The Fly
(1986/Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: B- Film: B-
Thanks to
notable new theatrical releases in the Gangster genre (History Of Violence, Eastern Promises), there is a revival of interest in the work of
director David Cronenberg, though his films have rarely crossed into that genre
realm. His 1986 remake of the Horror
classic The Fly continues to be a
back-catalog favorite to the point that Fox recently issued the film in an
upgraded double DVD Collector’s Edition.
We reviewed that set, as you can see at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2928/The+Fly+-+Collector's+Edition+(1986
Now it is
one of Fox’s early classic releases in the Blu-ray format and it is not a bad
choice. Though Jeff Goldblum has made
more comedies than dramas, his performance here is still pretty good and Geena
Davis is no doubt impressive early on.
To see their exchanges in high definition with the disc doing more of
the work, you can really enjoy their performances al the more, which gives more
impact to the suspense that follows in a way the DVD cannot. That is why this is a logical successor to
the DVD set.
Cronenberg
supposedly approved a new HD transfer of the film, but the 1080p AVC @ 24 MBPS
1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image still has some limits and shows the age
of the material used. Still, this is
better than the DVD, as is the sound, here in DTS like the DVD. However, this higher DTS HD MA (Master Audio
Lossless) 5.1 mix is a little more refined and just that much better than the
DVD mix, partly because the Blu-ray holds the DTS signal a bit more
easily. The combination is good for a
back catalog title, if not a knockout.
Extras
repeat many of the recent DVD’s extras, though the stills section seems to be
missing. New features include a trivia
track and BD-J Flyswatter game, using the 50GBs of space wisely. All in all, this is a pretty loaded Blu-ray
and will hopefully inspire more companies to issue older Cronenberg titles in
the format.
- Nicholas Sheffo
