Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Snake & Mongoo$e Blu-ray Movie Review

A good movie for not too much $.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 9, 2014

You've gotta think big to make it big.

Sometimes it's all too easy to forget that there are human beings under the sports uniforms or inside the race cars. The thrill of the score, the finesse and the skill, and the excitement of the speed frequently take center stage, and for good reason. Fans don't pay to see personalities -- unless the personality is so outrageous that they earn, rightly or wrongly, attention away from their performance -- but instead pure sporting skill at play, be that on the baseball field or from within the cockpit of a blazing-fast automobile. Sometimes, however, the two worlds meet and both the people and their profession together make for compelling storytelling both in and away from the spotting world. Snake & Mongoo$e is one such tale of two rival racers who are brought together first through a shared skill set, then a desire to expand their notoriety and pocketbooks, and finally through personal tragedy. Theirs is a compelling story, one that's certainly made of rather straightforward, base emotions but that carries a rather entertaining and frequently moving film about the intersection of profit, sport, friendship, family, triumph, and heartache.

Let's race.

NHRA racers Don "Snake" Prudomme (Jesse Williams) and Tom "Mongoose" McEwen (Richard Blake) are rivals on the track -- they're the best in their sport -- but see that the end may be near. As accidents go up, revenue drops down. They band together in hopes of finding an income stream, to further profit on their abilities to pilot the world's fastest automobiles. Gate receipts are nice, but something bigger would be better. When they approach toy maker Mattel with an idea to cross-promote the Hot Wheels brand on their real-life cars and for the toys to push Snake and Mongoose with flair on the toy die-cast models, they enter into a lucrative and industry-defining collaboration. As they thrive on speed, flash, appeal, and money on the track, their off-the-track lives and tragedies will bring them closer still.

Snake & Mongoo$e shares the story of an unlikely friendship built on a shared passion, a rivalry, business opportunities, and an uncanny sense of kinship between two racers who live imperfect lives off the track but who strive for perfection on it. At its core is the story of how they revolutionized racing, approaching toy manufacturer Mattel and sealing a business deal to cross-promote Hot Wheels with drag racing, effectively beginning a boom in the auto racing industry that's in many ways the face of the sport today. Yet the story's subtleties and secondary arcs prove just as satisfying. The film journeys through the early days of drag racing as two of its top stars ascend the ranks and learn more about who they are off the track while battling on it. They are imperfect people who don't always see beyond the literal stretch of road ahead of them but who, through the course of the film, learn more about what matters in life. It's not just a film about rivalries and sponsorships but of kinship, of bonded souls brought together by speed but molded together by life.

The film takes a rather sudden shift in its third act, a change of tone and pace and purpose that brings with it both sadness as well as, in almost a morbid sort of way, a sort of completion to the circle as the Snake and Mongoose characters come to fully appreciate what they do and not have off the track, finding a harmony in life that allows them to continue with their racing and business and innovation but also find the value in maintaining stronger ties with those they love. The final act lends serious emotional weight to the story without holding it down and keeping it back from its greater purpose. The film likewise manages a good balance between its "shop talk" and accessibility, bringing the audience into the world of both drag racing and the drivers who pilot the vehicles without overwhelming the screen with tech talk that would sever the connection between casual audience and hardcore fan. Snake & Mongoo$e finds a good balance, interrupted at times by a rather linear structure that's half buddy film and half human drama, but the end result is a welcoming, accessible film that doesn't redefine its genre but that does open eyes and hearts to history and humanity together.

Snake & Mongoo$e Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Snake & Mongoo$e arrives on Blu-ray with a good 1080p transfer presented in a 1.78:1 frame. The HD video image produces acceptable detailing and color throughout, with only an occasional look that favors a lightly washed out appearance distracting from an otherwise fine Blu-ray effort. Textures are adequately revealing, nothing remarkable against the best Blu-ray has to offer but displaying fine clothing lines, skin textures, and general odds and ends around the frame, whether under the bright sun or under warmer interior conditions, with the sort of accuracy and attention to detail viewers expect of a new release. Colors are bright and cheery, showing everything from fire engine red paint jobs to polished chrome with commendable accuracy. Black levels are slightly pale at times, ditto flesh tones, but never to a seriously distracting level. The film incorporates a good bit of archival footage that's in various states of wear and tear but that, generally, holds up nicely. This is a good effort from Anchor Bay, unremarkable in the grand scheme of things but a quality, watchable, not particularly problematic transfer from beginning to end.

Snake & Mongoo$e Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Snake & Mongoo$e zooms onto Blu-ray with a high-powered and almost endlessly entertaining Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track begins with a thunderous engine revving that all but fills the listening area with exhaust. It's tight, heavy, loud, room-filling, and a real pleasure to behold, the next best thing, certainly, to standing within feet of the car in real life. The heavy engine revs and roars are track hallmarks that are heard throughout the film and are equally aggressive and satisfying with every new occurrence. Music is dynamic and exciting, particularly layover montage songs such as I Just Want to Celebrate heard in chapter three and (Don't Fear) the Reaper in chapter nine. The track also produces excellent ambient sound effects, noticed immediately as the film flashes back to 1958 where distant radio music and nighttime insects fill the stage with natural period and place harmony. Dialogue is delivered cleanly, clearly, and efficiently from the center. All in all, an excellent soundtrack from Anchor Bay.

Snake & Mongoo$e Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Snake & Mongoo$e contains only one supplement. 'Snake and Mongoo$e: Behind the Movie (HD, 11:56) is a basic overview in which cast and crew discuss the the real story and characters, film authenticity, working with the cast and the real people they portray, and more. The feature appears sourced from the Internet, complete with a very shallow, unevenly spaced soundtrack.

Snake & Mongoo$e Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Snake & Mongoo$e is an imperfect but fun and mostly feel-good tale of rivals turned business partners turned friends turned people who grow to better understand the world in which they live and what it means to be who they are and do what they do. The film offers a good blend of racing action, characterization, drama, and heart, smartly mixing them all together and never chocking the film with any single element. It works well, enjoys good performances, and benefits from its blending of recreated and real footage. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release is sadly short on supplements but does offer good video and excellent audio. Recommended, particularly to auto racing fans.