I don’t think “Snake Eyes” is one of the top-tier Brian De Palma films, but it’s sure as hell better than most of the middle films big studios are releasing these days. The film is filled with these incredible long takes and an excellent Nicolas Cage performance.
Cage recently told Slash Film that he would love to team up with director De Palma again on a “Snake Eyes” sequel.
“You know something? I’ve been trying to work with Brian ever since I made that movie. We had a great script about Howard Hughes that David Koepp wrote. I’d like to revisit that. But I just found out that it’s the 23rd anniversary of “Snake Eyes.” I don’t watch my old movies, but I’m compelled to watch that one again because I had a great time working with Brian, because of his guts and his ability to do these huge takes.”
Let’s make this happen. De Palma isn’t getting any younger, he’s 82, and his last two films were released in 2012 (“Passion”) and 2019 (“Domino”). Although we’re hearing he’s hard at work on “Sweet Veangance” which has been in pre-production for a few years now.
Fun side note: When asked in 2021 to name his peak career period, De Palma didn’t choose anything from the ‘70s or 80, but, rather, a one-two punch he had in the early ‘90s.
“In my mid 50s [actually his early to mid 50s], doing Carlito’s Way and then Mission: Impossible. It doesn’t get much better than that. You have all the power and tools at your disposal. When you have the Hollywood system working for you, you can do some remarkable things.”
What would I have chosen as De Palma’s peak? That 9-year streak between 1980-1989 was his peak: Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, Scarface, Body Double, The Untouchables, Casualties of War (Let's forget Wise Guys ever existed). However, I do agree with him about “Carlito's Way”, it's pretty close to a masterpiece and has aged very well. As for his '70s stuff, It's hit and miss, but Carrie, Greetings, and Phantom of Paradise are the standouts.