Snakes on a Plane (2006)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Directors:

David R. Ellis
Lex Halaby

Writers (WGA):

John Heffernan (screenplay) and
Sebastian Gutierrez (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

18 August 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

On August 18th Summer Really Begins

Plot:

An FBI agent takes on a plane full of deadly and poisonous snakes, deliberately released to kill a witness being flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles to testify against a mob boss.

Plot Keywords:

Snake | Plane | Murder | Passenger | Testify

Awards:

1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Thur. July 16	6:00 PM	FX
Fri. July 17	10:00 AM	FX

Cast

Samuel L. Jackson	...	Neville Flynn
Julianna Margulies	...	Claire Miller
Nathan Phillips	...	Sean Jones
Rachel Blanchard	...	Mercedes
Flex Alexander	...	Three G's
Kenan Thompson	...	Troy
Keith Dallas	...	Big Leroy (as Keith [Blackman] Dallas)
Lin Shaye	...	Grace
Bruce James	...	Ken
Sunny Mabrey	...	Tiffany
Casey Dubois	...	Curtis
Daniel Hogarth	...	Tommy
Gerard Plunkett	...	Paul
Terry Chen	...	Chen Leong
Elsa Pataky	...	Maria

Also Known As:

Anaconda 3 (USA) (fake working title)
Flight 121 (USA) (working title)
Pacific Air 121 (USA) (working title)
Pacific Air Flight 121 (USA) (working title)
Serpents à bord (Canada: French title)
SoaP (USA) (promotional abbreviation)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, a scene of sexuality and drug use, and intense sequences of terror and violence.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Germany | USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:15 | Singapore:M18 | Ireland:15A | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Germany:16 | Singapore:NC-16 (edited version) | Hong Kong:IIB | USA:R (certificate #42661) | Malaysia:18SG | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | Finland:K-15 | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Canada:18A (Manitoba) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Netherlands:16 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Argentina:16 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | Malaysia:U (cut) | Italy:VM14 | Romania:I.C.-14 | Portugal:M/16 | Brazil:16 | New Zealand:M | South Korea:18 | Japan:PG-12

Filming Locations:

Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

In _"Aqua Teen Hunger Force" (2003) {Super Birthday Snake (#3.1)}_, made long before this movie, Meatwad names his snake Nathan [Scott] Phillips; one of the lead actors in this snake-themed movie is Nathan Phillips.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The snake that is handled and put into the microwave is a Scarlet King Snake. It isn't poisonous, but looks like a Coral Snake. It is often used in snake movies in shots where actors have to handle snakes, or shoot close ups with snakes.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Daniel Hayes: [to Sean] Go, get outta here. Go!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The DiCaprio Code (2006)

Soundtrack:

Henehene Kou'aka

"Snakes on a Plane" is a fun experience

I'm calling this an "experience" rather than a "review", because a review wouldn't really encapsulate how enjoyable this movie is. If I was forced to review the movie, I'd talk about how slow it is in the beginning, how although some of the dialog is witty quite a lot of it is hackneyed (a scene with SLJ telling JM to "Be strong" was especially cringe-worthy), and the climax didn't have a lot of tension and was a bit disappointing. Five stars out of ten sounds about right, and is perhaps a bit generous.

But I came out of the movie with a smile on my face, because it was fun. The audience was really, really into it. When the title of the movie appeared, everyone cheered (I haven't seen that happen in a movie theater since Episode 1). Every over-the-top "death by snake" was cheered and applauded. The people who were going to die were fairly easily identified, and people eagerly awaited their death scenes. (In a nod to the movie writers, I expected one character to die for being a complete jerk, and they surprised me by having that character survive.) And, as could be expected, when SLJ delivers his much-discussed line towards the end of the film, the audience cheered throughout its entire delivery. I laughed; it was just fun to listen to the audience.

This is not a movie you download via BitTorrent. This is not a movie you watch on cable, or rent via DVD. This is a movie you watch in a crowded movie theater. Because only then will it be fun; only then will the energy of the movie and the audience make the experience worthwhile.