Bob_Tanaka

Okay, I liked Anacondas. I thought it was a fun, old-fashioned jungle movie. But why on earth would you pick that movie to rip-off? It strikes me as a one-time deal, and it's really amazing it turned out as good as it did. Snake King is a pretty much carbon copy, with almost all the enjoyability taken out and a ton of pretentiousness put in. It starts out looking like an enjoyably predictable jungle adventure with giant snakes and human-sacrificing tribes. However, half-way through it takes a hard right and portrays the tribe as a peaceful, wise group who will all die if the snake is killed (because the script says so, okay!). The villain, heroine, and hero are all immediately identifiable as such (incidently, the hero never does anything heroic except for arguing with the villain. otherwise he's generally being saved all the time.) The snake in the movie makes no sense. It apparently has multiple heads, but why is never even touched on, nor is it touched on how the water gives you immortal life, or anything (the snake, like the tribe, is allowed a certain "heroic" stance, despite the fact that it was just scene killing many people in gruesome ways, like the tribe. But, you know, PC). Ultimately, not a movie to waste your time on, except perhaps from a bad DTV standpoint, but even then the lack of anything interesting for the monster to do (and the attempts to make it seem less of a monster for no reason) does take away considerably from the fun.

This is one of the first Godzilla movies I saw, and when I see it now after seeing almost all of the other movies, it still holds up pretty well. The main problem is, of course, Ebirah. Definetly Godzilla's worst foe. I mean, really, A GIANT LOBSTER!? But, other than that, the film is quite good, following the usual trend that the Godzilla movies tend to have much better plots than their american counterparts of the time. Here we have a young man trying to find his brother taking his friends with him to look at boats. When they board one to look around, they find a man with a gun to greet them. He claims to be the owner and allows them to spend the night on the boat. When they wake up the next morning, however, the young man has taken the boat to find his brother. It's wrecked in a storm and they are stranded on an island where they discover a secret organisation called the Red Bamboo is using slave labor to make nuclear weapons. Ebirah, a giant lobster, prevents boats from entering or leaving the island, and Okondoru, a giant condor, prevents planes from arriving. The man who claimed to own the boat, Yoshimura, turns out to be both a thief and the most resourceful member of their little group (which now also includes an escaped slave played by the wonderful Kumi Mizuno). They discover that Godzilla is sleeping on the island, so they wake him up in order to stop the Red Bamboo. He trashes the base, defeats the two other, ahem, monsters, and the slaves and group are all saved by Mothra (who really isn't looking to good by now). The thief, Yoshimura, is definetly my favorite character in this, and the special effects are pretty good at times (he may be a pathetic monster, but Ebirah looks great). As a bonus, it also makes for a great MST3K episode.

Ah, Harryhausen. The greatest special effects artist of all time. Jason and the Argonauts is another one of his grand films that inspired the next generation of film makers. The plot is straightforward and pure fantasy (always the best) Jason's family is killed and his father's throne usurped by an evil conqueror, who also angers Hera by killing innocents in her temple. Tweny years after all this, Jason returns for revenge, and through a complicated series of events, sets out to find the legendary Golden fleece, which will restore his kingdom to its former glory.

ALong the way, of course, he encounters that most dangerous of obstacles, Harryhausen's imagination. A towering bronze giant (picture an ancient Greek version of aa cross between Godzilla and the Terminator), named Talos; Winged Harpies, who torment a blind prophet; a seven headed hydra, who gaurds the fleece; and, best of all, seven armed skelitons. The hydra is probably the only one I was disapointed by. It looks great, but it doesn't really do much. However, considering the work poor Harryhuasen did for what it is, I should be glad it's in there at all.

The Skeliton swordfight is the best sequence in the film. It is, in fact, one of the best sequences ever. I've never seen anything like it! Jason and his men make actual contact with the things, they actually grab their weapons and punch them down! It's incredible! A definite must see for anyone who even knows the name Harryhausen (and for everyone else. If for nothing else, then for the skelitons)