Plot
Forget terrorists or hijackers -- there's a handful of deadly assassins aboard a jet liner and they don't even have arms or legs in this airborne thriller. Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) is an FBI agent handling what seems like a routine assignment -- serving as bodyguard for Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips), a Hawaiian surfer dude who is flying to California to testify in a high-profile criminal trial after witnessing mobster Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson) murdering one of his underlings. However, Flynn's job gets a lot more challenging when he discovers Kim's associates don't want Jones to talk, and have devised a unique way to ensure his silence. A cache of highly dangerous poisonous snakes has been hidden on board the jet, and is released using a timed mechanism once the flight is well underway. The snakes quickly attack several members of the flight crew and are eagerly eying the passengers when Flynn decides its time to get medieval on the reptiles. Also starring Rachel Blanchard, Benjamin McKenzie, and Mark Houghton, Snakes on a Plane was produced under the title of Pacific Air Flight 121, but in several interviews Samuel L. Jackson expressed his enthusiasm for the script's original title, Snakes on a Plane, and the high-concept moniker quickly made the film's title and theme a favorite with bloggers and on Internet fan sites all over the world. ~ Mark Deming, RoviReview
Audiences, prepare for lift-off -- 'cuz Snakes on a Plane is exactly the kind of crowd-pleasing romp that people were waiting for. Living up to that kind of unprecedented hype is a near-impossible feat, but Samuel L. Jackson and director David Ellis pull off a brilliantly calculated B-movie that delivers on all of the levels that it should. Ellis knows how to work his salivating viewers, that's for sure (see Final Destination 2 for more proof). Ratcheting up tension slowly and assuredly, the former stuntman-turned-director makes sure to lay out all the dominoes before letting loose with all the horrible, over-the-top mayhem one can imagine. Sure, the new recut scenes of grisly mayhem are easy to spot, but thank the movie gods they are there. This is a rollicking R-rated rush of a celebratory horror flick, one that that nails the disaster movie tone that's needed to really pay off such a hokey premise. Kudos to the casting agent who churned out a wealth of talent to carry on the silly dramatics above and on the ground, with special nods to Bobby Cannavale, David Koechner, and Todd Louiso, as well as Julianna Margulies, for selling it all with a straight face. As far as the main man himself, Sam doesn't play his role with superhero proportions, though he dishes out the iconic lines, looks, and live ammo to a perfect degree that only he could. And yes, the infamous catch phrase is indeed there, yet folks best be prepared to wait until it's finally unleashed to whoop it up. After so many self-important epic productions shoved down their throats, it's about time the masses reconnected with what having a good time at the movies is all about. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, RoviCast
- Samuel L. Jackson - Neville Flynn
- Julianna Margulies - Claire Miller
- Nathan Phillips - Sean Jones
- Bobby Cannavale - Hank Harris
- Flex Alexander - Three G's
Credit
John Alvarez - Art Director, Heather Meehan - Associate Producer, Tawny Ellis Lehman - Associate Producer, Jeff Katz - Associate Producer, Mindy Marin - Casting, Coreen Mayrs - Casting, Heike Brandstatter - Casting, Jules Sylvester - Coordinator, Karen Matthews - Costume Designer, Pete Whyte - First Assistant Director, David R. Ellis - Director, Howard E. Smith - Editor, Penney Finkelman Cox - Executive Producer, Justis Greene - Executive Producer, Stokely Chaffin - Executive Producer, Sandra Rabins - Executive Producer, Toby Emmerich - Executive Producer, George Waud - Executive Producer, Trevor Rabin - Composer (Music Score), Jaymes Hinkle - Production Designer, Adam Greenberg - Cinematographer, Craig Berenson - Producer, Gary Levinsohn - Producer, Don Granger - Producer, Vivien Nishi - Set Designer, Milena Zdravkovic - Set Designer, Bryan Sutton - Set Designer, Michael McGee - Sound/Sound Designer, Harry Cohen - Sound/Sound Designer, Tim Walston - Sound/Sound Designer, Freddie Hice - Stunts Coordinator, Scott Nicholson - Stunts Coordinator, Alex Burdett - Special Effects Supervisor, Matt Kutcher - Special Effects Supervisor, Heather Meehan - Unit Production Manager, John C. Heffernan - Screen Story, David Dalessandro - Screen Story, Sebastian Gutierrez - Screenwriter, John C. Heffernan - Screenwriter, Erik Henry - Visual Effects Supervisor, Scott Gordon - Visual Effects Supervisor, Jules Sylvester - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Rick Ash - Re-Recording Mixer, Kevin E. Carpenter - Re-Recording Mixer, Dave McMoyler - Supervising Sound Editor, Tom Bellfort - Supervising Sound Editor, Hybride Technologies - Visual Effects, Café FX - Visual Effects, Mary Lou Storey - Set Decorator| Snakes & Ladders (1996 Film), Snakes (1974 Film) | |
| Snakes on a Train (2006 Film), Snakeskin (2001 Film) |
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