Anaconda is an action-packed thriller starring Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Academy Award®-winner Jon Voight (1978 Best Actor, Coming Home) and Eric Stoltz. A documentary film crew, headed by anthropologist Steve Cale (Stoltz) and director Terri Flores (Lopez), ventures into the world’s most isolated jungle – the Amazon – in search of a lost and forgotten civilization. Early in their journey, they come to the aid of Paul Serone, a Paraguayan guide (Voight), who joins their expedition. But Serone is actually a poacher on the trail of a legendary snake. When Serone hijacks the boat and its crew on his quest to track and kill the giant snake, he steers the expedition right into the path of the deadly monster. Get ready for a wild, scare-a-minute thrill ride because Anaconda will grab you and take your breath away.

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Video Quality

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray debut of Anaconda offers a fabulous presentation for this thrilling adventure courtesy of a 4K restoration of the Original Camera Negative. We last reviewed this film on Blu-Ray just last year from Mill Creek Entertainment which recycled the same DVD-era master that has been floating around for 15 years. The film was previously released by Mill Creek in both 2014 and 2019 from this dated master provided by Sony, following an earlier release by Sony themselves in 2009. We are finally free of this utterly disappointing master thanks to this new 2160p Dolby Vision/HDR presentation that allows the film to look the best it ever has on home entertainment. This new release preserves the filmic origins of the feature to reveal a world of pleasing texture and detail.

The Dolby Vision presentation properly brings nuances of the jungle locale with impeccable saturation. Highlights offer robust stability without veering into blooming. Black levels are so much deeper, allowing this transfer to provide an exceptional level of fine detail in darker environments. Skin tones look natural, and the clarity of the transfer gives you an unexpected amount of facial detail, including perspiration, grime, and scrapes. You can clearly distinguish specific details within the makeup and animatronic effects, foliage, and production design that have otherwise been poorly defined before. The expanses around the vessel are given more depth, which makes the exploration that much more exhilarating. The improvements in contrast and overall clarity are a highlight of the disc, especially when wading through the dense forest. This is another S-tier effort from Sony, and fans can rest easy now that the film has finally been treated well.

Audio Quality

This 4K UHD Blu-Ray gets a major audio upgrade in the form of a thrilling Dolby Atmos track that gives the film a dynamic soundscape with a suitably pulse-pounding and immersive quality. The new disc also offers up the original soundtrack in lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio. Both of these tracks are tremendous in their own ways, but we are glad Sony is continuing the trend of giving audiences a choice. Those who choose the original track may not get sounds coming from every direction, but you will be served a perfectly formidable track without any age-related flaws. Both tracks are an improvement over the previous Mill Creek release, which offered up an underwhelming DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track.

The Atmos track calls forth atmospheric sound effects ingeniously within the mix so that directionality is unwaiveringly precise. The track yields the expected emphasis on the front channels for dialogue and other distinct sounds while additional rainforest activity flows to the surrounds, rears and overhead speakers to make the world feel more bustling and lived-in. The height channels are deployed flawlessly as they fully transport you into the journey. Dialogue is clear without ever getting drowned out by the music or sound effects. The low end effects from the subwoofer deliver the necessary extra weight to enhance the attack sequences. The score from Randy Edelman complements the narrative with ease, and every note sounds wonderful in the mix. Sony has delivered a bombastic audio experience for fans. Optional English, English SDH, and a vast array of other subtitles are provided.

Special Features

Sony has provided Anaconda with a sleek new SteelBook featuring artwork that is pleasing in person. The front artwork is the snake’s face with a giant eyeball, and the rear continues the snakeskin motif. The interior is a photo still of the boat on the river. Video of the SteelBook can be found at the top of this review.

Audio Commentary: Genre expert Scott Harrison provides what appears to be a new commentary track in which he delves into the production of the film, the background of the performers, facts about real-life anacondas, the film’s place within genre cinema, and much more that is worth a listen.

There’s A Devil Inside Everyone – Directing Anaconda: A 19-minute interview with director Luis Llosa in which he discusses why he wanted to tackle this project, spending most of the money on special effects, working with the ensemble, disagreements he had with his DP, convincing certain actors to perform their own stunts, and more. This is a couple of minutes longer than the version on the Mill Creek release.

A Perfect Killing Machine – Writing Anaconda: A nearly ten-minute interview with co-writer Hans Bauer in which he discusses his inspiration for the story, changes from the original script, why he knew he wanted a woman in the lead, and more.

Deleted & Extended Scenes: A 12-minute selection of unused footage is provided in decent quality.

Trailers

- Domestic Trailer (1:52)

- International Teaser (1:19)

Final Thoughts

Anaconda is a dumb yet fairly entertaining creature feature that boasts more positive elements than negative. The performances get the job done without really leaving much of an impression. This is not helped by the relatively elementary script that hits the highlights of the plot and not much else. Where the film stands apart is in the fun thriller elements that are shlocky because of the combination of digital and practical snake effects. It’s fine popcorn horror, and sometimes that is what you want. Sony Pictures has released a new 4K UHD Blu-Ray featuring a fabulous A/V presentation and a worthwhile collection of special features. If you only own this one on Blu-Ray or not at all, this package is by far the best way to view the film. Recommended

Anaconda is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray SteelBook.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.