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Movie Reviews:

Piranha 3D Blu-ray

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - 2011

Directed by Alexandre Aja
Written by Peter Goldfinger & Josh Stolberg

Starring
Elisabeth Shue
Adam Scott
Jerry O'Connell
Ving Rhames
Jessica Szohr
Steven R. McQueen
Dina Meyer
Christopher Lloyd
Richard Dreyfuss
Ricardo Chavira
Kelly Brook

This remake is a hoot and a holler.  Tons of pretty girls dressed in tight bikinis or nothing at all, are thrown against marauding prehistoric flesh eating killing machines.  All of this goes down at scenic Lake Victoria (actual location Lake Havasu, Arizona) and what you get is a massive spring break party reduced to a blood bloodbath.

I had blast a few months ago seeing this movie in 3D in the theater.  I almost felt like a teenager again watching a current day HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP (1980).  By that I mean you see lot's of boobs and monsters electrifying the screen.

Alexandre Aja (HIGH TENSION, THE HILLS HAVE EYES remake) is definitely talented.  He uses his visual eye to capture all the wet t-shirts and the squished football shaped killers interacting in colorful detail.  The acting is played for your entertainment and I think you'll get a kick out of it all.

I loved the little tip of the hat to JAWS and having Richard Dreyfuss reprise his role (so to speak) as "Matt Hooper" in the film's opening scene.  Having him sing "Show Me The Way To Go Home", while drinking Amity Beer while fishing was creative and fun.

Kelly Brook is a real knockout and supercharges the film when ever she's on the screen.

Jerry O'Connell (STAND BY ME, SCREAM 2) is absolutely hilarious as the sex crazed "Girls Gone Wild" film director Derrick Jones.  His demise is shockingly graphic and funny at the same time.

Director of Photography John R. Leonetti does a really good job photographing the desert scenery that surrounds Lake Havasu and the underwater photography by Peter Zuccarini is nothing short of spectacular.

KNB provides the huge amount of carnage and some of the FX technicians said this film may have the most blood used in a film.  At points you see the FX crew spraying fire hoses with blood in to Lake Havasu.  The design of the Piranha are pretty cool, though I prefer the real puppets vs. the CGI fish.

Michael Wandmacher's score is top flight and reminds me of a cross between John Williams score for JAWS and Trevor Rabin's main theme from DEEP BLUE SEA.  Wandmacher's music heightens the tension and amplifies the onscreen action.

Commentary with Producer/Director Alexandre Aja, Producer Grégory Levasseur & Producer Alix Taylor is pretty fun as they each take turns relaying production stories and other antecedents. Don't Scream, Just Swim: Behind-The-Scenes of Piranha 3D is the best behind the scenes documentary that accompanies a new film that I've seen in a long time.  Over 2 hours long, it's complete in covering all the facets of production and my hat's off to Sony and the team behind it.  You get input from key crewmembers, producers, writers and Director Alexandre Aja.  I was very impressed that this wasn't' the normal EPK featurette that you find on most Blu-ray/DVD releases.  This documentary is worth a sit down, after you've seen the film.

PIRANHA 3D Blu-ray comes in Blu-ray Full High Definition 3D and regular 2D film versions.  Do yourself a favor and get this and enjoy the heck out of it like I did.

www.SonyPictures.com/bluray