Finally: The Fly (1986) and The Fly II (1989) Special Editions are coming in Fall of 2005!

it would nice if they have new interview with the cast and crew, since it was so long ago that the movie was released.

JACOB

I'm still excited that this release is in the works, but I'm also disturbed by the idea that the deleted scenes might not be included. While I certainly understand Cronenberg's thoughts on this (he apparently doesn't like to show the discarded bits from a film), the deleted scenes from The Fly have a great deal of allure and, from all accounts, seem quite interesting. Here are a few of those points of interest:

1. The deleted "interview" scene (part of which can be seen in the 1989 sequel as the first videotape Martin watches) was deleted for good reasons, I rather like Goldblum's performance. This is where Brundle first theorizes that the teleporter improved him, and hints at the mania to come.

2. The monkey-cat scene is the pivotal deleted scene, featuring a major turning point in Brundle's character (film historian Tim Lucas saw the scene at a rough cut screening, and said it was his favorite scene in the film). It shows Brundle trying to find a cure, but beginning to lose his grip on reality. It also features the only appearance of the transitional Stage 4-b makeup, which bridges Stage 4 (Goldblum wearing t-shirt and pants) with Stage 5 (the full-body suit of the "insect politician"). Tim Lucas described the opening shot of the scene to me. It goes like this:

After Veronica reveals that she's pregnant ("What do you want to do?" "I don't know. I just...I don't know!"), we cut to Brundle's lab. The camera glides along the junk-strewn floor at a low angle, stopping at Brundle's foot (in close-up). The camera then moves slowly up Brundle's naked body to a close-up of his face, revealing the hideous Stage 4-b makeup as he works at his computer console (and is preparing to teleport baboon and cat together).

The monkey-cat scene also foreshadows Brundle's ultimate "cure", and provides a scary moment or two. The final cut feels like it's missing something in the last half; this scene (and the insect leg amputation) would be it.

3. The insect-leg amputation (a direct continuation of the monkey-cat scene), which was apparently abandoned when the leg-amputation shot proved to be too dark to read in dailies, also sounds fascinating. This sequence, with an insect leg bursting out of Brundle's side and then getting amputated, was supposed to be the big "gross-out" moment in the film. It also fetures cool effects (such as Brundle sliding down the wall of his warehouse), and a fascinating character moment as Brundle would rather mutilate himself that accept this next step towards becoming Brundlefly. Surely the raw footage still exists...

4. The epilogue features Veronica (or Veronica and Stathis, as evidence indicates Cronenberg shot several versions of this ending) in bed and dreaming of a human baby with butterfly wings hatching out of a cocoon. The final cut ends with Brundle's death, and that seems right, but at the same time, the matter of whether of not Veronica would keep the baby is not dealt with (this open ending is what allowed the sequel to be made...). Although the epilogue doesn't really fit into the film proper, it does sound fascinating (although the stop-motion animation dream sequence is probably dated).


There are other reported deleted scenes and dialogue trims, but these are the big ones.

Aug. 15 (Sunday) marks the 18th anniversary of The Fly's theatrical release.

that is scarier than the movie.

I hope David Prior is doing everything short of selling his soul to convince Cronenberg to include the deleted scenes, It would be absolutely crushing to not get, at the very least, the Monkey-Cat sequence,

Darn right. It irks me that, from all indications, the legendary deleted scenes from the Star Wars films won't be included in that DVD set. But in the case of The Fly...well...the deleted scenes were the primary reason I wanted an SE in the first place. Those scenes have taunted me for years with their sheer unavailablilty. And the teases have continued with photos and info from the scenes being discovered here and there (such as the Stage 4-b Brndle pic on the Fly's 2000 VHS cover).

Is there a scanned image of this on the net somewhere?

Yes. The article linked to below has two pics of stage 4-b. The pic of Brundle smiling (facing the left, not wearing a shirt) is the one on the VHS cover.

www.davidcronenberg.de/cinemaflymaking.html


The pics in the article are:

Cronenberg with Brundlefly puppet,

Headshot of prototype(?) Stage 4-a Brundle,

Goldlblum being made up for Stage 5,

The Stage 4-b pic on the VHS cover (it also appeared on the Fly/Fly II laserdisc cover),

Stage 4-b Brundle looking crazed,

Stage 5 Brundle puppet head (removable jaw),

Stage 6 (Brundlefly) headshot,

Filming of "Stage" 7 (Brundlefly-pod) scene.

