User reviews

The fish swimming underwater looked better than the original. Also gorier. Just as cheesy and with as much nudity as the first movie. It isn't as good as the first but still kinda fun. Yes, James Cameron made a film about killer flying fish. Could you imagine how good he'd make a b-movie if he made it now?

Ha well, Piranha 2 was actually entertaining primarily for its unique setting and creative usage of piranhas. It was hokey to see piranhas flying around (which they don't actually do, but this was due because of someone screwing around with their genetics) and gobbling like turkies underwater. There were beautiful women in this film (most of which weren't wearing bras at all) which, I hate to say, saved many scenes by putting them in. There were humorous moments (the stuttering loser-chef) and crazy settings (the running of the "grunions" and everyone saying "We want fish! We want fish!")

It was cool to kick back and watch this one. As cheesy as it seems, well, it was cheesy. But it was entertaining to see what the piranha might do and, like I said before, it had unique style as to where they were at and the characters involved. Check it out if there is nothing left to see at your local videostore. It gets a 4/10 from me.

If you guessed Sidney Poitier you'd be wrong. So begins James Cameron's fascination with water. And what humble beginnings they are. Cameron would probably like to forget this one, because it is sadly less perfect than Dante's original. In Piranha II: The Spawning you're no longer safe outside the water. This time they can fly. Now, with a premise like that you expect certain things. Evil, flying, man-eating fish just begs for comedy. But I assure you, this film is never played for laughs; and that's its downfall. Dante's Piranha had elements of comedy in it and this one should have followed suit (especially with flying fish!!!). Make-up legend Giannetto De Rossi did the effects for the film, however, the picture quality on the VHS I was watching was so muddled I couldn't appreciate them. The fish themselves are still accompanied by that menacing sound effect, so they still have that going for them. Unless you're a hardcore Lance Henriksen/James Cameron fan, I'd say you can miss this one.

This movie could not have been made to be a serious "sequel" to the original Pirahna. The film was originally called Flying Killers and now for some reason it's been renamed as The Spawning or vice versa. It did actually see a poster that had The spawning on it so made it was called spawning before flying killers. Well the concept is just so ridiculous, I have enjoyed some other no brainer Sci-fi movies (Sci-fi channel has them all the time) but this is both an insult to the greatness that Cameron later created and got him noticed in Hollywood and to me the fan of sci-fi horror and Cameron's work. Who the hell thought of Flying Piranhas? It totally ruined a great classic film to me with this horrid mess. Whether the deleted director's cut version was better like The Crow City of Angels then i guess i'll never know. According to sources, it was on the set of this film that Cameron came up with the idea for The Terminator, the film that made him a star and matured him as a director, so much so that this was forgotten for years until now. That aside it is one of those so bad it's watchable films. Definitely one for a beer and pizza night with friends for a laugh. Just don't expect something awe-inspiring as you will be disappointed with it. Lance Henriksen is totally wasted in this. Although he does play a amicable heroic lead, you can tell he was a better actor destined for better things and later he was (Pumpkinhead aka Vengeance the demon, The Terminator, Aliens...... list goes on.) If you have an hour and half to kill then you could do worse. At least you have do see it once.

This sequel to 1978's Piranah was the initial stepping stone that put James Cameron on the map.

Its hard to believe that the man who is known for Terminator 2, Aliens & Titanic started his career making a movie about flying man eating fish.

Following the same format as the original with a stubborn businessman shrugging off the notion of killer piranah in his waters this time the film is an utter contemptible mess.

Poorly made even Cameron and the always excellent Lance Henriksen couldn't save this embarrassment.

The flying piranah simply cannot be taken seriously, from the ridiculous noises they make to the blatant plastic sfx.

Piranah fans should skip to the 1995 remake or even Piranah 3D.

