Snakes on a Plane 4K (2006)

 

A glorious example of the type of film Roger Corman used to make and that the Italians used to rip off with equal gusto, Arrow Films are releasing David R Ellis' SNAKES ON A PLANE on 4K in both UHD and Blu-ray editions. 

FBI agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L Jackson) has to protect key witness Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips) in a federal prosecution case against crime boss Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson). Unfortunately Eddie loads the plane carrying Sean and Sam from Hawaii (it should have been the Philippines to add to the Corman vibe) back to LA with more kinds of venomous snake than could feasibly be smuggled onto an ocean liner let alone a Jumbo Jet. Cunningly disguised in  cardboard boxes and caused to run riot by the massive doses of mad snakey pheromones that the passengers’ flowery Lei neckwear has been doused in, it’s not long before a couple are having sex in the biggest aeroplane toilet ever become the first victims in what becomes utter chaos on board. 

Samuel gets mad and has to defend a cast including Julianna Margulies as the stewardess-who’s-going-to-law-school, Rachel Blanchard who was Robert Webb’s American girlfriend in Peepshow, and co-pilot David Koechner who dies horribly in this and went on to die horribly in FINAL DESTINATION 5 and PIRANHA 3DD. There’s lots of knockabout snakey fun, including a guest appearance from a massive anaconda that will have you marvelling at the crime syndicate’s smuggling skills before Troy (Kenan Thompson) has to land the plane with his PlayStation skills. 

SNAKES ON A PLANE does its job of being a feelgood ridiculous when-animals-attack exploitation picture extremely well. The fact that director David Ellis got the all clear to make a more ‘adult-oriented’ picture and took his film back to the cutting room to add a lot more gore and nudity should hopefully endear you further to the whole cobbled together cheesy grindhouse feel. It's ludicrous, over the top, nonsensical, and laugh out loud and as a consequence is one of the better films of its type.

Arrow have given SNAKES ON A PLANE a new 4K restoration, New extras include a commentary track from Max Evry and Bryan Reesman and a good 17 minute piece on both the tie-in novelisation for the film and tie-ins in general. Archival extras include a cast and crew commentary track (including Jackson and Ellis), making of (18 minutes), featurettes on the snake wrangling 13 minutes), the VFX (5 minutes) and the online publicity the film got before its release (10 minutes), plus 12 minutes of deleted and extended scenes. There's also a music video plus making of, five minutes of gag reel and the usual trailers, TV spots and image galleries. The limited edition also comes with a South Pacific Airlines safety instruction card and a collectors booklet with new writing on the film.

David R Ellis' SNAKES ON A PLANE is out from Arrow in 4K in both UHD and Blu-ray editions on Monday 19th January 2026

Sisu: Road to Revenge (2025)

"Tremendous, Gory, Action-Packed Entertainment"

Following its UK cinema release late last year, Finnish writer-director Jalmari Helander's sequel to his own 2023 SISU which I reviewed here is getting a digital release from Sony. You don't need to have seen the first film to enjoy this one though, which also begins by making it clear that SISU isn't the name of our protagonist, but rather it's an untranslatable Finnish word that describes white-knuckle determination despite all hope being lost. And, like the first film, that's pretty much what you get for the next 90 minutes, although arguably better.

It's 1946 and World War II is over. Unfortunately Finland has seceded part of its border to Russia, which means the house belonging to living Nazi-killing legend Aatami (a returning Jorma Tommila) is now 120 km away from the Finnish border. Never one to let such a trifling matter get in his way, he dismantles the entire house, loads it onto a lorry and sets off for Finland.

Meanwhile, Stephen Lang's Yeagor Dragunov is being set up by the script (by way of dialogue from an equally excellent, equally villainous turn from Richard Brake) as the baddest of baddies, who killed our hero's children with a shovel "to save on bullets". His mission? To stop and detain our hero at all costs.

And that's it for setup. The rest of the film is one long series of encounters between the good guy and the baddies, heavily influenced by silent cinema in general and Buster Keaton in particular, George Miller's MAD MAX movies (especially THE ROAD WARRIOR) and Warner Bros. cartoons. In fact SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE could be considered a feature length live action Road Runner movie par excellence, and if you like (and especially if you love) any of the above you're going to have a terrific time with this. There's a brilliant bit with a truck and a jaw-dropping laugh out loud sequence with a tank, culminating in an extended climax on a train which is as funny and tension-filled as it is explosively satisfying.

And now the housekeeping. First of all Aatami has a dog and I know some of you will be wondering so: It does not die.

Second, I'd normally post the trailer here but SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE has been given an extra boost to its publicity by having a tie-in burger created for it, so if you fancy eating one while watching the film (they haven't sent me the Sisu Stack for review - yet - but I can certainly vouch for the film) here are the details:

Jalmari Helander's SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE is out on Digital from Sony and is available to Buy or Rent at home now

The Assassination Bureau (1969)

Arrow Films start the year with a winner with their new Blu-ray of Basil Dearden and Michael Relph's THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU, which features a quite glorious transfer as well as all-new extras.

It's just before World War I and the Assassination Bureau of the title is a Europe-wide organisation dedicated to the requested bumping off of individuals who are deemed to pose a threat to the world order. Enterprising journalist Sonia Winter (Diana Rigg) backed by newspaper magnate Lord Bostwick (Telly Savalas) requests a hit on the very chairman of the organisation itself - Ivan Dragomiloff (Oliver Reed). Dragomiloff accepts the challenge with a twinkle in his eye & sets off around Europe with Sonia in tow, avoiding assassination attempts left and right. But there's a greater, more evil plan at work here, too.

A cheerful, colourful film about organised murder, THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU takes the same approach to its subject matter as Robert Hamer's 1949 KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS or Brian Forbes' 1966 THE WRONG BOX while packing it with familiar faces in the style of MONTE CARLO OR BUST and similar colourful epics from the period. It's all very jolly stuff and will no doubt be remembered with affection by many from all its TV screenings in the 1980s. 

Producer Michael Relph was also the production designer and has a whale of a time coming up with some (occasionally James Bond-like) gorgeous sets. If he did the hats too this must have been the job of a lifetime for him. Ron Grainer supplies the bouncy score and some of the harpsichord-driven bits will remind 1960s TV obsessives of some of his work for The Prisoner amongst others. 

THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU has already seen release in Blu-ray by Imprint / ViaVision in Australia. However, if you are a fan and bought that version you are definitely going to want to double dip as not only are the extras all different but Arrow's transfer is infinitely better. Reliable hands (and voices) Kim Newman and Sean Hogan provide a chatty, knowledgeable commentary track while Matthew Sweet gives is a 28 minute piece where he talks more about the book and the times in which the book was published and the film was released in and how the word 'Assassination' wasn't really suited to a jolly romp with exploding zeppelins. There's also a trailer and a stills gallery, plus a booklet with new writing on the film by Katherine McLaughlin.

Basil Dearden and Michael Relph's THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU is out on Blu-ray from Arrow Films on Monday 5th January 2026