Anaconda (film)

Anaconda
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Luis Llosa
Produced by	Verna Harrah Carole Little Leonard Rabinowitz
Written by	Hans Bauer Jim Cash Jack Epps Jr.
Starring	Jennifer Lopez Ice Cube Jon Voight Eric Stoltz Jonathan Hyde Owen Wilson Kari Wuhrer
Music by	Ice Cube Randy Edelman
Cinematography	Bill Butler
Editing by	Michael R. Miller
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	April 11, 1997 (1997-04-11)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United States Brazil
Language	English
Budget	$45,000,000
Box office	$136,885,767

Anaconda is a 1997, adventure-horror film, directed by Luis Llosa, starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Owen Wilson, and Eric Stoltz. It centers around a film crew for National Geographic who are kidnapped by a hunter who is going after the world's largest giant anaconda, which is discovered in the Amazon Rainforest. The film was the subject of controversy after actors Ice Cube and Owen Wilson were almost fatally injured by the live anaconda used on set. Though the film received negative reviews from critics, it was a box office hit. It was followed by the sequel Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid.

Plot

Shooting a documentary about a long-lost Indian tribe on the Amazon River known as the Shirishama tribe, director Terri Flores (Jennifer Lopez) and members of her crew, including cameraman Danny Rich (Ice Cube), production manager Denise Kalberg (Kari Wuhrer), sound engineer Gary Dixon (Owen Wilson), visionary Warren Westridge (Jonathan Hyde), anthropologist Professor Steven Cale (Eric Stoltz) and captain of the boat Mateo (Vincent Castellanos), comes across stranded Paraguay snake hunter Paul Sarone (Jon Voight) and helps him, believing he knows how to find the tribe they are searching for, but Sarone acts strangely and the crew suspects something.

While trying to free the boat's propeller from a rope, Cale is stung in the throat by a wasp, which got in his scuba gear and leaves him unconscious. With that, Sarone takes command of the boat and the crew. They are then forced to help him achieve his true objective — hunting down and capturing a record-breaking Green Anaconda he had been tracking.

Mateo is the first of the crew to be killed by the anaconda, that strangles him to death outside a boat where a poacher (Danny Trejo) was killed at the beginning of the film. The rest tries to find him while Gary sides with Sarone, saying if they help him find the anaconda, he will help them get out alive. Ironically, Gary is killed next when they attempt to capture the anaconda. The survivors knock out and then tie up Sarone. When Denise attempts to kill Sarone, he gets the edge and chokes her before dumping her body in the river where she drowns. The anaconda returns and kills Westridge before the snake itself is shot dead and Sarone incapacitated by the newly awakened Cale (Who later falls unconscious again). Danny punches Sarone, knocking Sarone into the river.

Later on, Terri and Danny, two of the surviving members of the crew, are captured when Sarone catches up to them. He dumps a bucket of monkey blood on them and then uses them as bait in an attempt to capture a second, larger anaconda. The anaconda wraps around Terri and Danny and begins to suffocate them. They are caught in a net by Sarone, but the snake breaks free. Terri and Danny cut their bonds and break free as Sarone himself is killed by the snake. Terri finds a nest of baby anacondas in the building, but the snake arrives and after vomiting up Sarone, chases her up a smoke stack. The snake becomes trapped in the smoke stack, which Danny ignites and burns the snake alive. As Terri and Danny recuperate on a nearby dock, the snake appears one final time. Danny beats the anaconda with an axe until it is finally dead.

Afterwards, Terri and Danny reunite with Cale, who begins to revive, on the boat. As they float down the river, they accidentally locate the natives for whom they were originally searching. They realize Sarone was right and begin filming their documentary as the movie ends.

Cast

• Jennifer Lopez as Terri Flores
• Ice Cube as Danny Rich
• Jon Voight as Paul Sarone
• Eric Stoltz as Dr. Steven Cale
• Jonathan Hyde as Warren Westridge
• Owen Wilson as Gary Dixon
• Kari Wuhrer as Denise Kalberg
• Vincent Castellanos as Mateo
• Danny Trejo as Poacher
• Frank Welker as the Anaconda (voice)

Box office

The film was a box office hit grossing over $136,000,000

Reception

Anaconda received negative reviews when it was released. Some praised the film's effects, scenery, and tongue-in-cheek humor, while others criticized the acting, "forgettable" or "cardboard" characters, inaccuracies, and "boring" start. The film maintains a 39% "rotten" rating according to Rotten Tomatoes. It was also nominated for six Razzie Awards at the 18th Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Jon Voight), Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst New Star ("the animatronic anaconda") and Worst Screen Couple (Voight and "the animatronic anaconda"). Roger Ebert awarded the film 3 1/2 out of 4 stars calling it a "...slick, scary, funny Creature Feature, beautifully photographed and splendidly acted in high adventure style." Despite the initial negative reception, Anaconda has since become a cult classic, often viewed as so-bad-it's-good.

Sequels

Main articles: Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, Anaconda 3: Offspring, and Anacondas: Trail of Blood

The film was followed by three sequels, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid in 2004, which was released to theaters, two made-for-television movies, Anaconda 3: Offspring and Anacondas: Trail of Blood, both produced in 2008. Even though no characters from the first film appear in the sequels, they are referenced by the character, Cole, in Hunt for the Blood Orchid when he says he knows a friend who knows a friend that took a crew down to the jungle and they were all eaten by snakes.

See also

• List of killer snake films

External links

• Anaconda at the Internet Movie Database
• Anaconda at AllRovi
• Anaconda at Rotten Tomatoes
• Anaconda at Metacritic
• Anaconda at Box Office Mojo