Don't Scream, Just Swim: Behind-the-Scenes of 'Piranha 3D' (2011 Video) User Reviews

Very enjoyable and informative making of doc

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 3 February 2012]

Clocking in at 91 minutes, this extremely thorough and illuminating behind-the-scenes featurette covers a lot of ground about the making of the delightfully trashy "Piranha 3D." Of course, we get the expected interviews with such folks as director Alexandre Aja, writers Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger, cinematographer John Leonetti, producers Alix Taylor and Gregory Lavasseur, and cast members Elisabeth Shue (who embraced the physicality of her part), Steven R. McQueen, Jessica Szohr, Kelly Brook, and Jerry O'Connell (O'Connell confesses he had a great time playing a dirtbag in this movie), but what really makes this documentary stand out from the back is that even bit players Eli Roth, Gianna Michaels, and Ashlynn Brooke are interviewed about their cameos. Naturally, there's a wealth of information on the actual production of the picture: Brook and Riley Steele trained for two weeks for their memorable nude synchronized underwater swimming sequence, all the scenes in the Pet Emporium were shot in a single day, Aja was thrilled that Richard Dreyfuss agreed to reprise his Matt Hooper character from "Jaws" at the start of the film, 1,112 boats were used for the spring break massacre set piece (Aja also cast all the extras for said set piece!), the difficulty of shooting underwater and working in extreme heat on location in Arizona, and evoking spring break debauchery to the ninth degree (Aja reveals that they don't have spring break in Europe!). Loaded with production stills, choice behind-the-scenes footage, and clips from the movie, it's highly recommended viewing for fans of the film.