The Fly will be on UPN this weekend, so I'll be able to see whether or not any alternate dialogue (use to replace swearing and such) was recorded for network broadcasts, or whether poor-imitation voice actors had to re-dub the dialogue. Hmm. I only saw part of the film on tv years and years ago (before I actually rented and saw the film in its entirety for the first time around 1999-2000), so this will be interesting.

when it first aired on tv. they edited alot out of the movie. it was better to watch it on dvd/video

unless you watch it on fox movie channel or something.

JACOB

This will be a network (edited) version, so it'll be interesting to see what's cut and how, as well as the dialogue dubbing issue.

*Sigh*. Both tv guides that came with my weekly newspapers were wrong, and instead of The Fly, The Naked Gun 2 1/2 was on instead. Bummer. Well, for anyone who's seen a network version of The Fly, are there any alternate lines of dialogue recorded by the actors to replace swearing, etc?

Also, as a result of this, I won't find out which sound mix the tv version uses (the video version has additional "stock" music stings at several points, but not the DVD version).

it was so long ago.. I remember them cutting stuff out that didn;t really make much sense.. for running time. I am not sure they replaced the voice or they had it where you saw them saying stuff, but hearing them say something was taken out.
here is a site that list tv actors, actress and directors. the fly remake is playing on encore or something that this month. it will be play on the fox movie channel next month. september 11, 2004.

JACOB
http://www.tv-now.com/stars/goldblum.html

Eh, I suppose I shouldn't be concerned with that. What does concern me is the SE...and the deleted scenes.

right.

JACOB

There's been little news on this release since David Prior stated that Cronenberg was onboard and that he'd see what he could do about including the deleted scenes.

There are only a few more months left in 2004. Could it be that this will come out in the first quarter or so of 2005? Has there been some delay?

Yeah really... when are we going to get an official announcement? If there's a holdup, I hope it's for a good reason (ie. more time to do additional extras with the involvement of Cronenberg/Goldblum/Davis).

This release was hinted at in 2001 (for a 2003 release), but never happened. Then, in last year's HTF chat with Peter Staddon, he confirmed that the Fly SE would likely come out late this year ("but no promises"). Then, a few months ago, David Prior subtly confirmed his involvement with the SE, stated that Cronenberg was aboard, and that he'd do what he could concerning the deleted scenes.

Still, the fight to get this SE made (and *well*-made) has been an uphill battle every step of the way. I suppose it *has* to be this way, in order for the final product to be worth the effort. After all, they say anything worth getting is worth working hard for...

Well, Criterion's Videodrome SE is coming out today (another Cronenberg film I've yet to see). I'm anxious to get it. I'll report back if there's any mention of The Fly in the commentary, etc. It's been nice seeing Cronenberg's films getting the special treatment lately. Videodrome was Cronenberg's last film before The Fly, so it will be interesting to compare the styles of the films.

Well, I bought the Videodrome SE, and it's presented *really* well. I really liked the film, too. I haven't gotten through all the extras. In the commentary, Cronenberg mentions The Fly three times:

1. He mentions Les Carlson's role in The Fly (Dr. Cheevers).

2. He says that The Fly was a rare exception for him in that he used storyboards (for the FX sequences), which he normally doesn't do (I already knew this).

3. He mentions his hope that each film of his will be the number one film in North America when released and will earn $200 million (The Fly is the only one that falls into that "success" category).

The Fly earned over $200 million? Even factoring in the international grosses I find that really hard to believe. And I'm pretty sure Scanners was number one for at least one week.

No, it earned about $60 million worldwide (which comes near the $100 million mark in today's dollars).

DJ

Correct. He was referring to the fact that The Fly was a huge success (it was # 1 for two weeks, and was his most financially successful film).

and hear I thought there was news

No such luck. I'm just trying to keep this thread (and the whole SE topic) alive.

Another thing about the Criterion Videodrome--there are a few stills from deleted scenes on the extras disc, and summaries of some of those scenes in the 40-page booklet(Cronenberg didn't want script excerpts included).

Hmm.

Cronenberg's stance on scripts and deleted material being public is a bit confusing. A year or two ago, the "David Cronenberg Collected Screenplays Vol. 1" book came out (although I think those were the *continuity* scripts, not the shooting scripts), and yet there's this conspiracy of silence for the most part concerning Videodrome's deleted scenes.

However, the DVD features the uncut version, not the release version (as I understand it).

Of course, The Fly's deleted scenes are another story altogether. Is it possible that an uncut/director's cut version will ever be made? Bring on the monkey-cat!

A quote from an 8-31-04 post at chud.com...