The Good:

Lance Henriksen

The Bad:

Awful sfx

Horribly made

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Underwater sex scenes look seven shades of awkward

Every time Lance Henriksen smiles an angel gets its wings

During a feeding frenzy flying piranah sound like pigeons

This is a fine expose of why people really deserve to have the flesh worried from their bones by little snarling fish with sharp, pointy teeth. All the humans in the story act like Disco-Era yotzes from the first frame of the movie, and it is simply not a tragedy when one person after another gets killed. The movie is full of intriguing little unanswerable questions, like: why does the nurse in the morgue carry a baseball bat to defend herself on the job? And why would the "patients" there ever require nursing services in the first place? This story has all the ingredients of a great killer-fish movie. I was, however, bitterly disappointed that Bradford Dillman was not in this one. It really could have used his talents.

Sitting down to watch this movie in 2011, I was quite surprised to see James Cameron was involved in this movie, and I was also surprised to find Lance Henriksen on the cast list.

I have seen the first part of these movies and it wasn't too bad. Then this movie came along, and it all fell apart. The piranha themselves, weren't' too badly made, considering this is back from 1981. But the fact that they suddenly had wings and were flying about? Come on, seriously? That was just too much, and it totally made the movie turn from horror to comedy in a bad, bad way.

The movie also suffered from horrendous acting and really dull dialogue. The only one worth watching in the movie, in my opinion, was Lance Henriksen. There were just too many performances where you didn't buy into the performance for a second.

"Piranha 2: The Spawning" is a terrible sequel and is not really worth the time, unless you are desperately in need of finding something to watch and can't find anything else. I managed to sit through the entire movie, and I can honestly say that I will never pop this back into the DVD player again.

And also, I was sitting with a gnawing sensation that this entire movie was just a spin off of the "Jaws" movies, only with the lead "bad fish" changed from a shark to large, flying piranha. It took place on an island. There was a police officer (Lance Henriksen). Gee, didn't we see this in "Jaws" already?

All in all, "Piranha 2" is boring and uneventful. I wish it would just grow wings like the fish did and then fly away.

This really isn't too bad a film, and is certainly a worthy sequel to the original. 'Piranha' worked because it was tongue-in-cheek, making fun of the films it was parodying. 'Piranha II' tries to be more serious, but is so cheesy that it manages, by default, to be just as effective.

This time round the Piranha have moved from the river and are in the sea, able to fly as a result of scientists crossing genes to make the ultimate killing machine. After the opening scene which is similar to the one in Jaws 2, (except here the two divers are lovers trying for some underwater coupling), the film introduces a variety of characters, most of which are surprisingly endearing in a 'B' movie kind of way; particularly two topless good-time girls who get provisions from a stuttering chef with the promise of a threesome.

Lance Henriksen, who continued a lucrative association with Cameron, plays the police chief, who is a hybrid of Brody from 'Jaws' and Colonel Kilgore from 'Apocalypse Now'. He valiantly plays a straight role as all around him descends into chaotic fun. The flying piranha attack like vampire bats, going for the throats of their luckless victims; whilst they also have Alien-like trends, one bursting out of a dead body to attack a nurse.

As can be gathered, I found this film great fun - most production values are of a reasonable standard, particularly the underwater photography. The piranha themselves are a disappointment, but they play second fiddle to the characters and storyline.

People who slate the film need to watch the likes of 'Barracuda' or 'Evil in the Deep', both of which are fathoms below 'Piranha II'. Any film with dialogue like "Do you dive on your first date?" gets the thumbs up from me.

Who would have thought the director of this low budget horror sequel would go on to make the greatest movies of all time (Titanic and Avatar)?

Anne (Tricia O'Neil) is a diving instructor at a hotel resort. She soon realizes something wrong when some of the divers don't return. Her estranged husband, Police Chief Steve (Lance Henriksen), investigates. A tourist, Tyler Sherman (Steve Marachuk) enjoys spending time with Anne, and - as the story develops - we notice there is more about him than meets the eye. As it turns out, he is linked to the events from 'Piranha', and the film also mentions the genetically modified piranhas bred for warfare from the first film.

