8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Seth Brundle, a brilliant but eccentric scientist attempts to woo investigative journalist Veronica Quaife by offering her a scoop on his latest research in the field of matter transportation, which against all the expectations of the scientific establishment have proved successful. Up to a point. Brundle thinks he has ironed out the last problem when he successfully transports a living creature, but when he attempts to teleport himself a fly enters one of the transmission booths, and Brundle finds he is a changed man.
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, John Getz (I), Joy Boushel, Les CarlsonHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 24% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986) is being released with new and exclusive extras as part of Scream Factory's five-movie box set, The Fly Collection.
Peter from our original review team covered the Fox BD-50 of The Fly over a dozen years ago. To read his synopsis and analysis of the film/disc, please click here.
In 2005 Fox created a then-new HD master for its two-disc Collector's Edition of The Fly. Fox reused the same DI print for its US and BD editions the next couple of years. Fifteen years on the old 2K scan has been retained again. Shout does give the feature a new bitrate using the same MPEG-4 AVC encode. (Recall that Fox employed a lot of MPEG-2 encodes for both older and newer titles during the first phase of Blu-ray.) The initial Fox editions boasted a mean video bitrate of 26447 kbps while this Shout BD-50 averages 33909 kbps. The Fly appears in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and still looks pretty decent. Source defects and edge enhancement that were present on early video editions are gone. The image is clear but has a soft and flat look, especially in Seth's loft/lab were much of the action is set. Black levels are not as deep or well-defined as other '80s films that have received more decent 2K or 4K scans. Primary hues stand out most when Seth takes Veronica shopping and to the coffeehouse. Cinematographer Mark Irwin incorporates neon lights in the art museum and in the barroom. Overall, the image is dominated by dark blue, gray, and brown.
Screenshot #s 1-15, 17, 19, 21, 23, & 25 = Scream Factory 2019 BD-50
Screenshot #s 16, 18, 20, 22, & 24 = Fox UK 2008 BD-50
Scream supplies a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround remix (1887 kbps, 24-bit) and the original stereo, rendered here as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track (1998 kbps, 24-bit). Because Shout added an uncompressed stereo mix and two commentary tracks, the bitrates have been split up. Fox's own DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround (24-bit) averages a whopping 4067 kbps. The Shout's lossless 5.1 doesn't suffer too much a loss to my ears, however. A nice aural ambience opens the film after the credits when patrons' chatter is heard on all five speakers. There's also good ambience in and around Seth's apartment. The opening and closing of his teleportation pods are pretty loud and distinct. Dialogue is sometimes flat but its still crisp and intelligible. Insect sounds and movements deliver some thumping bass. Howard Shore's brass and string-laden score is well-mixed across all channels.
Shout provides optional subtitles only in the form of English SDH. (The Fox disc has an array of subs in many different languages.)
Fox produced a smörgåsbord of extras on its 2005 CE set and subsequent BDs across the globe. Shout has licensed pretty much all of them and added a new commentary plus five recent interviews. I especially appreciated that the Fox Region B UK edition provided lots of subtitling options for its bonus materials (alas, the Region A did not). Shout hasn't made any subs for the English-friendly extras, either. The galleries haven't been upconverted to HD so the images are relatively small. Shout surprised me in that they did port over Fox's trivia track. Please refer to Peter's original review for more info on each older extra.
The Fly (1986) remains an excellent insect sci-fi/horror thriller that showcases great chemistry between Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis (who were dating at the time) as well as splendid creature effects by Chris Walas and his f/x team. The old HD transfer hasn't been upgraded on this Shout Select disc but the original stereo mix along with a new audio commentary and five interviews (totaling eighty-five minutes) have been added to go along with Fox's old bells and whistles. This is the most complete set of The Fly to date and while I'd expect Fox to give it a 4K restoration at some point in the distant future, this is a VERY SOLID package.
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