Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Piranha II: The Spawning Blu-ray Movie Review

Cameron's fishy debut

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson August 22, 2018

After serving as a visual effects supervisor for some of Roger Corman's films and a matte artist for John Carpenter on Escape from New York, James Cameron got his first opportunity to direct, which turned out to be a sequel to Joe Dante's Piranha. A couple of producers approached Cameron about the job while the Ontario native was working on the creature feature Galaxy of Terror. Piranha II's original director was Miller Drake but he was let go by the Egyptian/Italian producer Ovidio Assonitis due to creative differences. There has been much speculation about what happened before, during, and after the production of Piranha II and I'll briefly summarize some of my findings. One of the best interviews Cameron gave about this film was to Nigel Floyd of Dark Side magazine in 1992. When Cameron came on board, he intended the sequel primarily as a horror comedy and sought Romeroesque humor with flying piranhas knocking down pedestrians on the sidewalk...but that didn't make it to the screen. However, it should be pointed out that Warner Bros., the original distributor, insisted that the film have piranhas capable of taking flight in an effort to distinguish the killer fish from their predecessors in the first film. You'll notice on this Blu-ray distributed by Shout! Factory that the main title prints Piranha II: Flying Killers (See Screenshot #20) instead of Piranha II: The Spawning or the more generic Piranha Part Two. Cameron claims to have shot roughly half of Piranha II but was fired after two or two-and-a-half weeks by Assonitis, who thought the future auteur was simply too experienced.

Hey, mom. How about a piranha for breakfast?

It seems very likely that the prologue, in which a young couple plunge into sea for some underwater sex, was not photographed with Cameron at the helm. Although Cameron apparently made some revisions to the original script by Charles H. Eglee, he noted in the Floyd interview that scenes featuring topless babes didn't have anything to do with what he contributed in the script. More nudity was insisted by Assonitis for the European market. So additionally, the scene where two prurient ladies attempt to lure a mentally challenged cook on to their boat (only to trick him) probably didn't involve Cameron either. Assonitis also had major input in the screenplay but all three writers (Eglee, Cameron, and Assonitis) are collectively listed as H. A. Milton in the final credits. While Cameron was in Los Angeles, the release prints were made at Technicolor in Rome. Cameron asked one of the distributors (probably either Warner or Columbia) to have his name removed from the final credits but he was refused. There is a kernel of truth to a report that Cameron at least made an attempt to break into Assonitis's editing suite and make his own cut of the picture. Although a Director's Cut (which I haven't seen and isn't included on this BD package) was later released on LaserDisc, Cameron's reputed 84-minute version didn't make it into any theatrical markets based on my research. While Piranha II began filming in 1981, it didn't really hit the big screen until two years later. The movie appears to have been screened in advance for only a small group of critics as there were only a handful of reviews published. Interestingly, the film was shown on a lot of screens in Florida. A print ad in the South Florida Sun Sentinel read: "HELD OVER 2nd Hit Week." That paper's critic, Bill Kelley, wasn't a fan, though: "All Piranha II demonstrates is that the makers of Piranha I had hit upon a plot that could not be mined for more than one film. The two movies are almost identical."

I'm unsure whether the other underwater scenes off the Grand Cayman Island were filmed with Cameron present. They're very well-lensed as well as choreographed by the actors. So one may infer that they gave Cameron some valuable experience for the much greater heights he achieved on The Abyss (1989) and Ghosts of the Abyss (2003). Piranha II is also most notable for a co-starring role by Lance Henriksen, who plays the beach cop Steve Kimbrough. Some of the best sections of the film are his scenes with his on-screen son, Chris (Ricky G. Paull), and his estranged wife, Anne (Tricia O'Neil). Chris is a very likeable character and I would have preferred to see more scenes with his parents than the forced romance with Allison Dumont (Leslie Graves), who he gets stranded with on sea. Piranha II has some justifiably bad acting in it but it managed to keep my interest not only because of the "Cameron factor" but also decent and effective cinematography by Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli and the underwater camera unit.

Piranha II: The Spawning Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Piranha II makes its Blu-ray debut worldwide courtesy of Shout! Factory on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. The 94-minute Producer's Cut is struck from a new 2K scan from the original camera negative and sports an average bitrate of 30997 kbps. Shout! has rectified the heavily cropped Sony DVD from 2003 (which was reformatted in pan and scan) with a beautiful 1.85:1 presentation that resuscitates Piranha II's native aspect ratio. Considering all the production difficulties that transpired on-set and off, I was amazed at how good the image looks. The film appears to have undergone extensive color correction with hues that seemingly recreate the theatrical experience. For example, skyline and sea blue look clean and luminous. Skin tones are natural without any evidence of manipulation. Grain remains present without any distracting mosquito noise. I noticed only one instance of really noticeable print damage.

There are a dozen chapter breaks available on the main menu.

Piranha II: The Spawning Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout! has supplied the movie's original monaural sound rendered here as a DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono (1660 kbps, 24-bit). For a pretty low-budget production, this lossless track sounds rock solid. Dialogue is relatively clean and discernible for the most part. I thought Steve Powder's music was effective underscore, oscillating between contemporary rock pop and more traditional with instruments like French horns. There is nice separation of the score along the front channels.

Optional English SDH can be accessed through the menu or via remote.

Piranha II: The Spawning Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• NEW One Moment in Time: Ricky Paull Goldin on Piranha Part II: The Spawning (15:55, 1080p) - a wonderful interview with Goldin, who revels in the fact that he got a month off of school to go to Jamaica and act in a feature film. Goldin remembers a lot from the filming of Piranha II and shares his observations of Cameron's directing method. I didn't know that Shout! had recorded this interview with Goldin until after I finished watching the film but was glad that they did since his character is one of the bright spots in a troubled production. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW The Sky Has Teeth: Brian Wade on Piranha Part II: The Spawning (14:09, 1080p) - Special effects artist Wade talks about what a privilege it was to work with Cameron early in his career. Wade designed the piranha sculptor and gives a few insights into that creation. The audio recording in this interview could have been clearer and louder. In English, not subtitled.

• Theatrical Trailer (1:50, upscaled to 1080) - an original trailer for Piranha II.

Piranha II: The Spawning Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's unfortunate that Shout! Factory was unable to license or acquire the Director's Cut or enlist Cameron's participation on this release but it's good to have at least one version finally available in HD. The movie suffers from obvious problems ranging from too many stock characters, poor performances, and weak plotting. But I think Piranha II has a cultish charm about it that has rubbed off me. To the film's detractors (and I know there have been many): at least Cameron took the bad experiences he suffered on Piranha II to inspire his next film...and everyone knows what that was! Indeed, he reported that his nightmares included a certain cyborg warrior. RECOMMENDED FOR FANS.