Here's the link:

http://chud.com/forums/showthread.ph...00#post1252300


"After we ran that article about The Fly on the Corner we were contacted by Fox. Until I get the clearance to make an announcement, I'll just say there's good things that will make all parties involved very happy...including the fans."



Looks like some sort of news will be in the pipeline soon.

Surely this release will be worth the long, long wait...

the fox movie channel is showing the fly tonight at 9pm.. est time. check local listings. I have it on direct tv satalite dish.

JACOB

So we are getting Cronenberg's approved transfer, commentary AND the deleted scenes!?

In my continuing quest as a Fly archaeologist, I feel obliged to give a brief history of The Fly's video/laserdisc/DVD releases thus far. Feel free to point out any errors/omissions.

The Fly's 8-15-86 theatrical release info:

Spherical, 1.37:1 negative ratio, for 1.85:1 theatrical ratio, 6-track dolby stereo, 35mm (although there's been at least one rumor of a 70 mm version).


United States/Region 1 Video/Laserdisc/DVD releases:


CBS-FOX VHS (1987)
http://www.thevideograveyard.com/f/fly86.html

The front cover is a flop of theatrical one-sheet, with a "Hi-Fi" marker in the left corner. The back cover features photos of Brundle in Telepod 1 and Stage 5 Brundle. Full-frame (1.33:1), stereo.


CBS-FOX 1987 Laserdisc 2 CLV sides (cover image unavailable).

Full-frame (1.33:1), stereo.


1997 20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment VHS
http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=409

Released under the "20th Century-Fox Selections" banner. Front cover features new lower-case letters logo, with photo of Brundle in Telepod 1 inserted into photo of Veronica in Telepod 1 on back cover. Back cover features photos of Stage 4 Brundle, Veronica in Telepod 1. A TCF Selections promo appears on the tape before the feature.


The Fly/The Fly 2 2000 TCF Home Entertainment DVD (Released 9-5-2000)
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinf...le=movie&Bab=E

Fox Double Features DVD release. Widescreen (1.85:1). Extras: theatrical trailer for The Fly and for other double-features. The Fly II located on other side of disc. Cover features recolored Fly/Fly II one-sheet images (Telepods, Fly II image flopped) and recolored 1997 VHS logo.

*NOTE*: All other regions except Region 1 had more extras on this DVD (The Fly was available with The Fly II as a Double Feature, or by itself.). These include a short behind-the-scene promo from the original Electronic Press Kit, and soundbite interviews with cast/crew (Same with The Fly II).


2000 VHS
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinf...le=movie&Bab=E

A repackaging of the 1997 TCF Selections tape (overstock?) with new cover, and thus still has the "Selections" promo before the feature. Front cover features 2000 DVD Fly one-sheet art and logo. Back cover features photos of Brundle in Telepod 1, Brundle and Veronica (when she wakes him up in bed after he goes through), and headshot of Stage 4-b Brundle (from deleted monkey-cat scene).


Also of note is the British Fly/Fly II 1996 Double Feature Laserdisc (Full-frame), which featured the films' theatrical trailers, the Making of The Fly II featurette, and a few photos from deleted scenes--Stage 2 Brundle makeup test, Stage 4-b Brundle, Martin and Beth on houseboat--on the cover.
http://www.compulink.co.uk/~encore/ld1094.htm
http://www.compulink.co.uk/~encore/ld1094b.htm


I'd like to point out the differences between these versions. From what I've seen, the Fly VHS releases all used the same transfer. The DVD version has a slightly different sound mix, and I don't know which version is representative of the theatrical release (maybe *both* were, if there were indeed 35mm *and* 70mm versions).

The VHS versions feature several differences:

When Brundle is delving into his computer records, there's some sort of synthesizer "sting" when the fly is revealed on the computer screen. In the 2000 DVD version, only the sound effect of the computer graphic pullback is heard.

When Veronica comes to see Stage 3 Brundle, the same "sting" can be heard as he lunges out and says "STOP!" (although it seems to be at a higher pitch). In the DVD version, we just hear Howard Shore's music score.

After Stathis looks up the Brundlefly Project on the computer, we see Brundle's shadow on the lab ceiling above him. In the VHS versions, there's some sort of loud synthesizer warbling when the shadow is seen. In the DVD version, this is missing, with Howard Shore's score the only thing to be heard.

Another synth(?) effect, heard when Veronica is trapped inside Telepod 1 and we see Brundlefly for the first time, is *still* there on the DVD. None of these elements appear on the soundtrack CD's music cues, and were clearly added in later. The question is...were they there in the theatrical release? Why are they missing on the DVD? (I actually prefer the DVD version). Which mix will we hear in the SE version???