Stars:
Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Eric Stoltz, Jonathan Hyde, Owen Wilson,
and Kari Wuhrer
Writers:
Hans Bauer, Jim Cash, and Jack Epps, Jr.
Director:
Luis Llosa
Feature
length: 89 minutes
Languages:
English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese,
Korean, and Thai Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Alpha Keep Case Within A Glossy Slipcase
Chapter
Stops: 28
Sound:
DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1997/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
If
you tried to make an homage to the monster films of the 1950s and post
“Jaws” 70s and cast Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Owen Wilson, and Jon Voight as
well as Eric Stoltz alone I can almost guarantee that the budget would double if
not quadruple particularly because much of the acting talent have gone on to
bigger projects and become movie stars in their own right like Lopez, who has
successfully been able to navigate a career in acting and music without any real
embarrassing moments or just think of how many Oscar nominations Jon Voight has
gotten since appearing in “Anaconda?” I mean it is truly amazing what a
difference five years can make!
I
should also mention the success Owen Wilson has shared with his brother not only
as actors, but also writers. Eric Stoltz is pretty much wasted in this movie,
but in the 1990s Stoltz was perhaps one of the busiest actors working in
independent films and while it is almost a given that rap stars are now
potential actors on both TV and in film, it was still rather uncommon in 1997 to
see a rapper in a major Hollywood film with the exception of “Ice T” and
“LL Cool J” who had successfully crossed over through sitcoms. Now between
Mark Wahlberg, who pretty much has left “Marky Mark” behind him and “Busta
Rhymes,” “Coolio,” “Snoop Dogg,” and “Sean Combs” the question is
not will there be a rapper appearing in the film, but who is it going to be?
Some like Sean Combs have truly impressed me with small, but very important
roles in films like “Made” and “Monster’s Ball.” Then you have people
like Kari Wuhrer who actually got her start on the MTV game show “Remote
Control” in the 1980s and parlayed for herself a nitch in genre television in
such hit shows as “Sliders.” So don’t be too quick to judge a film like
“Anaconda” because not only are we unlikely to see this talent together
again in a film like this, but the success of “Anaconda” has inspired a ton
of direct to video and made for cable copycats featuring giant snakes in just
about every imaginable b-movie situation.
The
film has a documentary camera crew accompanying an anthropologist in search of
the elusive people of the mist. While traveling down the Amazons they encounter
a ruthless poacher obsessed with catching a live giant anaconda no matter what
the cost. The film features Jon Voight in a role that he plays so over the top
that he is truly so bad that he is good and at times provides some unintentional
comic relief, but who cares when you got 40 foot long anacondas swallowing
entire human bodies and then regurgitating them again just for the taste of it!
The snakes are largely CGI effects that have dated some since the film was
originally released, but the animatronics used with the actors look real enough.
“Anaconda”
makes it’s glorious debut to Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment’s
“Superbit” series of films on DVD where nearly the entire space of a dual
layered single sided DVD for an optimal high bit rate that is double the normal
bit rate of other DVD-Videos to deliver the highest quality picture and sound
possible and “Anaconda” is a picture and sound Superbit tour-de-force that
will bite your eyes and swallow your ears with one of best looking film like
transfers of “Anaconda” that has ever existed. “Anaconda: Superbit” is
presented in full anamorphic glory with a beautiful widescreen (2.35:1) aspect
ratio. A choice of stellar English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical Surround Sound and
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound coupled with English Captions and Closed
Captions for the hearing impaired and French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese,
Korean, and Thai Language Subtitles as options.
Direct
comparison between the original DVD with this one shows just how much of a
difference the “Superbit” method of DVD authoring makes by transforming
“Anaconda” as another neat sound and picture demo disc to show your friends
who have not yet crossed over to DVD-Video or are still curious about the merits
of “Superbit” DVD titles. The menus are simple standard interactive still
frames that are easy to navigate and appropriate since the focus here is on the
best possible sound and picture quality and not on extra bells and whistles. The
disc comes with an insert detailing scene selections and another detailing the
whole “Superbit” concept and the keep case comes within a glossy cardboard
slipcase. Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment’s “Anaconda: Superbit” DVD
is available now and is a worthy successor to the original release and worth the
upgrade and purchase.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.