Anaconda (1997)

This movie is one of those few that makes you jump out of the seat. Contrary to what many people say, this movie is big enough not to leave the seat with chills. This movie amazes you from start to finish. In addition, there is no shortage of Jumps-scare, to make matters worse, when the anaconda swallows, you feel the sweat and saliva on your body, emotion assaults and invades you. Your heart beats And see Jennifer Lopez running through the jungle, makes you fear the rivers This movie is contrary to what critics say. Although some effects are corny, such is the case when Jon Voight bathes in blood to Jennifer Lopez and Ice Cube to attract the Anaconda. Continuing another bad effect is the Anaconda regurgitating poor Jon Voight. The emotional end reassures you of all the deaths seen. A great movie to watch with your family and friends ... if you dare to slide ...

Sexy Jennifer Lopez, evil Jon Voight and Mr Cool Owen Wilson are on a boat attacked by a giant snake.As an another reviewer noted, this flick has sort of a retro Creature From The Black Lagoon-feel to it which draws me in. Also, a touch of a disaster movie as we have a mixed bunch of people stuck in a confined space (a small boat).The music score, which nicely plays under the dialogue, is very effective.The now dated CGI does a bit of damage to the flick as a whole, but with a cast like Lopez/Voight/Wilson...we have other things to focus on.

This movie begins with a film crew heading out on a large boat up the Amazon River in search of a lost Indian tribe known in legend as the Shirishamas. Along the way they pick up a man named "Paul Serone" whose boat has broken down and needs assistance. They agree to take him with them and are delighted when he tells them that he has actually seen the Shirishamas and he then proceeds to give them directions to their village. Unfortunately, the directions he gives them turn out to be somewhat misleading and it's then that they realize that he has a hidden agenda which almost immediately imperils all of them. Now as far as this movie is concerned I have mixed feelings about it. I liked the scenery and the presence of Jennifer Lopez who was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Actress. On the other hand I didn't care so much for the second-rate Al Pacino impression of Scarface given by Jon Voight. Apparently, I am not the only one who was less-than-impressed as he was nominated for a Golden Razeberry Award as Worst Actor. Deservedly so. Be that as it may this wasn't necessarily a total waste of time and as a result I have rated it as just slightly below average.

"Anaconda" is a 1997 movie directed by Luis Llosa. Almost 20 years ago,it somehow killed his career as a director as he was very prolific before that, but only directed one film afterward. He worked mostly as a producer since then. The writer team is the same as on the famous film "Top Gun" and they also did a sequel to this one here. "Anaconda" scored quite a few Razzie nominations (the Razzies got it wrong again, as they usually do), but I have to say I was occasionally entertained watching this and I would not even call it a guilty pleasure.It starts a bit randomly with Danny Trejo ("Machete") in the first scene committing suicide after the snake attacks him. Who he is or why he is shown we never find out. I am not sure if they just wanted him in there because he was famous (if he was?) or what was the whole purpose of that intro. Other than that, the film has a couple more well-known actors included: Anademy Award winner Jon Voight, Academy Award nominee Owen Wilson, Golden Globe nominees Eric Stoltz and (incredibly hot) Jennifer Lopez, rapper Ice Cube, Jonathan Hyde and Kari Wuhrer, who has been in quite a few (animal) horror films. The standout is Voight though, sporting a ponytail in this film and portraying a character at least as scary as the snake monster he is after. He saves one guy's life early in the film, but takes another later on. A true monster he plays here. So it was basically a fight of human beast vs. animal beast. And would you have guessed that swallowing a dangerous tropic bee can save your life from the Anaconda. It did for one character as he was in the cabin pretty much for the rest of the film afterward.Basically, the film is all about people being in the water and the dangerous situation with the audience wondering if the giant snake will appear or not. I thought this invisible danger was actually bigger than the real danger when the beast occurred. But that's usually the case for me that invisible danger works better to scare me. That is also why "The Blair Witch Project" had such an impact on me. One thing that surprised me is how Wilson's character becomes the aide to Voight so quickly in the film. Far too quickly for my taste. Anyway, maybe he saw a strong leader or father figure in him I guess and he was just easy to manipulate. Oh yeah and then there is also the bee scene I mentioned earlier. Man that was scary and gross when they get the insect out of the guy's mouth, probably tougher on my than the most snake scenes.What I liked was how they managed to show how everybody felt out of place in the jungle except Voight's character who was all home and natural in there. I am not sure if I liked the scene where the team try to trick Voight's character (and succeed), but the "A*shole in 1"-comment was kinda cool. What I did wonder was how Voight's character (after he seemed to be dead early) managed to get out of the water with the tranquilizer in his blood. That was not particularly realistic. And I was a bit surprised about how the snake always showed up where the team was.I liked about the film that, at 90 minutes including ending credits, it was not longer than it should have been and they kept it pretty much very essential. It was also not too difficult to create a connection with all the characters and quickly understand who is who, which is usually one of the most important things about a film. But that also could have been as I was quite familiar with most of the cast. However, I wished that maybe they would have gone for a slightly different ending in which the animal prevails and just kills everybody. Could have made for a nice change. Anyway, decent animal horror film. Recommended.