The Fly II appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became an erratic image, albeit one with more plusses than minuses.
Definition usually seemed fine but it varied, so the film could feel a bit soft at times. Still, most of the flick came with fairly appealing delineation.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain appeared natural, but sporadic specks and marks cropped up through the film.
Colors leaned toward a fairly brown and blue palette, and the hues came across mostly well. Although skin tones leaned a bit red, the tones generally felt well-rendered within the stylistic confines.
Blacks lacked great depth but seemed acceptable, and shadows demonstrated reasonably good clarity. Though never a bad presentation, this one came across as lackluster.
The movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack held up well. The forward soundstage remained dominant, with a nicely active environment in the front channels.
The audio integrated well and panned cleanly across the speakers. The rears offered more general support for the most part.
These speakers provided reinforcement of the score and effects, but they occasionally kicked in with more active audio during the most dramatic scenes. It's a nicely enveloping track for its age.
Quality sounded consistently good. Dialogue occasionally came across as slightly flat, but speech usually seemed crisp and articulate, with no concerns related to intelligibility.
Effects were bold and accurate and showed no signs of distortion. The score appeared smooth and bright, and the entire track kicked in some satisfying bass at appropriate moments. The mix provided a strong experience for a moderately old movie.
How did the 2019 Shout Blu-ray compare to the 2005 Collector’s Edition DVD? Though both came with similar soundscapes, the BD’s lossless DTS-HD MA track boasted superior sonics.
The BD’s visuals came as an upgrade as well, mainly via an absence of the DVD’s edge haloes and stronger delineation and colors. Even with its picture quality issues, the Blu-ray delivered the better visual presentation.
This Shout package includes old and new extras, and we launch with an audio commentary with director Chris Walas and film historian Bob Burns. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific chat. Don’t expect a lot of depth from this amiable but insubstantial discussion.
Some of the subjects covered include casting and working with the actors, visual effects, sets and locations, and music. We get a mix of decent notes about these topics, though not enough to make this a winning track.
Instead, the commentary suffers from way too much praise, as both men often tell us how much they like this or that element of the movie. Burns proves almost useless as a film historian, for he fails to add much perspective or knowledge. Instead, he usually just jokes around with Walas.
Actually, at one point, Burns starts to earn his pay. About two-thirds of the way through the movie, the men reflect on their friendship and what originally interested them in the horror genre as kids.
This portion of the commentary becomes lively and engaging. Unfortunately, it quickly ends and we go back to tedious happy talk.
Next we find a one-minute, 28-second Deleted Scene and a one-minute, 10-second Alternate Ending. Called “Stopping for Food”, the former shows a darkly comedic sequence that would have occurred during Martin and Beth’s flight from Bartok.
In addition to featuring some egregious product placement, it would have lightened the mood too much during a dramatic part of the story. Its omission makes sense.
Titled “Houseboat Scene”, the alternate ending simply seems drab. It would have been a really bland way to end the movie.
After this we move to a documentary entitled Transformations: Looking Back at The Fly II. This 48-minute, 31-second program features comments from Walas, producer Steven-Charles Jaffe, and composer Christopher Young.
The show covers how Walas ended up as the film’s directors and a variety of pressures he experienced as well as supports, script issues, shooting in Vancouver and sets, casting and recruiting the crew, and various production elements.
From there it goes through the atmosphere during the shoot, Walas’ challenges working with the actors and directing in general, effects and creature design, deleted scenes, editing, score, marketing, test screenings and ratings problems, and the film’s reception.
In essence, “Tranformations” exists an alternate audio commentary with some added visuals. What else can we consider it since roughly 90 percent of its information comes from Walas?
And he does a fine job most of the time, though I’m not sure on what planet he lives since he thinks the film was a commercial and critical success. Otherwise, he’s eager and informative, and he covers the details well. Walas helps balance out my negative memories of the boring commentary.
But where’s everybody else? Are all the other participants so ashamed of Fly II that none of them will discuss it?
Fly II was only 16 years old when this documentary got created, and I can’t think of too many retrospective looks at relatively recent movies that couldn’t round up more than three participants! I like much of this program’s information, but the lack of a broader perspective mars it.
Created in 2000 for American Movie Classics, Leonard Nimoy hosts The Fly Papers: The Buzz On Hollywood’s Scariest Insect. This one spans 57 minutes, 38 seconds as it starts with the 1958 Fly and covers all the different Fly flicks through Fly II.
“Buzz” includes notes from Walas, UCLA Film Studies associate dean Vivian Sobchack, Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, author Ray Bradbury, Return of the Fly producer Bernard Glasser, actors David Hedison, Vincent Price (from 1988), Jeff Goldblum (from 1986), Ben Nye Makeup president Dana Nye, makeup artist/film historian John Goodwin, and director David Cronenberg (from 1986).
