SNAKES ON A PLANE (2006)

4 stars

Arrow Video. 4K UHD. 19th January

SNAKES ON A PLANE has to be one of the ultimate ‘does what it says on the tin’ movies – supposedly the idea for the movie was hatched at an after hours drinking session, with various Hollywood folks trying to come up with the worst pitch for a production. Clearly somebody thought it was a good idea… I remember all the buzz about it on the internet, back in the day.

Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips) witnesses crime lord Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson) commit a murder, whilst out in a secluded spot in Hawaii. Unfortunately for Sean he is spotted but, luckily for him, he is saved by FBI agents Neville Flynn (Samuel L Jackson) and John Sanders (Mark Houghton). Persuaded to testify at the court case against the killer, they board a plane for Los Angeles, taking over the first class upper floor, much to the annoyance of many of the passengers.

In what must count as the daftest way to get rid of a witness for the prosecution, Kim gets his men to load on a crate of venomous snakes and also to spray a pheromone on the leis the passengers are wearing, to send the slithering menace into highly aggressive mode, once they are released mid flight… soon panic sets in as the scaly terrors attack.

This is an unashamed B movie dressed up in A movie clothes – the sort where a producer comes up with a poster image and then has a script written to match. Samuel L is in full action mode, complete with the expected ‘fruity’ language and the snakes themselves are well rendered, being a mix of animatronics and CGI apparently. It’s all utter nonsense but hugely entertaining with many scenes evoking both fright and laughter. Not to be taken too seriously that’s for sure. You can also have fun spotting the faces in the cast, who are better known now than they were 20 years ago – like Julianna Margulies, Rachel Blanchard, Kenan Thompson, Lin Shaye and Bobby Cannavale.

Steve Kirkham

EXTRAS

Two audio commentaries – one new by critics Max Evry and Bryan Reesman and one archival featuring director David R. Ellis, actor Samuel L. Jackson, producer Craig Berenson, associate producer Tawny Ellis, VFX supervisor Eric Henry, and second unit director Freddie Hice

Snakes on a Page, a brand new mini-documentary exploring the movie tie-in novelization phenomenon.

Pure Venom, an archival feature on the making of the film; Meet the Reptiles, an archival featurette on the work of snake wrangler Jules Sylvester and the various snakes featured in the film; VFX, an archival featurette on the use of CGI to bring the snakes to life; Snakes on a Blog, an archival featurette on the online hype surrounding the film prior to its release

Plus: Snakes on a Plane music video and making of; Gag reel; Deleted and extended scenes; Trailers and TV Spots; Image gallery; Easter eggs

South Pacific Airlines safety instruction card; Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options; Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing by Daniel Burnett and Charlie Brigden