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

CBS2 aired the ’86 film at midnight yesterday.

DP did you interview Mel Brooks?

I tried, but he elected not to be interviewed, stating that it was really Stuart Cornfeld's baby. His office was helpful in answering questions, though.



Packaging is still being worked up, but there are some very interesting comps. The menus for The Fly were beautifully executed by Drissi Multimedia from a design of my own. It was a long and difficult birth, but they've turned out very well. Drissi adapted a similar approach to The Fly II, but of course I didn't have any direct involvement with that disc. That's all Paul's.

David is a giant in the field (he's well over 6 feet tall!).

In all seriousness, I look forward to exploring THE FLY SE. I know how much effort he has put into it.

D'Hubert and Feraud, the later years.

DJ

P.S. All of DVD producers, though, that joke might work best if Charlie de Lauzirika was involved...

that's one hell of a debut solo project, Paul. Can't wait to dig into it.

And David has once again apparently knocked the crap out of the ball on a DVD project. I've been passing on that Fly double feature disc for a LONG time now, ALMOST picking it up and passing it over more times than I can remember, good to know my indecisiveness and trepidation is gonna pay off

the Bits reveal it is out 27 september

MSRP is lower than first reported, it's $19.99 - "The Fly" is up for preorder already at Amazon.com for a measly $13.99, with the second one surely to follow soon.

Chiming in late. Very good news on both fronts. My sci-fi collection will be growing soon.

Paul Prischman:

David is a giant in the field (he's well over 6 feet tall!).

In all seriousness, I look forward to exploring THE FLY SE. I know how much effort he has put into it.
********************


Yes, indeed! We've been hearing bits and pieces about this from the man himself for over a year now. And he recently confirmed that this has been in the works for about 6 years or so.

I wonder when the Fly II SE was thrown into the mix?
**********************


David Prior:

Packaging is still being worked up, but there are some very interesting comps. The menus for The Fly were beautifully executed by Drissi Multimedia from a design of my own. It was a long and difficult birth, but they've turned out very well. Drissi adapted a similar approach to The Fly II, but of course I didn't have any direct involvement with that disc. That's all Paul's.
*******************


Well, it's good that Drissi worked on both sets of menus. It's always a bit annoying when a film gets great SE DVD treatment (like fancy motion menus and such), and then any sequels get the shaft (static menus, etc.). Sounds like there'll be a bit of stylistic consistency, at least.

And of course, the 2000 Double Feature disc had a neat little flyswatter cursor on the Fly side, but a regular cursor on the Fly II side.
***********************


Here are the final specs (from www.dvdanswers.com):

The Fly: Disc One

1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation

English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Track

English DTS 5.1 Surround Track

French Stereo and Spanish Mono Tracks

Audio Commentary with David Cronenberg

English and Spanish Subtitles

The Fly: Disc Two

Fear of the Flesh 4-Part Documentary:
- The Making of The Fly
- Larva
- Pupa
- Metamorphosis

Branching Clips:
- A Radical Departure
- The Rise of Marketing
- Who Wants to Die?
- All You Have To Do Is Be Passionate
- Cronenberg's Preparation
- On Cronenberg's Films
- Cronenberg as Gynaecologist
- Cronenberg as Director
- On the Cannes Jury
- The Mother of Invention
- It Takes Time To Spread the Goop
- Glass-Break Test
- Scotch & Razor Blades Genes in the Ether
- Winning the Oscar
- The Last Collaboration
- Haunted by the Fly
- The Brundle Museum of Natural History

Deleted Scenes:
- Second Interview
- Monkey-Cat
- Brundlefly vs. Bag Lady
- Butterfly Baby
- Alternate ending

Test Footage:
- Main Title Elements
- Telepod Tests
- Make-Up Tests
- The Exploding Head
- Cronenfly

Written Works:
- George Langelaan's Original Short Story
- Charles Edward Pogue's Original Screenplay
- David Cronenberg's Rewrite
- Interactive Cinefex Article "The Fly Papers"
- Interactive American Cinematographer Article "New Buzz on an Old Theme"
- Interactive American Cinematographer article "More About THE FLY"

Promotional Material:
- The Fly Teaser
- The Fly Trailer
- 3 TV Spots
- Featurette
- David Cronenberg Profile
- The Fly II Teaser
- The Fly II Trailer
- The Fly (1958)
- Return of the Fly (1959)
- One Sheet & Lobby Card Gallery

Still Gallery:
- Publicity
- Behind the scenes
- Concept Artwork
- Effects
- Monkey-Cat
- Space Bug
- Arm Wrestling
- Make-up

Easter Eggs:
- Halloweener
- Vomit Drop
- Summer of '86:
- Big Trouble In Little China
- Aliens
- The Fly

The Fly 2: Disc One

1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation

English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Track

English DTS 5.1 Surround Track

French and Spanish Stereo Surround Tracks

Commentary by Director Chris Wala and Film Historian Bob Burns

Alternate Ending "Houseboat Scene"

