The Fly II
From Free net encyclopedia
Current revision
The Fly II was a movie produced in 1989 starring Eric Stoltz and Daphne Zuniga. It was directed by Chris Walas as a sequel to the 1986 movie The Fly. Stoltz's character in The Fly II was the son of the human fly played by Jeff Goldblum in the 1986 remake.
The Fly II faired poorly in the box office compared with the first film and is widely regarded as inferior by many critics. Many believe that Wallas (who was special effects engineer for the first film) set out to exploit the success of the original by relying on excessive gore and violence at the expense of good storytelling. However, it is appreciated by many fans of the horror genre of films for its great visual impact, if nothing more.
A seldom-referenced theme of the film is an allegory of the ruthless exploitation of animals to further scientfic knowledge and the willingness of individuals to heartlessly deceive and manipulate others for their own gain.
The movie begins with the birth of Martin Brundle. Martin's birth is unique, as he is the offspring of Veronica Quaife and Brundlefly, the human-housefly hybrid from the first film. The birth is under the control of Seth Brundle's employer, Bartok Inc. Veronica dies during childbirth, leaving Martin in the custody of Bartok Inc., who plans to exploit his unique genes.
Martin's life is quickly accelerated as a result of his insect genes. He knows he is aging faster than a normal human, but he doesn't know of his insect heritage. He matures into a full adult human in five years.
Anton Bartok, the head of the company, offers Martin a position working on the telepods his father invented. In those five years, Bartok has not made any progress getting them to work. The company, and the man, hope Martin will finish what his father started.
As he works on the telepods, he befriends Beth Logan. They grow closer together, and he gets the telepods to work. However, he slowly learns the truth of his father's fate, his own biology, the company's motives, and a possible cure. However, the cure requires the sacrifice of another human being. Swapping the good genes for the bad will leave Martin 100% normal, but the other will suffer a grotesque genetic fate. Things begin to culminate when the signs of Martin's transformation begin. He and Beth flee, but his changes become too much. Beth surrenders them both in desperation.
However, Bartok Inc. is not completely prepared for the full brunt of Martinfly. As he kills those trying to subdue him, a trace of humanity remains. He abducts Anton Bartok into the telepod, and gestures for Beth to hit the switch. She does. Martin returns to human form with 100% human genes. Anton Bartok suffers an ironic fate of becoming the freak himself.
Trivia
- Amongst the deleted scenes for this film on the special edition DVD remains one of the films humorous lost gems. While Martin and Beth are on their way to visit Stathis Borans, they stop to get some fast food. While Beth is inside getting refreshments, a car-full of young baseball players pulls up next to him. Seeing the deformed Martin, they begin to taunt him. Martin proceeds to violently vomit digestive fluid towards the car, dissolving one of the windows. Beth quickly gets in the car and drives away. The coach in charge of the children, returning from the establishment to find his car window partly digested, shouts, "What the hell have you idiots done now?" before throwing down a tray of food and soda and hurling his hat at the children.
- The book next to the sleeping technician in the control room at the beginning of the film is "The Shape of Rage", an anthology of writings about the films of David Cronenberg.
- John Getz (as Stathis Borans) is the only actor reprising a role from The Fly (1986).
- The first videotape of Seth Brundle (where he theorizes that the teleporter improved him) is actually part of a deleted scene from The Fly (1986). The scene was slightly edited for this film, and Veronica's (Geena Davis's) voice was dubbed over by Saffron Henderson (who plays Veronica at the beginning of The Fly II).
- The Telepod props from The Fly (1986) were destroyed after filming was completed and were rebuilt for the sequel.
- The green flashes of light between each credit in the title sequence were actually borrowed from the teaser trailer for The Fly (1986).
- Geena Davis was offered the opportunity to appear in the film, but turned it down since Veronica Quaife was to be killed off very early on in the script, and had no real character development. Originally, she had stated that she would willingly act in the sequel, unless there was a birth scene, as the birthing scene from the first film had been difficult for her emotionally. Unfortunately, the script of Fly II opens with a birth scene, which was also to be Veronica's key scene in the film.
- In at least one draft of the script, Martin was going to see yet another videotape of Seth Brundle (this time nearing the end of his transformation), in which Seth talks about his "cure". This would have required brand-new footage of Jeff Goldblum in makeup from the previous film, and the concept was subsequently dropped from the script.
- The role of Martin Brundle was written for Eric Stoltz to play. He originally declined the role because he didn't like the script. When the script was rewritten, he accepted the part.
- At the beginning of casting, director Chris Walas pictured Vincent D'Onofrio in the role of Martin Brundle. After screen-testing him, he changed his mind.
- An unusual trailer was made for the film that consisted of no footage, just an audio clip and the readout of a heart monitor.
Quotes
(Meeting with Stathis Borans, now a bitter, crippled recluse)
Martin Brundle: "I saw you on the videotape. You were there the night my father died; he was working on a cure."
Stathis Borans: "That's why you dragged yourself all the way out here? To find out about a cure?"
Martin Brundle: "You're my only hope."
Stathis Borans: "Ah. Oh, kid, the last thing I am, is anybody's hope. You really don't want to hear about this."
Martin Brundle: "I have to know."
Stathis Borans: "Brundle stole my girl, your mother. Got her pregnant. Caused her death. Dissolved my hand and my foot with fly vomit! I had no love for the man. He bugged me! As for the 'cure' he was working on: he dragged your mother kicking and screaming into that telepod, that they might be fused together in one beautiful body. So your mother blew his brains out with a shotgun. There's your 'cure'. Go away."
Beth Logan: "You bastard! Where's your compassion?"
Stathis Borans: (chuckles) I had to give it up; it cost me an arm and a leg!"
Martin Brundle: "It cost you more than that."
Beth Logan: "You can't walk... and you're getting worse..."
Martin Brundle: "I'm getting...better!"
(From Videotape, Actually a Deleted Scene from The Fly)
Seth Brundle (on videotape): "I should feel exactly the same as before, but... I don't! I feel... very... energized, very coordinated."
Veronica Quaife (on videotape):"Why should that be?"
Seth: "I dunno...It's possible that the teleporter somehow...improved me. Theoretically, it might have seen where things could be improved, and it did it. I told it to be creative, and...I dunno, maybe it has been..."