Lake Placid

1999 "You'll never know what bit you."
5.8| 1h22m| R| en| More Info
Released: 16 July 1999 Released
Producted By: 20th Century Fox
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

When a man is eaten alive by an unknown creature, the local Game Warden teams up with a paleontologist from New York to find the beast. Add to the mix an eccentric philanthropist with a penchant for "Crocs", and here we go! This quiet, remote lake is suddenly the focus of an intense search for a crocodile with a taste for live animals...and people!

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betty dalton Mysterious attacks in Lake Placid occur. Bridget Fonda heads out to Lake Placid to do research if there is an actual croccodile to be found in this tranquil lake. Bill Pulmann as sheriff protects her from any harm. Will they find anything or is it all a hoax? What follows is a story full of vulgar grannies, hilarious jokes and B movie reptile attacks. Oh yes, and there is also some romance going on.Who made this wonderful "Jaws" clone? Let's start by mentioning the legendary Stan Winston, THE MAN responsible for the terrific "Alien" creatures. He created the croccodile monster in this tale and it don't look scary at all. But then again this is a comedy and although there is some suspense it is mostly of the hilarious kind.I have seen it multiple times now and I keep laughing as hard as the first time. The incredible witty dialogues are to be thanked for that. Quote by a grannie living near the lake to a sherrif: "If I had a d*ck, this is where I would tell you to s*ck it". You gotta see this grannie to really enjoy this altercation with the law that wants to destroy the croccodile while the old grannie wants to cuddle the monster."Lake Placid" is much more than an average comedy. The simple story may deceive upon first look, but a lot of effort went into this picture to make it something special. This comedy truly stands the test of time and what makes it so endearing and hilarious are the terrific dialogues. The characters are credible, however stereotype they may be. The characters and the dialogue are really to die for. And when I can believe in the characters I can enjoy it again and again.At an endnote I wanna mention that lots of wise observations about croccodiles were interwoven in the dialogues. Some amazing TRUE ones: "Croccodiles have been worshipped more than other religions in ancient cultures. People thought croccodiles were godly". Well, they have been around for millions of years and they will probably outlive human beings. However in this flick croccodiles are just great material to make hilarious jokes about, topped with some witty romance with the lovely Bridget Fonda.
Lee Eisenberg OK, so Steve Miner's "Lake Placid" contains a collection of clichéd characters - the sarcastic locals, the eccentric millionaire, and the scientist woman who freaks out at the sight of anything unpleasant - but you gotta love some of the things that the movie shows. When it got released, Entertainment Weekly's review of it was titled WHAT A CROC OF... and called it a monstrosity that sinks to the bottom. While obviously not any sort of high-value cinema, it's still a fun movie. The most interesting person in the movie is Betty White's character. She seems like the typical nice old lady, but she turns out to have a sharp tongue.Basically, the movie makes no pretense about what it is. I suspect that they had fun filming it. Producer David E. Kelley (Michelle Pfeiffer's husband) is best known for shows like "Ally McBeal" and is now behind "Big Little Lies".
ironhorse_iv To some, Lake Placid might seem, like it mastered, the B-movie horror genre 'so bad, it's good', type of a film. However, for others; the movie is full of mean-spirited, unfunny, somewhat offensive jokes. For me, I felt like, this movie was pretty entertaining, however, I'm not one of those, who would be, a tailgater for this film. This movie can bite me! This tongue-in-cheek, killer croc film was pretty stupid. Directed by Steve Miner, the movie tells the story of a group of wildlife experts, trying to hunt a giant, 30-foot-long man-eating crocodile, which is terrorizes the small community of Black Lake, Maine. Can they capture the beast, or will they become the crocodile's next meal? Watch the movie to find out, if you want to! Without spoiling the movie, too much, I have to say, that Lake Placid isn't that great. Not at all! However, it's a lot better than the later, crocodile related horror films. One thing, that I didn't like, about the film is the characters. All, of them, has their moments of annoyance to me. The only, two characters, I was, somewhat rooting for, was Sheriff Hank Keough (Brendan Gleeson) & Fish and Game officer Jack Wells (Bill Pullman), because they were the ones, that seem, somewhat normal. Everybody else, I was kinda rooting for the crocodile to eat them. Bridget Fonda as the History paleontologist Kelly Scott, comes across as a whinny city girl, looking for a hookup. The first part of the film, with her, was very hard to get through. I really didn't care to find out, what her previous relationship did to her. Nor did, I care for her forced relationship with Bill Pullman's character. She really doesn't do, much for the film, besides endangering herself and her teammates, anyways. Nor, does she really care, that the crocodile kill people. She still wants it, to be capture, rather than, not killed. What type of human being, does that!? It was there, that I really couldn't stand her presence. Mythology professor/crocodile enthusiast Hector Cyr (Oliver Platt) was the same way. While, he was somewhat funny. His jokes were, mostly a miss, rather than a hit, due to his offensive, often homophobia and womanizer nature. I really didn't like, his preachy, keep the animal alive, approach. Both characters should had died, and the crocodile should had be luggage. See you later, alligator. Bye! Bye! Another problem, with the film was the settlings. For a movie call Lake Placid; it really has a lame excuse for the name, Lake Placid. I was really hoping, the movie settling was, indeed, Lake Placid, New York. Maybe, have, some type of Olympian swimmer, kill the beast in the end. Who Knows! It could probably, make a better movie, than we got. While, this film was a financial success at the box office and was followed by a series of sequels and a crossover film with the Anaconda series. Sadly, this animal attack movie doesn't have the thrill and chills in suspense, like Steven Spielberg's 1975's hit, Jaws. It's not scary, at all. Nor, does the movie master, any sense of horror comedy like Ron Underwood's 1990 Tremors. Still, compared to a lot of killer croc films, out there. Lake Placid features some semi great special effects by both Stan Winston and Digital Domain that, for the most part, hold up, today. The crocodile looks somewhat realistic. The gore effects was good enough for stomach curling. The sequels however not so much, though I do admittedly, they look better than most Sci-Fi Channel Original films. The movie also doesn't really, have much in exposition or plot development. It seem like the movie didn't care about the science, too much, as it's somewhat abandoned, explaining, toward the middle of the film. Even in the end, you still, don't have, no clue, how the crocodile got into the lake in the first place, and how it's able to survive there. Regardless, the movie does have, some good pacing. There were very few filler scenes in this 82 minutes film. Another thing, that I like, about the film is the music; however, it rarely matches, what's going on, with the film. Honestly, how in the hell does 'I Think I Love You' by singer, Maureen Davis & 'It's Not Unusual" by singer, Tom Jones, have to do, with a 20ft killer crocodile!? Noting, if you ask me. Overall: While, the music doesn't match, well with the film. I still have, to say, this movie still entertains me, enough to get, through it. Nevertheless, this feeding frenzy movie is only good for a one-time watch. Not worth, the rewatchability. This movie has reptile dysfunction.
Dom Nickson Spoiler Alert! I caught this film on sci-fi and remember some scenes and I got to tell you I'll always remember the opening scene where the diver gets bitten in half. I like this film for being a cheaper monster film. The sequels were horrible and nowhere near as entertaining as this film. The only thing I didn't like was Bridget Fonda's acting. If she was killed off earlier I think I would of liked it a lot better. I also liked the scene where that guy gets his head bitten off by the gator in all honesty I didn't even see that coming. This really isn't too bad for being a sci-fi film and I give it a 6 out of 10 because it's still the best alligator film I've ever seen.