Piranha appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. Given the film’s age and low-budget origins, this was a pretty satisfactory presentation.
For the most part, Piranha seemed reasonably sharp. Some mild soft spots occurred, but I thought it presented more than adequate delineation, as the majority of the movie looked concise and accurate. Jagged edges and shimmering weren’t issues, and edge enhancement remained absent.
Colors seemed good, as the hues were pretty peppy and dynamic. The flick used a natural palette that worked for its river setting. Blacks were reasonably dark and tight, while low light shots usually demonstrated nice delineation; a few night sequences seemed a bit dense, but those weren’t a significant concern.
Source flaws were an issue, though not to a tremendous degree. Through the film, I saw instances of spots, specks, and blotches. These created distractions, but not on a constant level, as most of the film looked acceptably clean. The print problems knocked my grade down to a “B-”, but I still felt fairly pleased with the image.
The monaural soundtrack of Piranha seemed dated and mediocre, as I expected. Effects appeared dinky and failed to offer great clarity. Speech consistently sounded thin and reedy. Not much edginess interfered, but the lines seemed lifeless and dull; some poor dubbing didn’t help matters.
The music lacked dimensionality most of the time. The score wasn’t bad, but it failed to deliver much presence and vivacity. No source flaws emerged, though, as the track remained acceptably clean. While nothing stood out as memorable, the audio seemed adequate for a cheap older movie.
We find a pretty good roster of supplements here. First comes an audio commentary from director Joe Dante and producer Jon Davison. Recorded for a 2000 DVD release, the guys sit together for a running, screen-specific chat about the film’s development and budgetary issues, cast and performances, sets and locations, effects,
Dante dominates the chat and makes it generally pretty good, though the track never becomes great. That’s largely because of too much dead air, especially as the flick progresses; gaps never seem overwhelming, but the pace slows as we go. Still, we learn a lot about the movie, and the participants provide a lot of good humor as they go; they don’t take the flick seriously and they have fun with it. Chalk this up as an inconsistent but enjoyable commentary.
Under Behind the Scenes Footage, we find nine minutes, 35 seconds of rough material. Accompanied by commentary from Dante and Davison, we see the home movies Davison shot. These elements include glimpses of the piranha puppets as well as views of the various sets and locations. It’s a moderately fun reel, though the remarks from Dante and Davison don’t add a lot; they let us know the identities of various subjects but not a lot more.
A new program called The Making of Piranha goes for 19 minutes, 44 seconds. It features notes from Dante, executive producer Roger Corman, photographic effects artist Peter Kuran, visual effects artists Chris Walas and Robert Short, creature designer Phil Tippett, editor Mark Goldblatt, and actors Melody Scott, Belinda Balaski and Dick Miller. “Making” examines the film’s origins and development, what Dante brought to the project, various effects, editing, cast and performances. This doesn’t threaten to become a comprehensive look at the movie, but it includes some interesting insights. Yeah, there’s some repetition from the commentary, but this remains a decent featurette.
A collection of Bloopers and Outtakes lasts six minutes, 48 seconds. The “bloopers” side of things dominates, as we get the standard goofs and giggles. If that entertains you, you’ll like this reel.
A collection of Additional Scenes from the Network Television Version occupies a total of 12 minutes, 21 seconds. Many of these tend to be short extensions, though some totally new sequences appear as well. They usually add exposition and a little more character information. I think they’re pretty superfluous, though; I can’t imagine any of them would’ve made the movie any better.
Some ads follow. We find three Radio Spots, one TV Spot, and two Trailers. The last area also includes ads for Corman pictures Humanoids from the Deep, Up from the Depths and Death Race 2000. Note that the main Piranha trailer comes with commentary from Davison; he throws in some decent notes, but it’s annoying we can’t watch the trailer without his thoughts.
Stillframe materials arrive under the Poster and Still Gallery. It presents advertising elements; the photos tend to come from lobby cards. More stills appear under Phil Tippett’s Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery, as we get 50 of those. All tend to be interesting, and I like the interface; the Blu-ray uses the Pop-Up menu to give us thumbnails, so we can easily navigate the shots.
Many seem to regard Piranha as the best of the Jaws rip-offs, but that’s pretty much the definition of “faint praise”. Perhaps it’s superior to other cheap cash-ins, but it’s still not any good. The Blu-ray provides acceptable to good picture and audio along with a smattering od decent supplements. Cheesy, silly and not very entertaining, Piranha fails to deliver much enjoyment.
