Piranha Blu-ray Review

21st Jan 2013

When I heard that Joe Dante’s 1978 fishy gnasher flick was heading out for review in a new single disc Blu-ray package, I found myself excited beyond all reasonable expectation, and jumping up and down hoping I had contacted my editor swiftly enough to nab it.

Lucky for me, I am one of the elder statesmen among the Filmwerk posse, and as such; may sometimes be a slight army of one in my enthusiasm for some of the older movies that are regularly appearing in Hi-Def these days. Suits me I must say, although I don’t mean to imply that these old (but not necessarily ‘classic’), movies are without general appeal. In terms of IP; the excellently simple title ‘Piranha‘, obviously had some inherent value in today’s remake obsessed dollar market, and indeed has recently been successfully mangled into a 21st century bites, blood, and boobies reboot. There’s even a sequel, Gawd help us!

I remember Piranha as one of a whole shoal of post Jaws, fish attack movies. There was The Deep (1977), of course. This movie (strictly not a fish attack movie per se), is still remembered pretty much only for the giant moray eel attack scenes…..oh, and Jacqueline Bisset’s incredible nipples of course, but it qualifies, just. A proper example that comes to mind right now was Killer Fish (1979), with Lee ‘six million dollar man’ Majors, also incidentally featuring killer piranhas. I’m sure there were others, the titles of which escape my scrambled noggin for the moment. Piranha was definitely my favourite though, and I watched it a lot on TV and video growing up. It was a repeat rental, and the ‘go to’ killer fish movie if you couldn’t get Jaws, or Jaws 2. Oh, and if you couldn’t get Piranha either, and you just had to get your killer fish yucks, then Orca,was always there (and yes, I know Whales aren’t fish!).

These movies, and others helped establish and perpetuate all the crazy myths about piranhas that persist even today, but I digress.

So Piranha was a Roger Corman produced (and therefore horrendously low budget) creation, and Joe Dante’s second movie in the top banana’s chair. To be fair to it; I believe the it ended up punching a little above its weight, and as an unashamedly self confessed Jaws ripoff; it works pretty well. In true low budget style; the primary cast are mostly jobbing TV actors, as this was a way for the producers to help secure network TV distribution further down the line. I remember the two leads; Bradford Dillman, and Heather Menzies, from various film and TV supporting roles as a child, most notably (for me at least); Menzies cut a rather stimulating, braless dash, in the short lived TV adaptation of Logan’s Run.

Anyway, the film trod a delicate line between being obviously absurd (the inexplicable Phil Tippett stop motion creatures in the lab at the beginning, for example), and the more genuinely horrifying elements of the relentless piranha attack sequences. The movie of course apes Jaws shamelessly, and wouldn’t exist at all without it. However, in terms of tone, and ambition; it’s really not trying to be Jaws in any way, beyond the initial ‘killer fish’ premise. Considering Spielberg’s movie had ten times the budget of poor old Piranha, I think Dante’s film acquits itself better than many folks (including even the director himself), give it credit for.

The action rips along at a decent pace, and you never have to wait too long before, either another bloody attack, some naked bosoms, or both; arrive. By today’s standards, the gore is pretty tame, and not particularly gratuitous. Although, I do think the overall effect of these rapacious little biters chowing down on all and sundry, is still pretty good. It’s frenzied, relentless, and along with an extremely effective signature ‘sound’, still delivers a few visceral kicks. The film carries a 15 certificate, and although this is as likely to be due to the nudity as the gore, I think it’s still well deserved.

At the risk of initiating some kind of Groundhog Day scenario (because I always get asked about this, and it comes up whenever older movies are reviewed on Blu-ray); let me say (again), that the release of a movie in the Blu-ray format, in and of itself, is no guarantee of picture quality. The format itself, does not inherently provide some kind of magic process that suddenly produces a fantastic crystal clear hi-def picture, where none existed before.

The end result is entirely dependent on the integrity of the source print (1st generation negative for example), the cleanness of the transfer to digital, and the results/effectiveness of any further digital restoration work carried out post transfer into the digital realm.

With this in mind, and taking in to account Piranha‘s original, minuscule $600,000 production budget, fairly basic tech spec, and an obviously tight restoration budget, compared to bigger fish like Jaws, you can forgive the picture quality for not being of the same order. As is usually the case however, It’s certainly the best the movie has ever looked on home media. It’s clean, scratch free and reasonably dense, with an attractive colour balance, and a decent depth and naturalistic feel. There is noticeable noise, and grain throughout, but it’s not terrible, and as I said; you don’t have to work hard to give it a pass. Originally shot with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio (which I’m not a fan of), this ratio has been retained for the Blu-ray release. I think a 2.35 or 2.40 scope ratio would have done wonders in lending an innate quality to the look of the movie, and some of the river and lake vistas captured in the movie would have benefited too methinks, but alas no.

The audio mix wont light anyone’s ears on fire, with merely a simple LPCM 2.0 lossless stereo mix on board. However, it’s serviceable enough for all but those who just can’t enjoy their movies unless their multichannel systems, are ping ponging the sound around left, right, and centre…..oh! and up and down and the back, and to the side.

Sorry audiophiles, this won’t be for you.

Bonus Features

First and foremost is an audio commentary with director Joe Dante and producer Jon Davison – This is a very engaging and entertaining commentary. Dante is very self effacing, honest, and humble. He makes no bones about the quality (or lack of it), of the production, or the areas where the movie could or should have been better. In this way, the commentary is refreshingly candid and informative. The rapport between the two men is also very entertaining.

Next up is a twenty minute ‘making of’ documentary – It’s not the longest or most in depth program there’s ever been, and judging by the fashions, hairstyles, and youthfulness of some of the contributors; wasn’t made specifically for this release either. However, it is informative, well put together, and features most of the major cast and crew providing their thoughts on the movie (with the notable absence of Dillman). One gets the impression that it could have been a lot longer, and more in depth; particularly as some of the interviewee’s contributions seem somewhat clipped; like there was much more to it.

Behind the Scenes – A sort of addendum to the ‘making of’ documentary, featuring some key footage and commentary, focused particularly around the special effects. It’s not very long, but at least it doesn’t pull that naughty old trick of using an annoying degree of the same footage you already saw in the making of. It’s a proper additional feature, and all the better for it.

Rounding out the extras is a gag reel, original radio, and TV spots, plus a stills gallery.

Conclusion

In summation, I think the package is pretty good, and well worth shelling out for. It’s not exactly heaving with extra features, but that director commentary is excellent, and for me; adds a lot of value, even if some of the other features seem a little truncated or perfunctory. As previously mentioned; the movie is not blessed with the most mind blowing picture quality for a blu-ray; but overall, it works, and I suspect you will never see it sharper or cleaner than right here.

I really enjoyed catching up with Piranha again after so many years. It’s still a good watch, and I think it maintains its ability to deliver on its stated goals, even on the tightest of original budgets.

That is a neat trick.