Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid [WS]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Directed by Dwight H. Little, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid is the sequel to 1997's tongue-in-cheek Anaconda, though none of the original cast have returned. The film chronicles a fateful mission ordered by a pharmaceutical giant: to travel deep in to the jungles of Borneo, where a rare black orchid -- one that can be used to attain immortality -- has bloomed for hundreds of years, unbeknownst to man. The eager horticulturists sent have no idea that an indigenous population of bloodthirsty anacondas has been privy to the orchid's properties for years. Not only have the orchids augmented their already phenomenal size, strength, and vitality, they've substantially increased the snakes' appetites for flesh. Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid features Peter Curtis, Johnny Messner, Morris Chestnut, and Eugene Byrd. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1, 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV, Pan and Scan
• Subtitle: French, English
• Features:
  • • cc Deleted Scenes
    • Making-of Featurette
    • Bonus Trailers

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Dwight H. Little

• Producer:

  Verna Harrah

• Screen Story:

  Jim Cash, Jack Epps, Jr.

• Screenwriter:

  Michael Miner, Ed Neumeier, Daniel Zelman

• Screen Story:

  Hans Bauer

• Screenwriter:

  John Claflin

• Cinematographer:

  Stephen F. Windon

• Composer (Music Score):

  Nerida Tyson-Chew

• Songwriter:

  Nerida Tyson-Chew

• Editor:

  Marcus D'Arcy, Mark Warner

• Production Designer:

  Bryce Perrin

• Art Director:

  Brian Edmonds

• Executive Producer:

  Jacobus Rose

• Costume Designer:

  Terry Ryan

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Gary Wilkins

• First Assistant Director:

  Jamie Crooks

• Casting:

  Justine Baddeley, Kimbery Davis-Wagner

• Visual Effects Supervisor:

  Dale Duguid

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Andrew Plain

• Second Unit Director:

  Mark Wareham

• Second Unit Camera:

  Mark Wareham

• Visual Effects:

  Photon VFX

• Visual Effects Editor:

  Paul Booth

• Visual Effects Producer:

  Pippa Anderson

REVIEW:

• First things first, there's nothing in Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid as beautifully outlandish as Jon Voight winking at the camera in the first one -- that said, this cheeseball sequel is still a fun and incredibly stupid time at the movies. Basically an exact rehash of the original, complete with a bootleg J. Lo actress and countless major plot points stolen from the first film, Anacondas isn't trying to change the big snake genre as much as it's having fun with the rules. Playing the hunky male lead role and appropriately named Bill Johnson (that's right, Bill Johnson, folks!), Johnny Messner leads a ragtag group of severely accented C-actors through the jungle as they plow through a delicious script in which mere humans win wrestling matches with giant crocodiles and the best performance award goes to a monkey. The CG anacondas themselves look no better than most made-for-cable fare, though they do now have huge rows of teeth that make them look like evil serpents in a fantasy flick, if that counts for anything. With hilarious jive-talking dialogue that will bruise your belly and an end song called "Chapow!" that's sure to damage your skull with its assault of lame pop-punk-rap-rock, most viewers will end up brutalized by the time the credits roll. The Hunt for the Blood Orchid is a good kind of hurt, though, one that's harmless in the long run and pretty swift with its 96-minute running time. To put it this way, if you "got" the original and enjoy that kind of unabashed schlock, then put on your swimsuit and dive in to this piece of charming junk -- otherwise, stay far away. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi