The DVD of Snakes On A Plane

First of all, like Indiana Jones said in Raiders of the Lost Ark, "I hate snakes!" In fact, I'm terrified of these slithering creatures. I've had a couple of horrifying experiences in my past with snakes, one of them with a large rattlesnake that was in hiding in my mom's house near the edge of the woods. Snakes are certainly something that I try to avoid in my present life. Because of that, I'd normally not even think about seeing a movie with the title, Snakes on a Plane. Also, it would be natural to assume that a film with this kind of name would be a cheesy, second-rate production that you'd kick yourself for watching after it was over. What drew me to this DVD, however, was a short interview I read with Samuel L. Jackson about how surprised he was at the quality of the script, which is what made him decide to do the movie. I began to think that maybe this film was a lot better than I'd originally thought and decided to take a chance on it. Now, after having watched it, I can say that not only did I jump out of my seat about two-dozen times, but that I also screamed out loud in pure fright more than once. Would I watch this movie again? Damn right I would! In fact, I'm going to watch it with the director's commentary just as soon as I finish this review.

The movie centers on Sean Jones (played by Nathan Jones) seeing the murder of an L.A. prosecutor by gang lord, Eddie Kim. The prosecutor is in Hawaii on vacation, but that doesn't stop Kim from flying there and killing the man with a baseball bat. After Sean witnesses the murder, he takes off on his motorcycle as fast as he can and hides from everyone. Kim, however, knows that he was seen by someone and orders his men to find the guy and kill him. FBI agent, Neville Flynn (played to perfection by Samuel L. Jackson) rescues Sean just as the killers are breaking into his apartment. Flynn quickly explains to Sean that the only way to stay alive is to fly to Los Angeles and testify against Eddie Kim. Kim, not seeing any way to get to Sean on the ground, arranges for a special crate of venomous snakes to be placed on board the plane that Flynn and Sean will be flying on. A timer will explode on the crate, opening it so that the hundreds of snakes will be set free to explore the many areas of the Jumbo Jet. The idea is not so much that a snake will bite Sean, but rather that the snakes will cause the plane to crash into the ocean. There is the usual array of eye-catching characters making up the plane's crew and passengers, played by Julianna Margulies, Rachel Blanchard (I thought she was actually Heather Graham), Sunny Mabrey, Flex Alexander, and a score of others. Of course, once the snakes get lose, all hell breaks out on the plane as more than two-thirds of the passengers are killed. Then, when you begin to catch your breath and think that it can't get any worse, the pilots of the plane are killed, too. Will the plane make it to Los Angeles? Who'll land the plane? How many passengers will be left alive if and when the plane does land? "Snakes. I hate snakes!"

This is NOT the type of movie that you want to see on an airplane. I guarantee that the passengers wouldn't find it entertaining and that it might cause a few heart attacks in the process. I was so exhausted emotionally after watching the movie that I could barely stand up and run to the bathroom. I'd been gritting my teeth for over twenty minutes, not wanting to stop the film and risk ruining the mood and momentum. Though there were some laughs in the movie, this is definitely played straight and serious. And yes, there were real snakes used in the filming of the movie. It wasn't all special effects. Samuel Jackson gets to utter his famous line near the end when he says, "I'm tired of these mother******* snakes on this mother******* plane," and then he does his stuff. There are a couple of holes in the plot. The first is how both Kim and the FBI discovered who Sean Jones is so quickly. The members of Kim's gang only see Sean's back when he's riding away on his motorcycle. They don't even know what he looks like. Also, Sean heads straight home and hides. He doesn't tell anybody about what he saw. Yet, he's found out by both sides of the law on what seems to be the same day of the killing. Second, how is Kim able to arrange for hundreds of venomous snakes from around the world to be collected together and flow to Hawaii in time to be put on the same plane as Flynn and Sean are flying on. You get to see the snake wrangler who lives in the Mohave Desert, but still isn't explained how everything was done so swiftly. Yeah, I know. Movie magic! Also, you never see Kim being arrested at the end. To me, it seemed as if Samuel L. Jackson's character should have hunted Kim down and personally killed him after all of the deaths that occurred on the airplane. Still, these things didn't take away from the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The director, David Ellis, did a fantastic job of keeping the pace fast and right in your face. This is a great movie to see with your girlfriend. The only question is who'll be screaming the loudest? There's over an hour of extras on the DVD, including four documentaries, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and the director's commentary on the film. This movie was the most fun I've hand in years, but here's a final word of advice to potential viewers of Snakes on a Plane. Make sure that you don't have a bowl of popcorn in your lap when you watch this film, or else it might end up all over the living room floor.