Customer Reviews

Piranha II: The Spawning [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

"The greatest film about flying Piranha ever made". Well, Jim Cameron definetly called it right on this one. About as "guilty" as guilty pleasures get, this stubborn but very watchable "mother nature run amok" B-movie will probably best be known as the directorial debut of James Cameron who would later go on to make a couple of small unknown indie films called Terminator 2 and Titanic.

This name-only sequel to the Roger Corman cult classic has a rather silly premise involving a strand of mutated killer piranha with the ability to fly who are terrorizing an island resort. Of course, the resort's diving instructor (Tricia O'Neil) wants to close down the water activities but her boss isn't having it. Her estranged husband, the island's law enforcement (a young Lance Henriksen) is skeptical at first but when dead bodies keep piling up, he starts thinking otherwise.

"Piranha II" is no Jaws in any way but it gets the job done as far as "late night creature features" are concerned. The special effects leave a lot to be desired as we get to see actors battle with fish on a string but it's all in good fun. The DVD has no added special features and is only available in its full-frame format.

I enjoyed the original Piranha movie, so when I saw this one in the store, and that it was directed by James Cameron, I thought it would be good. I was wrong. Most of this movie was filled with sex, naked women, and people with major personality disorders. Normally I don't have a problem with the nude scenes in horror films, having decided that it is something the directors/producers feel they must do, but the frequency of these nude/sex scenes detracted from the rest of the film. I found myself spending most of the movie wishing the piranhas would eat everyone but the boy and his mom. It's really kind of pathetic when you find yourself cheering for the 'monsters'. The special effects (in a manner of speaking) were ok for the time, but nothing spectacular. Some of the actors were above average, but most were definitely C or D list. In short, this film has nothing going for it but the naked women, if that is what you like. I say skip this one and just watch the original. I know I will never watch this movie again. It had a fairly good concept that fell apart almost immediately.

I rate this movie 5 stars for what it is, a silly horror film. It was also a very pleasant surprise.

When I first viewed this movie I wasn't expecting much, except an awful american horror movie... I was a bit off!


I had a good time watching Piranha 2, there were many times I had to laugh;

- The opening sequence where the viewer is treated some T&A and pirahna mayhem

- The "drowning" scene and the dialogue that followed("You're not a doctor!?!?!!" "I'm a Dentist".)

- The flying fish effects

- Portions of plot that are simply dropped and never revisited, etc.


If you like Horror films, with touches of comedy, and a "Euro" flavour, give Piranha 2 a go! I enjoyed this moreso than Tentacles!

Though Pirahna II is generally considered by many to be Jim Cameron's directorial debut because he is the credited director, he has said it really isn't his work and doesn't consider it part of his filmography.

Yes, he was the director of sorts on-set for part of the shoot (generally the first part, not the more lurid stuff with the penthouse girls). But the real reason Italian producer Ovidio Assonitis brought him on was because his production deal with Warner Bros. stipulated that he must have an American director (or in the case of Cameron, Canadian, which I guess was close enough) to offset Assonitis' less-commercial "European" sensibilities. Assonitis unceremoniously fired Cameron from the pic halfway through and shot the more racy elements himself.

Legend has it that upon seeing the final lurid Assonitis cut of the film, Cameron attempted to recut it in secret, but the producer found out and barred Cameron from doing this, releasing a final cut that Cameron abhorred.

There is no known "Cameron cut" of this film available, and though it is regarded as a curiosity due to Cameron's limited involvement, it really cannot be viewed as much more than that.

This movie has become an on-going joke among my friends. If there is a film or book or ANYTHING that is over-the-top LAME, we can rate it "Well, it was better than Pirahna Part II!" The ONLY redeeming point might be one that another reviewer has made, in that it is so awful, it is almost worth watching simply as a "funny horror flick." I have to say that I'm surprised that Mystery Science Theater 3000 hasn't picked this one up, It's a gem!

Long before "The Terminator", "Aliens", and "Titanic" came along, James Cameron cranked out this unforgivably godawful turkey. A sequel to Joe Dante's far superior original, this one gives wings to the toothy little terrors as they launch an all out assault on dry land.

What may have seemed a neat idea on paper just smolders onscreen like a cheap cigar. You'll find yourself laughing in a puddle of tears more often than not. At the very least, the script could have provided Lance Henriksen a stronger supporting role -- I still can't understand why he bothered with this movie. Oh well, live and learn.

