Product Description

Disc 1: THE FLY 1958 Disc 2: THE RETURN OF THE FLY 1959 Disc 3: THE CURSE OF THE FLY 1965 Disc 4: BONUS DISC

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15229 in DVD
• Brand: FLY, THE - CLASSIC COLLECTION (DVD MOVIE)
• Released on: 2007-09-11
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 5.00 pounds
• Running time: 260 minutes

Amazon.com
A bonafide must-have for classic science fiction fans, The Fly Collection brings together the original 1958 chiller with Return of the Fly and Curse of the Fly, its 1959 and 1965 sequels, respectively, and treats fans to a wealth of terrific supplemental features and improved image quality. Kurt Neumann's The Fly has lost little of its punch in the 50 years since its release; though it lacks the visceral shock of David Cronenberg's 1986 remake, James Clavell's script expands upon the original source material by author George Langelaan with a maturity and depth that was rarely seen in movie science fiction from the period, and the performances by Vincent Price, Herbert Marshall, and David Hedison (billed as Al Hedison) as the ill-fated scientist whose experiments with matter transferal leave him with the human-sized head of a fly (one of the indelible images of '50s sci-fi) are tightly reined and believable. Quickly generated to cash in on The Fly's box office windfall, Return of the Fly is decidedly less solid than its predecessor--it's a basic retread of the original, with Brett Halsey as Hedison's son making the same mistake as his father--but as pure B-movie entertainment, it delivers the goods, and the returning Vincent Price lends his usual air of credibility. The final entry in the Fly franchise, the little-seen Curse of the Fly, makes its U.S. DVD debut with this set; it's pulpy fun at best, but genre veteran Don (Hammer's Kiss of the Vampire) Sharp brings some surprising moments of surrealism to the proceedings, most notably in the hallucinatory opening sequence (Carole Gray flees the grounds of a dark estate clad only in her white undergarments) and its parade of horrific failed genetic experiments.

The Fly Collection offers all three films in single discs (each featuring reproductions of the films' original poster art), as well as a fourth disc, The Disc of Horrors, which provides a barrage of related extras. Image-wise, the look of the films is top-notch; The Fly is a marked improvement over the 2000 DVD release, with the rich DeLuxe colors and vivid detail of the original CinemaScope presentation receiving a marvelous showcase. Even the lesser quality of Return and Curse's black-and-white lensing looks crisp and largely spot-free. Sound is also superior (Fly is Dolby Digital 4.0, and Return and Curse have Dolby Digital monaural and Dolby Digital Stereo options), and Hedison is featured in a commentary on Fly that's filled with production reminiscences. The Disc of Horrors is the real treat in the set; not only is Price's 1997 profile from A&E's Biography series included, but there's also Fly Trap: Catching a Classic, a solid overview of all three films featuring Hedison and Halsey, as well as film historians David Del Valle and Donald F. Glut, among others (some of the pertinent details are also covered in the set's insert booklet). Theatrical trailers for each film (and TV spots for Return and Curse), reproductions of the original pressbooks (which can be viewed in detail), domestic and international lobby cards, promotional photos (the best of which is a shot of Hedison in full fly makeup listening patiently to co-star Patricia Owens), and a 1958 newsreel that covered the first Fly's premiere in San Francisco. -Paul Gaita

Customer Reviews

A "Must Have" for Fly fans
I figure the first thing that anyone interested in this DVD collection is going to want to know is whether the picture transfer to the original "The Fly" is an improvement over the previous Fox DVD double feature of this movie and its immediate sequel, "The Return of the Fly," released in 2000. The answer is an emphatic, Yes! The 16x9 anamorphic image for this 1958 Cinemascope movie is less grainy, slightly brighter and sharper, and has improved color with more accurate flesh tones. The 4.0 Dolby Digital and Dolby Surround stereo are also an improvement over the previous release. So, if that's important to you, you need to get the upgrade found here.

The transfer to the 1959 sequel appears to be the same one used before, but since that movie is in black & white and the 16x9 anamorphic transfer of the Cinemascope image looked fine before, this is no problem. The second sequel in the collection, 1965's "The Curse of the Fly," is making its DVD debute here and this Cinemascope film is also presented in a fine black & white 16x9 anamorphic transfer, with good sharpness and full gray scale. No one should have any major complaints about the transfers of these movies, and each film has been given enough extras to satisfy all but the most finicky of fans.

The extras, besides a small booklet that's included with the set, are all on a fourth disc in the collection (Each movie is in its own slim case with original ad art on the covers and reproductions of each film's 1-sheet poster inside.) and these include still, ad and poster galleries, original trailers, pressbooks, a new ten-minute featurette on all the movies, and a 1997 A&E Network "Biography" of Vincent Price. There's also a brief Fox Movietone newsreel segment of the original movie's premiere at the San Francisco Fox Theatre on July 16, 1958 that nostalgically captures an era in movie exploitation that's long dead.

The one extra that's included with the original film itself is a rambling, but often amusing and informative "conversational" commentary track between star and "the fly" himself, David "Al" Hedison, and film historian, David Del Valle. The two men often cut each other off, but their talk flows smoothly and keeps up with a movie both are very fond of. Hedison is actually quite amazing in his recall of a film now nearly fifty years old and, he informs us, was shot in just 18 days!

I wasn't too enthusiastic when I pre-ordered this DVD collection. "The Fly" is a good but not a great sci-fi movie -- its ending is classic, but the movie itself is rather talky -- and I wasn't sure if the transfer would be much improved over what I already owned, but I took a chance and now that I've looked at this collection, I'm glad I have it. Another very good job from Fox Home Entertainment. They've been putting out some great DVD reissues of their older titles lately and I hope they keep it up.

