Fierce Creatures (1997)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Directors:

Fred Schepisi
Robert Young

Writers:

John Cleese (writer) &
Iain Johnstone (writer)

Release Date:

24 January 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Don't pet them.

Plot:

Zookeepers struggle to deal with the policies of changing directors.

Plot Keywords:

Cult Comedy | Cult Favorite | Father Son Relationship | Gorilla | Greed

Cast

John Cleese	...	Rollo Lee
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Willa Weston
Kevin Kline	...	Vince McCain / Rod McCain
Robert Lindsay	...	Sydney Lotterby
Michael Palin	...	Adrian 'Bugsy' Malone
Ronnie Corbett	...	Reggie Sea Lions
Carey Lowell	...	Cub Felines
Bille Brown	...	Neville
Derek Griffiths	...	Garry Ungulates
Cynthia Cleese	...	Pip Small Mammals
Richard Ridings	...	Hugh Primates
Maria Aitken	...	Di Harding
Michael Percival	...	Ant Keeper
Fred Evans	...	Flamingo Keeper
Lisa Hogan	...	Sea lion Keeper

Also Known As:

Death Fish II (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG-13 (certificate #34999) | South Korea:15 | Ireland:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-8 | Germany:12 (bw) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:7 | UK:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Company:

Fish Productions

Trivia:

There is an obvious reference to one of John Cleese's and Michael Palin's most famous sketches, the Dead Parrot Sketch, from "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969). In the sea lion scene, two men can be heard saying: "Remarkable creatures, sea lions." "Yes, beautiful plumage." Which sounds amazingly like Palin's line in the sketch: "Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, isn't it, eh? Beautiful plumage!"

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Vince says 'I am not a wuss' to Rod, John Cleese in the background also mouths the line.

Quotes:

Willa Weston: What are you doing?
Vince McCain: I'm freezing him.
Willa Weston: Why?
Vince McCain: He's gotta be cryogenically frozen until they find a cure.
Willa Weston: Yeah, a cure? Vince, he has a bullet in the brain.
Vince McCain: Well, get more ice.
Willa Weston: Vince, there is no cure for a bullet in the brain. It is very fatal.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in What the Pythons Did Next... (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Hungy Heart

Farcical, entertaining comedy with some genuinely funny moments.

This isn't a very important film so I'll be brief in what I have to say. Fierce Creatures is a generally amusing and quite enjoyable comedy. It stars the same four leads as did the 1988 hit, `A Fish Called Wanda' and even contains some in-jokes on that same film.

While never groundbreaking or thought provoking, Fierce Creatures does what it says it should do. The concept is quite imaginative, the four leads perform their roles superiorly and there is an impeccable comic timing.

Those with low expectations will come out very satisfied, and while it's easy to nit-pick and find faults, Fierce Creatures is a very good film that's not to be taken very seriously. 6.9 out of 10.