Crocodile
Hunter: Collision Course, The (2002)
Australian
Cinema - MED231
Lecturer - Dr
Garry Gillard
Assignment 2
by
Dave Brain
(30133161)
Credits
1.)
Producer:
Judi Bailey
Arnold Rifkin
John Stainton
Director:
John Stainton (story)
Writer:
Holly Goldberg-Sloan (screenplay)
John Stainton (story)
Cast:
Steve Irwin
Terri Irwin
Magda Szubanski
David Wenham
Kate Beahan
Kenneth Ransom
Lachy Hulme
Steve Bastoni
Aden Young
Steve Vidler
Director of Photography:
David Burr
Editor:
Suresh Ayyar
Bob Blasdall
Composer:
Mark McDuff
International Sales Agent:
Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM)
2500 Broadway
Santa Monica CA 90404
USA
Ph: +1 310 449 3000
Fax: +1 310 449 3100
Release Dates
Theatrical: Jul 12, 2002
Video: Dec 17, 2002
Box Office
$28,286,973
VHS Rentals:
$1,270,000
Web
The web is inundated
with information on Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, and the movie Crocodile
Hunter: Collision Course (2002). This is largely due to the notoriety the
Crocodile Hunter has earnt through his series being viewed on Animal Planet in
the U.S. and various other Nature cable channels worldwide. This has given
the Crocodile Hunter brand name and the Irwin誷 the heavy media attention that
is reflected in their web presence, but more recent news has not been the most
positive due to the 襂s Bob Bait? affair. A search under the title of
Crocodile Hunter on the Google search engine turned up over 198,000 results 7.), and a the
full title search, Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, turned up 44,200
results. 8.)
Methodology
The first part of my
methodology consisted of hiring The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course DVD from
my local video library. I then went Home and before starting to watch the movie
utilised the Links from the MED231 website to open up some of the movie review
websites and conducted a search via the Google website search engine. Whilst
looking at the results my subsequent searches brought up I then looked at some
of the reviews already done on the OzFilm Database to see what it was that was
required for the end product of the project. I then watched the film on DVD and
investigated all the extras provided. Following this I also accessed both the
Crocodile Hunter website and the MGM sponsored official movie website. I
continued looking at news and reviews provided me through my web surfing trying
to achieve an overall feel for the films presence and how it is situated both
here in Australia and Internationally. I found that the internet was the best
method of researching the film due to its only having been released in 2002.
Critical review
The Crocodile Hunter: Collision
Course. Reviewed by Dave Brain, 2004.
Synopsis:
This film is the story
of what happens when Steve Irwin and wife Terri, go to remove a problem
crocodile in Australia誷 North Queensalnd that has eaten a piece of space junk
owned by the American government, and the attempts of the bumbling American
Special Agents trying to retrieve it. Crikey! Watchout! With a mad shotgun
wielding farmer, useless American Special Agents, and the Crocodile Hunter,
Steve Irwin, himself running around their is enough insanity for all the family
to enjoy.
Plot:
This film is structured
around the normal format of the 褻rocodile Hunter television series. What誷
needed to make it into a Feature film then? A croc in trouble or a troublesome
croc. A redneck farmer trying to solve the trouble herself, shotgun wielding,
redneck style. An Australian ranger is trying to keep the farmer in check
supplying the instigation for the croc hunter to come to the rescue and move
the croc. Throw in some dopey American Special Agents trying retrieve the
remnants of a spy satellite that has been swallowed by aforementioned croc
therefore bringing all the pieces of the plot together on, wait for it, that誷
right, a collision course. Crikey! The plot is drizzily thin and doesn誸 need
to be much more as Steve Irwin誷 antics are the reason that you would go and
see this film, it誷 a laugh.
Review:
The most important thing
to remember when watching this film is its target audience and the type of film
that it is. This is a family type of film targeted to be received across a
broad audience age spectrum. It can also be seen to fall into the genre誷 of
褹ction/Adventure, Wilderness, Animals, Rescue, Wild Animals, Australia,
Wildlife as the web review site Rotten Tomatoes states 9.). If this is
understood then it can be seen that this is what Director, John Stainton, has
provided for us. It can also be placed in the comedy genre as the Dark Horizons
website10.) places it. This comes in the form of farce or spoof, as
this is what is achieved in the mockery of the high-tech American government
agencies attempts, in the sub-plot, to retrieve the treasured space junk from
the croc. Steve himself, whilst serious about his business, comes across to his
audience as a bit of an insane loony at which the audience readily laughs as
well. His intensity and passion for his industry are second to none. This is
what makes his show and what saves the film from total disaster. What we see
when Steve is onscreen is in the television format that speaks of the reality
from where his Crocodile Hunter series comes from. When the film sinks into the
pit of the sub-plot, Director John Stainton has switched to the cinema誷
Widescreen format. This method of format switching has not to my knowledge been
done in a feature film before. It acts to separate perceptions and storylines
in another method, and I feel that this is admirable in todays high tech media
world.
Critical uptake
This film is thought
about in many different ways. It falls into many genres a comedy, an Action
movie, a Drama, a Thriller, a Documentary, a Reality TV/Film. This has
therefore given it a range of reviews, but it was in the top ten the week it
opened and the following week and had recovered its budget of $13 million
dollars It is ranked 47 in the movie marshall誷 list of Australian box office
figures and will probably continue to earn money into the near future.
11.)
Circumstances of
production/release
5.)
Production Companies
* Animal
Planet [us]
* Best
Picture Show Company [au]
* Cheyenne
Enterprises [us]
* Discovery
Channel Pictures [us]
* J&M
Entertainment [us]
* Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(MGM) [us]
* Winchester
Films
Distributors
* 20th
Century Fox Italia [it]
* 20th
Century Fox Netherlands [nl]
* 20th
Century Fox de Argentina [ar] (Argentina)
* 20th
Century Fox of Germany [de]
* Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Corporation (MGM) [us]
* Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributing Corporation (MGM) [us]
* UGC-Fox
Distribution (UFD) [fr]
Special Effects
* Animal
Logic
Filmographies
Suffice to say that it
was interesting looking at the broad range of films that the people involved in
this production have also been involved in. I found that the most useful
information could be obtained from the Internet Movie Database and have
therefore provided links to their site listings for the filmographies.
Director, Producer,
Writer:
John Stainton (story)
Producer:
Judi Bailey -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0047336/filmoyear
Arnold Rifkin -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0726476/filmoyear
Writer:
Holly Goldberg-Sloan (screenplay) -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0805965/filmoyear
Cast:
Steve Irwin -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0410455/filmoyear
Terri Irwin -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0410457/filmoyear
Magda Szubanski -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0844294/filmoyear
David Wenham -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0920992/filmoyear
Kate Beahan -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0063571/filmoyear
Kenneth Ransom -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0710408/filmoyear
Lachy Hulme -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0401522/filmoyear
Steve Bastoni -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0060561/filmoyear
Aden Young -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0949237/filmoyear
Steve Vidler -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0896509/filmoyear
Director of
Photography:
David Burr -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0122999/filmoyear
Editor:
Suresh Ayyar -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0044064/filmoyear
Bob Blasdall -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm1144915/filmoyear
Composer:
Mark McDuff -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm1197944/filmoyear
Executive
Producer:
Bruce Willis -
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000246/filmoyear
Value of
Australian film
This is an amazing film
in terms of the way in which it has been constructed and is readily consumed as
an Australian film on a collision course with an American film. Obviously Steve
is pretty well recognised as being an Australian, the film was shot in
Australia, Directed and Produced by Australians, and is definitely a unique and
quirky Australian Film.
News
News from the InternetMovieDataBase
for:
Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course,
The (2002)
4.)
No Charges for Irwin After Croc Stunt
23 January 2004 (WENN)
Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin will not be charged for dangling his
baby under his arm while he fed crocodiles at an Australian zoo on New Year's
Day. The animal expert-turned-TV star was interviewed by the Office Of
Workplace Health and Safety, who concluded there isn't enough evidence to
suggest he violated any safety regulations. The decision is set to infuriate
children's charities, who were up in arms when they saw the footage of Irwin
holding tot Bob near the huge reptiles. But Irwin has defended his actions,
saying, "It's all about perceived danger; I was in complete control.
People say, 'Well, what if you had fallen?' But for that to take place, a
meteorite would have had to come out of the sky and hit Australia."
MGM Roars Over Strong Quarter
6 February 2003 (StudioBriefing)
Riding the strong box-office performance
for the James Bond film Die Another Day and lively holiday sales of its DVD library, MGM on
Wednesday reported a 50-percent boost in net revenue for its fourth-quarter.
Net income totaled $58.7 million versus $39.1 million for the comparable
quarter a year ago. Die Another Day, which grossed $160 million in North
America and $382 million overseas, reversed a series of expensive failures that
the studio had experienced earlier in the year with Hart's War, Windtalkers, and Rollerball. The company said it also made profits
in the fourth quarter with Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, Barbershop, Bowling for Columbine and Igby Goes Down.
Crocodile Hunter Set for TV Talk Show
8 January 2003 (WENN)
Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course star Steve Irwin has landed his own talk show - and his
first guest could be as 'A' list as they come. The Aussie daredevil, famous for
his encounters with a range of deadly animals, will film a series of special
programs for Australian television which could be sold around the world. It is
possible that his first guest could be his new friend and fellow Antipodean Russell Crowe. The pair hit it off at a
recent meeting and swiftly became firm friends and the presence of Crowe on the
show could guarantee its international marketability.
Little Was Littler
23 July 2002 (StudioBriefing)
When the clock struck one (or
thereabouts) on Monday, the mouse ran down the clock, forced into second-place
as final box-office ticket sales revealed that DreamWorks' Road to Perdition was the highest-grossing film
over the weekend, not Sony's Stuart Little 2 as estimates had indicated. Perdition reached the top spot despite
the fact that it was screened in only 2,159 locations, against 3,255 for Little and 3,641 for the No. 3 film,
Men in Black II.Overall, the box office
tallied $119.8 million, down 18 percent from the same weekend a year ago.
The top ten films over the weekend,
according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in
parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Road to Perdition, DreamWorks, $15,412,515, 2
Wks. ($47,304,790); 2. Stuart Little 2, Sony, $15,115,152, (New); 3. Men In Black II, Sony, $14,552,335, 3 Wks.
($158,127,629); 4. K-19:
The Widowmaker,
Paramount, $12,778,459, (New); 5. Reign of Fire, Disney, $7,317,994, 2 Wks.
($29,246,331); 6. Mr.
Deeds, Sony,
$7,312,128, 4 Wks. ($107,630,816); 7. Eight Legged Freaks, Warner Bros., $6,485,458, 1 Wk. (Opened
Wednesday), ($9,080,158); 8. Halloween: Resurrection, Miramax/Dimension, $5,520,536, 2 Wks. ($21,952,979);
9. Lilo &
Stitch,
Disney, $4,973,660, 5 Wks. ($128,431,916); 10. Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, MGM, $4,667,895, 2 Wks.
($18,726,625).
Even at No. 1, Stuart Little Lives Up
to Its Name
22 July 2002 (StudioBriefing)
The scorching hot summer box office
suddenly cooled off over the weekend. Although Stuart Little 2 opened as the weekend's top
film, its $15.6-million take could not have brought much pleasure to executives
at Columbia, who reportedly okayed expenditures of more than $130 million on
the mouse movie. (Many analysts had predicted a $25-million opening for it.)
Sony distribution chief Jeff Blake told today's (Monday) Los Angeles Times: "With a family film,
you hope for a good opening and great legs. ... You hope for seven-day-a-week
business, where whatever you lose in opening weekend you hope to pick up in the
longevity of the picture." But the biggest disappointment may have been
the tanking of Harrison
Ford's
submarine thriller, K-19 -- The Widowmaker, which opened in fourth place with just
$13.1 million, about half of Ford's salary for the movie, which reportedly cost
a total of $100 million to make. In its second week DreamWorks' Road to Perdition came within about $30,000 of
taking the lead (and it still might end up there when final figures are
released late Monday). With an estimated gross of $15.57 million, the Tom
Hanks-Steven Spielberg collaboration remained in second place. Eight Legged Freaks, the only other movie to
debut over the weekend, produced the kind of horror at the box office that
critics said it lacked on the screen, as it earned only $6.7 million ($9.3
million since its opening on Wednesday). After two weeks at No. 1, Men in Black II dropped to third place with
just $15 million.
