It’s another spring break at Lake Victoria and Jake (Steven R. McQueen) is set to stay at home and babysit once again. That is of course, until Jake meets Derrick Jones (Jerry O’Connell) and Danni (Kelly Brook) and invites him to show them around to film their movie. That night Jake’s mother, Julie Forester (Elisabeth Shue) and Deputy Fallon (Ving Rhames) find the body of a missing fisherman ravaged that brings more questions than answers. The following day as Jake makes his way through town to get on the boat with Derrick, he is surprised by Kelly (Jessica Szohr) who also comes for the ride. Meanwhile, Julie takes a group of seismologist divers, Novak (Adam Scott), Sam (Ricardo Chavaria), and Paula (Dina Meyer) to the middle of the lake to investigate the recent seismic activity. Sam and Paula dive in to the lake only to find an ancient menace, flesh eating piranhas. Julie is now on a race to evacuate the area from the menace that threats the livelihood of the town.

I didn’t get a chance to see Piranha in the theaters, but I constantly heard good things about it. Friends and family consistently raved about it. Obviously, that created some high expectations for the film, for good or for bad. Luckily, Piranha was better than I was expecting. Sure, Piranha is neither an Oscar winner nor even close to it, but it did manage be entertaining which is all I can ask for. I haven’t had time to watch the original film from 1978, but considering the technology I am sure it must have been a heck of a corny film. Because you know what while this new remake fits today’s appetite for entertainment, the remake is also one corny movie.

The film is very corny, but in a good way. The movie fits the whole It’s so bad that is good in almost every sense of the word. The movie is littered with plenty of CGI fish, plenty of gore, and plenty of nudity. The latter was simply for pure entertainment, seriously. It’s really hard to find a movie that tries to mix horror and gore in the same movie and be widely accepted by the public and not just a simple group of fans. The film wasn’t really that scary, but it was bloody and somewhat unbelievable. Acting wasn’t so bad and character development is meager, but that isn’t exactly what the filmmakers were aiming for when filming the movie. Piranha completely embraces the whole notion that sex sells and indeed it does. Filmmakers had a different approach and are easier to understand when you start watching some of the supplements as they go in depth and explain their true vision for the film. When checking this out you may have to leave your brain at the door as they say or may be sorely disappointed.

Piranha arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 2.40:1. The transfer for Piranha is not too shabby, colors are vibrant throughout, but the image does feature a warm look to give it that gritty dirty feel. Flesh tones are a bit warmer than usual, but they fit the look of the picture. Black levels manage to be well resolved most of the film, but in some instances they are a bit inconsistent. Detailing is exceptional as the transfer handles all the intricate textures from close ups and the surround rocky and sandy textures of Lake Victoria. Banding is a problem specifically during underwater scenes; however, any other issues are kept at bay. Piranha looks great on Blu-ray.

Piranha arrives on Blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track. Just like the vivid environment of Spring Break, the soundtrack is as good as it gets. Dialogue is clean and clear featuring proper priority through the fronts. Ambience effects are also properly handled through the fronts. Other atmospheric effects are handled through the surrounds. The track is very active and is constantly engrossing the viewers. LFE output is strong and always used properly throughout providing great support for the demanding action. Piranha feature a pleasing yet engaging soundtrack that will surely leave fans happy.

Audio Commentary – Featuring Director Alexandre Aja and Producers Gregory Levasseur and Alix Taylor in what is one of the most entertaining tracks I’ve heard in a while. Aja and Levasseur are the primary speakers and seem to be the most enthusiastic, but all three end up contributing in just about every topic of the movie. If you checked out the “Don’t Scream, Just Swim” featurette, a lot of what these three talk about might sound like repetition as they do cover the majority of the same material.

Don’t Scream, Just Swim: Behind-the-Scenes of “Piranha 3D” – This is a lengthy clocking in at about 2 hours and 9 minutes long and it pretty much covers everything about the production. This lengthy piece allows the viewers to see just how much work went into this film as it covers the casting, the 3D work, set design, etc. It’s well worth it.

Two Deleted Storyboards

Deleted Scenes

Trailers and TV Spots

movieIQ

BD-Live Functionality

When it comes down to it, Piranha is very entertaining. It’s filled with gore, blood, and plenty of naked females. It’s certainly not for those that can’t stand the sight of blood as it has plenty of it. However, I do recommend you to go considering how corny the movie can be, but I can’t deny how unbelievably entertaining it is. The Blu-ray offers a great video transfer, but the audio is exceptional. The supplements are filled with excellent behind the scenes material that will entertain you for a couple of hours after the film. Piranha comes highly recommended.