Somewhere on the frozen ground of Antarctica a high-level security prison is being built which will eventually contain the worst criminals in the world. Unfortunately, because the construction is behind schedule the warden, "Fred Riley" (Craig Wasson) orders his engineers to drill into a hollow rock formation before necessary tests can be made to ensure the safety of the procedure. Sure enough, a gas pocket is hit which causes an explosion that results in some damage to the facility. What they don't realize is that the real problem is yet to be faced because the hole created by the explosion has released a giant boa constrictor which is extremely hungry from his million-year hibernation—and the only available food source is the people within the prison. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that it had a pretty good premise to build upon. Regrettably, this film lacked anything substantive. The suspense was weak, the acting was uneven and the plot was much too simplistic. I especially thought the casting of a female IRA terrorist named "Patricia O'Boyle" (played by Amandah Reyne) was totally laughable and practically ruined the entire film all by itself. In short, this movie had potential but the director (Phillip J. Roth) failed to capitalize on it. I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

New Alcatraz would have gotten a 4/10 from me if it weren't for the fact that I nearly stopped watching it partway through due to predictability. The director and writer seem to have learned their trade by reading "Starter's guide: Make your own survival horror!".Only three characters survive the movie. One of them survived because the plane needed a pilot. The other two survived because they were married to each other. The hero is killed off at the last moment in order to conform to the expectations of the genre. Altogether throughly unconvincing.The only remotely realistic character in the entire movie is Yuri Brescov, played by Mark Sheppard (who actually plays the role quite well). The two paleontologists are not particularly sympathetic characters, in fact, the only thing they have going for them is the fact that they closely resemble Antonio Banderas and Katie Holmes respectively.With the exception of Yuri, who was a beacon of courage, competence, common sense and honour, the other characters failed to put up even a reasonable level of effort into ensuring their own survival, despite being completely aware of the nature and deadliness of the threat they faced. Mind boggling incompetence seems to occur in every scene. One particularly strange event is when the soldier McCarthy is killed and the major seems to immediately forget about his existence, not even acknowledging his death, despite being in constant radio contact with him for several minutes leading up to his death.Another failure is the inconsistency of the characters. Two examples come to mind, the first is Sergeant Quinn, who has been extremely worried about the snake and the survival of himself and his men and even refused to leave the command station until given a direct order by the warden is told by the scientists that the vibrations produced by the carts they are riding would attract the snake and they should proceed on foot. At this point he suddenly decides that he can't be bothered to walk and continues on in the cart. The other example would be Yuri, who is extremely calm, clearheaded and courageous throughout the rest of the movie suddenly freezes in the middle of a scene, which again is totally out of character.One of the biggest oversights is the potential for psychological tension between the prisoners and the 'good guys' during the escape, which seems to have been completely ignored. The inmates of the highest security prison in the world are actually fairly decent people. I am incapable of giving any comment on this.The real failing of the movie is that it is neither character driven nor plot driven. This removes all the believability in the story and prevents the audience from becoming involved in the film. With a good writer this could have been a great film. Three out of Ten.

1. There is no way in the world a maximum security prison to have only 13 personal including the engineers. No cook. No Janitor. Only the guards, the warden and the engineers.2. There is no way for an 80 feet's Boa to travel as fast as a F1 racing car on an empty hallway.3. There is no way for an airplane to reach certain destination without confirmation from the destination source.4. There is no way for an airplane to come to an isolate place where's the pilot himself have to fill the fuel them self. Refer to no:01.5. There is no way for the wife of the star to survive while the others which were trained arm personal, deadliest terrorists in the world died in an instants.6. There is no way for a snake / BOA to "eat" thru a 2 feet thick wall which suppose to take weeks for humans to drills thru with sophisticated drills.7. There is no way for a Snake to "eat" thru a military airplane which suppose to withstand thousands pounds of pressure.8. There is no way this movie suppose to be made.9. Do not rent / see / but this movie

This movie is non-stop B quality action. One of the least likely plots in the world, some of the most unrealistic special effects ever and a script that probably doesn't exist, I think the director realized the caliber of acting talent he had at his disposal and let them adlib the lot. Best bits are when the security guard acts like he has had no gun training as he fires his shotgun aimlessly (good pun). Also when dean cains missus runs off and he shouts her name about 7 times in a row. JESSICA, JESSICA JESSICA. I do love this film, but only cos its really bad. Dean Cain to play bond!!!!! Oh and the ending is ridiculous!!!!! Cold blooded snake that isn't bothered it's in antarctic conditions!!!!! Likely.