(2013-05-18 13:16:10)

bday gift

This review is from: Piranha II: The Spawning (DVD) gave to a friend for his bday. he liked it. not sure what it follows although im assuming piranha 1?

BA_Harrison

(2013-05-18 03:28:32)

People who have given this film a low rating for being 'bad' are missing the point.

By genetically splicing together DNA from piranha with that of theharmless grunion and the flying fish, biochemists working for themilitary have created a strain of flesh-eating fish not only capable ofliving in the sea, but also of launching itself out of the water toattack on land. Doh!When will people understand that not every film-maker wants their workto be the next Citizen Kane? Believe it or not, some directorsdeliberately cater for movie fans who enjoy schlock entertainment.Piranha II: Flying Killers, for example, is a film that has received anawful lot of flak here on IMDb for being cheap and trashy, when as faras I can see, that was exactly how it was intended. The silly concept,camp performances, and iffy effects are precisely what makes this filmsuch a blast, and the fact that it was directed by the man whoeventually gave us Avatar is just the icing on the cake.I'm just glad that I'm one of those able to enjoy Piranha II for whatit is—an unashamedly silly, tongue in cheek B-movie featuring someeffective gore (courtesy of Gianetto De Rossi), quality T&A (in theform of MILF diving teacher Anne, a pair of sexy topless babes on ayacht, and busty jail-bait Allison) a cool soundtrack (love thoseopening credits), lots of flying fish suspended on wires or stuck onthe end of poles, and quality underwater action from a director whoseconfidence working 'in the drink' would serve him well in years tocome.

(2013-05-17 00:23:58)

James Cameron probably doesn't have this on his resume

This review is from: Piranha II: The Spawning (DVD) Piranha II: The Spawning has roots to the first movie but offers a new twist. The government; the crafty insidious, evil doers they always are kept some of the original Piranha from the first movie. These Piranha were a little different in that they were genetically modified from flying fish to be able to fly like birds. While they were transporting the Piranha to a different facility for study their ship sank. The Piranha find their first meal on some unsuspecting skin divers looking for a little night dive nookie. We find our main characters as a female dive instructor and Lance Henrickson playing the Chief Brody role from Jaws. Together they try to keep a resorters happy and safe. Of course they do a poor job till a government spy gives them a good idea but does it really work? If you like campy and cheesy then James Cameron (T2, Avatar, and many other Thrill rides) provides both. He obviously didn't have the budget he usually commands as these fish fly in on sticks and strings with the appearance of a wood carving. If that wasn't enough they attack at angles that aren't even remotely possible. They also apparently can live inside the human body and a little chest burster preview from aliens also happens. But altogether not a bad cheesy horror film.

(2013-05-16 12:41:30)

Not the best sequel but still a cult classic

This review is from: Piranha II: The Spawning (DVD) Definitely not a good sequel, but it has it's moments. I have Piranha so I had to buy the sequel.

savage_bren

(2013-05-16 01:20:41)

A New Breed Of Terror.

Award winning James Cameron makes his directorial debut with Piranha II- The Flying Killers. Terror breaks loose in the Carribbean when twoscuba divers investigating a sunken ship supply are attacked and killedby a shoal of Piranhas - the deadly, human flesh-eating fish of theAmazon. Soon it's discovered that these piranhas can fly, and are aslethal in the air as they are in the water! Could the answer be todynamite the wreck, or are the risks too high? The fears and dangers ofJaws are multiplied ten thousand times by the terrors of Piranha II -The Flying Killers! Club Elisium may seem like Paradise, but justoffshore a new breed of terror has been unloosed, and no one is safefrom its savage, insatiable hunger. In the tradition of Anaconda comesa razor-sharp tale of mutant monsters from the deep, directed by JamesCameron. While investigating the mysterious death of a diver, scubainstructor Anne Kimbrough makes a horrific discovery: Piranha-like fishwith wings that enable them to fly, are responsible. As the body countrises, Anne desperately tries to convince the resort's manager to calloff the annual fish fry on the beach - but he's determined to give hisguests the ultimate ''feeding frenzy''. Packed with suspense, amazingspecial effects, and featuring a heroic performance by Lance Henriksen,Piranha II: The Spawning will drench you in waves of cold, biting fear.

