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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 labored, 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 humorously 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
Customer Reviews
For me, a lover both of classic films and of modern science fiction, I place King Kong (2005) among the best films I have seen in years. In the cinema, this was a true spectacle to behold. The action and CGI special effects were astounding. Peter Jackson took a fairly sparse story and fleshed it out. I appreciated the longer back-story to the characters in New York prior to the sea voyage to Skull Island.
The exposure of themes relating to racism, animal and ecological abuse, and treatment of women was obvious, but not preachy. Despite this being an action film, these themes seemed to me as large as Kong was himself.
Jackson tweaked the storyline a bit and improved on the original. The introduction of the writer (Brody) as love interest instead of the ship captain made more sense and was simply a better story. With the original film, I was quite moved as a kid when Kong died. With this version, I was at least as moved or more as an adult. The relationship with Kong and Ann was portrayed better. I believed that they had made a bond with each other. The moment of Kong's demise is one of the most touching moments I have seen in a film in years.
Finally, James Newton Howard's soundtrack is quite moving, with beautiful, stirring melodies befitting this grand film. Worth listening to in its own right. I would have liked to watch the film with an isolated music score. Unfortunately, this was not included as an option on any edition so far.
Editions:
Two-Disc Special Edition (2006)
For the collector, this included the Production Diaries and several bonus features. A must-have if you love this film and want more background information.
3-Disc Deluxe Extended Edition (2006)
There is no overlap to what is on the 2-disc version, so this was a worthwhile second purchase for me. I enjoyed seeing the deleted scenes. The slightly longer (13 min.) version was intereresting to see. I especially wanted the audio commentary track. No regrets here for having bought both the 2-disc and 3-disc versions, because they each offered different material.
OK, so the sotry goes that a young actress, Ann Darrow, is looking for a movie or stage she can act at. So, this movie guy askes her if she'd like to go to Skull Island to shoot a film. So they go to Skull Island (How can anyone go to Skull Island? Isn't the name kinda like a warning to stay away?) and find a band of canibalistic natives that really freak me out and take Ann as a sacrfifice. So, a big gorilla named Kong (Or King Kong) comes and takes her away. The rest mainly consistes of getting Ann back and some totally wicked three way T-Rex fights, giant bugs and a brontosaurs stampede involving raptors, or Baryonix, I cant tell, in the mix.
This movie is going to win an oscar for SFX (five bucks says so.) and may win best film of the year. I just can't say how great this film is! But, if sitting through a three hour film isnt your thing, go look at Zathura or Brokeback Mountain, you'll get a kick out of those. Five stars, Bar none.
If you liked this movie you'd also like: Godzilla: Final Wars, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Alien Quadrilogy, Jarhead, Zathura, Brokeback Mountain, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Sometimes Blurays can be disapointing compare to the original DVD.
But in this case,WOW ! Read more
be better than it was it. Read more
The Good: some really cool effects. Read more
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