Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3256 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-04-10
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL, Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Icelandic
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 179 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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 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, Amazon.com

Synopsis
Despite his origins as a low-budget filmmaker with a taste for the unsavoury side of life, Peter Jackson has turned into an event filmmaker someone who can conjure up a movie on a scale unlike anything we've seen before. KING KONG is his sprawling, epic remake of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's 1933 movie of the same name, and it is as big as the gorilla that runs riot through Jackson's rendering of Depression-era New York. Keeping the simple yet effective plot intact a film crew travels to the mysterious Skull Island, picks up Kong, and brings him back to New York City Jackson expands on this basic premise by drawing on the jaw-dropping talents of his special effects team to satisfy his thirst for the grand spectacle. The movie posits Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow, the starry-eyed blonde beauty whom Kong falls for; Jack Black as Carl Denham, a low-rent Orson Welles look-alike who drags the crew to the island to make his movie; and Adrian Brody as Jack Driscoll, a hack playwright who battles Kong both physically and for Darrow's heart. As the men struggle against Kong and the lumbering dinosaurs of Skull Island, Andy Serkis, who made the character of Gollum so believable in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, steps in to form the facial features of the mighty gorilla, lending a real emotional sucker-punch to the scenes between Darrow and Kong. But it's the final third of the movie where Jackson really delivers; his 1930s New York is stunning, and when Kong breaks free from his shackles and stampedes on a lovelorn trek through the city, then iconically climbs the Empire State Building with his sweetheart, it's impossible to not be swept away by the sheer beauty and sadness of the moment. While its three-hour length may prove daunting to some, the payoff in Jackson's KING KONG is ultimately worth it, proving once again that he is a director of breathtaking vision.

Customer Reviews

King Kong - Far too long!
As a great admirer of Jackson's Lord of the Rings, I came to this with high expectation. In the end I wish Jackson had just done a straight remake of the original. The Fay Wray King Kong was perfectly directed - just the right length to sustain the material. Jackson obviously loves the piece but kills it with kindness. The special effects are superb, but there are too many times when he asks us to not only suspend disbelief but take our brains out. I mean, Naomi, having been hurled around by dinasaurs and the ape, can then take to her heels and run like a gazelle. Is this Superwoman? In the end Jackson over-eggs the pudding and the whole thing is a sodden mess.

Couple of flaws but still exciting and interesting
Naomi Watts (21 grams) stars as Ann Darrow, a poor actress who is invited by film producer Carl Denham on a trip to star in a film, only for Carl to take Ann and other actors and writes to an unknown island which inhabits a giant ape.

After a muddled opening and some poor dialogue, King Kong opens into a glorious adventure of discovery and amazement in Peter Jackson's epic adventure.

The opening half an hour is fairly dull and over the place but hang on for a great entertaining boat journey which sets the film on the way to an unforgettable adventure.

Watts, Brody (The Pianist) and Black (School of Rock) give good performances in their roles and though the characters and dialogue can be dull and predictable at times, each has their own particular great characteristics and moments.

But the star of the film is Skull Island, a home of the unknown and of great potential adventure, a true catalyst for the mystic and magical.

Filled with savages, dinosaurs and huge insects, the island packs has it all with entertaining sequences involving humans vs animals in some stunning CGI sequences. As good as the ideology is, new animals come one after another with no real let up and can seem to be too crammed in for visual product rather than plot focused. The ideology of animal cruelty is encoded for dramatic effect and is astonishing to watch, particularly towards the end.

Kong is a truly memorable character, filled with human emotions making him more human than some of the boat crew. The facial expressions and movements bring the CGI character to life, and the ending will have you reaching for the tissues.

The film portrays adventure and drama well, but takes the wrong route by trying to lighten the mood with comedy. The humour encoded never works and can take the edge off a sentimental tale, one of the biggest let downs in the 3 hour film.

The CGI plays a huge factor in the film. Oscar winning, but can frequently lack realism but there is no question mark over the achievement and end product. The digitally enhanced animals and particularly Kong are unbelievable. Jackson's direction helps achieve realistic effects and brings the plot to life with fast and focused shots.

Winner of 3 Oscars including best achievement in visual effects, King Kong is a memorable fantasy adventure with some brilliant direction, good visual effects and an intriguing plot.

7.5/10

Potential out-shone by cheap laughs (As usual!)
Hmmm... Where to begin?

God created Adam. And then followed Eve. And then... Oh wait, sorry!

The 2005 outing of 'King Kong', which has already had 2 incarnations, is something that will float the boats of only a select number of people. The problems that ultimately spring out to the concerning viewer lay in a number of departments, but all fall down from Peter Jackson's choices for certain issues of the film.

Clocking up around the 2 and a half hours mark, this film is by no means a cheap knock-out. Quite the opposite; it's a $220 million knock-out that proves in our current age producers are more concerned about spending stupid amounts of cash for the latest computer technology, and then blagging about how they inevitably re-created something that's decade's old. But it doesn't always work, does it?

