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The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course
Crocodile hunter collision course ver2.jpg
US Theatrical release poster by Drew Struzan
Directed by John Stainton
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by Mark McDuff
Cinematography David Burr
Editing by
  • Suresh Ayyar
  • Bob Blasdall
Studio The Best Picture Show Company
Cheyenne Enterprises
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by
Release date(s) 12 July 2002 (2002-07-12)
Running time 90 minutes
Country
  • Australia
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
Language English
Budget $12 million
Money made $33.4 million

The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course is a 2002 adventure comedy film based on the nature documentary television series The Crocodile Hunter. It stars Steve Irwin and his wife Terri Irwin and was directed by frequent Irwin collaborator John Stainton. The film was released in between the fourth and fifth seasons of the series. Collision Course follows Steve and Terri who attempt to save a crocodile from "poachers" not knowing that the two men are actually American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents who are after them because the crocodile in the Irwins' possession has accidentally swallowed an important satellite tracking beacon.

The film was theatrically released on 12 July 2002 in the U.S. by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which used a crocodile in place of the usual Leo the Lion for its title credit logo sequence. The film earned $33.4 million on a $12 million budget.

Plot

In outer space, a United States-owned satellite blows up and one of the last remaining pieces, a beacon, is sent hurdling towards Earth where it lands in Australia, only to be swallowed by a crocodile. Back at the CIA, Agent Buckwhiler and Deputy Director Reynolds reveal that, in the wrong hands, the beacon can change the axis of power in the world, so they send two agents, Robert Wheeler and Vaughn Archer, down to Australia to retrieve the beacon. Department Director Ansell also secretly hires an operative of his own, Jo Buckley, to go and retrieve the beacon before Wheeler and Archer, so Ansell can take Reynolds' job.

In Australia, the beast that swallowed the beacon lives in a river next to the house of Brozzie Drewitt, an obnoxious cattle station owner who is taking it in her own hands to kill the beast for preying on her cattle. Because of this, the Department of Fauna and Fisheries send one of its workers, Sam Flynn, to Drewitt's house. Sam attempts to convince Brozzie to hire some professionals to relocate the animal, instead of having her kill it, which is illegal. Despite Flynn's words, Brozzie attempts to kill the beast later that night, only to fail.

Meanwhile, the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin and his wife Terri are filming a documentary about the "less-lovable of Australia's wildlife" when they are hired by Flynn to relocate the beast that has been bothering Brozzie. Steve successfully gets the beast in his boat. Wheeler and Archer are nearby using GPS technology to track the beacon. When the two agents see Steve and Terri zoom past them in their boat with the beast who swallowed the beacon on board, they are convinced that the Irwins have the beacon. They call up the CIA, who believe the Irwins plan to use the beacon to pay for a multimillion-dollar expansion to Australia Zoo. Steve and Terri board up the beast in a crate and put it in the back of the truck to drive to a new river system. Wheeler and Archer follow them from behind in a Land Rover, and when Wheeler hops on the top of the Irwins' truck, Steve believes them to be poachers who are after the beast. Steve climbs up on the roof and, after a brief fistfight, manages to knock Wheeler off the truck. When the Irwins reach the river, Steve opens the beast's crate and discovers that the beast had defecated. In the poop, Steve sees a shiny metal object (the beacon) which he mistakes to be an improperly discarded children's spinning top toy. Steve and Terri successfully get the beast in the Thomson River, but Wheeler and Archer show up again in a boat, determined to get the beacon. Jo Buckley shows up in an ultralight and throws sticks of dynamite down on Wheeler and Archer's boat, destroying it and knocking the two agents in the river. Steve believes that he and Terri are caught up in the middle of a "poacher war" and, not wanting the dynamite to hurt the newly relocated beast, gets a rope out of the boat and lassoes the aircraft, causing it to crash in the river and seemingly kill Buckley. It turns out Buckley did survive and she swims to shore to inform Ansell via a phone call that she failed to retrieve the beacon. Ansell informs Buckley that he is on the run from the CIA and the police for hiring her for the mission. He is found by police and is arrested for his crimes, ending the phone call.

Due to Wheeler and Archer's failure to retrieve the beacon, the CIA decides that it is time for drastic measures and they call up U.S. President George W. Bush in the White House to request permission to use military helicopters to fly to Australia and get the beacon.

Steve is ending his documentary by throwing the beacon in the air, when the military helicopters arrive. Steve hands them the beacon, revealing that the whole predicament was a misunderstanding, and in return, the CIA send Wheeler and Barcher to work at the zoo as volunteers. Brozzie becomes a volunteer for the Department of Fauna and Fisheries.

Cast

  • Steve Irwin as Steve Irwin/The Crocodile Hunter
  • Terri Irwin as Terri Irwin
  • Bindi Irwin as Bindi Irwin (at the end credits as a baby.)
  • Sui (Steve and Terri's Statffordshire Bull Terrier) as Sui
  • Magda Szubanski as Brozzie Drewitt
  • David Wenham as Sam Flynn
  • Aden Young as Ron Buckwhiler
  • Steve Bastoni as Deputy Director Reynolds
  • Lachy Hulme as Robert Wheeler
  • Kenneth Ransom as Vaughn Archer
  • Steve Vidler as Department Director Ansell
  • Kate Beahan as Jo Buckley
  • Robert Coleby as Dr. Weinberger
  • Timothy Bottoms as U.S. President George W. Bush

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course para niños

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