Anaconda III (2008) (TV)

Director:

Don E. FauntLeRoy

Writers:

Nicholas Davidoff (writer)
David C. Olson (writer)

Release Date:

26 July 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

They Can Taste Your Fear

Plot:

A mercenary-for-hire accepts a mission from a billionaire to capture a dangerous snake that could possibly help cure a terminal illness. |

Plot Keywords:

Snake | Billionaire | Head Bitten Off | Babe Scientist | Barn

Cast

David Hasselhoff	...	Hammett
Crystal Allen	...	Amanda Hayes
Ryan McCluskey	...	Pinkus
Patrick Regis	...	Nick
Anthony Green	...	Captain Grozny
John Rhys-Davies	...	Murdoch
Alin Olteanu	...	Andrei
Toma Danila	...	Victor
Bogdan Uritescu	...	Dragosh
Mihaela Elena Oros	...	Sofia (as Mihaela 'Sasha' Oros)
Serban Celea	...	Professor Kane
Zoltan Butuc	...	Peter
Alin Constantinescu	...	Darryl
Banica Gheorghe	...	Farmer (as Gheorghe Banica)
Gabi Burlacu	...	Little Thug

Also Known As:

Anaconda 3 (USA) (working title)
Anaconda 3: Offspring (Europe: English title)
Anaconda 3: The Offspring (USA) (working title)
Anaconda 3 (Spain) (DVD title) [es]
Anaconda 3 (Brazil) [pt]
Anaconda 3 - I nea genia (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
Anaconda 3 - La amenaza (Argentina) (DVD title) [es]
Anaconda 3 - La nuova stirpe (Italy) [it]
Anaconda 3 - Progéniture (Canada: French title) [fr]
Anaconda: Offspring (Germany) (DVD title) [de]

MPAA:

Rated R for bloody violence.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA | Romania

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:R | UK:15 | Argentina:13 | South Korea:18 | Netherlands:16 | South Africa:18 | Australia:R | Singapore:M18 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:MA (Cable TV rating) | Finland:K-18 (self applied)

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Castel Film Romania

Trivia:

Shot Back-to-Back with ‘Anaconda 4: Trail of Blood’.

Goofs:

Continuity: When one of the 2 jeeps explodes, the front side of the jeep is on fire. When they hunt for the snake and Pinkus stays behind them, only the rear side of the jeep is on fire - the front side is shiny white and clean again.

Quotes:

Hammett: Where there's blood, there's more blood.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Anaconda 4: Trail of Blood (2009) (TV)

Where's the Hoff?

When a film features David Hasselhoff and his crack team of snake-fighting mercenaries facing off against a 60-foot-long genetically altered anaconda before the opening credits even roll, any fan of B-movie cheese can arguably presume they're in for a good time. Hasselhoff's self-deprecating humor and strange otherworldly charm make him an endearing punchline, and also translates well into the world of Sci Fi Channel stardom. Sadly, after that opening scene, The Hoff all but disappears for the next 45 minutes of the film, and what starts with campy reptile-killin' fun quickly spirals into boring laboratory diatribes about the dangers of gene manipulation and the real-world uses of unlikely immortality drugs.

Although the ads would lead one to believe otherwise, ANACONDA III actually centers on Amanda (Crystal Allen), a scientist who works for Universal Bio-Tech and the nefarious—and appropriately named—Murdoch (John Rhys-Davies, obviously still fuming over not being included in the new Indiana Jones film). It seems that he's been playing God with the reptilian world and has somehow managed to create an anaconda that's not only larger and angrier than any snake on Earth, but sports a three-foot machete growing out of its tail. This Ginsu butt comes into play numerous times during the film, and while the results are always spectacularly gory, a serpent's bladed posterior is inescapably difficult to take seriously.

Since all B-movie snakes carry the cure for (insert disease here), another round of unethical testing is underway, and it isn't long before our slithering behemoth breaks out of its cage, knocks off everyone but Amanda and her boss and heads out into the lush green wilderness of Romania. It's only then that Hasselhoff's Hammett and a group of ALIENS space-Marine rejects (resembling the United Colors of Benetton) are hired to eradicate the monster, which has taken up residence in a nearby farmhouse. With that, we've now got the prerequisite team of Special Ops, the cheap sets and the giant CG monster…everything required for a yet another weak entry in the recent string of bland Sci Fi Channel originals.

Director Don E. FauntLeroy, who served as DP on the JEEPERS CREEPERS movies and nearly 50 other films, has managed to shoot a good-looking feature, but fills it with every painful cliché imaginable. First-time screenwriters Nicholas Davidoff and David Olson sprinkle in occasionally fun dialogue, but their script is ultimately burdened down with bland characters and extremely corny, uninspired plot twists. Hasselhoff's Hammett, a fun antihero who deserves more screen time (and one-liners), is delegated to a glorified supporting role beneath far less interesting characters. Rhys-Davies, whose cameo appearances work quite well, will hopefully receive a beefier role in ANACONDA IV (the direct sequel shot back to back with this movie, scheduled to debut this December); otherwise, he served virtually no purpose at all. It's only Allen as the spunky Amanda who breathes any life into her role; a surprise, given her lack of substantial film experience prior to headlining this one. Unfortunately, given the material, even she has trouble rising above the movie's stupendous mediocrity. When all is said and done, ANACONDA III should have been a much better film, but it also could have been much worse. The cast is sorely mismanaged, the plot is all over the board and the digital FX—particularly a handful of atrocious greenscreen driving shots—are by-and-large laughable, but the cast and crew obviously worked hard with what little they had. With any luck, this sequel's surviving characters will find more to do in the next entry, and we'll end up with a film that's not just meatier, but more entertaining. A direct-to-cable second follow-up to a creature feature headlined by J. Lo and Ice Cube doesn't need to be a masterpiece, but it should be passable as an evening's fleeting distraction. ANACONDA III is just barely that, but it's still regrettable that something as inherently amusing as David Hasselhoff fighting a giant snake couldn't have ended up just the slightest bit more fun.