Mega Python vs. Gatoroid Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid Blu-ray Movie Review

Tiffany vs. Debbie, too.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 15, 2015

It is now snake hunting season.

Lesson learned. Creating a new problem to solve an existing problem still leaves a problem. In Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, an Asylum/SyFy "vs." Creature Feature in the "tradition" of Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus and Skunk vs. Armadillo (OK, that second one hasn't been made...yet...but just wait!), the story centers on some killer snakes and the bold solution to get rid of them, because it's going to take something that packs a bigger punch than a handful of Florida rednecks armed with long guns to get the job done. Starring a couple of 80s icons in Tiffany and Debbie Gibson, the film is a treat of mindless fun, bad visual effects, and silly death scenes, everything everyone needs for a killer couple of hours in modern B-movie heaven.

Here, gator gator gator...

It's animal rights versus human rights in Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. A group of fringe activists, led by Dr. Nikki Riley (Gibson), releases several dangerous snakes from captivity back into the wild. When they get out of control -- quickly -- and threaten the balance of the surrounding ecosystem, local park ranger Terry O'Hara (Tiffany) declares it open season on snakes. Several guys with nothing better to do but hunt rattlers get in on the fun, but it quickly becomes evident that it'll take something a bit more potent to rid the area of its snake problem. O'Hara commandeers some anabolic steroids and an experimental muscle enhancer that she surreptitiously feeds to the local gator population. They grow to massive size, but when the snakes eat the spiked gator eggs, so too does the local slithering population. Soon, it's all-out war between man, mega pythons, and gatoroids in an epic battle of survival...and bad special effects.

There are a few things that stick out in a viewing of Mega Python vs. Gatoroid that will likely place audiences into one of two camps: the "this garbage is awful, turn it off!" camp and the "this garbage is so awful it's a blast, keep it coming!" camp. Chances are many more will fall into the latter rather than the former. The movie wears its charm on its sleeve. It has no intentions of being anything other than a goofy time killer, aware of its shortcomings and having fun trying to make a big movie on a relatively small budget. It's a bit more robust than classic rubbish Asylum because it brushes away any façade that could even be remotely mistaken for seriousness and slips into the comfort zone of fun for fun's sake rather than the unintentional humor of a bad movie that doesn't know it's bad. The movie has its moments that will make the viewer cringe, too, but taken in stride and whole rather than in bite-sized chunks, it quickly becomes apparent that Mega Python vs. Gatoroid has pretty much nailed the modern B-movie and milked it for all it's worth.

The movie is rather stable in terms of its ridiculousness. Examples include a couple of random shots of random people dying, the most emotional scene of all time that's completely devoid of any emotion when a snake eats a man's dog, the moderate repetitiveness that befalls the movie midway through, and the point it inevitably reaches where the plot ceases to matter and gives way to total absurdity. The picture is packed with awful digital effects. Fake helicopters zoom through the sky, phony snakes gracelessly slither across water, oversized alligators clumsily devour prey, and even any head-on driving shot is comically artificial with actors and the car obviously dropped in front of a green screen. But there's a certain charm to the poor, lazy effects, and perhaps more than anything else they push the movie to the humorously absurd rather than the simply pathetic. Note that there is some rather aggressive practical gore in the way of dismembered human limbs and heads throughout that may upset people who would otherwise be unfazed by fake monsters devouring digital stand-ins. Then there's a classic cat/food fight between Tiffany and Debbie that's the unequivocal highlight of the entire movie and is, even beyond even the silly concept and zany visuals, the one true reason to watch. Watch for some silly little side bits, too, like electrical tape masking a brand name on a character's hat that's advertising a mystery motor oil company.

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p transfer that's not perfect but isn't often too far off. It opens with some questionably smeary overheads that tighten up considerably in only a few seconds. Aside from some scattered softness throughout, a sprinkling of noise here and there, and a few details that don't push the boundaries of what Blu-ray has to offer, this HD video-sourced presentation generally looks quite nice. There's a certain flatness to the image, but there's also a good deal of raw clarity and complex texturing throughout. Clothes and faces are particularly robust, with natural vegetation also frequently appearing sharp and well defined from start to finish. Colors are lively and natural, with those same outside greens being particularly aggressive. Flesh tones push a hair rosy, and black levels are satisfactorily deep with only some day for night shots (watch for bright sunlight pushing through the canopy a few times) looking a little washed out. Digital effects are murky and frequently lack detail and even much color, particularly in hazy motion shots.

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid features a satisfying DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music -- whether score or Pop numbers -- is aggressively laid out across the front and yields a touch of surround support. Clarity is stable and a mild low end offers some necessary body. The track finds a few good, albeit light, atmospheric effects, never enough to fully immerse the listener but nicely setting the scene in a few outdoors shots. Gunfire pops with moderately healthy authority but lacks lifelike punch and vigor. Creature moans and shrieks satisfy requirements but never get to the level of a true, huge monster movie. A few directional effects are mildly engaging, such as police sirens or helicopters that seem to maneuver through the stage. Dialogue is clear and center focused. It's a shame that it's not a bit more aggressive, but overall this track suits the material well enough.

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid contains the film's trailer (1080p, 1:48) and a supplement titled, simply, Featurette (1080p, 11:03). It takes a brief look at cast and characters, the interaction between Tiffany and Debbie, plot specifics, the cat fight and the stunt work therein, working with real pythons and gators on the set, and visual effects.

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mega Python vs. Gatoroid knows it's silly and has a lot of fun along the way. The movie healthily drops any pretenses of serious storytelling and simply lays it all out for the world to judge, hoping that the best case scenario of the classic "so bad it's good" audience response will win the day. And win it does. With ridiculously poor visual effects and two entertaining leading ladies leading the charge, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid entertains in a mindless, effortless sort of way that should satisfy audiences looking for what is pretty much the perfect example of modern B-movie madness, particularly in the "vs." category. Image Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Mega Python vs. Gatoroid features good video and audio. A trailer and a making-of comprise the extras. Recommended.