In this films case, the evolution from a mysterious, but still fun over-sized gorilla in the original films is present as nothing more but a laughably lame creature who, very strangely, can read emotions, hand signals, even speech, AND can demonstrate a sense of humour through jumping, laughing, and humorous noises from Human interaction... AND oddly shows emotion on his face as if he were human, which takes much of the notion away that this is indeed a strange, lumbering gorilla who is not human.

The sad thing about this film is the massive potential that's been flawed through over-production. The film starts off very nicely, setting the scene in New York, and helping us engage with the characters in a fun but mature way. Jack Black plays a surprisingly strong role as a movie producer who seeks to create 'the epic' sides of cinema, rather than the money-making feminine films for men to watch. The adventure drives on as Blacks Film Production team choose to try and find Skull Island (whilst avoiding the authorities) in a bid to record footage of, seemingly, new territory that's un-touched by man. This is where the problems start...

After such a strong beginning to the film, the plot ultimately slumps as Peter Jackson obviously got too excited by the prospect of large island that, somehow, needed to house a 'Kong'. So what does he do?... Turns it into a pre-historic, jumbled mix of over-sized Beetles, Moths, Dinosaurs, and creatures which I suppose only exist in the minds of the production team. This ultimately turns the film, for over an hour, into scenes of laughs and cringing as the ship members battle against giant insects which are about as convincing as tasty purple & green bread. Even the dinosaurs look particularly amusing, and considering Jurassic Park was made 14 years ago (yes, that's right) it beg's one to wonder why the effects are not a patch on that wonderful film.

In fact, it begs one to wonder why they even attempted to put Dinosaurs in this film! It's already bursting at the seams with over-the-top action.

Skull Island's obvious CGI back-drop doesn't make matters any more engaging either, and the physics within the animation are laughable at times. As one example of how disjointed the effects are, while the close up shots of Kong are particularly great and show attention to detail in the hands/fur, the long shots (from a few hundred yards) show the gorilla dancing about as if he's an athlete. Now... Considering these are professional animators, it doesn't take much research to understand that the bigger an animal/mammal gets, the less Fast-Twitch muscle fibres it has... Which ultimately means when you become a towering gorilla, you can't move like Linford Christie, as this film makes out.

The result: Kong for large portions of the film waves our disillusioned actress around as if she were a barbie doll in the hands of a baby. If this were real, she'd most likely have some kind of whip-lash. Yet she doesn't even scream unless the camera focusses on her face. Or unless she's hanging off a 1000ft cliff. Or dangling off a ladder on the Empire State Building. And even in these instances, her expressions aren't too convincing that's she's frightened.

Animation and physics aside, how does the film ultimately create "entertainment" rather than "excitement"? Simple; it's just so over the top. A favourite in the film seems to be letting the beautiful Naomi Watts drop from an intense height, which allows Kong right at the last second to dive in like an athlete and save her. This must happen at least a handful of times in the film, and just takes away any suspense the film 'may' encounter. The fight scenes between the ship crew and the funny large insects are also over the top and completely un-necessary, as is the whole inclusion of the Dinosaurs and any silly insects that have no relevance to the story. Instead of creating a tense, exciting atmosphere, you just laugh at these guys wailing sticks and guns at over-sized cockroaches. I'm laughing just thinking about it now!

The third phase of the film, if you like, is obviously the most famous in the King Kong story; he inevitably escapes his Grand Showing in a theatre, finds his girl-friend (wishful thinking!) and ascends the Empire State building were he is gunned down by Military Bi-Planes. What you begin to realise in this latter part of the film is that the potential for an emotive, even epic film, is present. With some fine music and well shot scenes of Watt's bonding with Kong, it's obvious the film sets out to be something serious. But sadly, this is all let down by one flaw; It's been made to fit the "12" Certificate category.

Like most films released these days, producers have caught on to the fact that a 12 rated film allows more families to watch a film. This creates higher revenue, and they end up with more cash. Simple. This is obvious with the 2005 outing of Kong; the Skull Island phase looks like something you'd expect from a descent family film, yet the emotion and impact on other scenes in New York city suggest this to be a more mature movie that 'could' have been brilliant. Packing in a collection of silly fight scenes, CGI, and compulsory romance moments just creates the ultimate "family" movie in this day and age. The exact same thing happened with Terminator 3.

To sum up, I suppose it's hard not to recommend this film to a friend. I mean, it IS entertainment, and it does provide some well shot production, splendid effects (at times) and descent acting. But at the same time, how can you not be disappointed that once again, an old film has been revived and turned into a barrel of laughs?

I can therefore only recommend renting this film first.

Or drinking a few beers, and THEN watching it for a cheap laugh...