The top ten films for the weekend,
according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Stuart Little 2, $15.6 million; 1. Road to Perdition, $15.57 million; 3. Men in Black II, $15 million; 4. K-19: The Widowmaker, $13.1 million; 5. Mr. Deeds, $7.3 million; 6. Reign of Fire, $7.1 million; 7. Eight Legged Freaks, $6.7 million; 8. Halloween: Resurrection, $5.4 million; 9. Lilo & Stitch, $5.1 million; 10. The Crocodile Hunter:
Collision Course, $4.8 million.
Now You See It. Puff. Now You Don't
18 July 2002 (StudioBriefing)
Despite a warm critical reception, the
Cartoon Network's feature film, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, a movie version of the network's hit TV
series, has tanked at the box office, earning just $9.6 million through its
first two weeks. Almost simultaneously, another spin-off from a cable kids
channel, Hey,
Arnold! The Movie from Nickelodeon Films, also flopped. Both films faced stiff
competition from the likes of Men in Black II, Lilo & Stitch, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, Like Mike, and Scooby-Doo.The poor showing for the Powerpuff Girls feature was "a big
disappointment," Cartoon Network General Manager Jim Samples told the Atlanta
Journal Constitution Wednesday. He indicated that the the next time the channel
decides to make a movie, it will be more careful about selecting a release
date. He also observed that ever since the movie hit the theater screens, TV
audiences for the Powerpuff
Girls cartoon
series have been rising dramatically.
Road To Remuneration
16 July 2002 (StudioBriefing)
DreamWorks' plan to open Road to Perdition modestly, allow word-of-mouth
to build, and increase the number of theaters slowly may have appeared
unnecessarily conservative given last weekend's results, which showed audiences
packing theaters showing the Tom Hanks/Paul Newman feature. Exhibited in 1,797
theaters, the film averaged $12,287 per location. That compares with the $6,760
average that the No. 1 film, Men in Black II, earned at 3,611 theaters. Nevertheless, MiB2 was able to add $24.4 million
to its take to bring its total gross after two weeks to $132.7 million. Road to Perdition followed with $22.1 million.
The top ten films over the weekend,
according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in
parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. Men in Black II, Sony, $24,410,311, 2 Wks.
($132,688,511); 2. Road
to Perdition,
DreamWorks, $22,079,481, (New); 3. Reign of Fire, Disney, $15,632,281, (New); 4. Halloween: Resurrection, Miramax/Dimension, $12,292,121,
(New); 5. Mr.
Deeds, Sony,
$10,842,415, 3 Wks. ($93,975,613); 6. Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, MGM, $9,537,123, (New); 7. Lilo & Stitch, Disney, $8,024,738, 4 Wks.
($118,411,367); 8. Like
Mike, 20th
Century Fox, $7,833,279, 2 Wks. ($32,819,934); 9. Minority Report, 20th Century Fox,
$7,216,069, 4 Wks. ($110,137,457); 10. The Bourne Identity, Universal, $5,761,380, 5
Wks. ($99,026,945).
A Road More Traveled
15 July 2002 (StudioBriefing)
Road to Perdition, starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, failed to unseat Men in Black II from the top spot at the box
office over the weekend, but it did earn more money than most analysts had
expected -- $22.1 million, despite playing in half the number of theaters that
featured MiB2. The Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones sequel, nevertheless, took in
$25 million, bringing its total after 12 days to $133.3 million. In a
remarkably hot weekend (figuratively and climatologically) Reign of Fire also performed strongly,
taking in $16 million despite mostly negative reviews. Halloween: Resurrection resurrected the Halloween franchise effectively,
earning $12.3 million. The only other film to open wide, The Crocodile Hunter:
Collision Course, earned $10 million -- not bad considering its relatively low
cost. Ticket sales for the top 12 films totaled $130.75 million, up nearly 20
percent from the comparable weekend a year ago, according to Exhibitor
Relations.
The top ten films for the weekend,
according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
1. Men in Black II, $25 million; 2. Road to Perdition, $22.1 million; 3. Reign of Fire, $16 million; 4. Halloween: Resurrection, $12.3 million; 5. Mr. Deeds, $11 million; 6. The Crocodile Hunter:
Collision Course, $10 million; 7. Like Mike, $7.6 million; 8. Lilo & Stitch, $7.6 million; 9. Minority Report, $7.4 million; 10. The Bourne Identity, $5.8 million.