In this sequel, the fish mutated and are now able to fly, so you're not even safe out of the water! The piranha effects are not great at all, with the fish looking stocky and lifeless. At times, it looked as if the actors were holding props.

The film received predominantly negative reviews and also flopped at the box office. I must be honest, I rather enjoyed this installment. The performances weren't all that bad (well, mostly), and I thought the story was interesting enough. The climax was over too quickly, and was a bit of an anti-climax. It was still entertaining. The original 'Piranha' was still miles better, and more memorable.

Would I watch it again? Maybe, yes.

Cameron defends his first film opus as being, "without a doubt, the finest flying piranha movie ever made." I must agree with The King of the World on that one.

This movie just goes to show that none of us should take early knocks in our careers too hard. From here to Titanic in 17 years is pretty good.

Never saw this movie. It's 2018, this movie has a low rating, but I watch it again. It's way better than alot of movies that are being made today. Like hmmmmmm Skyscraper!!!! The hot naked women is a very huge plus.

Its a little dumb at times but was entertaining enough to hold me to the end.Has an italian feel to it. directed by james cameron. good schlock 5 out of 10

Tricia O'Neil ("The Gumball Rally") stars as Anne Kimbrough, a scuba diving instructor for a fancy seaside resort. Also an expert on marine life, she's suspicious when divers start getting eaten. However, she couldn't have predicted what the culprits turn out to be: some sort of mutated piranha / grunion / flying fish hybrid, which naturally don't have to confine themselves to the sea. Periodically they attack various chumps in enjoyably gruesome ways. Anne works with both her husband Steve (Lance Henriksen), a police chief whom we must assume is estranged from her since she never refers to him as an "ex", and a hunky stranger-in-town, Tyler (Steve Marachuk, "Eyes of Laura Mars").

Extremely humble beginnings for James Cameron! The story is that he shot footage for about a week for executive producer Ovidio Assonitis ("Tentacles"), who became dissatisfied with what he was turning out and fired him. Assonitis then proceeded to film the balance of the movie himself. The sorry screenplay receives a pseudonymous "H.A. Milton" credit, but Assonitis, Cameron, and Charles H. Eglee all contributed. It's an unfortunate melange of bad writing and bad dialogue, and a collection of dopey characters, some of whom are of course on the make.

It's really too bad; with a premise like that, and a story that references the Joe Dante original, this should have delivered more fun. But the attack scenes are just not that frequent, and everybody involved takes the material just a little too seriously. At least Dante and John Sayles had a real sense of humour about their material.

Much of the cast is just plain amateurish, with Henriksen barely managing to retain his dignity. (Of course, he would work with Cameron again on "The Terminator" and "Aliens".) O'Neil doesn't have much of a presence as the heroine. Genre buffs will note the presence of Ricky Paull Goldin (Scott Jeskey in the remake of "The Blob") as O'Neil and Henriksens' son, and Captain Kidd Brewer, Jr. (who acted for Cameron eight years later in "The Abyss"). Stunning English babe Carole Davis ("If Looks Could Kill") has an amusing role as a conniving user.

The movie isn't a total loss; at least it racks up a respectable body count by the time it's over.

Creature effects and gore by the great Giannetto De Rossi.

Five out of 10.

OH MY GOD. When I saw this I felt bad for myself. How could I expose my brains to such abomination! I should have known, anyway. ¿Flying Piranhas? There's no way a movie about flying Piranhas could be actually good. Yeah, it's my fault.

The problem is, not only this movie was bad, it was BAAAAAD, so bad that made movies like Gigli look good. The filmmakers should hide all the copies, or even better, burn it, to completely erase this thrash from earth. I mean, to any person that participated in this film making, it's a negative point for their careers (and could actually flunk it if it's to be discovered that they had anything to do with it).

