A cult film is an honest piece of work, and cannot be intentionally created. This is why you will find the staff of embracing such films as The Fly II, or the works of Uwe Boll while simultaneously ignoring the ever-loving shit out of films like Razor Blade Smile. In short: we certainly love our underdogs, especially when they have conviction. 

Oddly enough, America, if not the entire world, seemed to feel the same way about Snakes On A Plane. And why was that? What could have sparked the attention and imagination of a million jocks, hipsters and all points in between - to the point where everyone grew tired of the film even before actual marketing had kicked in? Even the cynical crowd quickly latched onto the project, and everyone knows you can't get those sons of bitches out of their marijuana-clouded couch daze. And nobody could really explain it, even Samuel L. Jackson shrugged it all off by suggesting, “you either get it or you don't.” Level-headed individuals who didn't see the big deal about the film approached it coldly, saying that it was just a bunch of irritating people trying their hardest to be ironic. Of course, they were only half-correct; the irony in loving Snakes On A Plane is that there is no irony in loving Snakes On A Plane.  

Christ, my head hurts. 

The answer is hazy, but God damn it if it isn't there: sincerity. In a field of blockbusters that seem to grow bigger and bigger, and whose concepts become more and more outlandish, here was this little movie about snakes. On a plane. M. Night Shaymalan wasn't lurking in the corners ready to spring a trick ending on you at the last moment; there were no comic book characters present, and, hooray! Not a Stiller or Wilson in sight. Snakes. Plane. It's… Well, it's beautiful in its own way. The title alone deserved its attention - not since The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover has a title been so damn literal. Combine that with the casting of Samuel L. Jackson, and you have something at least conceptually special. 

So enough about the unprecedented fan base, what about the actual move? Well, just for a moment think about Snakes On A Plane. You should have a clear visual in your mind now, and you're using your imagination to exploit the possibilities of what Snakes On A Plane could be, right? Okay, stop there. Snakes On A Plane has even more snakes than that. Seriously. 

I would be completely satisfied ending my review there, but 350 words (give or take) makes me feel unprofessional, so let's make an unnecessary summary: Samuel L. Jackson plays Special Agent Samuel L. Jackson, a man stuck aboard a plane with Sean Jones (A energy drink-swilling Nathan Phillips, better known as “that guy from Wolf Creek”), who has just witnessed a vicious murder by Asian mob boss Eddie Kim. Samuel L. Jackson's job is to transport Sean from Hawaii to LA in order to testify against Kim. But Eddie has a better plan: Fill the plane up with poisonous snakes, pheromone-drenched decorative flowers and hope for the best, as such a silly plan must require a hell of a lot of research and even more optimism. 

… 

SNAKES. 
 

Presentation
Clearly treading a thin line between intentionally gritty and just plain low-rent, the anamorphic widescreen presentation is a good presentation, replicating what I saw on a big screen after a couple of drinks. There's a touch of grain to the image frequently, but it's mostly spot-on - the detail is sharp and the colors are strong.  The audio is presented in dolby 5.1 EX, 6.1 DTS ES and Stereo surround. I'm listening to this through headphones so I can't really give an accurate description of the soundtrack, but from my end, it's an excellent action movie soundtrack. Sure, the set-up in the film might not impress you with its reliance on soundtrack to fill the ambience, but once the big box of snakes explodes (not a euphemism, a big box of snakes actually explodes), the sound goes into overdrive. 

Extras
While not entirely packed, Snakes on a Plane features enough s goodies that it doesn't give off an “UPCOMING DOUBLE DIP” vibe. Though lacking in enough snakes and therefore feels sub par, the extras include: 

Commentary by David R. Ellis, Samuel L. Jackson and crew - A definitely packed track, the entire running time consists of Samuel L. Jackson exceeding all expectations of what you would expect from a Samuel L. Jackson commentary track. In between Jackson's infectious hoots and hollers, David R. Ellis and crew provide a lot of information on the production, and the fan base, including their own opinions on the viral marketing and merchandising (Ellis admits to spending over $3000 on merchandising alone). An excellent combination of silly and informative.

All 10 deleted scenes include commentary from everyone involved on the main feature commentary, including Samuel L. Jackson, who is either silent or making fart noises (when appropriate). 

Under the Documentaries menu we have: 

Pure Venom: The Making Of Snakes On A Plane - Pure EPK material, this eighteen-minute featurette is a traditional combination of on set interviews, candid fly-on-the-wall shots and footage from the film itself.

Meet the Reptiles - Now here's the bonus features money shot - snake handler Jules Sylvester takes us on a brief tour of his snake collection, discussing how the snakes are handled on set (you might want to hold them by the head so they don't bite you), non-venomous snakes posing as venomous snakes, and a few awesome shots of snakes eating frozen mice. You might not be able to show your kids the movie, but if you've got a seven-year-old boy, load this feature up; he's totally into this shit.

VFX Featurette - As much as this mini-doc proves that the people behind the visual effects put as much effort as possible into the project - from bringing live snakes into the room to learn their movements to the hours upon hours of animation and rendering - it doesn't make the snakes look any less fake. Gold star for effort, guys.

Back over at the Extras menu, the rest of the disc is filled out with promotional material. Both the Trailers and TV Spots sections shows off that even with the force of internet buzz, New Line still had no idea how the hell to market this God damn film to the mainstream, and the Music Video section features a making-of documentary and the actual music for the insufferable “Snakes On A Plane (Bring It)” 

Overall
So, when all is said and done, is Snakes On A Plane a good movie, able to transcend its cheesy, Sci-Fi Channel Original Movie premise? Well, no. It's Snakes On A Plane. You've got stock characters (right down to the elder flight attendant who's so very close to retiring), terrible CGI, a story that's dead in the water whenever there's something onscreen that doesn't involve snakes on a plane, and a single big name actor expected to carry all this dead weight. And I wouldn't have it any other way. God bless you, Snakes On A Plane, for being Snakes On A Plane.