The Fly II (1989)

The almost-human son of "Brundlefly" searches for a cure to his mutated genes while being monitored by a nefarious corporation that wishes to continue his father's experiments.

Director:

Chris Walas

Writers:

Mick Garris (screenplay), Jim Wheat (screenplay)

Stars:

Eric Stoltz, Daphne Zuniga, Lee Richardson

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eric Stoltz	...	Martin Brundle
Daphne Zuniga	...	Beth Logan
Lee Richardson	...	Anton Bartok
John Getz	...	Stathis Borans
Frank C. Turner	...	Shepard (as Frank Turner)
Ann Marie Lee	...	Jainway
Garry Chalk	...	Scorby (as Gary Chalk)
Saffron Henderson	...	Veronica Quaife
Harley Cross	...	10 year old Martin
Matthew Moore	...	4 year old Martin
Rob Roy	...	Wiley
Andrew Rhodes	...	Hargis
Pat Bermel	...	Mackenzie
William S. Taylor	...	Dr. Trimble (as William Taylor)
Jerry Wasserman	...	Simms

Storyline

Seth Brundle was a renowned scientist whose warped experiments with teleportation transformed him into a man/fly hybrid called BrundleFly. A few months after the BrundleFly insect met its demise by his lover's, Veronica, shotgun, she dies while giving birth to their son, Martin. Seth's corrupt employer, Bartok, adopts Martin, only so Martin can solve the new problems that the still-functioning TelePods present and to use him as a science project because of the dormant insect genes. Martin is now fully grown, even though he is five, and the fly genes begin to awaken and make him just like dear, dead dad. With the help of his girlfriend, Beth, they go to wherever they can find a possible cure before Bartok finds them and brings them back, but not before Martin finishes his transformation into MartinFly, the deadliest of the BrundleFly species.

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Plot Keywords:

scientist | teleportation | sex scene | motel | orphan | 

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Taglines:

A new generation of terror!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 February 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Fly 2

Filming Locations:

Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,751,371, 12 February 1989, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$20,021,322

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$38,903,179

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brooksfilms

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Like Return of the Fly (1959), "The Fly II" was given a happy ending.

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Goofs

As young Martin is investigating Zone 4, the shot dwells on the handle and deadbolt of a door he is about to open. When it opens, you can see the deadbolt is a dummy; there is no actual bolt or latchplate.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Veronica Quaife (on videotape): Oh, my God! There's something wrong! I can feel it!

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Crazy Credits

The sound of flies buzzing is heard in the 20th Century Fox intro at the very beginning of the film.

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Alternate Versions

Alternate Ending: On the 2-Disc version of the Fly II, there is a alternate ending on Disc 1, under the special features section. The scene takes place in the daytime on Beth Logan's houseboat. It shows her bringing some food to Martin, who's sitting down on the dock. She asks, "How do you feel?" He replies, "Much better." As he is saying this, the camera zooms in on his eyes. One eye is an almost blackish color, while the other one is green.

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Connections

Referenced in Interkozmosz (2014)

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Soundtracks

Happy Birthday
(uncredited)
Written by Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill

User Reviews

Not exactly good, but not nearly as bad as it COULD have been... (minor spoilers here)

This does not touch the Cronenberg movie (or the Vincent Price movies, from what I've seen of those), but is definitely worth the watch for fans of gross-out monster flicks. The plot? The son of Seth Brundle (Harley Cross) is born in a corporate laboratory. He grows up at a very fast rate (now played by Eric Stoltz) and falls in love while discovering the evil secrets of the bigwig and his scientists, who have raised him. Nothing helps him on his quest to destroy them more than when the metamorphosis that took place in Dad begins to take place even faster in Son. It has its funny moments (the under-used John Getz from the original gets some big, cynical laughs), as well as very emotionally moving moments (especially when Stoltz puts the mutant dog to sleep, which is very sad and touching). There is a hackneyed element, to be sure (the romantic part with the awful country song is something that would be perfectly acceptable to fast-forward through), but, overall, it's still a kinda fun movie that's more effective than many people might tell you. As far as the gore quotient goes, this one I would consider more of a splatter movie than Cronenberg's (which had its gross-out moments throughout, but wasn't as bloody as this one was). Still, if you like gore, I would suggest it especially. I myself have no problems with gore as long as I like the movie around it, and I liked "The Fly 2" enough to actually watch it more than once without that choice being under the influence of substances! Also, one way it was better than the first film was how it ended. While the ending to the first was somewhat abrupt (even if it was a great movie and didn't really need anything extra), this one features a happy ending that is not sappy (always commendable), as well as one of the greatest acts of vengeance ever agonizingly drawn out on film. All in all, I agree that "The Fly 2" doesn't really touch David Cronenberg's "The Fly" in overall quality, but it doesn't deserve the terrible reputation that's been heaped on it over the years, even if there's nothing to disguise the fact that is inferior.