The only use of Piranha the Spawning is to be used as a blackmail device for getting some money from the disgraced actors that appeared in this movie (pretty sure they had been the last 20 years trying to forget this miserable mistake in their lives).

this movie marks James Cameron's feature length film debut,(he also wrote the screenplay)and i gotta say,it's not good.unlike the first movie,which did not take itself seriously,this one is played straight,and that is its major failing.it's just too ridiculous too be taken seriously.plus,i found it to be one ginormous snooze fest.i really had to force myself to stay awake,in the hope that the movie would improve.sadly,it was all in vain.there's almost zero tension in the film.maybe if they had at least tried to inject some comedic elements in to it,it would have been more bearable.i can't in good conscience recommend this one.however,i have seen worse than this.for me,Piranha Part Two: The Spawning is a 3/10

This movie is certainly in the top 10 worst I have ever seen. It was so bad that I had pretty much forgotten about it until I saw it listed on the "Worst Ever" list on here. An utter and complete waste of film. The only worse movies I have ever had the misfortune of viewing had to be the asinine "Lost Highway" and the ridiculous "Pearl Harbour". At least Pearl Harbour starred Kate Beckinsale. Pirahna II: The Spawning has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

The plot is ridiculous, the acting is worse and even as a child I remember telling everyone I knew what tripe this movie was. As A child, I laughed about it for weeks. As an adult I just wince at the memories.

However, you may enjoy it if you like really bad movies. Unfortunately, it isn't so bad it's funny... It's so bad you want to kick your TV in after wasting your time watching it. Stay away. FAR away.

While it's fairly common to dismiss horror sequels as cheap knock-offs that merely cash in on superior originals, most genre fans generally find one or two good things to say about these follow-ups. Not so with Piranha Part Two: The Spawning, a sequel so undeniably bad even its director, one James Cameron, prefers not to mention it, despite the fact that it's the first film he ever directed. His one ironic comment, "I think it was the best flying piranha film ever made", sums up the situation quite neatly.

So yes, this time the genetically altered killer fish can fly, and they've also reached the ocean (although that event is completely unrelated to the end of the first Piranha). Their lair is a sunken ship off the coast of a Caribbean island, and when a couple decide to go swimming nearby, the killing spree begins, with only a scuba diving instructor (Tricia O'Neil) a biochemist (Steve Marchuk) and the local sheriff (Lance Henriksen) willing to stop them.

Retaining only the effective piranha sound effect from the first film, The Spawning goes off into its own direction and derails almost immediately. One can attribute this to first-time director Cameron being kicked out of the cutting room and losing all kind of control over the project (which is why he generally considers The Terminator his directorial debut), but the truth is the project was flawed from the very beginning: taking the Corman-derived cheapness to the extreme, the movie is sunk by lackluster writing (at least the original had some kind of subtext beyond the mayhem), poor performances (even Henriksen looks completely lost) and, most disappointingly, scaled-down special effects, namely winged fish that look so fake they lose all their credibility after a few minutes.

All in all, there are several inferior sequels, but few are as shockingly embarrassing as Piranha Part Two: The Spawning, which also "stands out" as a tragic footnote in the otherwise admirable filmography of a great director.

3,5/10

A scuba diving instructor, her biochemist boyfriend, and her police chief ex-husband try to link a series of bizarre deaths to a mutant strain of piranha fish whose lair is a sunken freighter ship off a Caribbean island resort.

This is just classic Italian-American horror sequel-making at its finest. We have a round table of directors, with James Cameron getting stuck with his name on the picture. This brings the film more attention in retrospect as Cameron has become huge. But the truth is that the "real" director, after Cameron was forced off, was really the producer.

I don't care how cheesy the fish effects are. I thought this was classic 1980s horror and I loved it. The silliness, the cliché plot and obvious death scenes. And Lance Henriksen before he really took off? This is must-see.