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Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, a review by GSyren

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (Disc ID: 7B45-8677-3645-979F)

United States 2004 | Released 2009-12-09 on DVD from Columbia TriStar Home Video

93 minutes | Aspect ratio Anamorphic 2.40:1 | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Czech Dolby Digital 5.1, Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1

Directed by Dwight Little and starring Johnny Messner, Kadee Strickland, Matthew Marsden, Nicholas Gonzalez, Eugene Byrd

The blood orchid is a rare flower that holds the secret of eternal life. A scientific expedition is sent deep into the jungles of Borneo to locate the legendary plant. Battling their way upriver, the explorers are unaware they're being stalked by a nest of giant anacondas, fifty-foot-long flesh-eaters who'll stop at nothing to protect their breeding ground.

My thoughts about Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid:

I came to this movie with very low expectations. After watching Anaconda, I expected the sequel to be even worse. To my surprise I liked it about as much as I liked the first one. I really don't know why. One thing that I liked about it was that it actually had an explanation for why the anacondas had grown so big. Unfortunately it was a totally bogus explanation. As before, the quest is one for money. But the target is not the anacondas, they are just an obstacle on the route. The target is the Blood Orchid, which is said to have properties that prolong life. So obviously they would be of immense worth in medicinal applications. And the reason why the anacondas grow so big is that they keep growing throughout their whole life, and they live where the orchids grow, they eat the orchids and thus get very old (and big). Farfetched much? Never mind that anacondas aren't even herbivores. The movie also has a couple of really annoying characters. The worst is Burris (Eugene Byrd). He is so damned whiny that you wish one of the anacondas would come and finish him off. But no. The whole thing is a jungle (mis)adventure, where one thing after another goes wrong, mostly not due to the snakes. And for the most part the snakes actually look pretty good. Until the end, that is, when they become just too much. Still, not entirely unenjoyable if your in the right mood.

I rate this title

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on February 21st, 2015)

Knives of the Avenger, a review by Achim

Title: I coltelli del vendicatore
Year: 1966
Director: Mario Bava
Rating: NR
Length: 85 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: Italian: Dolby Digital Mono, English: Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Cameron Mitchell
Fausto Tozzi [Frank Ross]
Giacomo Rossi-Stuart [Jack Stuart]
Luciano Pollentin [Louis Polle]
Amedeo Trilli [Michael Moore]

Plot:
In their third and final collaboration, 'Cameron Mitchell' stars for 'Mario Bava' as a Viking drifter torn between guilt, vengeance and his love for a peasant woman and her young son. Co-written by Bava (as 'John Hold'), the film delivers robust raping and pillaging yet proffers a uniquely humanistapproach that virtually re-imagines SHANE as a Viking drama. The result transcends its typically chestthumping genre to emerge as one of Bava's most emotionally complex and visually compelling films.

This remastered presentation of KNIVES OF THE AVENGER includes, for the first time on DVD, the original Italian language audio track with optional English subtitles, as well as the dubbed English track.

Extras:
Scene Access
Trailers
Production Notes


The overview talking about vikings I wasn't sure I'd really want to watch this today; vikings sounding more like Sunday-afternoon entertainment. But, this is Bava and all was well

First of all the whole film felt more like a western than a viking movie. Lots of horse riding (did vikings do that....?) and especially the music made one almost forget that this is played in the north and they used swords rather than guns. The complex, but far from confusing story was told skillfully, always keeping me interested about what was coming next; never is the viewer giving too much or too little information.
Two standout moments where Bava expertly tightens the tension screw were the face-off in the inn and the climax. Also interesting (although possibly not on purpose) was how th emovie started out rather colorful, mainly lush greens, and then as the story progressed into the darker sections the colors on screen became muted.

Acting was quite good, but as usual the fact that everything was dubbed (even the Italian track, guess the on-location sound was unusable) made things difficult to judge.



(From Mario Bava marathon on June 29th, 2009)

Sliders Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

7. IN DINO VERITAS
The sliders land on a new world and are trapped in a cave, menaced by a man-eating allosaurus that has survived since the prehistoric age. Quinn must leave the safety of the group to go in search of the timer, which was lost somewhere outside.

My Thoughts:
This is a very goodf episode... actually one of my favorites of the entire series. It would have been a huge miss if they didn't do an episode where the Dinosaurs were still among us. And I thought the hologram ranger for the dinosaur reserves area was a very good idea. And I also enjoyed the truth collars they had to wear from the previous world. I would have liked to seen an episode on that world alone.

My Rating:

8. POST TRAUMATIC SLIDE SYNDROME
The Sliders finally land in the one place that none of them wants to leave--home--but Quinn is the only one that has doubts about their good fortune. Meanwhile, Arturo hatches a plan to use Quinn's discoveries to win a Nobel prize.

My Thoughts:
Another episode I have always enjoyed a lot! They think they are home... but minor differences proves that they are not. Then finding out that Arturo had been replaced by his double and tries to claim Sliding for his own. The one thing I didn't care for is leaving it open if the "real" Arturo is the one that slid with them or not.

My Rating:

9. OBSESSION
When the quartet slides into a society dominated by psychics, Wade meets the man of her dreams who happens to be next in line for the position of Prime Oracle, the most powerful person in the world. But when she discovers that her love wants her to remain with him forever (at any cost), the future doesn't look quite so rosy.

My Thoughts:
This episode, to me, is no more then average. The whole psychic thing was an alright storyline... but I didn't care for the dream sequences to tie the story together.

My Rating:

10. GREATFELLAS
In a U.S. where Prohibition was never repealed, the Sliders find themselves embroiled in a vicious struggle among warring organized-crime families, corrupt government officials and dedicated G-men--one of whom looks exactly like Rembrandt.

My Thoughts:
Another episode that is just average to me. This is probably do to the fact that I never liked the whole Organized Crime storylines... for any show really.

My Rating:

(From Sliders Marathon on August 18th, 2009)