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Movies don't come any bigger than Peter Jackson's King Kong, a three-hour remake of the 1933 classic that marries breathtaking visual prowess with a surprising emotional depth. Expanding on the original story of the blonde beauty and the beast who falls for her, Jackson creates a movie spectacle that matches his Lord of the Rings films and even at times evokes their fantasy world while celebrating the glory of '30s Hollywood. Naomi Watts stars as Ann Darrow, a vaudeville actress down on her luck in Depression-era New York until manic filmmaker Carl Denham (a game but miscast Jack Black) entices her with a lead role. Dazzled by the genius of screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), Ann boards the tramp steamer S.S. Venture, which she--and most of the wary crew--believes is headed for Singapore. Denham, however, is in search of the mythic Skull Island, hoping to capture its wonders on film and make a fortune. What he didn't count on were some scary natives who find that the comely Darrow looks like prime sacrifice material for a mysterious giant creature....
There's no point in rehashing the entire plot, as every movie aficionado is more than familiar with the trajectory of King Kong; the challenge facing Jackson, his screenwriters, and the phenomenal visual-effects team was to breathe new life into an old, familiar story. To that degree, they achieve what could be best called a qualified success. Though they've assembled a crackerjack supporting cast, including Thomas Kretschmann as the Venture's hard-bitten captain and young Jamie Bell as a plucky crewman, the first third of the movie is rather laboured, with too much minute detail given over to sumptuous re-creations of '30s New York and the unexciting initial leg of the Venture's sea voyage. However, once the film finds its way to Skull Island (which bears more than a passing resemblance to LOTR's Mordor), Kong turns into a dazzling movie triumph, by turns terrifying and awe-inspiring. The choreography and execution of the action set pieces--including one involving Kong and a trio of Tyrannosaurus Rexes, as well as another that could be charitably described as a bug-phobic's nightmare--is nothing short of landmark filmmaking, and a certain Mr. Spielberg should watch his back, as Kong trumps most anything that has come before it.
Despite the visual challenges of King Kong, the movie's most difficult hurdle is the budding romance between Ann and her simian soulmate. Happily, this is where Jackson unqualifiedly triumphs, as this unorthodox love story is tenderly and humourously drawn, by turns sympathetic and wondrous. Watts, whose accessibility balances out her almost otherworldly loveliness, works wonders with mere glances, and Andy Serkis, who digitally embodies Kong here much as he did Gollum in the LOTR films, breathes vibrant life into the giant star of the film without ever overplaying any emotions. The final, tragic act of the film, set mostly atop the Empire State Building, is where Kong earns its place in movie history as a work that celebrates both the technical and emotional heights that film can reach. --Mark Englehart
Product Description
Epic remake of the adventure classic from acclaimed director Peter Jackson. In Depression-era New York, unscrupulous filmmaker Carl Denham (Jack Black) is desperate to find a leading lady for his new picture. After a chance encounter, naive actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) takes the role, and travels with Denham and sensitive scriptwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) to the mysterious Skull Island, deep in the Indian Ocean. There the filmmakers discover a secret, savage civilisation that time forgot, and that worships a terrifying, gigantic ape called Kong (a motion-capture performance from Andy Serkis). When Ann is captured to be sacrificed to Kong, the ape becomes obsessed with her. Denham uses this obsession to help capture Kong and transport him back to New York, where he hopes he can make a fortune from exhibiting the creature. But after Kong escapes, the ape unleashes his awesome power against the city in an attempt to find Ann, the woman he truly loves, leading to a tragic conclusion atop the Empire State Building.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By sft
Format:DVD
Peter Jackson's labour of love is a spectacular, if overlong, remake of the movie that filled him with wonder as a small boy and inspired him to become a film maker. He may play fast and loose with the viewer's ability to suspend disbelief, giving us, as he does, indestructible people who are impossibly lucky when avoiding being trampled and can strafe their entire surroundings with machine-gun fire and only hit the monsters, but this is OK because it's part of the film's glorious sense of fun. And there may be plenty of ripe dialogue and facial contortion but Jackson puts so much heart into his production that this is perfectly in keeping with the tone of the work. Jackson has made a thrilling homage to the original Hollywood blockbuster, while successfully maintaining the emotional core of the plot. Self-indulgent it may be but it's all the better for that.
37 of 41 people found the following review helpful
By R. Jones
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm sure that by now most of you know the story or have seen the film so I'll concentrate this purely on the quality of the Blu-Ray experience. King Kong is a magnificent movie made so much better by this stunning high-def release. The picture quality is breathtaking at times, especially some of the long distance shots across the rich jungle and the city scenes.It's just gorgeous to watch from end to end. The audio is also amazing, every bit as glorious as you want it to be.
The special features are pretty cool, particularly the way they are embedded into the main feature and are accessed by context-sensitive icons that can be switched on or off at will. I didn't notice much new in there, just a new way of watching them really, but it's great to see them again and really brill to see them so cleverly presented.
