MovieChat Forums > King Cobra (1999) Discussion > an objective review of King cobra

an objective review of King cobra

posted 19 years ago by leeaf83
11 replies | jump to latest

I saw this movie after reading plenty of the negative reviews on IMDB so I had low expectations.

The good;
-this film had the scariest and most realistic snake of any snake movie I've seen including the Anaconda and Python movies. I've seen people slam it because the snake didn't look real enough but even the shark in Jaws looked rather fake (not claiming this is equal to Jaws or even in the same class but people need to cut films some slack and realize that not everything is 100% factual).
-a fairly good musical score
-scares: a few scenes where the snake pops out of nowhere to attack really sends chills up your spine
-Pat Moriata: I have never seen the Karate Kid so I have no bias but he definitely played a cool character

the bad:
-several Jaws rip off scenes; the scare at the beginning (though to be fair all giant predator movies seem to have attacks at the start) except done inferiorly due to breaking the rule of showing the creature on the first attack. The blatant ripoff line "we're going to need bigger guns" and the plotline of a money hungry mayor not wanting to close down an event to protect the civillians from the monster and eventual hiring of an expert of the monster in question
-some of the death scenes were long and drawn out and predictable. The director did a good job with a false scare early in the movie with using the attacker as the camera peering up to a little girl only to realize that it was her brother sneaking up on her with a rubber snake (though this may be a copy of the Jaws scene with the pranksters swimming with a a shark fin on to scare the people on the beach), we then get a long drawn out stalking of the King Cobra on the little boy. It would have worked much better to have the snake pop out of nowhere.
-we end with an unresolved cliffhanger; Seth is still alive but likely no sequel

Final grade: 7 out of 10

[–] Stormlad 19 years ago

nice review, i think ill check it out

If you like metal you're my friend - ManOwaR

[–] Coccyx 19 years ago

What movie were you watching?

The acting was sh!tty all around, even Pat Morita's. The snake looked like a joke and the plot was a horror story in itself.
Sure, the shark in Jaws looked fake. 20 years earlier. Sure, I've seen worse acting. In a school play.

----
Rated R for violence, sexuality, and language.

[–] leeaf83 19 years ago

see that's why I titled it an OBJECTIVE review. So people wouldn't assume it's a review from people like you who just come and claim the movie sucks, everything looks fake, the actors can't act etc.

If you watched the behind the scenes, you'd know that there was no CGI used and therefore the snake was a robotic model. This made it look much more real and consistent then movies like Deep Blue Sea, Python, Anaconda, Blood Surf etc. where the CGI animals size changes depending on the setting and you can clearly tell that the thing's not even there in some shots. Even movies like Jaws used a stand in of a real (but much smaller) animal creating obvious continuity goofs. Obviously this movie's not using a real cobra because it's not like you can train them.

Basically the only big plothole is why the snake is loose for 2 years and basically unheard of for that time until it decides to wreak havoc. Other then that though, the makers did their homework on the species in question so it acts like a regular cobra.

[–] Coccyx 19 years ago

See, there are no objective reviews. And had it been objective, it would have reached much the same conclusion as I did.

Just because it's a robotic model, doesn't make it more real. It was simply a different solution that gave an equally miserable result. If it can't be done convincingly, it shouldn't be done at all.

The makers did nothing of the sort. Neither the behavior nor the movements of the snake were even close to that of a real cobra. Not to mention all the fantasies about snakes, that Morita's character kept spewing.

----
Rated R for violence, sexuality, and language.

[–] leeaf83 19 years ago

So cobras never play dead to catch their prey? Cobras don't extend their hoods like this one does? Cobras don't extend to 1/3rd their height like this one does?
It doesn't show the snake in its entirety at any point (other then the fake dead scene) and even if it did, the thing is half rattlesnake too.

[–] Coccyx 19 years ago

"So cobras never play dead to catch their prey? Cobras don't extend their hoods like this one does? Cobras don't extend to 1/3rd their height like this one does?"

No, they do not play dead to catch their prey. Several species play dead to fool predators. Extending their hoods is done only when they are feeling threatened. Neither do they hiss and rattle their tails all the time and especially not when they are hunting.

But most of all, it does not even look like a cobra.

----
Rated R for violence, sexuality, and language.

[–] rachelrichardson45373 19 years ago

I liked it, but sex scene with the Hispanic couple in the woods was so horribly done I was rooting for Seth then & could do without so much soap opera scenes between Scott & Jo as lovers. I loved when they found the snakeskin, how dumb the hunters were to think that rambo-esque hunting gear & tactics would be effective, & the final showdown was easily better than many final fights for direct-to-video flicks.

[–] jrs5fr 19 years ago

im not sure what you guys are smoking... this movie was absolutley awful, unless of course you make a drinking game out of it, in which case its highly entertaining, the acting was wooden, the snake looked absolutely fake and ridiculous, there was nothing scary about it.

PS. there should have been more people drop kicking the snake

[–] graphic8189 18 years ago

Did the little boy get eaten?

Shrek 3, Prince Caspian, POTC At World's End, Indiana Jones 4, Jurassic Park 4.

[–] McFly_2015 18 years ago

no he either got bit or sprayed and went unconcious but he lived.

[–] boblangsux 18 years ago

I'd say he died after all the bites he got or he'd be out cold for a really long time.