Post by Heineken Skywalker on Nov 24, 2005 12:33:45 GMT -5
KING KONG (1933)
One of the all time classics.
Yeah, the dialogue is mostly hokey and the actors melodramatic in that 1930's acting style, but you'd be hard pressed to top the original KONG for just sheer fun. You can bet that if Steven Spielberg had been a filmmaker back then, this is the kind of movie he would've made. Part JURASSIC PARK, part INDIANA JONES, state of the art special effects and lots of high adventure.
Even with today's mostly fantastic CGI effects, it's still great fun to watch a miniature stop-motion Kong battle stop-motion prehistoric creatures and tiny biplanes atop the Empire State Building.
The beginning is pretty talky, but once Kong appears, it's pretty much non-stop action till the end.
And Fay Wray? Very easy on the eyes and you can see why the big ape would literally fall for her.
Also, I must mention that the new 2-disc DVD set includes a very cool special feature. Peter Jackson, who as we all know, is directing the new KONG remake, and his WETA special effects crew, have taken it upon themselves to recreate a scene from the original KONG that seems to be forever lost. The "Spider Pit Sequence", a scene that was edited from the film by original director Merian C. Cooper back in 1933 because some audience members found it too shocking. Using the original storyboards, illustrations, blueprints, stills and the shooting script, they have built stop motion puppets, and scenery as close as they possibly can, and using 1930's techniques, they have recreated the scene, down to aging the film, so it will look just like the rest of the movie.
It really is pretty phenomenal and a real treat to see this "lost" footage, recreated more than 70 years later, as close as is humanly possible. It's not integrated back into the film, but it can be viewed as an extra feature on the second disc, along with a whole documentary on the filming of it.
8.5/10
One of the all time classics.
Yeah, the dialogue is mostly hokey and the actors melodramatic in that 1930's acting style, but you'd be hard pressed to top the original KONG for just sheer fun. You can bet that if Steven Spielberg had been a filmmaker back then, this is the kind of movie he would've made. Part JURASSIC PARK, part INDIANA JONES, state of the art special effects and lots of high adventure.
Even with today's mostly fantastic CGI effects, it's still great fun to watch a miniature stop-motion Kong battle stop-motion prehistoric creatures and tiny biplanes atop the Empire State Building.
The beginning is pretty talky, but once Kong appears, it's pretty much non-stop action till the end.
And Fay Wray? Very easy on the eyes and you can see why the big ape would literally fall for her.
Also, I must mention that the new 2-disc DVD set includes a very cool special feature. Peter Jackson, who as we all know, is directing the new KONG remake, and his WETA special effects crew, have taken it upon themselves to recreate a scene from the original KONG that seems to be forever lost. The "Spider Pit Sequence", a scene that was edited from the film by original director Merian C. Cooper back in 1933 because some audience members found it too shocking. Using the original storyboards, illustrations, blueprints, stills and the shooting script, they have built stop motion puppets, and scenery as close as they possibly can, and using 1930's techniques, they have recreated the scene, down to aging the film, so it will look just like the rest of the movie.
It really is pretty phenomenal and a real treat to see this "lost" footage, recreated more than 70 years later, as close as is humanly possible. It's not integrated back into the film, but it can be viewed as an extra feature on the second disc, along with a whole documentary on the filming of it.
8.5/10
