Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

fullheadofsteam Let's face reality: most made-for-SyFy movies the past few years have been not only formulaic to the max, but pathetically scripted, acted, and cg'd. So to find this movie, which has some typical SyFy flick flaws but otherwise was fun, well then it's a gem among rocks. First is the intended or unintended visage of the protagonist lead character, because he looks more like an actor picked for a Western movie role than an authentic Old West character, so that starts us off on a fun note. The next best feature is Billy Drago as the antagonist -- he chews up every scene he is in and it is pure delight to watch his now-aged face and listen to his perfected southwestern drawl. And the movie builds tension remarkably well for a TV production. Of course the protagonist and antagonist end up in a cliché gunfight, but that's O.K. because by now we, the audience, WANT to see it! Without giving everything completely away here, let's just say that neither is killed but Billy Drago rides out of town but his little gang is left behind. The next sequence is, of course, the bigger event of the massive invasion into the town by zillions of deadly Copperhead snakes, and how the townspeople and remaining gang prepare for and deal with it. This is where the viewer is forced to focus on how a production and set designer can make a western town look dusty and authentic while being at the same time woefully low-budgeted so that the constructed town is perhaps too tiny overall. Now there are some real CG problems with the snakes, and some special effects problems such as where the hits are from a Gatling gun, but then there are some good (probably too few) splatter and snake-chopping effects. When Mama snake shows up, there's some real fun. What disappoints is that after the major snake encounters, Billy Drago doesn't show up to finalize his score with the lead character, which he had promised to do. In fact, the ending seems to have been a bit contrived to cover for that plot problem. But any time the good guy gets to ride off into the sunset (literally here), it's been a fun ride.

slayrrr666 "Copperhead" is another in a long line of enjoyable Sci-Fi Channel killer snake films.**SPOILERS**Riding into a small New Mexico town, 'Wild' Bill Longley, (Brad Johnson) tries to warn Jesse Evans, (Billy Drago) and his henchmen, Will Bonney, (Keith Stone) Roscoe Burrell, (Gabriel Womack) and Ponciano 'Ponce' Domingues, (George Zlatarev) about a giant herd of poisonous snakes heading toward town. When his threat is mostly ignored and laughed at, they notice that the gang is slowly disappearing. Discovering too late that the threat was real, the other residents of town, Garrett, (Brad Greenquist) Josiah, (Atanas Srebrev) Jane, (Wendy Carter) and Darla, (Sofia Leticia Morales) form up to battle the deadly snakes and drive them away. As the attacks continue and slowly whittle down their numbers, they launch a last-ditch plan to rid themselves of the snakes once and for all.The Good News: There was a lot to like from this one. The main one is the fact that there's a really fun Western atmosphere. The fact that it's set there is a nice plus, giving it a different feeling than the contemporary ones that are almost always shown, and that it has a lot of authentic details helps out even more. From the realistic card-game, complete with the high-stakes nature of it and a really great atmosphere with the other denizens of the location, to the look of the town and the whole setting of it, nothing in it looks new or modern and even the mini-gun appears to be from that time. There's even some fun to be had from the staple of the Westerns, the gunfight in the street of the town, and this one in here scores as well. As well as being a fun scene that manages to entertain in it's frustratingly-brief time, it's also fun in that it sets-up later events as well, providing an important part of the story in addition to being a fun action set-piece. The film also does well with it's main action scenes, which here are just plain fun and entertaining. The initial swarming of the town, where the creatures appear at the saloon and proceed to worm their way through most of the townspeople, leading to a furious gunfight to get rid of them that incorporates some fun spots into the action and a real sense of urgency and suspense, make it a great one, as is the later scene where they put the main part of their defense against the snakes into action. Featuring a great plan, nice execution, a few surprises and a ton of action, it steals the show as the big set-piece and gets a lot of what makes the film so fun. Beyond hand-held guns and rifles, gasoline-fueled fire-filled trenches, machetes, a perilous rope-swing mere feet above their leaping ability and a mini-gun are used to full effect on them, and that a couple are taken out just makes for some great scenes. Using it as a precursor to the trap in the hotel is all really good, and it makes the frantic chase all the more intense. The final fights with the giant snake are just as solid, featuring some innovative tactics and a lot of realism that brings it down nicely. All of these, as well as the multitude of confrontations in the film, give this one a really fast pace and a lot of action to keep it interesting. The last plus to this one is the fact that it features a rather high body count, despite their not being a lot of really remarkable kills. Most here are gunshot-victims or succumb to the snake-bites, so we don't get a ton of gore, but it's still the fact that it decides to knock off as much as it does, which is the main point. All of these elements make the film enjoyable.The Bad News: This one here only had a few really noticeable flaws to it. One of the biggest is the fact that there's a really obvious cliché present in the film, namely the appearance of a giant snake after spending most of the film dealing with numerous, regular-sized creatures. The film had been enjoyable dealing with the smaller creatures, yet it shoehorns the big one in just because it has too, and it's seen coming from a mile away since these always manage to have a larger one. That about twenty minutes before the ending it knocks off the little ones is a sure-fire sign that it's going with the it, and you have to deal with the cliché. That there's not even an explanation for it's size is another one, as it's improbable that something that big existed back then and yet nothing is uttered about how it got to be that size. Anything would've been fine, but nothing is wrong. The last flaw is the usual atrocious CGI used for the creature, but like so many others from the Sci-Fi Channel, it's par-for-the-course and doesn't really seem all that big of a deal to criticize this one, just point out the fact that it follows the form of the others. None of these, though, are that detrimental to the film as a whole at all.The Final Verdict: Not a whole lot of wrong stuff here, which is the norm for these kinds of films, and one that is really good. Highly recommended for those who have an appreciation for the Sci-Fi Channel's killer snake films or of these films in general, though those who aren't big fans should heed caution.Rated R: Graphic Violence and Language

microx96002 OK, it's no Oscar winner, but as westerns go, I have to admit it was pretty much OK. Can't wait for a sequel, you just know they left it wide open for one. One suggestion though, forget the snakes next time, make it a real western. Everyone in it did a great job, and yes there wasn't enough Billy Drago, but see what I said about being left open for a sequel. I think the director is a westerns fan, someone who knows his westerns, and is a little influenced by the spaghetti westerns of the 1960' and 70's. There was a touch of old fashioned TV western to the music also, little bit Bonanza, a little bit Rawhide, just hints. A competent western overall, the snakes were a bit too CGI, but that only added to the B movie feel. So, to the producers, a sequel please with the same cast, continuation of the story, but please, traditional western without the snakes.

Ronald WalksHorse A good attempt at making a Western by a foreign film maker. Attention to detail was very good on creating an authentic looking western town. Wardrobe was very well chosen and authentic to the time period being depicted. Props and Set Dressings were very well represented for the era. The Characters were very well portrayed. The Dialog of the Characters was very well written for each part played. I was very disappointed in their attempt at making computer generated snakes though as they were not very realistic looking. However, it was a good movie to just set back with the lights off eating popcorn with good company. Just a good movie to stay up late for and scare each other.