Throwback Thursday: Anaconda

Deep In The Amazon

Sometimes you intentionally go to the movies to watch a forgettable, dumb film.  Sometimes the film you believed would be nothing more than a good way to kill an hour and a half becomes something more.  In 1997, Anaconda was that type of film for me.

I walked into the theater knowing full well that I was about to watch a terrible creature feature.  It starred Jennifer Lopez, a former Fly Girl on In Living Color and fresh from her performance in the title role of Selena, Ice Cube, who at the time was primarily known for his rap career with N.W.A., and Jon Voight, who was thirty years into a career that appeared to be on a slow downturn.  The cast was filled out by Owen Wilson, Kari Wuhrer, reliable character actor Jonathan Hyde, Vincent Castellanos, and Eric Stoltz (who received top billing but was barely in the film).  Danny Trejo also had a cameo in the film.

Everything about this movie screamed “bad,” but the cheesy movie lover in me demanded that I watch this film.  I paid the full evening price, grabbed some popcorn, and took my seat.

At first the crowd was thin, but couples and groups of people slowly spilled into the theater.  Once the movie started, the crowd came alive, yelling, cussing, and screaming at the film as it played out.  We all started to cheer our heroes and boo the villain.  We also cheered on the giant anaconda as it ate its way through the cast.

The plot was pretty basic.  A documentary crew on the Amazon River puts their trust and confidence in a hunter (Voight) who tells them that he can help them find the subject of their film, a mysterious tribe called the Shirishama.  As time passes, it becomes obvious that the hunter, named Serone, has different plans for the group.

Professor Cale (Stoltz) is seriously injured early in the film.  After his accident, members of the crew go missing or die.  Terri and Danny (Lopez and Cube) begin to uncover Serone’s true past and the film becomes a race for survival.  Serone and the giant snake take turns picking off the rest of the crew and chasing down Terri and Danny.

The film was surprisingly fun to watch.  It was a lot like a SyFy Channel movie with a few more dollars in the budget.  The cast does a great job, chewing and gnashing their way through the ludicrous plot.  The CGI and practical effects were also very well done, especially considering how expensive CGI was at the time.

The film was very successful, making $136 million dollars against a budget of forty-five million.  Lopez would go on to a massively successful career in both film and pop music.  Ice Cube would perform in a host of successful films as well.  Owen Wilson’s star would rise as well, featuring in numerous popular comedies.  Both Voight and Stoltz had their careers reignited, but neither of them would achieve the success that they had prior to the release of Anaconda.  Kari Wuhrer’s career would remain steady, but she has yet to become a breakout star.

If you haven’t seen this 90’s gem, I highly recommend checking it out.  Be sure to have a few friends over and a few drinks as well.  Make a game out of it.  For instance, take a shot every time Ice Cube screams about “getting fuel” and two shots for every time Voight calls Wuhrer “Baby Bird.”  Ignore the sequels (I think that there were four).  Only the second one was remotely interesting, but it lacked the cheese factor that made the first film a classic.

As always, thanks for reading this post.  Anaconda is a must see film if you love creature features.  It’s fun, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and is ultimately a great way to kill time without feeling like you wasted part of your life.  Stay tuned for more posts in the very near future!