Disc Breakdown Below. Curse One Very Underrated Film. The Fly One of the Best Trailers Ever.
This is a great set as is each film in it. The Fly is the all around best film of the set but it doesn't win that easily. Return of the fly changed the look by filming in black and white to give it a more artier feel which Price strongly disagreed with (I do as well)among other things during filming. Return is the funniest/campiest of the bunch. For example once I saw the guinea pig with little human hands the film had me. I also believe Return is the most suspenseful of the set. The Curse of the Fly is better than just ok as I've read from other reviewers and is the second best of the bunch in my opinion. Curse is also the most artsy picture, here there is no human fly, literally at least.

THE FLY: 5/5 (Overall Best)
I learned in the ten page book that comes with this set that The Fly first appeared in Playboy Magazine in 1957, winning the magazines best story of the year. A former soldier for Britain's Intelligence Army during World War II, George Lagelaan, wrote the Novella and actually underwent surgery while enlisted to change his identity, thought that was interesting considering the material.
A more subdued Price not yet a permanent horror staple delivers as usual as Francois Delambre, whose brother Andre Delambre has developed a way to transport matter. Most know the story, eventually Andre tries to teleport himself and a common housefly gets trapped in one of the machines, the result is a cross between a Fly and a human. The fly mask isn't the over the top part you think it will be prior to seeing this, that comes later, but I felt the simple towel used to hide Andre's head head was subtle and effective.
The Fly coming after WWII and creation of the atom bomb people had a fear of what radiation and it's effects could do. I felt The Fly's message was not to mess with nature. The ending wasn't happy but had a happy feel to it that I didn't feel fit, HOWEVER it made it all the more unsettling.

RETURN OF THE FLY: 4.5/5 (Most Suspenseful)
Filmed in black and white return as I said above is the most suspenseful and over the top, at times. Following his mother's funeral Phillippe Delambre, Andre's son wants to pursue his father's work all his family has suffered hasn't been in vein. He asks his uncle Francois (Price)for help (Price) which he eventually, reluctantly does. The plot is plausible, I remember thinking how is the exact same thing going to happen again, but the story is done well so that it makes sense.

THE CURSE OF THE FLY: 5/5 (Most Artistic)
Completely underrated. Curse begins with the smashing out of a window followed by a young attractive woman escaping from something only to stumble into a member of the Delambre clan and he helps her. They soon marry without knowing one another and he takes her back to his house/lab. The Delambres are still at work on their families invention and can actually teleport humans. There is no fly in this film literally but the young girl above is trapped in this house metaphorically like one. The film is all serious this time with no campy moments, just a feeling of dread. Great special effects and make up in this one which comes the closest to Cronenberg's version The Fly [Blu-ray] as far as an attempt to shock the viewer. I felt The Curse of The Fly had a feel of the classic Eyes Without a Face - Criterion Collection.

THE FLY COLLECTION DISC OF HORRORS
1997 Vincent Price Biography (originally on A/E network). Commentary during the Biography with his daughter and historians.
Fly Trap: Catching a classic Featurette
Still Galleries
Pressbooks, Posters and more.
The more, also consists of Original Trailers. I felt The Fly trailer was one of the most effective I have seen next to the original trailer for The Shining [Blu-ray] where the blood fills the halls and thats it. Both are perfect examples of less is more. I felt The Curse of The Fly's trailer made it actually look worse then it was.

Ten Page Booklet: 5/5
Great booklet and something you'd see from Criterion DVD. Interesting info on each film. This set and the booklet are all meat and no filler. Highest recommendation possible.

One classic, two OK sequels, and a bonus disc
Fox is releasing its series of the original "The Fly" films and even including a bonus disc of extra features in this set, most notably a biography of the great Vincent Price. Many people prefer Cronenburg's 1986 remake with Jeff Goldblum, but to me the original will always be best because the result was one of the creepiest horror films ever made without the capability of doing the kinds of special effects that were possible by the the time the 1980's remake was done. The contents are as follows:

Disc One - The Fly (1958) - This one is a classic of 1950's sci-fi/horror, and weds traditional horror - the idea of something half human/half insect - with the science of the atomic age that made it possible. It deals with the psychological issues of madness, of what it means to be human, and therefore with what it means to murder. Top acting jobs by everyone, including Vincent Price in a supporting role here, turn what could have been very campy material into one of the creepiest films ever.

Disc Two - The Return Of The Fly (1959) - This film takes a step down from the first film mainly because there is nothing novel going on here as there was in the first film, but you still have the great Vincent Price reprising his role as the dead scientist's brother, this time trying to convince his nephew not to follow down the same path as his father. In this film the half fly/half human output of the teleportation machine is a murder attempt rather than an accident, and there is more emphasis on action rather than the psychological angles of the first.

Disc Three - The Curse Of The Fly (1965) - Vincent Price is not in this one since by this time he was under contract to another studio. However, I found this film to be better than its reputation. The Delambres, despite what has happened in the two previous films, have continued to experiment with the teleporter. The result has been more subtle but just has horrific. Now the Delambres are a family with various physical and mental ailments that are in danger of disintegration if an answer cannot be found. Oddly enough, after all the tragedy, they still think the answer to their troubles is the the teleporter. Many people don't like this film because it is quite a departure from the first two, but I think that is its strength.

Disc Four - Bonus Disc
Vincent Price biography
"Fly Trap: Catching A Classic" featurette
The Fly bonus features:
Trailer
Playboy article and gallery
Photo gallery
Lobby cards and posters
The Return Of The Fly bonus features:
Trailer and TV spots
Lobby cards and posters
Photo gallery
The Curse Of The Fly bonus features:
Trailer
Pressbook gallery
Lobby cards and posters
Photo gallery