New Line has done a pretty impressive job packing this release with extra features starting things off with an audio commentary featuring director David Ellis and the man himself, Samuel L. Jackson. Also here are visual effects guru Erik Henry, producers Craig Berenson and Tawny Ellis, and second unit director Freddie Hice. This is a pretty active and humorous track with Jackson cracking jokes left, right and center. Along the way they talk about how the project came together and point out interesting facts along the way (like how many Ellis' were involved with the film). They cover how the movie started as a project called Venom with MTV/Paramount, then how it finally wound up at New Line. They talk about how Samuel Jackson stood by the Snakes On A Plane name, with Jackson elaborating on why he felt that it was a good name as it tells you exactly what you're going to see in the movie. They explain how snake vision was used and elaborate on little things that pop up in the movie, but generally they just seem to be having a good time watching the film together, joking about the 'snake on boob' scene and how they really took their time with that particular scene.

From there, New Line has supplied a Gag Reel (4:36) which features some flubs with the dog trainer, with the rapper and his bodyguards, with the pilot, and with some of the effects work. Up next are the Deleted/Extended Scenes, ten of them in total: Waiting At The Gate (0:54), Eddie Kim Spars (1:10), Boarding (1:58), Three G's And Mercedes (1:15), Agent Flynn And Claire (1:17), Longer Mrs. Bova Attack (1:49), Music Video Talk (1:18), Despair In The Cabin (0:38), Water Crash Prep (0:39) and Flynn's Offer (0:43). None of these really alter the movie as it was shown in theaters very much and most (though not all) were trimmed for pacing reasons if the optional commentary from David Ellis, Tawny Ellis and Craig Berenson is anything to go by.

Up next are a series of featurettes starting with Pure Venom: The Making Of Snakes On A Plane (18:00) which features some fun behind the scenes footage and interviews with most of the crew members as well as the writers and some of the cast members. They explain where the idea came from and how the project came together as well as how Jackson came on board. Jackson himself talks about his character and what he liked about the movie while a lot of the other actors talk about what it was like working with him and what it was like working with snakes. It's fairly generic and self congratulatory as far as documentaries go but there are also some refreshingly honest moments like when they discuss how they tried to work in a lot of pop culture with some of the characters, the rapper specifically. The behind the scenes footage that concentrates on the effects and how they accomplished them is pretty interesting as are the all too brief instances where we see some of the production art. We see how some of the CGI was used and how many of the scenes with the snakes in them were shot.

The second featurette is called Meet The Reptiles (12:56) and, as you could probably gather from the title, it's a segment where most of the people who were in the first featurette show up again to talk about snakes. Jackson, Shaye and a few of the others discuss the unpredictability of working with snakes and how they were incorporated into the movie. It's not a big time science piece, but it is fairly interesting. This is followed by a VFX Featurette (5:00) that shows us how big a role computer animation played in creating the interaction between the actors and the snakes that we see in the film. There's some interesting behind the scenes and raw animation footage in here that makes it worth a look.

Up next is Snakes On A Blog (10:00) and it examines the internet buzz that propelled the film long before it was even seen by any one. There are some great clips here of the fan films that were made around the time that the hype was peaking and this does a great job of documenting how it all spiraled out of control starting with a mention on Ain't It Cool News. There's some fun fan art in here as well as footage from the premiere and the blogger after party that New Line held.

Rounding out the extra features on the disc are a music video (complete with an optional making of documentary that runs roughly five-minutes), a soundtrack info text screen, five TV spots and two original theatrical trailers for the film, trailers for other New Line DVD releases, animated menus and chapter stops. For the DVD-Rom equipped, New Line has also supplied the disc with some 'Interactual' content that allows you to watch the movie with some interactive content and which features some exclusive web links. There's also an Easter Egg found in the TV Spots section that plays a mock airline safety warning.

As goofy as the movie is, it's difficult to not have at least some fun with it. Samuel L. Jackson carries the picture well and the concept itself is stupid enough to work even if it probably shouldn't. New Line has done a pretty impressive job on both the audio and the video presentation for the movie and they've assembled a very nice selection of extra features as well. Snakes On A Plane comes recommended.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.