| Anaconda | |
|---|---|
| |
| Riffed by | RiffTrax |
| Riffers | Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett |
| Series | RiffTrax Live! |
| Date Released | October 30, 2014 (Live) and March 13, 2015 |
Anaconda is a 1997 adventure-horror film, directed by Luis Llosa, starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Eric Stoltz, Owen Wilson, Kari Wuhrer and Jonathan Hyde. It centers on 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. Despite receiving mostly negative reviews from critics, the film was a box office hit, and was followed by two sequels, including Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004) and Anaconda 3: Offspring (2008).
Anaconda was riffed live by RiffTrax on October 30, 2014 from The Carolina Theatre, Durham, North Carolina, and beamed LIVE to theaters Nationwide. The studio riff was released in March 2015.
Synopsis and Preview[]
RiffTrax ANACONDA (preview clip)-0
[Spoilers Begin]
The film begins with a poacher (Danny Trejo) calling for help on the radio. Something breaks through the floor of the boathouse, causing the poacher to run upstairs and climb up the tower with a gun. As the unseen predator climbs up the tower and stares at the horrified poacher, he shoots himself. 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)—come across stranded Paraguayan snake hunter Paul Serone (Jon Voight) and help him, believing he knows how to find the tribe they are searching for. But Serone 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 inside his scuba gear, leaving him unconscious. With that, Serone 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, which wraps around him and then breaks his neck near a boat where the poacher had been killed at the beginning of the film. The others try to find him while Gary sides with Serone, who promises if they help him find the anaconda, he will help them get out alive. Ironically, Gary is eaten next when they attempt to capture the anaconda. The survivors overcome Serone and tie him up. When Denise attempts to kill Serone, he gets the edge and strangles her to death with his legs before dumping her body in the river where she drowns. The anaconda returns and kills Westridge and coils itself around Danny, only to be shot dead by Terri and Serone incapacitated by the newly awakened Cale (who later loses consciousness again). Danny punches Serone, knocking him into the river.
Later on, Terri and Danny, two of the surviving members of the crew, are captured when Serone 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 Serone, but the snake breaks free. Serone tries to escape, but the anaconda finally manages to coil around him and suffocate him. Terri and Danny cut their bonds and watch in horror as the anaconda slowly swallows Serone whole. Terri finds a nest of baby anacondas in a building, but the snake arrives, and after regurgitating the still twitching Serone, chases her up a smoke stack. The snake becomes trapped in the smoke stack, whereupon Danny ignites a fire below 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 Serone was right and begin filming their documentary as the film ends.
[Spoilers End]
Cast and Crew[]
- Ice Cube as Danny Rich
- Jennifer Lopez as Terri Flores
- Jon Voight as Paul Serone
- Kari Wuhrer as Denise Kalberg
- Owen Wilson as Gary Dixon
- Jonathan Hyde as Warren Westridge
- Vincent Castellanos as Mateo
- Eric Stoltz as Dr. Steven Cale
- Danny Trejo as Poacher
- Frank Welker as the Anaconda (voice)
- Jack Flyper Walker Jr. as Jonh Nikel
Quotes[]
Notes[]
- This was the first RiffTrax Live show to originate from the Carolina Theatre in Durham, North Carolina.
- This was the third "blockbuster" to be riffed live in 2014. The first two being Sharknado and Godzilla.
- This rights to this film were made possible by achieving a "reach goal" during the Godzilla Kickstarter campaign.
See Also[]
- Birdemic: Shock and Terror
- Manos: The Hands of Fate
- House on Haunted Hill
- Plan 9 from Outer Space
- Jack the Giant Killer
- Night of the Living Dead
- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
- Starship Troopers
- Sharknado
- Godzilla