''New Alcatraz'' (named ''Boa'' on VHS and DVD), is a 2002 American

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

horror film. It was directed by Phillip Roth and starred

Dean Cain Dean George Cain ( né Tanaka; born July 31, 1966) is an American actor. From 1993 to 1997, he played Clark Kent / Superman in the TV series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. Cain was the host of '' Ripley's Believe It or Not! ...

. In the middle of Antarctica, a high maximum-security prison called New Alcatraz has recently become operational. When a mining crew inside the prison accidentally drills into a strange rock formation, a giant prehistoric

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

is unleashed upon the prison and goes on a killing rampage. It is up to the prison staff, inmates, two paleontologists, and a group of soldiers to hunt down and eliminate the beast.

Plot

In New Alcatraz, the world's most secure

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

located in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

, a drilling operation inadvertently releases a giant,

boa constrictor The boa constrictor (scientific name also ''Boa constrictor''), also known as the common boa, is a species of large, non-venomous, heavy-bodied snake that is frequently kept and bred in captivity. The boa constrictor is a member of the Family (b ...

(fictional species ''Serpuca largas'') from a large, hollow rock that had been preserving it in

suspended animation Suspended animation is the slowing or stopping of biological function so that physiological capabilities are preserved. States of suspended animation are common in micro-organisms and some plant tissue, such as seeds. Many animals, including l ...

. The Boa chews a hole through the

ice Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally oc ...

, enabling it to escape into the prison. The hole is discovered by workers and a guard is placed on it until the

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

s can assess the hole and block it up. Jenkins, the guard, hears a strange hissing noise in the tunnels and is sent by Sergeant Quinn, his supervisor, to investigate; Jenkins, unnerved, requests backup, causing Quinn to send the engineers, Poluso and Goodman, to help him. Jenkins is stalked and killed by the Boa; arriving on scene, Poluso and Goodman grumble about being woken up.

Blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

drips down from the pipes onto Poluso, causing him to stare up in confusion, just as the Boa attacks him and Goodman. The engineers’ screams can be heard as the Boa begins to move further into the prison. The prison sends out a distress call which is received by the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

. They hire

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

Robert Trenton and his wife Jessica to assist a military team led by Major Larsten in the search to destroy the Boa. When they arrive at the prison, they discover a group of survivors, led by head of security Quinn and prison warden Fred Riley. The security and military personnel split up and set out to find and kill the Boa whilst Robert, Jessica and Fred watch on in the control room. A soldier named McCarthy is killed by the Boa while his partner Simmons is found shot dead; one by one, the other personnel are also killed. Robert and Jessica join in the hunt. After a

skirmish Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to Screening (tactical), screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They may be deployed in a sk ...

with the Boa, a

gas pipe A pipeline is a system of pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries around the world. The Un ...

ruptures and explodes, killing the remaining security and military members. Robert and Jessica survive and flee from the Boa, but Jessica is seemingly killed. Robert returns to the security room and convinces Fred to release the prisoners to help them escape. Fred releases the prisoners, and the group devises a plan to escape. During the escape, one of the prisoners, a " black hat"

hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hackersomeone with knowledge of bug (computing), bugs or exp ...

named Kelly Mitich, attempts to save himself, only to be killed by the Boa and accidentally causing another gas explosion, killing Fred. Meanwhile, the other group led by Chechen prisoner Yuri Breshcov and his cousin Peter Yuvol who had been arrested at the beginning of the film for attempting to purchase mid-range

nuclear missile Nuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. All nine nuclear states have developed some form of medium- to long-range delivery system for their nuc ...

s for

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

. He finds Jessica alive, and they take her in. The Boa then kills two of the prisoners, but Yuri and Jessica escape to the surface. Meanwhile, Robert and prisoner Patricia O'Boyle, a member of the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

, attempt to escape, but the Boa kills Patricia while Robert escapes to the surface. Robert, Jessica, and Yuri attempt to escape on the military plane. However, the Boa sneaks onboard and kills one of the pilots. In the ensuing battle, the Boa is ejected from the plane, but Yuri is dragged out with it, and the two fall to their deaths. Robert and Jessica, bewildered but alive, fly to safety.

Cast

as Dr. Robert Trenton *

Elizabeth Lackey Elizabeth Lackey (born 2 March 1971), is an Australian actress sometimes credited under the name Lisa Lackey. Career Lackey grew up in Orange, New South Wales, and attended Orange High School. Lackey was working as a model before she was cas ...

as Dr. Jessica Platt-Trenton *

Mark Sheppard Mark Andreas Sheppard is an English actor and musician. Sheppard is known for playing the demon/King of Hell Crowley on ''Supernatural'' and for his recurring roles as lawyer Romo Lampkin on the ''Battlestar Galactica'' reboot, Interpol inves ...

as Yuri Breshcov * Dean Biasucci as Major Larsten *

Craig Wasson Craig Wasson (born March 15, 1954) is an American actor. He made his film debut in '' Rollercoaster'' (1977). He is best known for his roles as Jake Scully in Brian DePalma's '' Body Double'' (1984), and Neil Gordon in Chuck Russell's '' A Nigh ...

as Warden Fred Riley * Grand L. Bush as Sergeant Quinn * Richard Tanner as Peter Yuvol *Amanda Reyne as Patricia O'Boyle * Greg Collins as Scott Poluso *Gary Hershberger as Goodman *

Dana Ashbrook Dana Vernon Ashbrook (born May 24, 1967) is an American actor, best known for playing Bobby Briggs on the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) and its 1992 prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me''. Early life Ashbrook was ...

as Kelly Mitich *Robert Madrid as Jose *Chris Ufland as Jenkins * Christopher Michael as Captain Thomas *Ron Otis as McCarthy

Critical reception

''Boa'' was released to compete with '' Python II'' (2002), a sequel to one of the most popular made-for-television snake movies of all time, ''

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (prog ...

''. ''Boa'' was a critical failure, with reviews citing bad acting and poor special effects.

Sequel

'' Boa vs. Python'' was released after the success of the ''Python'' franchise and the failure of ''Boa''; ''Boa vs. Python'' was also a critical failure. The filmmakers had decided to make a crossover with ''Python'' and ''Boa'', involving the two types of snakes fighting each other. It has been noted that ''Boa vs. Python'' was inspired by '' Alien vs. Predator'' (2004).

Release

Both the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

versions have been out of print as of 2010.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Alcatraz (Film) 2002 films 2002 horror films 2002 action thriller films American natural horror films American action horror films American horror thriller films Films about snakes American prison films 2000s prison films Giant monster films Films set in Antarctica Sony Pictures direct-to-video films Films directed by Phillip J. Roth 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language horror films English-language crime films English-language action thriller films Natural horror films