Komodo |
 View Movie
 • Australia / USA • 1999 • 90m •    • Directed by: Michael Lantieri. • Starring: Jill Hennessy, Billy Burke, Kevin Zegers, Paul Gleeson, Nina Landis, Michael Edward-Stevens, Simon Westaway, Bruce Hughes, Jane Conroy, Melissa Jaffer, Brian McDermott, Nique Needles. • Music by: John Debney.      During the 70's, some Komodo Dragon eggs were dumped on the beach of a North Carolina island. Somehow, the baby Komodos survived, and twenty years later they have grown up and taken over the island for themselves. Young Patrick has lost his parents and his dog to the lizards, but didn't see them himself, which has left him traumatized. Now, with his therapist Victoria, who doesn't believe the Dragons are real, he is returning to the island to confront his fears. Soon people are being chomped, and Patrick and Victoria must fight for their lives if they ever hope to make it back home.
|
Trailers:
| Length: | Languages: | Subtitles: |
Review:
This Australian American co-production was directed by Micael Lantieri & is an OK nature on the rampage type film but nothing to get excited about. The script by Hans Bauer & Craig Mitchell treads the same worn path that these types of films do, the isolated location, the monster threat, the hero, the one who gets separated from the group & the other's insist on finding them, the rich uncaring businessmen who are only bothered about money & various unlikely coincidences (the only two vehicles on the island just happen to crash into each other?) that leave our group of survivors in peril. Komodo moves along at a fair pace although thinking about it now not much really happened, only three people die during the bulk of the film & it has relatively low ambitions as a spectacle. I don't understand why these Komodo's are so big, nothing is ever mentioned & in fact Oates (who also happens to be a biologist, a complete co incidence of course) claims they are just an endangered species. I've never know lizards that big. Also why does the oil company want to secretly kill these lizards? It's claimed because they don't want bad publicity which is fine but if their that concerned about publicity why not capture them & relocate them somewhere safe? Surely that would bring massive amounts of free positive publicity, I mean an oil company caring for the environment right? The character's are paper thin & you can spot the ones who are going to die a mile off.
Director Lantieri brings a degree of competence to the film but not much else. It has no real style, tension or excitement. Having said that the Komodo CGI effects are surprisingly very good, these don't look too far behind the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park (1993). The attack scenes aren't that great as the Komodo's walk so slowly, most people could probably out-walk them. Forget about any blood or gore, just a couple of Komodo bites.
Technically Komodo is alright, with a budget of about $15,000,000 Australian Dollars it's a nice looking film & well made. The beautiful Australian locations are the films one real highlight. The acting was OK but nothing outstanding.
Komodo is an OK time waster but it brings nothing new to the monster on the loose sub genre that Jurassic Park didn't over six years prior. Just about worth watching if your desperate or if there's nothing else on.
Review by Paul Andrews from the Internet Movie Database.
Movie Database