Lake Placid 2 Unrated – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

Available at Amazon.com

Director

David Flores

Cast

John Schneider………Sheriff Riley
Sarah Lafleur………Emma
Sam McMurray………Struthers
Chad Collins………Scott Riley
Joe Holt………Ahmad
Alicia Ziegler………Kerri
Cloris Leachman………Sadie Bickerman

DVD Release Date: January 29, 2008
Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 70 Minutes

The Movie

Sheriff Riley hovers over a small town in Maine making sure that the kids don’t cause too much of a ruckus for the locals because let’s face it, that’s the only trouble that may ever happen around there. That is until a couple locals start disappearing and rumors of giant crocodiles in the lakes start to surface. The Sheriff sets out to get to the bottom of things with a wildlife and fisheries agent named Emma (also his ex-girlfriend) and a rich game hunter named Struthers who with his assistant, hopes to have a new trophy. Little do they realize that what is waiting for them is bigger then any of them ever could have imagined.

Good God, did you see Lake Placid? If so, then you’ve seen the sequel but much better. If you haven’t seen Lake Placid, then go rent it and never bother with the sequel. It’s just so incredibly lame that mere words can’t even begin to describe it, but I’ll try. First of all let’s face facts that it is essentially the exact same film as the first one with the crocs eating people, an old lady (Cloris Leachman here and not Betty White) trying to feed the big crocs, and a group of people trying to capture or kill it. Let’s not forget how many aspects of Jaws that are ripped off here. You’ll notice it right away when the camera is traveling through all kinds of seaweed and barnacles in the water.

Quick question, would a wildlife and fisheries agent actually victimize a live turtle to use as bait? I didn’t think so either.

Next up is the awful writing, idiotic acting, and bad directing. Someone might be able to get away with having one of those in a film, and maybe two, but not all three. There’s something else that can be thrown on top of that and that is that we never get to see most of the deaths caused by the big reptilian smiley faces. Most of what is shown are people getting dragged into the water with some splashing around and half the time even that is done off camera. Finally the biggest flaw is the incredibly crappy CGI done to create the crocodiles. I understand that this may have been low budget and they were trying to do the best they could with that, but come on. They could have drawn the crocs with Microsoft Paint and done a better job.

The Video

The film is shown in Anamorphic Widescreen and honestly doesn’t look that bad if you don’t count the horrible CGI. Aside from that, the colors are bright, nothing is ever too dark, and things look decent.

The Audio

The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and there are just a good number or problems with it. Half the time it sounds like some actors are speaking in a tiny bathroom while others are speaking as clear as can be. The music gets a bit loud at times, but nothing too bad. It just never quite sounds right throughout the whole film.

Special Features

Sex, Guns, And Croc-N-Roll – Here is your basic “making of” featurette that lasts about four minutes in length and simply shows some behind the scenes type stuff set to music. Lame.

Surviving A Crocodile Attack – In this feature you’ll actually get some real survival tips on to not get eaten by a crocodile complete with scenes from the film you don’t care to see again. This also lasts about four minutes.

Lake Placid 2: The Gnawed Up Version – This is perhaps the dumbest special feature on any DVD ever created, but probably also the most helpful. Imagine watching the entire film in nine minutes on fast forward (complete with annoying fast forward sound) with it only going to regular speed on the nudity, death scenes, and other random shots here and there. Well, that is what this is and is totally stupid but the best way to actually watch this film.

TrailersBachelor Party: The Second Coming, Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, and Sunshine

The Inside Pulse

Considering it is only seventy minutes long and some nights you may just be very bored and not find a single thing on TV; I still don’t recommend watching this film. Grab a book or something for God sakes. The first Lake Placid has the qualities of a crappy flick that can be entertaining when seen in moderation and when you have nothing else to watch. There were some decent actors in it and it had some pretty cool scenes every now and then. The only redeeming quality the sequel has at all is that it can be seen in super fast forward if for some reason you’re forced to watch it. Just…just go watch Jaws and know what it is really like to be afraid of the water. Or if you really have your heart set on watching a giant gator destroy some people, then go back in time and enjoy Alligator.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Lake Placid 2 Unrated
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

0.5
THE VIDEO

7
THE AUDIO

4
THE EXTRAS

1
REPLAY VALUE

0
OVERALL
.5
(NOT AN AVERAGE)