Verdict
Summary
A fun, lively creature feature that was just as fun when it was in theaters (where I saw it opening weekend) as it is now, Anaconda is a hoot of an adventure, thanks to a really enjoyable performance by Voight as the villain who far outshines everyone else in the cast.
Plot:
A documentary film crew drifting down the Amazon is besieged by a giant anaconda snake and an untrustworthy man they save.
Review:
A documentary film crew from Los Angeles, led by an anthropologist (Eric Stoltz) and a director named Terri (Jennifer Lopez), goes to the Amazon jungle to study and document an elusive tribe of natives no one has ever seen. While drifting down the Amazon River with their crew (which includes the likes of Ice Cube, Owen Wilson and Kari Wuhrer), they save a guy whose boat was sinking, a Paraguayan with a sneer (played by Jon Voight) and a scar that runs down his face. This guy becomes their guide down the river, but he has an ulterior motive: To find and capture a massive Anaconda that is hunting the film crew as they drift, and when the huge snake reveals itself, the creature is monstrous and begins killing and eating the crew one by one. With the untrustworthy guide turning the tables on the crew to satisfy his own ends, all bets are off for who survives the trek down the Amazon with the enormous snake indiscriminate in who it eats.
A fun, lively creature feature that was just as fun when it was in theaters (where I saw it opening weekend) as it is now, Anaconda is a hoot of an adventure, thanks to a really enjoyable performance by Voight as the villain who far outshines everyone else in the cast. He’s so good in his role that he should’ve been nominated for something (because the Oscars could always use a kick in the nuts with a left-field nominee), and frankly the movie didn’t deserve him. Luis Llosa (Sniper) did a commendable job with this schlocky material, enlivening things with big explosions, decent CGI, and practical creature effects that still look good to me. The score by Randy Edelman is solid, and the movie is just a good old-fashioned movie that hasn’t lost its appeal in the slightest.
Mill Creek has reissued this title on Blu-ray in a handsome steelbook edition. The disc has a new interview with director Llosa produced just for this release. This is a Walmart exclusive.