"Stopping for Food" Deleted Scene

Trailers for The Fly, The Fly (1958), Return of the Fly (59), Alien and The Omen

English and Spanish Subtitles

The Fly 2: Disc Two

The Fly Papers: The Buzz on Hollywood's Scariest Insect

Transformations: Looking Back at "The Fly II" Documentary

CWI Video Production Journal

Composer's Master Class: Christopher Young featurette

Original Theatrical EPK

Storyboard to Film Comparisons of 3 Scenes with Optional Director Commentary:
- Opening Sequence
- Bartok
- Ending

Production Photo Still Gallery

The Art of "The Fly II" Still Gallery

Storyboard Still Gallery

Theatrical Trailer A

Theatrical Trailer B






I'm pleased as punch to see that The Fly's EPK featurette made it in. As I've said before, it steamed me that every Region *except* Region 1 got that extra on the 2000 Double Feature discs.

Also, the revised specs list Fear of the Flesh as being in *four* parts instead of the three mentioned in The Rumor Mill. Hmmm.


And it says *five* deleted scenes instead of four. It would seem "Butterfly Baby" and "Alternate Ending" are separate (before it was "Butterfly Baby/Alternate Ending"). Hmmm.


As I've stated before, circumstantial evidence has led me to believe that Cronenberg filmed the epilogue two ways:

1. Veronica, alone in bed, dreams about her unborn child (in the form of the stop-motion butterfly baby sequence). She wakes up, and we see that she's very pregnant (having decided to carry Brundle's child to term).

(Sources: Fangoria # 57: Cronenberg indicated he shot the scene several ways--and saying that the scene depends on certain character dynamics, i.e., Ronnie's relationships with Brundle and Stathis; Starlog # 131: a 1988 Geena Davis interview in which she describes *this* version of the scene).


2. Veronica, in bed with *Stathis*, is now carrying *his* child (having presumably aborted Brundle's). She then has the butterfly baby dream.

(Sources: several drafts of the script, David Prior's mention of Stathis being in the scene at the 1986 test-screening on the Fox lot.).


I'm pretty sure I'm right about this. If I am, I hope both versions of the scene are on the DVD. My guess would be that "butterfly baby" is the version with Stathis (since it was actually used in the rough cut for the test screening), and "alternate ending" is the "Stathis-less" version.

We'll see!


And there's also the issue of the sound mix. As I've stated before, the VHS and tv versions of The Fly have several musical (or maybe synthesizer) "stings" at several points (when Brundle discovers the fly in his computer records, Brundle's "STOP!" when Ronnie visits him one month later, and Brundle's shadow appearing on the ceiling above Stathis in the lab) that do not appear on the 2000 DVD.

Now, I don't know which version is representative of the theatrical release (although I like the DVD version better--it's less cheesy.), but i wonder if it will be addressed in the SE. Hmmmm.


Anyway, as I've stated, it's been *really* nice of David Prior (and now Paul Prishman) to hang out in this thread and throw us some *very* appetizing crumbs while we wait for these DVDs (NDAs be darned!).

The level of committment, love, and work that has clearly gone into these has not gone unnoticed.

Don't believe everything you read. I have yet to see a studio press release that was completely accurate. There are four deleted scenes (butterfly baby and alternate ending are the same thing), Brundle Museum of Natural History is a stand alone 12 minute featurette about Chris Walas and Bob Burns, Fear of the Flesh is not in four parts, etc.

Drop the link if you can still find it. Cuz I sure can't.

Just search DVD for "fly" and then sort your results by Release Date

The Fly

The Fly 2

Thanks, chaps!

Any front cover artwork yet?

I haven't seen any yet, but I hope they stick with the "glowing telepod" and "glowing telepod with fly foot" for the covers.

The thing that's always...*ahem*...bugged me about The Fly's poster art is that the human arm and insect leg are coming through the Telepod door without it actually being open. That is, they're coming through the window (as if there's no glass in the frame).

I don't think there is supposed to be glass on there. It looks more like an open door.

In the film, the Telepods have doors. The doors have glass windows (Brundlefly smashes through Telepod 2's window in the end).

In the poster, the door is closed, and the arm and leg are coming out of an open space where the window should be. And there's no indication of broken glass.

It seems the artist used a reference photo of the pod with the door closed, and assumed the window was an opening.


Jerome was kind enough to post a few screenshots in this thread some time ago. One shows Brundle stepping out of Telepod 2....y'know, with the door *open*:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...90#post2582390


And here's the one-sheet poster:

http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_item...230.1020.A.jpg

Your probably right. The artist was probably given a photo and didn't realize there was supposed to be glass there. I still like that poster though. It's very spooky looking. It would be my choice for the dvd cover.

maybe they can do a 3D poster on the coverslip for it?

JACOB

As long as it's not one of those cardboard slipcase deals, I'm happy.

And yeah, despite the error(?) in the original poster art, it still looks really cool.


By the way, if anyone gets a Region 2 release date for the SE, please pot it here. The UK, in particular has many, many Fly fans (my pal Chris Foster among them), and I'm sure they'd like to know when these SEs are coming to them. Indeed, the Fly Film Archive site originated in the UK.


