HTF Blu-ray Review: Snakes On A Plane

Snakes On A Plane

• Studio: New Line Cinema / Warner Bros. Home Video

• Theatrical Release Year: 2006

• US DVD Release Date: September 29, 2009

• Rated: R (for language, a scene of sexuality and drug use, and intense sequences of terror and violence)

• Running Time: 105 minutes

• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 anamorphic

• Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English)

• Subtitles:English (SDH)

Movie: 2.5 out of 5

When Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips) witnesses Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson), a mob boss, assassinate a prosecutor in Hawaii, FBI agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) is assigned to escort him back to Los Angeles to testify. In the process, the FBI commandeers all of First Class as a security measure, much to the chagrin of flight attendant Claire Miller (Julianna Marguilles) and other first class passengers. But Eddie Kim knows the FBI has their star witness onboard, and has a crate loaded with various poisonous snakes placed in the cargo hold, set to open while the plane is in flight and attack the passengers and crew.

Snakes On A Plane is the very definition of a guilty pleasure, a film that knows it is merely popcorn entertainment and nothing more. The plot is ludicrous, but director David R. Ellis (Cellular; The Final Destination 3D) keeps the plot at a brisk pace. Samuel L. Jackson, one of our most versatile actors who is comfortable with roles in both more serious films (Changing Lanes, A Time To Kill, Coach Carter) and popcorn movies like this one (Deep Blue Sea, The Incredibles, Star Wars, Afro Samurai), has a lot of fun chewing the scenery as he is forced to deal with a plane full of snakes.

Is Snakes On A Plane a good movie? Not really. As I stated above, the plot is ridiculous (anyone who has flown between Honolulu and LAX knows how cold the cabin gets, which would make the snakes sluggish), the CG visual effects are pretty fake, and most of the passengers and crew are stereo-typed, cardboard cut-outs. But, all in all, this is still a fun film to watch.

Video: 3.5 out of 5

The 1080p VC-1 encode is framed in the film's original 2.40:1 aspect ratio. This is an above average transfer, with solid and vibrant colors, exceptional detail, inky blacks, with visible film grain, providing a nice film-like appearance without being distracting, although noise does become an ocassional issue.

Audio: 4 out of 5

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack is a fun, active mix with good use of surrounds and LFE. Dialogue is intelligible, with exceptional fidelity throughout.

Special Features: 3 out of 5

Most of the special features from the previous DVD release have been ported over.

Audio Commentary: This is a crowded commentary, featuring Samuel L. Jackson, director David R. Ellis, visual effects supervisor Erik Henry, producer Craig Berenson, second unit director Freddie Hice, and associate producer Tawny Ellis. The six discuss, in a party-like atmosphere, the origins of the film, including how MTV and Paramount placed the film in turnaround allowing New Line to snatch it up, how Jackson became involved, the reshoots to push the movie to an R rating, etc.

Pure Venom: The Making of Snakes On A Plane: Covering much of the same material found in the commentary track, this behind the scenes featurette covers the premise of the film, building the airplane set, the use of real snakes, etc. HD

Meet The Reptiles: As the name implies, this is a featurette focusing on the snakes used in the film with the help of snake wrangler Jules Sylvester. SD

VFX: An all-too-quick five minute look at how some of the CGI effects were created. SD

Snakes On A Blog: Snakes On A Plane will likely be remembered for the amount of hype the internet community generated as the film went into production, leading up to the theatrical release, and much of that is covered here. HD

Snakes On A Video: Cobra Starship's music video for Snakes On A Plane (Bring It) is presented here in high definition and without the end credits rolling in a separate window. HD

Making of the Music Video: A nine-minute look at how the music video came to be. SD

Deleted Scenes: Ten scenes are included, with optional commentary from director David Ellis and producer Craig Berenson, that do not add nor detract from the finished film. SD

Gag Reel: This is a typical blooper reel, with flubbed lines and goofing off while the camera rolls. SD

Trailers and TV Spots: A collection of teasers, trailers, and the various television spots hyping the film. SD

Overall: 3 out of 5

With above-average video, a kicking soundtrack, and a nice set of features, this guilty-pleasure of a movie is a worthy upgrade to the previous DVD release, and another nice catalog release on Blu-ray from New Line.