Insomniac_moviefan

(2013-05-15 13:34:24)

Can't believe it happened...

...the flying piranha special effect (is it a special effect?!), it has tobe one of the worst moments in cinema history!.Pros: it has hot girls in bikinis. That's it.Cons: a dumb plot, horrible special effects -the flying piranhas say itall-, a bad score, a bad cinematography, bad acting. It's even worse thatthe original "Piranha":This one didn't even try to be a good horror movie.I wonder what's James Cameron opinion about this movie, I'm sure he's notproud of it.Avoid this one, watch JAWS instead.

(2013-05-14 22:22:01)

thank god this is finally on dvd!

the legendary JAWS was speilberg's 2nd effort, & in his footsteps is cameron's masterpiece softmore work. starring lance henriksen(aka bishop of aliens) in his best role. brilliant screenplay, grossly under-rated acting & full of unpredictable twists & turns--this film is better than terminator, aliens, jaws, & the godfather pt2 combined. buy this dvd!

(2013-05-14 02:19:47)

What The F#$k!?

I swear, not one day after ranting to a coworker about how Cameron would use his Hollywood clout and power to forever supress this utterly stupid film from release on DVD, there it is, on the freakin' shelf! Well, shut my mouth! I was stunned. I remember, as a kid, renting the original VHS back in 1985. Even then, and still today, I thought "Who paid for this and how drunk were they?!" It's an utter nonsense ride but it does have a certain perverse charm. I mean, who can't get a grin out of cross-bred piranha and flying fish. Even more, these mutants actually FLAP there wings like a bird, allowing flight over great distances! Everyone knows flying fish only jump out of the water and glide a very short distance before splashdown. I guess they figured they might as well run all the way with the idea! So whacky it must be seen to be believed! I guess we'll see Galaxy Of Terror out on DVD soon, since Cameron was the set director on that one (I think Bill Paxton was one of his carpenters, too!) At least he made it up to Lance Henrickson with the role of Bishop in ALIENS,

Sean Finnigan

(2013-05-14 15:23:16)

nobody's perfect

The finest film about flying piranhas ever made; James Cameron once saidabout his first film. I can now say I have seen this movie in which JamesCameron made every mistake a director could make. The concept is laughable;the characters are ugly and not very interesting. For some reason bad moviescan't afford good looking actors, the men and women in this film are allugly. The special effects are quite bad the flying look rubber and the keepgoing in back and forth motion when they attack people. The killer piranhasmake an annoying sound when there they are attacking and when there notattacking. The acting is poor during the attack scenes making them morelaughable then scary. There is a similarity between Piranha 2 and Titanic;they both feature a shipwreck. Going from this movie to Titanic is fantasticinfact going from this to The Terminator is great. This would have beenbetter if it played out like a spoof instead of a direct horror film. Iwonder if this film inspired the plot for Jaws 3; well at least a lot ofpeople get killed Piranha 2 unlike in Jaws 3 and 4. Piranha 2 was lousyattempt to recapture the brilliance of the original Jaws it failed in everypossible way. James Cameron first film featured more nudity then any ofother films. At least James Cameron made all mistakes he could have made inone film. Lesson Learned: Its possible to have sex underwater.

TheLittleSongbird

(2013-05-13 16:59:20)

I've seen worse, but this has no bite or conviction

First things first, I have seen much worse movies than Piranha 2:TheSpawning. However, that is very little to say in its defence. I enjoyedPiranha, it wasn't a masterpiece but it was very entertaining. ButPiranha 2 just didn't work. It has no bite or conviction, and I justcouldn't take it seriously. It is sad really that it was JamesCameron's feature debut. It makes me sad that a decent director startsout on his worst movie, and sadly his direction is quite leaden here.The deadly fish themselves are laughable and lack any menace, the storyis preposterous, the script is a complete shambles, the characters Iwas indifferent to and the acting was amateurish even from LanceHenrikssen. The pace is also incredibly dull, some parts I found hardto stay awake in. In fact, Piranha 2's only redeeming quality is thatit's short. Overall, a souless and leaden mess. 2/10 Bethany Cox