And now for some more of my usual ruminations...

1. Thanks to the added info from David Prior, my guess would be that "The Brundle Museum of Natural History" featurette is a Fly-themed variation of the "Aliens in the Basement" featurette on 9th disc of the phenomenal Alien Quadrilogy set (in which Bob Burns gave a tour of his film prop/model archive, showing off all his items from the Alien films).

From what I've seen (in the book, "It Came From Bob's Basement!", Burns has a Brundlefly puppet head, hands and feet from the Stage 5 suit, a Stage 4 Brundle head maquette/study model, a Martinfly maquette, and the Stage 4 "Martin inside cocoon puppet", among other items. Cool!

2. It appears that in addition to the DTS track, The Fly will also have new a Spanish audio option and French subtitles (the 2000 DVD just had French audio and Spanish subtitles). And I hope the English subtitles have been given a once-over--on the 2000 DVD, when Brundle whispers to the computer before teleporting the stocking, the subtitle reads, "Give me the teleportation signals" instead of "Begin teleportation sequence". Heh.

3. I'm very excited about seeing the test footage for the Telepods and the makeup. Originally, the teleportation effects were going to be done as an on-set effect using lasers and mirrors. And it took several tries to get the Stage 4-A makeup right (and I'm convinced that most of the photos of Goldblum on-set in this makeup that were used for publicity actually feature an early prototype of the makeup).

4. And of course, it seems we'll be seeing some rare test photos (such as Goldblum in his jacket/tie with prototype Stage 2 makeup) and rare publicity photos such as Stage 4 Brundle inside a Telepod (this photo can be seen in AMC's "The Fly Papers", which will be on The Fly II disc). Keen!

5. Now, I've read a revised version of Pogue's script (I don't know who revised it; if it was Cronenberg, he's uncredited) from May, 1985, and several drafts of Cronenberg's (Sept. and Nov. 1985), but it looks like we'll be getting the original Pogue script and Cronenberg's first draft rewrite. Nifty!

6. It's kinda sad that Cinefex's # 37's Fly II article, "On the Fly" won't be included in The Fly II SE. Hopefully, the other material (the Walas and Burns commentary sounds like it's gonna be really fun) will make up for it.

Hard to believe that in a little over three months, I won't have much to pine for anymore...

But it's fantastic that this is really happening. and that it's being done by people who *care* about the films and understand them. Can't ask for more than that!

I did a little research, and I just ordered the 1986 issue American Cinematographer with the Fly articles that will be on the SE (as well as a 1989 issue with a Fly II article). It's always nice to have the originals, y'know.

Until they were listed in the SE specs, I didn't know the articles existed.

And it'll be interesting to see if the articles (as well as the Cinefex article) will be included in their entirety (with photos, etc.), of if they'll be abridged (Like I think the Cinefex RoboCop article was on that film's Criterion disc. Or maybe it wasn't.).

Hello everyone! I registered just for this topic...so it better be worth it. I've heard good things.

Greg, what's with your apparent detest for cardboard sleeves? I love them, and I hope The Fly is released as such.

Anyone else have a similar opinion?

I like the slipcover. they even protects the dvds much better.
some slipscovers can be very stylish.
I wonder if they will do a 4 disc set with both films together? like they did with x-men or something.. that would be cool.

JACOB

In terms of cardboard sleeves, I've found they get damaged/stained/dirty much more easily than when a DVD just has the traditional plastic keepcases.

And there were rumors a few years ago that all 5 fly films would be released as one big set, but clearly that's not happening. Curse of The Fly hasn't even been released on DVD yet.

I think you guys are talking about two different things. Greg: Am I correct in thinking you're talking about the cardboard digipacks? The two discs fold up and are placed in a cardboard outer sleeve? I agree about not wanting that type of packaging. I recently bought the Predator SE and the thing seems like its just going to fall apart.

Others were were refering to the cardboard slipcovers that go over the keepcase(like Disney uses). I wouldn't mind one of those.

I don't like the cardboard digipacks (Predator is a good example). They look nice, but they don't hold up (the corners get bent, they get skin oil and even finderprints on them, etc.).

And I was referring to having a cardboard slipcase over the usual keepcase. Like I said, it looks nice, but I prefer just having keepcases.

Still, it's all a matter of personal preference.

And I'm sure the actually packaging designs will be spiffy.

It's a lot easier to find a keepcase in meticulous condition than the same with a flimsy slipcover so, as someone who likes a clean, undamaged collection, I'm with Greg K--slipcovers suck. Lose 'em!

For those who don't know, "Help me! Help me!" from The Fly (1958) and "Be afraid. Be very afraid." from The Fly (1986) were among the 400 choices in the American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Movie Quotes pool (which celebrates the greatest film quotes in American cinema).

Unfortunately, neither quote made it into the top 100 (or the televised special). Too bad. But, then some of the choices on these AFI lists have been rather controversial, so it goes to show that no one list is definitive.