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[Image]By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY

There are snakes, 500 or so, from 5-inch vipers to a 20-foot python. There is a plane, a 747 going from Honolulu to L.A. with a witness who will testify against a mobster. But don't let the title Snakes on a Plane, as bluntly descriptive and irresistably trashy as a Cosmo come-on, overshadow who really is propelling this venomous vessel. The most valuable carry-on in the Aug. 18 thriller, a pre-release sensation thanks to Internet connoisseurs of junk-food cinema, is Shaft himself. The one and only Coach Carter. That holy terror of Pulp Fiction— Samuel L. Jackson.

What other summer star has the right cool insouciance and simmering rage to make this creepy-crawler worth its weight in reptile carnage? "The fans are going to love seeing Sam in this role," says Snakes director David R. Ellis of his human lead. He also has been a hero offscreen, deflecting any suggestion to switch the stupidly smart title to a generic disaster like Pacific Flight 121.

"The title was what got my attention," says Jackson, who plays the FBI agent protecting the witness. "I got on the set one day and heard they changed it, and I said, 'What are you doing here? It's not Gone with the Wind. It's not On the Waterfront. It's Snakes on a Plane!' They were afraid it gave too much away, and I said, "That's exactly what you should do. When audiences hear it, they say, 'We are there!' "

Jackson, in his first interview since the Snakes craze went national, has tracked activity on such sites as Snakes on a Blog — the homemade trailers, the suggested soundtrack tunes, the gently mocking T-shirts. Most intriguing, however, have been the fake movie posters.

"It's interesting how they perceive you as an actor," Jackson says. "A whole faction thinks that I'm a bad (guy). I just happen to be in those kinds of films. I like to do sensitive movies, but they ignore those."

Additional scenes were shot in March with more gore, nudity and profanity so the PG-13 rating would become an R, the better to satisfy fan expectations. Best of all, Jackson gets to say his trademark obscenity in the new line: "I'm tired of these (bleeper-bleeping) snakes on this (bleeper-bleeping) plane."

No surprise that this tough bleeper isn't afraid of snakes. "I grew up in the country. If we saw a snake, the snake was in more trouble than we were." Nor do planes rattle him.

"I fly way too much to be afraid. I plug in my iPod and fall asleep. My wife is a white-knuckle flier. She will shake me and say, 'Oh, the plane is having turbulence.' I tell her, 'Wake me up when we crash.' "