A “National Geographic” film crew is taken hostage by an insane hunter, who forces them along on his quest to capture the world’s largest – and deadliest – snake.
“Anaconda” was released in theaters in 1997 and for its time, the CGI was impressive. Granted, over time and with the advent of even more remarkable special effects, “Anaconda” still holds up after 22 years because director Luis Llosa wasn’t reliant upon showing the snake every chance he got, instead, he took a page out of Spielberg’s book, ala “Jaws,” and cleverly chose to show the large reptile sparingly and when it did appear onscreen, it was integrated remarkably well along with practical effects.
Terri Flores (Jennifer Lopez) is a documentary filmmaker and along with her boyfriend, Dr. Steven Cale (Eric Stoltz), and a small production crew, they head off into the Amazon to try to locate a long-lost indigenous tribe along with their boat skipper, Mateo (Vincent Castellanos). On their trek, they come across a stranded snake hunter named Paul Serone (Jon Voight) who agrees to help them find the tribe they are searching for in exchange for rescuing him but as the expedition changes its course per Paul, they quickly discover that they are being hunted by a huge green anaconda. When Cale is knocked unconscious in a freak incident, Serone takes over and informs them that he is actually hunting the anaconda and that capturing it alive, could make him rich. Armed with a gun, the crew has no choice but to do what he says and as they make their way into unchartered waters, one by one, they fall victim to the large water boa until only Terri, her cameraman Danny (Ice Cube), and Serone are left to do battle with the snake.
Luis Llosa directed “Sniper” with Tom Berenger and “The Specialist” with Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone before directing “Anaconda” and since then he has only directed one other movie and I am surprised he has not done more as “Anaconda” is a taut, well-acted and at times, hair-raising scary movie that concentrates more on thrills and tension over gore and bloodshed. Part of the movie was actually shot on location in Brazil and it shows, thanks to Bill Butler’s glorious widescreen cinematography which captures perfectly, the unseen terrors that the Amazon has to offer, not just that of giant snakes. The movie spawned three sequels with part 2 being the only worthy follow-up and you know you’ve made it in Hollywood when the third sequel to your movie is a crossover with another giant reptile franchise and is called “Lake Placid vs. Anaconda.” Need I say any more?
Now available on Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment
