Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Even the Name is Wrong, August 18, 2002
It is hard to imagine a monster movie that goes so wrong in so many different ways. BOA would have the viewer believe that a ten million year old huge reptilian-like snake could emerge from a nitrogen induced suspended animation to wreak havoc on the inhabitants of an Antarctic prison. Now I have no problem accepting the scientific implausibility of its sleeping for ten million years, after all, was the cloning of JURASSIC PARK any less believable? The problem with audience involvement is that the cast and crew show little respect for anyone's intelligence. The criminal residents of the prison were supposed to be the 'worst of the worst.' Yet, as I got to know them as individuals, they seemed a rather likable bunch. In fact, one of them, a nuclear missle smuggler, correctly identified himself as a political prisoner, a not inaccurate label since he intended to use that missle in defense of his homeland of Chechnya. Further, when he was released rather unwillingly by the warden to help fight the snake, it is he rather than the titular hero (Dean Cain) who emerges as the go to guy who has guns and guts. Cain, by contrast, seems wimpy and decidely uneager to tackle the snake, which, by the way, no one refers to as a boa. As for the snake itself, you would think that the advertised monster of any monster film would get plenty of screen time. This snake is seen slithering around mostly in the shadows and only parts of its anatomy are revealed. Rarely does the viewer get the snake's full monty. Much of the dialogue is predictably banal and heavy-handedly foreshadowing. When one of the criminals, an attractive IRA woman, tells Cain that because of her Irish fear of snakes, he should shoot her if the snake should capture her, then you know that is precisely what will happen. Most of the movie borrows shamelessly from other 'big snake' movies like ANACONDA and PYTHON. I have no problem with that either so long as the director does something novel with the borrowing. Not so in BOA. The best part was the grand finale, which involved the one who should have played the hero, the Chechnya missile smuggler. Here the director did something right. Rather than rip off snake movies, he rips off AIR FORCE ONE with the smuggler taking the Gary Oldman role. I am still trying to decide if the climax were dramatic or purposefully laughable. And this might be the underlying problem of BOA: modest laughter or even more modest shuddering.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not too terrible, if you like low-budget sci-fi, November 1, 2006
This is about a giant snake that terrorizes the staff and prisoners (all 4 of them) at the world's most high-security prison, located in Antarctica. If you're a fan of low budget movies where "suspension of disbelief" is pretty much synonymous with "suspension of all thought processes", you may get a kick out of this. The acting isn't especially bad, the characters are basically likable, and the snake is bargain basement CGI. The sets and overall atmosphere are really the best part of the movie. The action moves along at a more or less acceptable pace, and the climax is so laughably stupid that you'll probably be telling people at work about it the next day.
Overall, not an especially good B-movie, but considering some of the utter garbage that's out there in the direct-to-video market these days, you could do much, much worse.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
some good action but like no snake, May 17, 2006
A Kid's Review
this movie was ok, defineitly better than boa vs. python and pythons 2, but still not to good. a prison in antatica is just being made and the engineers dig a hole to deep and wake the snake. it comes out and starts eatin people. then a group of soldiers come in along with cain and his wife, 2 scientists who for some reason are brought along. then the soldiers are running after it to try and kill it and then the snake kills all of them. so now its cain his wife and the warden and the prisoners tryin to get out of their. this movie had some good shooting scenes and action but u barely saw the snake and when u did u say lik parts of him or his head for lik 2 seconds. but the snake is pretty kool hough, its similar to the one in python but its a different color. this movie isnt rely worth watching but its not bad if u lik creature movies, but if not, its not rely worth it.
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