My theatre was almost full at the 12am showing.

I don't think this movie will have much leg if any at all. It wasn't screened for the press and as much as I like camp I think this will peter out fast. "Slither" had a big following and mostly tanked. This probably has a little more buzz, but will not be able to carry itself because it just looks pretty dismal.

You think that SOAP only has "a little more buzz" than Slither?

I don't know where you've been. I can't remember the last time that a film was promoted and talked about as heavily as SOAP.

Try logging off the internet, the buzz is only on little message boards and "blogs."

I saw this last night. I knew it would be bad, but I had no idea it would be so god-awfully incompetant. The film fails on every level. Unfortunately, it's not "so bad its good"...it's just bad. No entertainment value at all, not even camp.

But if you must see it, see it this weekend with an enthuasitic audience. That will at least raise the experience up a little bit.

Beautiful, just beautiful.

Anyway, I'm still looking forward to it, the B-Movie fan in me demands that I go.

Ah, a more down to Earth response. Did you see Eight Legged Freaks? How does it compare to that?

I didn't like Eight Legged Freaks, but it was a lot better than Snakes on a Plane. For one thing, it was competantly made. For another, it was much more tongue-in-cheek, and never really took itself seriously (SOAP tries to be a serious thriller much of the time).

I'm not even talking about the internet. Of course it's being promoted on here by the fans.

Once again, I don't know where you've been either. I've seen this movie promoted in endless commercials, every single news channel (FOX, CNN, and so on) have been talking about it and I've seen entire articles talking about the film in just about every newspaper that I've had my hands on. Heck, every aspect of media have been talking about it. Then we have all of the talk shows, daytime and late night (some of the real snakes from the movie were on Leno a while back). I've seen billboards and flyers. I've seen different things in different retail stores promoting the release of the film, the most recent of which was the Circuit City SOAP DVD.

I've overheard people just in my day to day life while out and about in town talking about the movie, just randomly. I've had people in my family, who know nothing about movies and don't keep up with things like this, come up to me asking what in the world is up with "that new movie about snakes on a plane".

And all of this has been going on for weeks now.

I live out in the country in SC, so I know that if it's like this in this area, then it's like this in most places, especially big cities. I have friends in LA, NY, and all around the country who report things just like this. The buzz is most certainly going beyond "little message boards and blogs".

SOAP has much more buzz and advertising than Slither did. The two aren't even comparable...Slither opened on 1700 screens, SNAKES is on DOUBLE that. It's going to make a hell of a lot more money than Slither (which kicked ass, but NO ONE I knew had even HEARD of it). Word of mouth on SOAP is going to help it this weekend... everyone knows that they're getting a B movie, but it's the best kind of B movie...it entertains the hell out of you and that's all I'm asking for when I lay down my $10.

MATT

It was fantastic. There were only about 20 people other than us at the 10pm show last night, but I thought it was one of the most entertaining 100 minutes I've spent at the movies in a long ass time. Ok, it didn't make much sense and the effects sucked, but I'm not sure that's the hook to bring people in. It was genuinely and intentionally hilarious the whole way through, I'm very surprised at all the hate so far. I'll be seeing it again at least once this weekend, depending on who else wants to go.

Well, I ran it last night at 10 and midnight for somewhat-packed houses.

I was right; it's a film that you have to see with a crowd. They were whooping, clapping and loving every minute of it. "Motherfucking snakes" had people jumping out of their seats and clapping. The film got a standing ovation and people left chanting "Snakes, on, a plane! Snakes, on, a plane!"

I felt bad for one guy I spied who really seemed bothered by the crowd's frenzy, holding his hands by his ears and shaking his head after every burst of love from the audience.

The thing is, these two films are going for very different things. If you're looking for a straight up comedy with thrills like Freaks you're going to be disappointed. And if you're looking for something as inept as an Uwe Boll movie so you can skewer it, you'll also be disappointed. I know New Line's recent promotion hinted at the former, and early buzz imagined the latter, but it is really neither.

This is NOT a nonstop camp fest. This was bad-but-good in two ways: on a dumb but fun action movie level (think Schwarzenegger/Stallone movies like Commando or Rambo: FB 2) and on a fun horror movie level (think Friday the 13th or Elm Street sequels). If you don't enjoy these types of movies on any level, you're probably not going to enjoy this. If you don't enjoy Arnie saying catchphrases like "Conseeder eet a dah-vorce!", or if you don't cheer when Jason Voorhees kills someone with a party horn, this isn't the movie for you.

Coming for you in Summer, 2007..

MORE SNAKES ON A PLANE

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/snakes_on_a_plane/

Now what are the odds that those critics saw it in an empty theater.

Ugh... remind me to never read any of your reviews.

First of all, no, you didn't get this movie, as there't nothing to "get". It's a communal experience and the fact that you saw it in an empty theater is the reason why you didn't have fun.

Wow, with all the overzealous and defensive SOAP fans in here I thought for a moment I'd clicked the breastfeeding thread by mistake.

Ha, there was a guy like that in the theatre I was in, except this guy actually got made and repeatedly yelled at people to shut up and called the guys yelling idiots. Of course that just brought on more yelling and hissing than before. Fucking moron. What the hell was he expecting?

And needless to say, he looked like he weighed at least 350 lbs. and was there by himself.

It's a critic's job to judge the movie itself, not the experience (generally), since not everyone will have the same experience.

And as such, I can understand where he's coming from... and oddly, I usually agree with his reviews (at least on Superman Returns (Rec'd), Pirates 2 (Rent It), Clerks II (Rec'd), The Descent (Rec'd), and Talladega Nights (Rec'd)). But definitely not this time.

I'm fully supportive of New Line not showing it to critics as well, as I agree - seeing it with an enthusiastic crowd was half the fun.

so, are you not allowed to dislike the movie? Is the excuse going to be "well, you didn't like it because people weren't going apeshit in your theater."? Personally, I don't care what kind of movie it is, the movie should stand on its own, right? I'm planning to see this next week and let the crowds filter out. If I'm watching a movie and there are people talking to a screen that won't talk back, that will 100% of the time lessen my experience.

The fact of the matter is, unless you see it this weekend...or if the film develops a dedicated "Rocky Horror" type following, people aren't going to be hooting and hollering in the theater. Certainly not on DVD, either.

I agree, a movie should always stand on it's own.

And the best comparison I can give to the theater experience.. would be to a midnight Rocky Horror Picture Show showing, sans the rice... though it seems like you should be throwing rubber snakes or something along those lines.

Count me in as a satisfied customer.

However, I disagree with those who are convinced that everybody who likes this movie is deluding themselves into thinking it's something it's not.

In the theater I was in, everybody was having a blast. However, even those that weren't "internet geeks", such as my girlfriend, or a 40-something woman whose children appeared to drag her to it, were enjoying it immensely. I didn't see anyone who wasn't having fun, out of a very diverse crowd.

Yes, the CGI had bad moments. However, the filmmakers were smart enough to keep the fake snakes moving quickly and in shadows most of the time, which helps. It all combined to create a fun atmosphere, unlike something like... King Kong, which had some absolutely horrible SFX that were played as serious.

I don't think that you have to know/embrace the film's background to enjoy it. I haven't seen a crowd that active since Jackass, another example of a "bad" movie, that just knew how to have fun.

Ah, the old "everybody in MY theater had the same opinion as me" argument. I'm sure somebody will counter with "everybody in MY theater thought it sucked."