Peruvian filmmaker Luis Llosa had been working on some films for Roger Corman before Hollywood came calling for some larger budgeted fare. After the action thriller The Specialist with Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone, he was asked to helm a creature feature back in his home turf. This film would be an early start for Jennifer Lopez as leading lady as well as Ice Cube, who had been growing his film career over the past few years. And of course, why not throw John Voight into the mix as the big bad snake hunter. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we continue our Aquatic Killers series with Llosa’s 1997 film Anaconda.
We talk about the campiness of the film but how enjoyable it is, and how the people involved clearly knew what sort of movie they were making. We chat about the cast, notably Voight, who is obviously having a wonderful time playing such an over-the-top villain. We look at the anaconda itself, both the reality of them in South America and how this one appears in the film (that CG is pretty bad). And we ponder the editing decision to keep a backward waterfall in the film. Why would they do that?
It’s a ridiculously fun film and we have a great time talking about it on the show this week, so check it out then tune in! The Next Reel – when the movie ends, our conversation begins!
Join the conversation with movie lovers from around the world on The Next Reel’s Discord channel!
Film Sundries
- Watch this film: iTunes • Amazon • Netflix • YouTube
- Script Transcript
- Original theatrical trailer
- Original poster artwork
- Flickchart
- Letterboxd
