, and human life as we know it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Howling III (1987)

Soundtrack:

HELP ME

A very terrible film to see…

David Cronenberg's version of "The Fly" has little in common with Kurt Neumann's 1958 film of the same title, one of the cheaply made 'creature-features' of the 1950s… Instead, it reveals many of the director's obsessions…

Jeff Goldblum is Seth Brundle, a Mad Scientist who is working on 'teleporting', a means of transporting objects through space… Geena Davis is Veronica Quaife, a magazine writer who becomes interested in his work, and in him… They start an affair, but Seth believes Veronica is still seeing her former lover… In a rage he tries to transport himself, and his genes become caught up with a fly that gets into the machine… Slowly Seth takes on the features of an insect…

As in other Cronenberg's films, sexuality is seen as a dangerous force that leads to disaster… Seth cannot get his amazing machine to transport living creatures until he has experienced the delights of sex with Veronica, but then almost immediately his jealousy leads more like a fly he develops a raging libido; the more physically repulsive he is, the more he wants sex…

Like many successful films of the 1980s, "The Fly" is a hybrid, fusing elements of both horror and science fiction… Considering that the plot is from the latter genre, the elements of fear and disgust with the human body are traditional to horror… Both genres, as this film will illustrate, benefited greatly from the increasing sophistication of contemporary special effects technique, and the make-up abilities… The success of the film led to sequel in 1989, in which the son of Seth and Veronica begins to display familiar symptoms…