Wow...my head literally hurts after this movie. I LOVE the original! This one is so bad! First off, there is no character development. Second, there are just so many unnecessary scenes and so much unnecessary dialogue. Third, we don't even see a piranha fly until 40 minutes into it! Fourth, the big fish-fry-at-night-on-the-beach scene is SO anti-climatic! That is supposed to be the "big scene"! How did James Cameron ever work again after this? Apparently, whoever thought up this idea had no idea that actual "flying fish" jump up into the air and need to land into water again to survive. Actual "flying fish" are still fish and can't survive out of water. If you see this movie, you know why I say that. There is a plus, that many of the guys wear tight short shorts of tiny bathing suits. In fact, in the opening scene, the guy has an actual half-chub, ha. Overall, if you enjoy the original, don't watch this. Save your money! It's not nearly as cool as it seems.

My buddies and I look for terrible movies. We drink beer and have a good laugh at someone who made a genuine effort to make a good movie. "The spawning". The only thing spawned were deep belly laughs at this ridiculous film. Please don't take this seriously. Although I found this scary when I was 5 years old, it is only a joke now. If you enjoy horrible films this one BLAZES, I also recommend BAD TASTE.

4 years after the events in Texas, it seems that a ship that was doing the same experiments to create genetically altered piranhas that could breath in both water and the air as they even fly for they come out at night but hide during the day until the ship has sunk into the ocean nearby a Caribbean island resort. Anne (Tricia O'Neil) is a scuba diver instructor who also studies marine life investigates the mysterious deaths of other divers. Her husband officer Steve (Lance Henriksen) also investigates the bodies of the victims as now the reosrt has became a major nightmare for everyone on the resort.

James Cameron is one of cinema's greatest directors who made such amazing movies like Terminator 1 & 2, The Abyss, Aliens, True Lies, Titanic and now Avatar has made a debut here and his worst yet. Cameron worked on a few New World Pictures productions before getting his debut as director as this one hit the jackpot for him but he realized what a stinker it was and disowned by him. This Italian-US production is just a greedy cash-in on the surprisingly good Jaws homage from Roger Corman, it's very inferior to the first movie and it's just a cheapjack and cheesy follow-up with no wit, soul or good material here.

This DVD presents the film in a fullscreen version with a weak transfer and that sort of thing.

Piranha Part 2 The Spawning: Movie Review

Grade: F

Seeing as this was director James Cameron's movie debut, I had high hopes for this film, along with its awesome-sounding plot. But, even from the director who would later go on to make other much better sequels like Terminator 2 - Judgment Day (Extreme DVD) and Aliens (Two-Disc Collector's Edition), and the mega-blockbuster Titanic (10th Anniversary Edition), this film apparently fell into the wrong hands. (You can tell the fish are on strings! Strings!!!)

Now that awesome-sounding plot I told you about? Piranhas are genetically bred with a species flying fish, making the ultimate flying/undersea killer. Now that killer, a huge swarm of them, is loose in the ocean waters near a popular resort, and they soon start picking off the local vacationers. Sounds cool, but looks can be deceiving.
There are problems and plot holes in just about every scene in Piranha 2, and the movie just ends up looking downright pathetic in the end. You meet characters that have nothing to do with the movie, ("You're a doctor?" "No...I'm a dentist..." What?! That scene has nothing to do with the movie!!!!) seriously taking away from the action. It's almost as if they are just there to make the movie longer, because without them the movie would be only about an hour and ten minutes, and the Piranhas are only actually in about five of them. You know what that leaves us with? A whole lot more of useless characters, pointless conversations, and long boring stretches that leave major plot holes. I would give some examples of the plot holes, but I'd end up giving away the entire movie, because its alllll plot holes that lead to nowhere.

Now don't even get me started on the special effects: the SciFi channel's special effects far surpass these flying rubber fish on strings, that's all I'm going to say...

Not even the acting can save this movie. Why? Because the acting isn't that great either. To me, it seemed forced, as if the actors didn't even really want to be in the movie in the first place...
And in the end the movie's not even worth your time. Yes, I normally don't mind bad special effects, and yes, I even think most SciFi channel movies are great, but boy, is this one a stinker. They say there's a first time for everything, and this was my first time giving anything one star and a failing review. (I really want to know how they got Lance Henrikson to sign up for this movie...) Jeez, most movies like this one made in the `80's weren't this bad...