Leofwine_draca
As far as ultra low budget, cheesy action flicks go, SNAKE EATER II ain't bad. It sure isn't great, marred by the typically low production values you find in such B-movie fare; the acting from the supporting cast is dreadful, the music poor, and the cheesy digital effects that cut between different scenes are diabolical. However, as is also the case sometimes, the low budget actually adds to the gritty feel of the film, and as much of this takes place on the 'street', it looks good – in the same way that a film like VIGILANTE looks and feels true to life.Lorenzo Lamas, TV actor turned super low-budget action hero, is okay in this film. He's wooden, of course, and his attempts at humour don't work. But he looks the part of a Mel Gibson-style '80s action hero, and he appears to be enjoying himself. He's ably supported by Larry B. Scott who is pretty funny as Speedboat, a streetwise young black guy who has a vendetta against the drug lords. This film's plot is clichéd and predictable, but at the same time quite insane. One minute, Lamas is taking down the bad guys a la Charlie Bronson, the next, he's locked up in a mental hospital and fighting a guy named Goliath in a wheelchair battle; yup, I couldn't believe my eyes either. As much of the film is set in an asylum, there's a lot of supposed 'humour' from the crazy inmates, including a sex-obsessed evangelist, a pyromaniac, and some guy who looks like Groucho Marx. Sadly, it ain't very funny, but at least it's different and certainly not run-of-the-mill.This film's cheesy action sequences are quite entertaining to watch, as the script writers attempted to get mileage out of the tired premise by staging some imaginative assassinations. Thus we get fire extinguishers rigged to shoot flames (watch the hilarious bit where they try to put a burning guy out), a pole that flies down and impales somebody in a car, home-made grenades and my favourite, a bomb hidden in a toilet cistern that's rigged to go off when you flush. The latter is a fine cinematic moment that beats LETHAL WEAPON 2's bog-bomb. The really decent part of this film is the twenty-minute showdown, in which Lamas breaks into the bad guy's mansion to free his buddy. He shoots loads of guys (no blood) before killing all the bad guys with a deadly poison that looks suspiciously like flour. Every action cliché is on show here, from the overacting death throes of the bad guys, to the many heroic wounds and loss of shirt, the machine-gun toting henchman, and prolonged fist-fight with a hulking nemesis. It's great fun and tops off what is a cheesy, low budget but nonetheless sporadically entertaining little movie. However, I am pretty susceptible to this kind of fare, so tasteful viewers may want to deduct a point from this friendly rating.
Pyoro
I bought this movie Thanksgiving Day at a Hollywood Video that was liquidating their VHS stock on cover alone. I personally adore terrible movies, and just seeing the cover gives the viewer a huge hint that perhaps SnakeEater II: The Drug Buster is not a film that changed the industry. From the white guy with a pistol who looks like he's trying to be tough to the "street wise" black guy with a shotgun, this movie looks like a simple write-off as terrible. I mean, the black guy on the cover is named Speedboat in the movie. Speedboat. I can't make this stuff up.So I popped in my copy of SnakeEater II tonight, and my first surprise was that there were no previews, and the movie began immediately. The second surprise was that that wasn't the only surprise.My expectations for the movie lowered upon witnessing the title sequence (which looked like the title sequence for a Super NES game) and the opening scene, where Speedboat is working community service at a community center preparing for a dancing competition. Here, while we see the late 80s at their finest, Speedboat runs around the room and makes wisecracks to everybody, but then begins to play second fiddle once Jonathan "Soldier" Kelly (Lorenzo Lamas), who looks and sounds like a MacGyver clone, comes in the room to put Speedboat in his place. Suddenly, the film's plot kicks in.This movie requires a high suspension of disbelief, of which the film's plot plays a key role in. The plot is that evil drug lords are selling spiked drugs, which are killing kids. Soldier then moves in to their hideout and kills them all. As Soldier was suspended from the police force, this gets him put into trial, and his lousy lawyer pleads insanity. This gets Soldier Kelly thrown into jail, where we meet the wackiest inmates this side of Con Air. The wacky inmates come in many varieties, but the most memorable one was definitely the perverted Evangelist, who delivers fiery sermons that soon devolve into nothing more than explicitly lurid sexual rants.However, that is not to say that this movie sucks. In fact, it's quite a decent movie. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the picture, and I was even rooting for the good guys, which I seldom do. However, the best parts of this movie are the script and the acting. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but this is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. From the incredibly bizarre scenes (Kelly asks Speedboat for a cover van that is "inconspicuous", and he gets a Mystery Machine look-alike with a gigantic plumber fixture on top) to the laughably unrealistic dialogue (while sneaking around in a vent, Kelly happens upon an inmate sneaking back into the asylum wearing a Domino's Pizza uniform and holding a pizza. Kelly's reaction? "They need a traffic light in here."), SnakeEater II manages to be funnier than some comedies. Because SnakeEater II made me laugh so hard, it's hard for me to not recommend this movie. However, I cannot give this movie a high rating simply because what I found hilarious in the movie does not necessarily make a good movie.
Frank Markland
Lorenzo Lamas returns as Soldier, who this time is confined to a mental hospital where he brings his one man army antics to dispose of drug dealers cutting their drugs with poison (One of the film's more believable subplots) this time however Soldier is aided by a black sidekick named Speedboat(Larry B. Scott) who also hates drug lords. He also gets one on one mental help with a female shrink (Who of course is hot, after all, in action movies any woman who pursues intellectual duties also looks as if she just posed for Playboy)who helps convince the jury he's innocent due to insanity. I'm also guessing that a love scene wasn't out of the question since she wears quite revealing clothes around Lamas and he hits on her constantly. In any case Snake Eater II:The Drug Buster is part of my three part review of the DVD set I never asked for. I read some positive reviews (Indeed the two external reviews, average this one at 7/10) saying that it is better than # 1, I can't disagree, although it's only of the slightest improvement. This time the production values are slicker, the action sequences more elaborate and the script more tongue in cheek but it's still a Lorenzo Lamas movie and although i'm betting this is one of his better efforts, I still refuse to give this more then 2 stars. Such as the case here, this is the perfect guilty pleasure B.movie, nothing more though.* * out of 4-(Fair)
bronsonskull72
Lorenzo Lamas returns as Renegade cop "Soldier" Jack Kelly who declares war on drug dealers who are cutting the drugs with rat poison in this undistinguished yet semi-fun sequel. Well what can we say? Snakeeater II:The Drug Buster boasts good actionscenes, and some good performances from Larry B. Scott and Ron Palillo but overall Snakeeater II:The Drug Buster is a mediocre movie. At least it's better then it's astonishingly bad predecessor.