(2013-05-12 19:16:09)

just when you fought it was safe to go a resort again

I am retyping here my review of a classic jaw rip of sequel. When you think of jaws rip of you think of stuff like the Beast, Creature, stuff like that. Here is my review of 1983 horror cult classic Pirhana 2 the Spawning or Pirhan Part 2. This right up your ally if you enjoyed the original Roger Coreman Pirhana from the 1977. As the movie begins a group of divers is veciously attacted by a new stronger even deadlier new strain of mutant pirahnas. Now crossed with flying fish they are capable of attack in water, on land and in air. The mutated flying scale terro go on a kill spree killing several innocent resident of the local resort. It's up to a marine biologist, here harbor master husband, and and ex marine who designed the killer fish to destroy the Piranha's send these scale devils to the depths of Hell from which they came. Will they succed. Find in the thrilling, underwater, bonecrushing finaly. This is a good film classic B movie style at it's best. The lines are horrible written the stertypes unmatched. The gore effects seem mild and tsmed compared to the gore effects of the R rated films of the 1990s to the present day. If you enjoyed the original this right up your alley. I also recommend Bio Shcok about a group of scientist that discover unwater race of alien that come in the form of giant eeel like creature, Peter Bencly mega movies, Creature and the Beast which recently got a 20th anniversary two disk release as well as Orca and Devil fish the worst of all the jaws moves if you love real bad movies with bad acting effects gore and everything else the english cut of Devil Fish is a most see film. I give Piranha to the spawn 4.5 out of 5 some of the gore effects were a bit tame there were some slow parts where not much important happened.

PlotLuck

(2013-05-12 01:09:27)

Hard to believe it's Cameron

Cameron defends his first film opus as being, "without a doubt, the finest flying piranha movie ever made." I must agree with The King of the World on that one.This movie just goes to show that none of us should take early knocks in our careers too hard. From here to Titanic in 17 years is pretty good.

(2013-05-11 19:27:07)

Look! In the Sky! It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's a...Flying Piranha?!

Piranha Part 2 The Spawning: Movie ReviewGrade: FSeeing as this was director James Cameron's movie debut, I had high hopes for this film, along with its awesome-sounding plot. But, even from the director who would later go on to make other much better sequels like Terminator 2 - Judgment Day (Extreme DVD) and Aliens (Two-Disc Collector's Edition), and the mega-blockbuster Titanic (10th Anniversary Edition), this film apparently fell into the wrong hands. (You can tell the fish are on strings! Strings!!!)Now that awesome-sounding plot I told you about? Piranhas are genetically bred with a species flying fish, making the ultimate flying/undersea killer. Now that killer, a huge swarm of them, is loose in the ocean waters near a popular resort, and they soon start picking off the local vacationers. Sounds cool, but looks can be deceiving. There are problems and plot holes in just about every scene in Piranha 2, and the movie just ends up looking downright pathetic in the end. You meet characters that have nothing to do with the movie, ("You're a doctor?" "No...I'm a dentist..." What?! That scene has nothing to do with the movie!!!!) seriously taking away from the action. It's almost as if they are just there to make the movie longer, because without them the movie would be only about an hour and ten minutes, and the Piranhas are only actually in about five of them. You know what that leaves us with? A whole lot more of useless characters, pointless conversations, and long boring stretches that leave major plot holes. I would give some examples of the plot holes, but I'd end up giving away the entire movie, because its alllll plot holes that lead to nowhere. Now don't even get me started on the special effects: the SciFi channel's special effects far surpass these flying rubber fish on strings, that's all I'm going to say...Not even the acting can save this movie. Why? Because the acting isn't that great either. To me, it seemed forced, as if the actors didn't even really want to be in the movie in the first place...And in the end the movie's not even worth your time. Yes, I normally don't mind bad special effects, and yes, I even think most SciFi channel movies are great, but boy, is this one a stinker. They say there's a first time for everything, and this was my first time giving anything one star and a failing review. (I really want to know how they got Lance Henrikson to sign up for this movie...) Jeez, most movies like this one made in the `80's weren't this bad...

