I'd have it not end so abruptly.
I love seeing the Brundlefly/telepod fusion come out of the pod and the emotional impact it has having it put the gun up to its own head, it's heartbreaking, but it quickly cuts to the end credits soon after. For me it feels like there should be something else in between, whether it's a short closing shot of a close up of a fly or something else.
It's like the ending of Thelma & Louise (also Geena Davis, by coincidence), but after the famous cliff moment. The movie seems to rush to the end credits too fast, just like in The Fly. Roger Ebert was right in pointing out how climactic moments should give the viewer a moment to breathe and take everything in, and not slam right to the credits, almost as if the movie is rudely rushing to usher you out to get in another showing.
The ending of Thelma & Louise described by Ebert also explains my feelings about the abrupt ending to The Fly:
I would have rated the movie at four stars, instead of three and a half, except for one shot, the last shot before the titles begin. This is the catharsis shot, the payoff, the moment when Thelma and Louise arrive at the truth that their whole journey has been pointed toward, and Scott and his editor, Thom Noble, botch it. It’s a freeze frame that fades to white, which is fine, except it does so with unseemly haste, followed immediately by a vulgar carnival of distractions: flashbacks to the jolly faces of the two women, the roll of the end credits, an upbeat country song.
There was a deleted ending of Ronnie having a dream about a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, but I’m glad it was scrapped. The movie ends in classic Universal style, where the credits roll shortly after the monster dies.
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