Plot: What’s it about?
Don’t go in that lake! From the success of a movie called “Anaconda” brings us this, uh, movie. Lake Placid is simple enough to figure out, so you might just find yourself enjoying it a little more than you would think. With a better than average cast than you would thing for a movie like this, they bring something to this movie that we don’t expect–a plot. It seems that Kelly (Bridget Fonda) is having problems at work and is sent up to Maine to investigate a tooth. No she’s not a dentist, she’s a palentologist. Kelly overstays her welcome and becomes involved in an investigation with local Fish and Game sheriff, Jack Wells (Bill Pullman). It doesn’t take them that long to start looking for a 30 foot crocidile! Bad goes to worse when eccentric millionaire Hector Cyr (Oliver Platt) shows up. One of Hector’s hobbies is swimming with crocidiles just “for the fun of it”. Add all this stuff up and from the outside it seems hat this is a cheap rip off of Anaconda (which is in itself a rip off of Jaws). And we can’t have a movie with a mysterious animal killer without compairing it to the “big daddy” of them all…Jaws. This movie is no Jaws, but it doesn’t try to be. If you’re in the market for a 30 foot crocidile who eats moose, bears and cows, then you’re right at home here. If you want to see a high body count and blook and guts, then…this may still be your movie (there aren’t nearly as many deaths as I thought). That’s about all I can say. This review is short, but then again so is the movie (which clocks in at 82 minutes). Enjoy!
Video: How does it look?
Never knowing if Fox will put a random 16:9 transfer (and they never label the box) on, I tried it. Nope. Oh well, maybe next time. Still the 2.35:1 image looks pretty darn good. There are a lot of beautiful shots of the Maine wilderness, it’s a pity that it can’t fill up the whole 16:9 screen. Fox-If you do 16:9 transfers, label them on the box!
Audio: How does it sound?
Not at all bad, either. Lost of bass effects (from the splashing in water and such). The dialogue is clean and clear and the Dolby Digital 5.1 as a whole sounds good. I personally think it could have been better, but it more than serves it’s purpose.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Luckily you can find this online for around $20, but the folks at Fox seem to think that it’s still ok to charge $35 for a non-special edition movie. You do get cast bios, a 7 minute featurette and some trailers, but that’s it. I would rent this before I bought it, but if you’re a fan of the movie, pick it up.
