Snakes on a Plane (2006)

An FBI agent takes on a plane full of deadly venomous snakes, deliberately released to kill a witness being flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles to testify against a mob boss.

Director:

David R. Ellis

Writers:

John Heffernan (screenplay), Sebastian Gutierrez (screenplay)

Stars:

Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies, Nathan Phillips

3 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Neville Flynn
Julianna Margulies	...	Claire Miller
Nathan Phillips	...	Sean Jones
Rachel Blanchard	...	Mercedes
Flex Alexander	...	Three G's
Kenan Thompson	...	Troy
Keith Dallas	...	Big Leroy (as Keith [Blackman] Dallas)
Lin Shaye	...	Grace
Bruce James	...	Ken
Sunny Mabrey	...	Tiffany
Casey Dubois	...	Curtis
Daniel Hogarth	...	Tommy
Gerard Plunkett	...	Paul
Terry Chen	...	Chen Leong
Elsa Pataky	...	Maria

Storyline

While practicing motocross in Hawaii, Sean Jones witnesses the brutal murder of an important American prosecutor by the powerful mobster Eddie Kim. FBI agent Neville Flynn persuades him to testify against Eddie in Los Angeles. They board the red-eye Flight 121 of Pacific Air, occupying the entire first-class section. However, Eddie dispatches hundred of different species of snakes airborne with a time-operated device in the luggage to release the snakes into the flight with the intent of crashing the plane. Neville and the passengers must struggle with the snakes to survive.

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Plot Keywords:

naked dead woman | murder of a nude woman | pantyhose | short skirt | interrupted sex | 

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Taglines:

Sit back. Relax. Enjoy the fright.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, a scene of sexuality and drug use, and intense sequences of terror and violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

(At around one hour twenty-six minutes) The movie's line "I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!" was voted as the #55 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.

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Goofs

(at around 23 mins) An altimeter is shown inside the box with the snakes triggering the clock which opens the box 2hrs later. Altimeters calculate the altitude based on air pressure, and since in airplanes like this the whole interior including cargo area is pressurized, an altimeter would not show 30-35,000 feet, only 5-7,000 feet.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Daniel Hayes: [to Sean] Go, get outta here. Go!

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Crazy Credits

Before the credits, there is a quick flash of a open-mouthed snake ready to bite the camera. During the credits, Cobra Starship's "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It!)" music video plays.

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Alternate Versions

In the "world broadcast television premiere" on the FX network, the infamous "Enough is enough!..." line had to be edited, but just deleting the profanity lessened the intensity of the moment. FX opted to dub over the offending adjectives, so viewers heard, "I have had it with these monkey-fighting snakes on this Monday-to-Friday plane!"

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Connections

Referenced in Geeks Who Drink: John DiMaggio vs. David Giuntoli (2015)

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Soundtracks

Henehene Kou'aka
Traditional
Performed by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (as Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole)
Courtesy of The Mountain Apple Company

User Reviews

"Snakes on a Plane" is a fun experience

I'm calling this an "experience" rather than a "review", because a review wouldn't really encapsulate how enjoyable this movie is. If I was forced to review the movie, I'd talk about how slow it is in the beginning, how although some of the dialog is witty quite a lot of it is hackneyed (a scene with SLJ telling JM to "Be strong" was especially cringe-worthy), and the climax didn't have a lot of tension and was a bit disappointing. Five stars out of ten sounds about right, and is perhaps a bit generous.

But I came out of the movie with a smile on my face, because it was fun. The audience was really, really into it. When the title of the movie appeared, everyone cheered (I haven't seen that happen in a movie theater since Episode 1). Every over-the-top "death by snake" was cheered and applauded. The people who were going to die were fairly easily identified, and people eagerly awaited their death scenes. (In a nod to the movie writers, I expected one character to die for being a complete jerk, and they surprised me by having that character survive.) And, as could be expected, when SLJ delivers his much-discussed line towards the end of the film, the audience cheered throughout its entire delivery. I laughed; it was just fun to listen to the audience.

This is not a movie you download via BitTorrent. This is not a movie you watch on cable, or rent via DVD. This is a movie you watch in a crowded movie theater. Because only then will it be fun; only then will the energy of the movie and the audience make the experience worthwhile.

Details

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 August 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Anaconda 3

Filming Locations:

Eagle Creek Studios - 4210 Phillips Avenue, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$33,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,850,000, 20 August 2006

Gross USA:

$34,020,814

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$62,022,014

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Mutual Film Company, Meradin Zweite Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1