Snakes on a Plane Blu-ray delivers great video and audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
When a young man witnesses a brutal mob murder, it falls to FBI agent Neville Flynn to escort
his charge safely from Hawaii to Los Angeles to testify. But in an act of self-preservation, the
crime boss facing prison smuggles hundreds of poisonous snakes onto the commercial aircraft in
a crate timed to release its deadly cargo halfway over the Pacific. Flynn, along with a
frightened flight crew and passengers, must then band together in a desperate attempt to
survive.
If there was ever a mainstream movie that gave itself away as a being nothing more than a
ridiculous, over-the-top, not-at-all-serious movie based on its title alone, that movie would be
Snakes on a Plane. Goofy, of zero artistic merit, and a whole lot of fun, Snakes on a
Plane isn't for the highbrow cinema-as-art crowd but instead for anyone wiling to simply sit
back and enjoy the show. Snakes on a Plane is a ridiculous movie with a ridiculous premise
that's as absurd as anything ever committed to film, and it's a breath of fresh air that shows just
how "good" a "bad" movie can be.
A snake on a plane!
Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips) witnesses the brutal slaying of a Hawaiian prosecutor by the
notorious
mobster Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson). Just before he himself is killed in his own home by Eddie's
goons, Jones is rescued by FBI agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson, Lakeview Terrace),
who later convinces Jones to testify against Kim. Jones and Flynn must fly from Hawaii to Los
Angels for the trial, and the feds commandeer the flight's entire first class section for themselves.
With the flight's eclectic group of passengers herded into coach, the flight gets underway without
major incident. That's all about to change, though; Eddie's arranged for hundreds of venomous
snakes to be unleashed from the plane's cargo section! Slithering up dresses, biting children,
devouring dogs, and swallowing whole at least one passenger, chaos soon reigns onboard. Agent
Flynn and the passengers must band together to save themselves, the plane, and the key
witness
before the creatures bring the whole plane down in the middle of the Pacific!
As a film that aimed to be an over-the-top cult classic-in-the-making from its inception,
Snakes on a Plane is jam-packed with cliché, and in a case like this, cliché actually makes
the movie all the better. The flight is packed with an appropriately eclectic bunch of passengers:
a sensitive-to-germs rapper and his entourage, a stewardess on her last flight (the equivalent of a
cop three days from retirement?), an older stewardess that actually is past retirement, a
guy that gets nervous flying, a kick boxer, a flirtatious girl and her fashion accessory dog, a rude
businessman, a woman and her baby, and a couple of kids flying solo, just for starters. It's not
hard to keep up with them due to their drastically differing personas and looks, but it helps the
movie to have several identifiable -- for better or for worse -- characters. It's when the action
gets going, though, that the clichés really start to hit the fan. There's the odd one-liner;
the passengers that "misbehave" on the flight are the first to go; snakes jump out of every
conceivable hiding place; and people are bitten on every single human appendage imaginable.
The action is rather straightforward; there's never much mystery as to who will live and
die or whether or not Flynn can save the day, but it's nevertheless a whole lot of fun on the flight
towards the inevitable conclusion.
Fitting right in with the movie's ridiculous premise and equally absurd execution is appropriately
over-the-top acting; Jackson manages to keep a straight face through the whole thing, but that
doesn't take away from the comedic undertones that are to be found throughout. Even
secondary characters deliver passable performances in the context of the story; they all seem to
embrace the material for what it is, playing it straight but with an underlying hilarity that makes
for the movie's true selling point. Snakes on a Plane works so well because it seems to,
on the surface, take itself as seriously as any other movie out there. The winks and nods to the
audience come at a rapid pace, and even the lighter moments -- most of which come during the
action
sequences -- are handled with just the right amount of TLC so as to keep the story moving and
retain a
mostly serious tone, but at the same time deliver laugh-out-loud moments that prove funny
because everything about the movie is so goofy. The film is directed, edited, scored, and
otherwise assembled for maximum effect to, again, maintain a semblance of seriousness but at
the same time allow for the ridiculousness to shine through. Though the film does feature some
iffy special snake effects, they, too, add to the movie's undeniable appeal to audiences that can
take the movie at face value and appreciate the sometimes subtle and at other times
not-so-subtle winks and nods that make Snakes on a Plane a one-of-a-kind movie
experience.