Oh, and you get both versions of the movie, the original theatre version and the special edition. Both look and sound utterly remarkable.
The special features are pretty cool, particularly the way they are embedded into the main feature and are accessed by context-sensitive icons that can be switched on or off at will. I didn't notice much new in there, just a new way of watching them really, but it's great to see them again and really brill to see them so cleverly presented.
Oh, and you get both versions of the movie, the original theatre version and the special edition. Both look and sound utterly remarkable.
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By P. D. gray
Format:DVD
Just thought I'd do a short review to stress that all the extras on this set are BRAND NEW for this release and arn't a duplication of the stuff on the 2-Disk release. In fact, if you want the whole lot you'll have to buy the 2-Disk release, this set and the Peter Jackson diarys but its recommended for film students and anyone interested in how a film production works because never before has there been such an indepth look at a film is made, from its conception to final release and lots more besides. Also theres loads of fascinating info about how the film was planned to be made BEFORE Lord of the Rings but fell through thanks to another studio making Mighty Joe Young, the original ideas Jackson had for the first Kong film were so different to the one he eventually made and its amazing to hear all about it.
Also theres a featurette all about the homages to the original Kong movie which are present in the remake, did you know that Jackson owns props from the original film and dotted them about the set on his movie, watch the featurette and see what they are!
Personally I liked the new Kong film and think it got a quiet reception merely because it was, understandably, overshadowed still by the Lord Of The Rings films, its a most enjoyable romp and although theres not a great deal of footage added to this directors cut, the scenes that are added are really good and theres loads of additional scenes to watch in the extras which werent included in the directors cut, so basically this dvd has loads of extra footage...but Jackson decided to stick most in with the extras instead of pad the film out too much.
Its a very nice set and whilst I agree with another reviewers comments that the packaging isnt as nice as the Lord Of The RIngs special editions, the Disk contents are just as good and the box, inlays have lovely artwork..still head and shoulders above many special editions!
Kong is STILL King!
Also theres a featurette all about the homages to the original Kong movie which are present in the remake, did you know that Jackson owns props from the original film and dotted them about the set on his movie, watch the featurette and see what they are!
Personally I liked the new Kong film and think it got a quiet reception merely because it was, understandably, overshadowed still by the Lord Of The Rings films, its a most enjoyable romp and although theres not a great deal of footage added to this directors cut, the scenes that are added are really good and theres loads of additional scenes to watch in the extras which werent included in the directors cut, so basically this dvd has loads of extra footage...but Jackson decided to stick most in with the extras instead of pad the film out too much.
Its a very nice set and whilst I agree with another reviewers comments that the packaging isnt as nice as the Lord Of The RIngs special editions, the Disk contents are just as good and the box, inlays have lovely artwork..still head and shoulders above many special editions!
Kong is STILL King!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
super value
I like this type of movie but haven't had a chance to see it yet, hope it is good and enjoyable
Published 1 day ago by Mr. M. P. Kothary
5.0 out of 5 stars
wicked! ;-) <3
King Kong is truly bloody mighty a spectacle so bloody majestic! Few remakes have lived up to the original, and this is the only genuine remake in Kong-Kingdom that's more like an... Read more
Published 13 days ago by Shijoe SmeaGollum Joseph
5.0 out of 5 stars
King Kong
Exciting, thrilling, scary, with a rather disturbing final shot. All actors play their parts well, convincing us that this is real, so real, that it is good to find one is still at... Read more
Published 24 days ago by Sue Heard
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great item.
A great film, nice to have on Blu-ray , the picture is outstanding, also to have the book as well. Brilliant.
Published 25 days ago by chas
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great
Loved the film. Very well presented digibook, with loads of pictures of behind the scenes and also from within in the film itself.
Published 1 month ago by Justin Hervel
1.0 out of 5 stars
jumping
Was good up until 19+ minutes then restarted. Very annoyed with the copy and had a upset child as he was excited to watch it
Published 1 month ago by kell
1.0 out of 5 stars
Faulty disc
The main disc plays for about an hour and then stops. You have to stop it and then fast forward past the spot and then it will play the remainder. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Brian J Bennett
5.0 out of 5 stars
King Kong [DVD]
It came safely and un-damaged, the correct dvd was inside, the dvd works, quality was ok and watchable. cheap dvd, value for money, recommend.
Published 2 months ago by Mohammed87
5.0 out of 5 stars
Far superior version
A full over, 40 mins extra I believe, the best version of this available and picture and sound marvellous. If you have seen the original Jackson cut this will knock your socks off.
Published 2 months ago by M. Gowlett
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good around film
The whole family is hooked on this film.even the little ones. A real seat hanger! Far better than the original I saw a hundred years ago . Lol
Published 3 months ago by Mike Williams
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