(2013-05-11 13:18:38)

Flying killer fish? Hey, why not?

"The greatest film about flying Piranha ever made". Well, Jim Cameron definetly called it right on this one. About as "guilty" as guilty pleasures get, this stubborn but very watchable "mother nature run amok" B-movie will probably best be known as the directorial debut of James Cameron who would later go on to make a couple of small unknown indie films called Terminator 2 and Titanic. This name-only sequel to the Roger Corman cult classic has a rather silly premise involving a strand of mutated killer piranha with the ability to fly who are terrorizing an island resort. Of course, the resort's diving instructor (Tricia O'Neil) wants to close down the water activities but her boss isn't having it. Her estranged husband, the island's law enforcement (a young Lance Henriksen) is skeptical at first but when dead bodies keep piling up, he starts thinking otherwise. "Piranha II" is no Jaws in any way but it gets the job done as far as "late night creature features" are concerned. The special effects leave a lot to be desired as we get to see actors battle with fish on a string but it's all in good fun. The DVD has no added special features and is only available in its full-frame format.

annuvin

(2013-05-11 12:45:34)

It doesn't get much worse than this...

This movie is certainly in the top 10 worst I have ever seen. It was sobad that I had pretty much forgotten about it until I saw it listed onthe "Worst Ever" list on here. An utter and complete waste of film. Theonly worse movies I have ever had the misfortune of viewing had to bethe asinine "Lost Highway" and the ridiculous "Pearl Harbour". At leastPearl Harbour starred Kate Beckinsale. Pirahna II: The Spawning has noredeeming qualities whatsoever.The plot is ridiculous, the acting is worse and even as a child Iremember telling everyone I knew what tripe this movie was. As A child,I laughed about it for weeks. As an adult I just wince at the memories.However, you may enjoy it if you like really bad movies. Unfortunately,it isn't so bad it's funny... It's so bad you want to kick your TV inafter wasting your time watching it. Stay away. FAR away.

(2013-05-10 17:46:11)

The first one was good, but this one is horrible!

I enjoyed the original Piranha movie, so when I saw this one in the store, and that it was directed by James Cameron, I thought it would be good. I was wrong. Most of this movie was filled with sex, naked women, and people with major personality disorders. Normally I don't have a problem with the nude scenes in horror films, having decided that it is something the directors/producers feel they must do, but the frequency of these nude/sex scenes detracted from the rest of the film. I found myself spending most of the movie wishing the piranhas would eat everyone but the boy and his mom. It's really kind of pathetic when you find yourself cheering for the 'monsters'. The special effects (in a manner of speaking) were ok for the time, but nothing spectacular. Some of the actors were above average, but most were definitely C or D list. In short, this film has nothing going for it but the naked women, if that is what you like. I say skip this one and just watch the original. I know I will never watch this movie again. It had a fairly good concept that fell apart almost immediately.

(2013-05-10 03:58:03)

love it

This review is from: Piranha II: The Spawning (DVD) i thought the film was good.. 1 of my fav special ffx artists of all time gino de rossi.. hbtc, 7 doors of death, ect

insomniac_rod

(2013-05-09 15:47:39)

Don't even bother...

A crappy sequel to a late 70's Jaws spin-off. "Piranha II" is probablyone of the worst horror movies from the 80's. Don't watch it with lowexpectations because you will feel terrible after it. The best thing about the movie are the underwater scenes at night. Theflying piranhas are very cheesy and laughable. The effects are lame andmade me want to turn the t.v. off. The score is pure 80's and works forsome scenes. The 80's never looked this horrible in a horror movie.There's nothing interesting about the movie believe me. Not even thebikinis save this from the trash can.Lines like: "Do you dive in the first date?" or "my husband died ofexcitement" (sexually talking) are elements that make the audience notto take seriously the movie.1/10. Only James Cameron's creativity deserves a mention. Boot this tothe trash can!.