The program looks at the era in which the original Fly prospered and background for that movie and the short story on which it was based, that film’s production, creation of the sequel along with its related cost-cutting measures, and the story and making of 1965’s Curse of the Fly.
From there we get into the Seventies resurgence of science fiction and the renewal of the series with the 1986 Fly, production elements related to it, and the push for a sequel and various aspects of it.
As one might expect, the 1958 and 1986 Fly flicks receive the most attention. Actually, we learn a fair amount about Fly II as well, but I suspect that’s mainly because Walas participated with this program, as otherwise it doesn’t merit so much discussion.
In any case, “Buzz” manages to balance things fairly well. “Buzz” provides a lively and likable overview of the series.
The 1989 Theatrical EPK fills five minutes, 10 seconds. Here we get notes from Walas and Jaffe as well as actors Eric Stoltz, Daphne Zuniga, and Lee Richardson. We get a basic overview of the story as well as production-related challenges.
While not a rich program, “EPK” becomes more informative than most. At least we get some comments from the actors, as this is one of the few places on the disc where they appear.
Though the disc does add Extended EPK Interviews with Walas (2:41), Stoltz (3:35) and Zuniga (3:31). As you can tell based on those running times, they’re not very extended, but they do offer a few more notes. Don’t expect much substance, though, as the interviews remain superficial.
The Film Production Journal runs 18 minutes, four seconds as it concentrates on the film’s creature effects and offers raw video footage of various tests along with shots of how the elements look in the final film.
Some commentary would be a nice accompaniment. Nonetheless, I still think this is a fun view of the various processes.
FComposer’s Master Class: Christopher Young fills 12 minutes, 42 second and concentrates on the composer’s work. Young discusses his choices for the movie’s score and we hear the corresponding examples. He provides a rich chat about what he wanted to do with the music and he helps make this a useful program.
We find eight segments new to the Shout Blu-ray, and these start with an interview with producer Stuart Cornfeld. This reel lasts eight minutes, 12 seconds.
Cornfeld discusses his experiences as he attempted to get an eventually rejected version of Fly II off the ground. He offers a blunt assessment of his frustrations.
An interview with screenwriter Mick Garris spans 14 minutes, six seconds and covers the abandoned take on Fly II Cornfeld discusses. Garris seems less angry/more diplomatic than Cornfeld and makes this another useful reel.
Along the same lines, an interview with screenwriter Ken Wheat goes for 22 minutes, 13 seconds and brings his thoughts about his career as well as what he did on the Fly II rewrite. Expect another solid evaluation of the various topics.
An interview with cinematographer Robin Vidgeon fills 15 minutes, 20 seconds and delivers his remarks related to the movie’s photography and his experiences. Vidgeon provides an appealing overview of these issues.
After this comes an 18-minute, 34-second interview with composer Christopher Young during which he tells us about the music he created for the film. We get a decent collection of thoughts, though this becomes one of the disc’s less substantial programs.
An interview with special effects artist Tom Sullivan fills 17 minutes, 45 seconds and views his creations for the sequel. This becomes a satisfying summary of these topics.
We get more from director Chris Walas in a one-hour, 20-second, 19-second reel. Although the prior “new pieces” on the Shout disc indeed come from circa 2019 sessions, this one collects a lot more from the material Walas taped for the 2005 DVD that got used for other programs.
In any case, Walas discusses a wide variety of topics related to the movie's creation and his involvement. Walas makes this a terrific chat that hits on a bunch of worthwhile domains.
Finally, an interview with producer Steven-Charles Jaffe goes for 35 minutes, 16 seconds and examines
Like the Walas reel, this one also got shot for the 2005 DVD. Jaffe gives us his own glimpse behind the scenes and turns this into a strong dive into his work and issues he encountered during the production.
Inside the Storyboard-to-Film Comparisons, we can check out three scenes with a total time of six minutes, 59 seconds. We look at “Opening Sequence” (2:57), “Bartok” (2:28) and “Ending” (1:34).
These use a standard presentation with art on the top half of the screen and the movie on the bottom. They’re fine for what they are, though none of them seem particularly special.
We can watch them with or without optional commentary from director Walas, as he chats about the use and design of the boards along with general notes about them. I like his presence, as Walas makes the boards more interesting than they otherwise might be.
Along with two Trailers, we locate a Still Gallery (92 images) and a Storyboard Gallery (64). Both offer value, though note that we only find storyboards for one scene and not a broader array.
A truly misbegotten sequel, The Fly II retains the goo and gore of its predecessor but loses that flick’s humanity and depth. It acts as a poor exercise in horror silliness and little else. The Blu-ray presents erratic picture quality along with very good sound and a solid roster of bonus materials. This remains a problematic sequel and a somewhat erratic disc.
