Die Rückkehr der Piranhas

Well, it IS near identical. A lot of changes from the original had been made (the doctor minding the piranha testing center being just one of those). Still, I prefer this one. One: it provided more character detail into Paul. Two: this remake's Maggie isn't as "bumbling" as the one in the original (although she's still far from being a decent gumshoe). Three: the circumstance behind the piranhas' poisoning (just in the pool) is more believable than the original (an entire water system in Vietnam). Four: the usage of stock from the original aside, the fact that they left bones after piranha attacks makes it more believable than the original. Five: because they made this look more serious than the original, it actually made it funnier.

It's still a bad movie, but, at least the way they changed it made it a tiny bit better.

According to my fellow IMDb users, the film is a remake. But, since I have not seen the original, I cannot vouge for that. And they also say it uses stock footage from a number of other creature features. Again, I cannot say. But, if you think of it as a TV movie that was made some seven years ago, you cannot possibly expect a classic.

PIRANHA, in my opinion, was not that bad. It was certainly better than some of the other crappy action adventure films with the same plot line. Examples: BLOOD SURF, BENEATH LOCH NESS, PYTHON (the worst movie of all time) and an endless number of others.

You should all seriously give this movie a break. After all, it never wanted to be a classic. Just wanted to be there to give off some campy good fun...if only for a short while. PIRANHA gets 3/5.

RELEASED IN 1995 and directed by Scott P. Levy, "Piranha" chronicles events when genetically-enhanced piranha are accidentally released into a river system in the wilderness north of Los Angeles, which threaten kids & counselors at a Summer Camp and vacationers at a lake resort. A private investigator (Alexandra Paul) and a lonely environmentalist (William Katt) team-up to save the swimmers.

This is virtually a scene-by-scene recreation of the 1978 film, taking place in Southern Cal rather than the heart of Texas. While "Piranha" (both versions) is sort of a "Jaws" (1975) knockoff, it's different enough to not be a rip-off: The story takes place in a river system deep in the mainland and not the ocean; the 'monster' consists of teams of little vicious fish rather than a huge great white shark; the beach sequences involve quaint campground-like beaches rather than major ocean beaches; unlike "Jaws," there's a focus on alluring young women, although "Jaws 2" (1978) delivered the goods in this area as well; and there's more of a sense of adventure and arguably suspense. The tone of the original version of "Piranha" mixed-in amusing elements amidst the horrific mayhem, but this version shoots for a more austere air.

This 1995 version is all-around inferior to the 1978 rendition, even though it's basically the same exact story and both were produced by Roger Corman. Some of the changes, aside from cast and locations, include: A woman (Darleen Carr) is substituted for the scientist (Kevin McCarthy) at the research facility; the curious stop-motion mini-dinosaur featured in the first act of the original is omitted here; there's a new wannabe director character; one of the two babes at the camp dies prematurely; and the filmmakers were more conscious of including racial diversity in the background.

The new locations with sparser foliage are also inferior, as are the women. Although voluptuous Lorissa McComas as Barbara in the prologue is just as good as (or better than) Janie Squire in the original, Soleil Moon Frye and Kehli O'Byrne are rather second rate compared to cutie Melody Thomas Scott and curvy Belinda Balaski, although Kehli is certainly a striking woman.

I suggest skipping this one and viewing the original instead, unless you're a fan of some of the cast members or want to compare the two versions. The 1978 film is just all-around superior.

THE MOVIE RUNS 89 minutes and was shot, in part, at Castaic Lake just north of Valencia/Santa Clarita, California.

GRADE: C+

The private investigator Maggie McNamara (Alexandra Paul) from Lyon Investigation is hired by the wealthy J.R. Randolph (Monte Markham) to find his niece that has disappeared with her boyfriend. Maggie seeks out the lonely environmentalist Paul Grogan (William Katt) to help her to look for the teenager. They head to an abandoned army facility and Maggie decides to drain the pools to see whether the body of the girl is there. They are assaulted by a woman with a crowbar but they subdue her. However she escapes and soon they learn that the woman is Dr. Leticia Baines (Darleen Carr), who is researching a hybrid species of piranha that is capable to survive in fresh and sea waters for military purpose. Further, Maggie has release the piranhas on the river and they are heading to the Lost River Lake Resort. Maggie and Paul inform the corrupt local Sheriff but Randolph tells him to lock them up since he does not want to jeopardize the party he has promoted to his resort.

"Piranha" is a B-movie with the same storyline of "Jaws". There are ridiculous scenes, like for example, Maggie tasting the water of an abandoned experimental pool. Or the heroine Maggie opens the drain valves without measuring the consequences and causing the death of several people. Or when Dr. Baines dies and Maggie and Paul say that they need to find someone with knowledge in piranhas. Or the instructors of the children camping that do not use the boats to rescue the children, walking on the water under attack of piranhas. It is funny to see Maggie driving the high-speed motor boat at full speed pulling Paul tied to a rope. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Piranha"

I am not an advocate of Remakes, but I do recognize a good one! This is not a good one.

Why would anyone bother to remake a movie if they do not intend to improve on the original? Or at least alter it slightly as to merit an "Update"?

This version of Piranha is cheaper and nastier than the original.... The Original knew it was Cheap and Nasty and played upon it.... but this movie takes itself seriously. The little 'fishy' effects are worse then the original and the plot itself is identical. This is basically a frame by frame remake... why?

It was made for TV and one has to question why they bothered to invest money into this when they could have easily screened a re-run of Joe Dante's original classic! I am sure more people would have stayed tuned for that one. It was obviously a clever little parody of Jaws... this is a tired and lonesome stinker!

I give it 1 out of 10 For having the guts to be made at all.