Kristine

(2013-05-09 00:21:19)

Well, I guess I've learned a lot about the flying fish

Funny to think, before Avatar, Titanic, True Lies, Terminator 2,Aliens, The Abyss, The Terminator, James Cameron was just trying tomake it himself. After quitting being a truck driver, he was just theeditor on Piranha 2 and somehow got shoved into the director's seat. Ican see why he skims over this movie when in interviews people askabout what his life was like before The Terminator. It's fun to seewhat are the first works are of a huge Hollywood name. I did see thismovie when I was a kid and even then I have to say that this was one ofthe silliest movies I had ever seen in my life. I mean, flyingpiranhas? I get it, they were trying to make the fish seem impossibleto escape from at this point, under water or on land, you just couldn'tget away from these monsters. But these monsters looked like somethingyou could get at Spencer's Gifts for a Halloween party.Off the coast of a Caribbean island, a young couple flee the hotel tohave sex in the sea. But they swim into a sunken wreck which is also apiranha lair and they are both killed and eaten by the unseen piranha.The next day, a group of tourists are taking the diving coursesprovided by Anne Kimbrough, an employee of the Hotel Elysium. One ofher divers swims into the wreck, which she has strictly forbidden toher divers. Leaving Tyler to take over and lead the others to thesurface, she discovers almost immediately that her 'missing' studenthas swum into the wreck and been killed there when his badly chewed upbody is found. With the help of her estranged husband, Steve, they mustfigure a way to stop these evil flying piranha.Now one of the great things about this film I have to say is the firstscene. This couple goes underwater to have sex, that is something Ihave to say I have never seen on the wackiness level for un-needednudity. Other than that, I don't think there was anything that goodabout the film even on a camp level. But given the credit where it'sdue, you could really see talent behind James. As an editor, he did thebest he could with what he had. It's like handing over a broken stickhouse and saying to fix it, he did the best he could, but just couldn'treally save the film. But Lance Henriksen is the only actor in the filmwho actually puts a little effort into this movie and I could see whyhe made it above the other actors in this movie.I don't know if I could recommend this film, it just depends on themood you're in. If you're looking to see all of James Cameron's work orLance Henrikson, I would say to go for it. But just a warning inadvance, this is an over the top silly movie. Some moments work andsome don't, there are some laughable scenes, but most of the film isoddly boring for a film about flying fish. Now I would watch adocumentary about these flying fish if James made one today, eitherthat or he should've added the flying piranha to his blockbuster filmTitanic. I think he would've gotten the full 11 out of 11 Oscar wins ifhe added those. Anyways, just don't expect anything special out of thismovie, just remember, there was a time before his submarine missionsdeep below the seas being one of the most powerful men in Hollywood heslept on a friend's couch just trying to make a name for himself.2/10

mcfly-31

(2013-05-08 16:50:49)

on par with the original

This follow-up pretty much matches the first film for pacing and thrills,which isn't saying much. Seeing how the fishies are introduced in theopening scene (to devour a pair of underwater lovemakers!) but thendisappear for 20 minutes to set up the bland characters. Despite what otherIMDBers have said, I thought the cast looked fine. O'Neill is cute, the twocruel babes on the boat were NICE, and the busty, though never glimpsed, seacaptain's daughter was good. She does the "dirty deed" with some dude in awaterfall, but the scene is so dark that you cant see squat. And there'sactually a survivor so to speak of all these performers: veteran actorHenricksen, who went on to bigger and better, and is till working thesedays. As for the action, I liked the idea of the flying munchers. Thoughlaughable, it gave them an extra dynamic to exploit on the victims. Buteven with that inventive idea, the effect of them taking flight is extremelycheap looking. Whenever they chew someone, its always done in close up, asif some stagehand was trying to stay out of the shot as he held the fishagainst the actors face/neck. I do have to give credit for the sceneinvolving the nurse. If you don't get a jolt when that little sucker popsout of the dead body, I'd be surprised. As for superstar director Cameron,his first offering is what you'd expect out of a low budget horror film;cheaply made, dark and badly photographed nonsense. And that early"Titanic" influence is evident in a number of scenes that take place in thehulls of a sunken ship. But he manages to make you jump here and there, andI enjoyed the opening credits, that featured some good, creepy violin musicand creatively done wavy, water-like effects as the names came on screen. As most have said, this may go into a lot of peoples "so bad, its funny"file, but it entertained me as much as the first film did, which was verylittle.