Snakes on a Plane slithers onto Blu-ray with a solid 1080p, 2.39:1-framed transfer. Bright,
bold, and colorful, the film's opening act delivers a crystal-clear image with a superb level of detail;
an excellent sense of depth; and clarity and sharpness across the entire image, both in the
foreground and the background. The image takes a far darker tone once the in-flight action begins.
Lighting is dim, there's a noticeable haze throughout the set, and the blue airplane seats tend to
blend into the darkness. Speaking of, black levels appear as acceptable throughout, and skin tones
retain a neutral shade. Despite the darkened environment, the real snakes used on-set look nice,
each appropriately colorful, slimy, and nicely textured. It's not at all difficult to spot the real ones
versus the CGI ones, and the real snakes lend to the transfer another notch in its belt while the CGI
snakes just look, well, bad. The transfer retains a noticeable level of grain throughout that lends to
the image a solid, film-like appearance. Despite a hint of blocking in a couple of the
very darkest shots, Snakes on a Plane delivers a winning transfer on Blu-ray.
Snakes on a Plane makes its Blu-ray debut with only one soundtrack: a Dolby TrueHD 5.1
mix. The soundtrack delivers a solid and mostly consistent rear-channel presence throughout;
whether screaming passengers, hissing snakes, an alarm in the cockpit, or simply the hum of the
engines before the tumult and chaos begins, the track does a good job of engulfing listeners into the
action. Turbulence rocks the soundstage on more than one occasion, resulting in a good amount of
bass. A scene near the end of the film features a full-blown gust of surround activity; all that's
missing is a cold breeze. Gunshots never sound puny, and dialogue reproduction is spot-on accurate
throughout. Snakes on a Plane doesn't deliver a particularly memorable listen, but it's well
above-average in every regard.
Snakes on a Plane unleashes several bonus materials for this Blu-ray release. First up is
a feature-length commentary track with Director David R. Ellis, Actor Samuel L. Jackson,
Producer Craig Berenson, Associate Producer Tawny Ellis, VFX Supervisor Erik Henry, and 2nd
Unit Director Freddie Hice. As expected of not only a group commentary but a group
commentary on a movie called Snakes on a Plane, this one delivers plenty of lighthearted
moments and an overall easygoing, fun, and casual tone. The participants discuss the film's
origins, the change in director (Ronny Yu of Freddy vs. Jason
fame was originally set to direct), Samuel L. Jackson's involvement, the buzz surrounding the film
on the Internet and the controversy surrounding the title (including some participants' reluctance
to work on a film with such a straightforward and B-movie title), the work of the hundreds of
snakes on the
film, and much more. Fans will be ecstatic with the quality of this track. Next up is Pure
Venom: The Making of 'Snakes on a Plane' (1080i, 18:06), an entertaining but ultimately
basic behind-the-scenes piece that features the obligatory collection of cast and crew interview
clips and footage from both the set and the final film. The participants discuss the film's mixture
of people's fear of flying and fear of snakes, the work of Samuel L. Jackson, the importance of
strong characterization, set design, the presence of snakes on the set, and more.
Meet the Reptiles (480p, 12:59) takes a more in-depth look at the work of the film's
slithery stars. The piece begins with cast and crew sharing their thoughts on the creatures and
moves on to look at the work of snake wrangler Jules Sylvester and the look and performances of
the snakes. VFX (480p, 5:21) is a brief featurette that shows viewers the process of
digitally animating some of the snakes that appear in the film. Snakes on a Blog (1080i,
10:07) examines the role of the Internet in marketing the film. Next up is the music video
Snakes on a Video by Cobra Starship (1080p, 3:18), accompanied by a look into the
making of the video (480p, 8:57). Also included is a gag reel (480p, 4:41); 10 deleted scenes
(480p, 11:51) with optional commentary by Director David R. Ellis, Associate Producer Tawny
Ellis, and Producer Craig Berenson; the film's teaser (480p, 0:59) and theatrical (480p, 1:24 &
1:07) trailers; and five TV spots (480p, 2:41 combined runtime).
For a movie that banked on its title and Samuel L. Jackson's memorable line, Snakes on a
Plane gets just about everything right. It's highly entertaining, delivers completely on its
ridiculous premise, and it requires no thought to enjoy. About as far from art house-style
filmmaking as a movie can be, Snakes on a Plane welcomes audiences willing to just sit
back and enjoy the ride, absurdities and clichés included. New Line's Blu-ray release is up to par.
Featuring a solid technical presentation and a decent collection of extras, this is the sort of title
that's a must-own for fans of motion pictures of all types. Recommended.
