DVD Review HTF REVIEW: King Kong - Two Disc Collector's Edition (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

What are these pristine restorations?

Even Sunset Blvd. still has a few vertical lines and other scars.

 

[JayHM]

Casablanca, North by Northwest, Citizen Kane (grain issues aside)

 

[Patrick McCart]

Casablanca is indeed excellent, though it's only on an HD resolution transfer. North by Northwest and Citizen Kane were only in standard res. Also, North By Northwest a little too much softness at moments. Citizen Kane has motion artifacts in places.

King Kong was actually restored at a resolution that could be output back to film as a lasting preservation 35mm element.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Yes, it's a great documentary. So if that's "enough", then why is there a commentary at all?

The fact the documentary is good doesn't alter my feeling that the commentary stinks. It was boring and uninformative. I don't understand the defense that it doesn't matter because the documentary is good. Again - what's the point of having a commentary if it's superceded by something else on the disc and isn't entertaining/interesting/informative in any case?

 

[Jeff_HR]

I agree with you Colin. I thought the commentary on MJY was better.

 

[Terry Hickey]

I've only watched the movie, have yet to explore anything else, but I thought Warner's did an excellent job. It beats the first time I saw it on television back in the late 1950's. I told the family that I would like to have "Son of Kong" (I enjoyed it) and "Mighty Joe Young" for Christmas. But "King Kong" is still the king of them all.

 

[Jay Pennington]

Right. And there are blemishes of that nature on this DVD. Single-frame printed-in dirt over stationary backgrounds. One click of the mouse to replace the dirt with info from an an adjoining frame and they could've been gone.

But not to grouse. I'm very happy with this set.

 

[Mark Lucas]

That would've been cool. Knowles can eat a sandwich while Jackson gives us some info on what shots he plans to duplicate in his remake.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Since many (but apparently not you) acknowledge PJ to be KK expert, I think this commentary would have included a lot of info about the original. I think it also would have been appropriate for him, as a film maker, to comment on what he thought were the essentials of the original that needed to be retained in his remake, and on what he would do to make the new film his own.

But let's face it, there are two camps here. One side disappointed with the commentary and the other pleased. I don't think either side is going to change positions. I don't find either side unreasonable.

Since all I have to gripe about is the commentary, I still would give this DVD an "A" for overall quality. The movie looks good and gotta love that tin.

 

[Nathan Phillips]

Don't have the DVD yet but just saw the movie on TCM this week for the first time, liked it a great deal, and disagree with the statement in the review that one must place oneself in the context of another time to appreciate the movie. I'm of the opinion that the truly great films of any era don't require that, and this is such a film. I found the primitive (in a manner of speaking) stop motion effects far more fun and even, in a sense, convincing than the CG in the trailer for the remake (which nevertheless looks pretty good). And I thought the acting was ridiculous, PRECISELY AS IT SHOULD BE.

The comparison to JAWS was appropriate. I'm not generally a fan of "gee-whiz" movies, but this one, like JAWS, got me completely. The spectacle was something to behold even on my tiny screen.



Oh, please. If "today's audience" can manage however many excruciating hours of Tolkien (sorry, not a fan), they can handle this. Not to be overly defensive, but I've met very few people my age who don't have SOME appreciation for movies made pre-STAR WARS, or whatever you like.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

I still can't get a handle on everyone calling the acting wooden or ridiculous. I think Miss Wray, in particular, is totally believable, especially in her first couple of scenes.

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

Yes. She's terrific, IMHO, and as someone mentioned previously, what a screamer!

 

[Richard Kim]

The stop motion for the most part I found to be pretty impressive. The only parts I found unconvincing is the long shots when Kong is handling human characters (mostly Fay Wray), and don't look realistic at all. It's pretty jarring when Kong drops an obviously fake looking stop motion Wray to fight a monster and she becomes the live action one.

 

[Johnny Angell]

That was a failing of almost all stop-motion animation. I cannot recall an instance of large creature combined with a human (both stop-animation) that looked convincing.

 

[ScottR]

Actually, Casablanca isn't "perfect" either...there are two instances during "As Time Goes By" when the print wasn't pristine (shots of Rick) and one example where a torn frame was mended and the frame warps for a second....very minor problems, but not perfection.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Well, as a follow-up to my earlier comments, I did finally listen to the commentary and I'm afraid I too must agree with those that found it lacking. The first several minutes were quite engaging and interesting, but after a while they started just watching the film leaving several moments of dead air, and would often simply point out obvious things in the film, or simply say how marvelous it is.

Oh well, still a fantastic set, and an excellent upgrade from past Kong video releases.

 

[Kevin M]

You know, since I bought this last tuesday I have watched it at least six times and I just love it more & more, great DVD WB!

Regarding the commentary...and this is just an observation..but did anyone else notice how much credit Cooper took in his comments? "I" put in stop motion airplanes.."I" built multi-plain models for the jungle scenes.."I" built full sized Kong hands.."I" "I" "I". I'm not saying that he, as director and producer, didn't have overwhelming control over what Kong turned out to be but, Coop, give a little credit to the people who worked hard on this film's FX, script & sets.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

What an excellent set and I just want to thank WB for the extra thought and effort that went into the whole package. It seems like they covered every angle... they even thought enough to put all the physical extras (souvenir program reprod., post cards, etc.) INSIDE the actual digipak so that they wouldn't get banged up in the tin as many other companies (Anchor Bay) have done in the past where everything inside has bent corners and egdes. It shows that Warner Bros. really is tops in this market... when they want to be!

Just a big thank you from one of many consumers who appreciates the effort and product!

 

[dpippel]

My kids and I watched Kong last night and I'm also very impressed with this package. The film looks WONDERFUL and the effort that went into the restoration work and subsequent DVD transfer is quite apparent. GREAT job WB!! I'll be watching the extras and maybe Son of Kong today.

On another note, I still can't believe that I was able to purchase the special box set at Best Buy (Kong Collector's Edition, Son of Kong, and Mighty Joe Young) for $34! It has to be *the* best DVD bargain of 2005.

 

[Larry Sutliff]

I agree completely. I love the snappy patter of Carl Denham, and there's real chemistry between everyone in the cast.