MGM Talks Losses
20 June 2002 (StudioBriefing)
MGM's long hoped-for return to its
onetime glory has received a setback from the apparent failure of its inaugural
summer release Windtalkers, following three earlier
duds. Windtalkers, which reportedly cost $100
million to produce, grossed only $14.5 million in its debut last weekend.
Merrill Lynch entertainment analyst Jessica Reif Cohen predicted the company
would have an operating loss of $125 million this year, versus an estimated
loss of $25 million before Windtalkers tanked. She maintained her "neutral" rating of the
stock, which has fallen 5 percent since box-office results were announced on
Monday. Other analysts quickly downgraded their ratings. The studio's next
release is the relatively low-budget The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, starring Steve Irwin, due to
open on July 12.
MGM Looking For "Smaller
Movies"
7 March 2002 (StudioBriefing)
Battered with big losses from two
expensive flops, Hart's
War and Rollerball, MGM is now looking for
profits from "smaller movies," Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. MGM
COO Chris
McGurk told
the wire service, "The best situation for any studio is when one of these
little movies breaks out and becomes a hit," he said. Among the studio's
upcoming releases are Barbershop ($12 million), A Guy Thing ($20 million), Dark Blue ($5 million), and Family Jewels ($6 million). MGM distribution chief Erik Lomis predicted
that the studio's upcoming Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, which cost less than $13 million to
make, would become "a huge summer sleeper."
Recent News Headlines from the Sydney Morning
Herald website for:
Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course,
The (2002)
6.)
Crocodile hunter flees from media
frenzy
The crocodile hunter has become the
hunted. Steve Irwin, who caused an uproar when he held his baby son while
feeding a saltwater crocodile on Friday, packed up his family yesterday and
took his leave from his prized Australia Zoo.
Sydney Morning Herald 05/01/2004
Crocodile hunter now the hunted as
world's media have Irwin in their sights
A nomination for Australian of the year,
lunch with US President George Bush, a hit TV show. Life seemed rosy for Steve
Irwin.
The Age 05/01/2004
Baby Bob to stay in croc school,
but no cameras please
The crocodile hunter Steve Irwin says he
will continue to teach his baby boy about crocodiles but not in front of the
cameras.
Sydney Morning Herald 06/01/2004
Baby Bob to stay in croc school,
but no cameras please
The crocodile hunter Steve Irwin says he
will continue to teach his baby boy about crocodiles but not in front of the
cameras.
Sydney Morning Herald 06/01/2004
Cost - $1.65 293 words
No place for babies, one who should
know
Victoria's own crocodile hunter Greg
Parker jokes that his local hospital knows him all too well.
The Age 06/01/2004 Cost -
$1.65
489 words
A feeding frenzy of his own making
Crocodile man Steve Irwin should accept
the silliness of his antics.
The Age 06/01/2004 Cost -
$1.65
474 words
She'll have their guts for gators
SHE ``rules the roost, steals the best
egg site and takes up the most space" in the Australian Reptile Park 's
alligator enclosure.
Sun Herald 04/01/2004 Cost -
$1.65
489 words
Crikey! Praise for PM puts you in a
snake pit
STEVE Irwin is everyone's favourite
Aussie crocodile hunter. And while he was never feted in his homeland like he
is in the US, he was widely regarded with benign condescension. That is until
last month, when he made the deadly error of alienating Australia's cultural
establishment.
Sun Herald 09/11/2003
Links to Interviews with Steve Irwin,
Terri Irwin and John Stainton for the film, Crocodile Hunter: Collision
Course at
About.com
http://actionadventure.about.com/library/weekly/2002/aa070602.htm
http://actionadventure.about.com/library/weekly/2002/aa041202.htm
http://romanticmovies.about.com/library/weekly/aa070502a.htm
Reviews
Available from RottenTomatoes:
2.)
"Thankfully, the film, which
skirts that rapidly deteriorating line between fantasy and reality ... takes a
tongue-in-cheek attitude even as it pushes the Croc Hunter agenda." L.A.
Weekly Gendy
Alimurung
3/4 "Goofy,
nutty, consistently funny. And educational!" Los
Angeles Times John
Anderson
1/4 "This is a truly, truly bad movie."