It’s hard to believe, but Snakes on a Plane slithered into cinemas 20 years ago, riding a wave of hype, memes, and internet buzz that was impossible to escape at the time.
Now Arrow has unleashed a newly remastered 4K UHD and Blu-ray edition, and this review takes a look at how the film has aged — and whether it’s still worth viewing.
Samuel L. Jackson stars as FBI agent Neville Flynn, tasked with escorting a crucial witness from Hawaii to Los Angeles to testify against a ruthless crime lord. Simple enough — until 30,000 feet above the Pacific, when the mob decides to solve its problem by releasing a plane-load of extremely angry, extremely venomous snakes into the cabin.
Jackson is, as ever, a blast to watch. He clearly relishes the role, trying to keep his cool as chaos erupts around him and passengers and crew fall victim to the venomous payload. It’s ridiculous, it’s over the top, and he knows exactly what kind of movie he’s in.
It should go without saying: if you have a serious snake phobia, this is absolutely not the film for you. The effects are a mix of CGI and animatronics — and while the digital snakes show their age in places, they still hold up surprisingly well, especially when paired with practical effects.
Not all of the humour has aged gracefully, reflecting attitudes very much of its time. At heart, this is an exploitation movie with a bigger budget but horror fans will still find plenty to enjoy across its runtime.
And of course, everyone is waiting for that line:
“I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!”
Famously, that iconic quote wasn’t in the original screenplay at all — it was added after a fan-made trailer went viral.
This release from Arrow gives a great remastered image, clean, colourful, with great contrast. As usual, Arrow does the film justice. Audio gives you DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio which really does fill the sound stage well.
Extras are as follows –
Brand new audio commentary by critics Max Evry and Bryan Reesman
Archival cast and crew audio commentary, featuring director David R. Ellis, actor Samuel L. Jackson, producer Craig Berenson, associate producer Tawny Ellis, VFX supervisor Eric Henry, and second unit director Freddie Hice
Snakes on a Page, a brand new mini-documentary exploring the movie tie-in novelisation phenomenon, featuring publisher Mark Miller, historian David Spencer and Christa Faust, author of the Snakes on a Plane novelisation
Pure Venom, an archival feature on the making of the film, featuring interviews with the cast and crew
Meet the Reptiles, an archival featurette on the work of snake wrangler Jules Sylvester and the various snakes featured in the film
VFX, an archival featurette on the use of CGI to bring the snakes to life
Snakes on a Blog, an archival featurette on the online hype surrounding the film prior to its release
Snakes on a Plane music video
Making of the music video
Gag reel
Trailers and TV Spots
Image gallery
Easter eggs
South Pacific Airlines safety instruction card
Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options
A fun, gory treat, this is still a very enjoyable ride, and Arrow again comes up trumps. Available on 4KUHD or Blu-ray.
FILM – 7.5 PICTURE – 8.5 AUDIO – 9 EXTRAS – 8
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