anacondas
The other night I watched Anacondas. The second one, with the Blood Orchids. (I was supposed to be writing, but let’s not even go there.) And now I’ve got to rank it up there as the type of movie that drives me absolutely crazy, because it’s got all the elements to be really terrific and blows its chances. Mainly because, in this case, the snakes were more developed than the characters. Which becomes a real problem by the end of the movie.
I mean, I just knew the hero was Special Forces, even though that didn’t come out until almost the end of the movie. All the signs were there that he was just driving some piece of crap boat to escape the things he’d done in his tortured past. My favorite kind of hero. From the second we met him in the seedy bar, I was like, okay, this movie might’ve been worth the payperview fee. But they gave him maybe three lines to explain his entire past. And they were a really bad three lines. Didn’t work for me. I could’ve done SO MUCH with this script. Why didn’t they consult me?
This movie would’ve benefitted from more romance. More of a build-up. I loved the fact that the woman the hero ends up with is tough, was tough through the entire movie. But I didn’t like the fact that, at the start of the movie and most of the way throughout, it was a free for all in terms of character attraction. Too many red-herrings impeded the relationships. I wanted to see the spark between Special Forces Hero and Southern Accent Heroine ASAP. (have you figured out by now that I’ve totally forgotten their names.)
So I’m ranking this one up right up there with my all-time favorite, could’ve been awesome movie, Roadhouse. Which means, whenever Anacondas & The Blood Orchid comes to TNT and they show it repeatedly for years to come, I’ll watch it every time. And complain bitterly.
Linda - I’m writing! Almost done with edits and I need thirteen more pages. I moved a couple of scenes around, toyed with rewriting the ending and then promptly fell asleep.
And, in between finishing the book, I’ve got to pack the entire upstairs of the house away. Because, you know, construction hell.
I wonder if the Anaconda & The Blood Orchid rental is still active…
Steph T.
July 30th, 2005 at 12:00 pm
The funny thing about this movie is, I expected it to be a veritable cheeze-fest, and it turned out to be miles better than what I expected, so I wasn’t quite as disappointed as you. But I agree with every point you’ve made.
Now get back to writing!:shoot:
July 30th, 2005 at 2:21 pm
My hubby watched this the other night and even though he watched all of it he didn’t like it. I on the hand was writing . . . .:cool:
July 30th, 2005 at 3:31 pm
I was disappointed in it. They REALLY didn’t do any character development. I’m still waiting for Hollywood to understand that we have to ‘care’ about the characters in order to enjoy the crappy movies. It could have been so good, just like Species. (The ending of that movie still urks me to no end. Can you tell I like really bad ‘B’ monster movies?
July 30th, 2005 at 5:34 pm
OMG, Steph, I just watched this the other night. My favorite part was close to the end where evil scientist is getting the orchids and they are watching him, deciding how to get him. HELLO? Couldn’t Mr. Special Forces take care of one science weenie by himself? Maybe that explains why he is a lowlife boat operator in Borneo. BTW, his name was Bill Johnson. I think she was Sam.
What I want to know is how anacondas got to Borneo. No one seems surprised that a South American snake has made its home in South Asia and reproduced.
“Roadhouse” was a true stinker and I appreciate bad movies. Steven Seagal is pretty dependable for making a bad movie.
July 30th, 2005 at 5:54 pm
I could’ve done SO MUCH with this script. Why didn’t they consult me?
Don’t you just hate when that happens???
July 30th, 2005 at 6:28 pm
Jaq - I totally thought it would be much worse, since sequels like that tend to be, and I was surprised by it too. I think that’s why I’m even more disappointed. It just bugs me when the high soncept was so THERE and they missed it. (And I wrote a little. Must. Write. More. But Speed is on and I love that movie)
Teresa - It was one of those, couldn’t look away, because until almost the end, you couldn’t tell who was going to be eaten.
That’s it exactly, Jordan. I couldn’t tell who to root for, except my SF guy and even that was getting tricky at the end when he let the scientist guy beat him up…
which brings me to Rene - and yes - that bugged the crap out of me. a SF guy would’ve been able to kick scientist guys ass and come up with a plan. HELLO!! I could’ve easily just done a suspension of disbelief with the snakes if the characters had been better. But I LOVE Roadhouse, mainly because it’s so bad. It’s such a good concept…My favorite Steven Segal is the one where he’s the cook on the boat - Under Seige, maybe.
Tori - maybe from now on Hollywood will call us. We know these things. We KNOW character development.
I think Jake should’ve been cast as Special Forces-Bill-Guy…
July 30th, 2005 at 10:46 pm
LOL I agree about jake. Love Under Seige…and Roadhouse–what’s worse than Roadhouse? Next of Kin HELLOOOO
No anacondas here babe,
Love
Snake Hater
July 31st, 2005 at 1:21 am
I like Roadhouse too.
July 31st, 2005 at 10:35 am
Now I have to watch Next of Kin, Cece.
Jordan - I watch it every single time it comes on TV. Every. Single. Time. I tell myself it’s for Sam Elliot.:biggrin: