HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

King Kong (2005)

Blu Ray Title: King Kong (2005) Disk Release Date: 1/20/2009 Rated: Unrated Extended Version and PG-13 Theatrical Cut Screen format: 1080P High Definition Widescreen 2.35:1 Studio: Universal First theatrical release: 2005 Previous releases on disk: Multiple, including an HDDVD release, a 2007 3 disk DVD special edition and Widescreen and 2 disk collector’s editions 3/2006 Director: Peter Jackson Starring: Adrian Brody, Jack Black, Naomi Watts, and Andy Serkis as Kong Sound Formats: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish and French in DTS 5.1 Length: 3 Hours 20 minutes extended cut, 3 hours 8 mins theatrical Subtitles:English, Spanish and French

(Note that portions of this review are adapted and expanded from my previous review of the 2 disk collector’s edition DVD set, the 3 disk collector’s edition and the HDDVD release)

Plot: 3.5/5
As the third telling of the King Kong story, very few moviegoers will be surprised by the plot, which boils down to a modern rendition of the Beauty and the Beast fable. For the three people who have not see the original: King Kong is an action adventure tale told in 3 acts, set in 1933. The story starts and ends in a well realized New York City and features a journey to the fictional Skull Island as the main body of the story. Out of work Vaudevillian actress Ann Darrow (Watts) is lured to the adventure of a lifetime by a shady movie producer (Black), enticed by the prospect of meeting her favorite playwright, Jack Driscoll (Brody). On reaching Skull Island, the cast and crew meet fearsome prehistoric creatures including the titular Kong, a 25 foot tall giant ape who is King of his domain. Kong is offered Ann as sacrifice by the primitive inhabitants of his island, who have kidnapper her. It is her rescue and his subsequent capture and their return to NYC that makes up the body of the picture.

The solid ensemble cast nails their parts with sincerity that is rare in a heavy action movie. Naomi Watts is simply radiant as Ann Darrow, Jack Black’s scheming producer Carl Denham is one part mogul, one part Napoleon, and Adrien Brody’s Jack Driscoll gives life to the everyman hero. Smaller roles are memorably portrayed, including Andy Serkis as Lumpy the Chef and Lobo Chan as Choy. Once again, Serkis’ role behind the 3D imagery cannot be underestimated; it is his very human performance in the ape role that gives Kong extraordinary life.

While I am reluctant to reference the 1976 version of King Kong by director John Guillerman, I am a huge fan of the 1933 original which was produced and directed by Merian C. Cooper. What this 2005 version has going for it over those versions rests mostly in the talents of its cast and crew, and the tremendous technological advances which have come about since those earlier releases.

I was fortunate enough to view King Kong early in its release cycle in 2005 in a well equipped theater, joining a near capacity crowd. Despite the optimal conditions, I wasn’t immediately taken with the film, though I had been looking forward to Mr. Jackson’s follow up to his amazingly successful Lord of the Rings trilogy. Since that time, I have had a chance to view the excellent box set of the 1933 release and think about what worked and what didn’t work for me with this telling of the story. Revisiting it in my own home theater, first via the 2 disk collector’s edition DVD set, subsequently on the HD-DVD and ultimately on this BluRay, has led to a lot of new perspectives for me, and I now find a lot to love in this film.

My major conclusion is that over the last 30+ years I have been used to seeing the story of King Kong told on the small screen, and in the privacy of my own home, which led to a lot of the disappointment for me in the theater experience. I expected a lot of changes to the story, and I now believe that those repeated viewings I had of the prior versions may have worked against my enjoying this new version.

Viewing this film on my own screen has led to quite a softening of those criticisms for me; I feel that this is one of those film experiences that, despite its length, is meant to be viewed multiple times to really appreciate. While I don’t believe that the younger viewers who are first experiencing the Kong story will have the opportunity to have endless replays of the Kong (and Godzilla) films on every Thanksgiving like I did as a kid, the availability of it on DVD , the failed HD-DVD format, and on this stunning BluRay ensures that a repeat viewing is simply a rack selection away for most people. While King Kong was not among my favorite movies of 2005, it is more than the sum of its parts and the DVD and HD DVD releases and especially this BluRay soundly beat the theater experience I had, which is saying a lot.

Sound Quality: 5/5

King Kong is clearly a movie designed from the start to make the most of the full range available in a modern surround sound experience. The key visual effects sequences are accompanied by correspondingly intense sonic sweeps, pans, and booms. The stampedes of brontosaurs and T-Rexs thud and roar with a clarity that surpasses those from Jurassic Park. The battle in the spider pit aurally puts viewers in the middle of the action, with swarms of insects coming from all corners, only to be met in return with realistic and bass driven machine gun fire. Kong himself features of range of grunts and roars that mimics real language, every sniffle, snort, chest thump and snarl adds to the impact that makes us want to believe he is real, and not just some collection of bits in a computer. While it is unlikely that anyone in 1933 ever envisioned that the sound of biplanes encircling Kong on top of the empire state building could realistically match the onscreen action, in this 2005 version it seems to have been pre-destined. It is this audio rotoscoping of strafing runs that 5.1 surround seems to have been invented for.

And yet it is Composer James Newton Howard’s simple yet charming score that holds all of these effect sequences together, taking them beyond just a string of action events and allows us to empathize with the relationship between Ann and Kong, reaching into our hearts as she grows and learns about herself and she and Kong come to understand each other. Simple piano melodies slowly build into full orchestral bombardment as action sequences ebb and flow into the more emotionally grounded ones.

On this BluRay we finally get a full uncompressed encoding, which was a deal breaker for many on past releases. While it is not my way to go back and A/B the current and prior releases I thoroughly enjoyed this version tho I was surprised at how front focused the NYC scenes were at the beginning of the film, but once the cast made it to the voyager all doubtts were gone and we got back into the fully realized surround mix I had been expecting. Few will find this mix wanting although I still do not think that the uncompressed version could be chosen by many without careful and studied comparison to the prior releases head to head.

Visual Quality: 5/5
Like the HDDVD before it, the transfer on this BluRay disk is stunning. Every detail of Kong comes through in dramatic fashion. Once again I could pick out the CG mosquito flitting around a T-Rexes teeth among many other detals! The quality of this transfer is beyond reproach, it is impeccably sharp, dirt-less, scratch-less, free of edge enhancement, and pixel perfect as far as color rendition goes. There IS some amount of grain in many scenes, particularly in the NYC sequences, but this is film grain and matches the stock used for theatrical presentation, and I remember it quite vividly looking like this when I saw it myself at a local Cineplex, but it looks better at home!

Quite frankly, anyone who has more than minor gripes about the look of this film (and they are out there gabbing it up on the net!) will never be happy. This is about as good as you can reasonably expect films to look in the comfort of your own home. There is some debate whether this is the same exact transfer or not as the HD DVD, I have not personally put them head to head but I suspect any minor changes would be hard for all but the most exacting perfectionist if they are different.

Extra Features: 2/5

FAIL.

This BluRay is a near carbon copy of the HD-DVD in that it takes a minimalist view of extras and the features that are present are a ghost of the treasure trove found on the excellent DVD editions. None of the restored sequences or deleted scenes found on the prior 3 disk DVD are present either.

However, the extras that this disk does contain are integrated into the ‘U-Control’ scheme, meaning that menu navigation to get to them is awkward and minimal, tho perhaps a bit better than the ones on the HDDVD. As I have noted countless times, this seems to me to be a technology that sounds great on paper, but in practice the old way of doing things is still so much better. I did go through a few of the picture in picture sequences and found them interesting but still not nearly what this great film deserves and I continue to find the mechanics of it dull and frustrating.

There are a few other extras to consider. First is the fact that both extended and theatrical versions are on one disk, plus there is a feature length commentary with Jackson and Co-Writer/Producer Phillipa Boyens. I haven't listened to this one yet but it hardly makes up for the absence of hours upon hours of other extras previous disks have had. Also, there is a secondary U-Control track that displays artist renderings along with the film. Whoopee! Universal also plugs some standard BDLive extras but these are all the generic ones that every disk gets (you can make your own favorite scenes, whoopie x2!) and shouldn't even be listed on the box as anything special.

Universal is to be commended for using the space on a single disk to add a new sound encoding but seriously, the lack of features is a huuuuuge disappointment. When brand new films get an embarrassing number of extras and Kong gets nada, there is something terribly terribly wrong.

Overall: 4/5 (not an average)
Other than a drought of extras, my personal bias against U-control, and the actual twice rehashed plot of the movie itself, there is really very little one can complain about King Kong on Blu, especially given that there is finally a full uncompressed sound track. I suppose the third time will be the charm for the 2005 Kong, until then this disk is going to be all we have if we want the film looking and sounding it’s best. I’m reluctant to give it honors with this big of an issue, but still, it’s Jackson, its Kong, and it’s on Blu, it has to be: Recommended.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

Wow, and I thought it was a bargain at $19.99...looks like I'm getting what I'm paying for (though I would gladly pay $5-$7 more for all of the previous DVD features in HD).

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

I'm just glad that The disc has both versions on one disc.

However I will have to revisit the film on the disc that I own and decide if I really want to repurchase. Blu-Ray even though it is wonderful with seeing great films in HD, really makes me think about my purchases now. I guess that we are back to the Laserdisc/VHS days where you buy a VHS on impulse but you really have to think about buying a film on Laserdisc because you have to think if you would watch the film over and over again.

That or I'm just really poor. I haven't decided that yet.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

I am sitting here right now contemplating the purchase of this
film for the third time. First it was DVD, then it was HD-DVD.

The two things pushing me to purchase is the fact that it has the
extended cut included and it's only selling for $20 on Amazon.

Great review, Sam.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

VHS, in 2005, Ron? I hope you meant SD-DVD.

I own the theatrical SD-DVD version only and have never seen the extended cut. At $20 on Amazon, this is an easy buying decision for me. I do not really care about special features anyway.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

For those who do not have any prior exposure to 2005 Kong marketing this is an easy sell. For those of us who have been following Kong since pre-production and are familiar with the AVALANCHE of extras available across all formats it's a bitter pill.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

For $20, getting both versions and never having the HD DVD, I'm definitely buying this. I doubt they'll be making new extras any time soon so even if they do re-release this some day with all the special features, I'll just hang on to this release, my DVDs and my money.

Thanks for the review, Sam!

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

Thanks for the review Sam. Since I have this on HD-DVD I won't be replacing it anytime soon. I would like to have the audio upgrade that the Blu-Ray provides, but I can wait until it eventually goes on sale for an even lower price. Good review.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

While I sympathize with those who are disappointed by the omission of existing supplements, I've never much cared for special features. But the inclusion of both cuts of the film is important to me, so it sounds like this Blu-ray is the perfect release for me.

Of course, I'll keep my fingers crossed for a more feature-laden release for those who want it.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

Great review! I am in for a double dip on this one as I also own the HD-DVD. The EE and DTS-MA (allthough I doubt I would be able to tell them apart in a DB test) even if only a mental advantage over the DD+ for one of my absolute favorite HT rides is worth it

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

king kong 2005 is one of my favorite films. it was my favorite of 2005. however I prefer the theatre* version of kong. I was able to rent the bluray edition. it looks very nice.

Jacob

* for the most part I am all for the directors cut, special edition, extended editions for many movies. this time I like the theatre version only.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

I apologize for the VHS comment. I am not at my best so
early in the morning. My prior statement has been corrected.

I also just ordered this.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

I too had previously bought the DVD, extended DVD, and HD DVD version - ended up selling all of them. I hope to have the BD delivered soon. I bought this movie four times in the last 3.5 years. Crazy. The studio must love me.

Visually, the HD DVD was probably the most stunning image I've seen. Some of those jungle scenes were amazing. Looking at the screenshot comparisons on another site, it seems the HD DVD is ever-so-slightly better...but really only noticeable when zoomed and I doubt I'll be able to see the difference in motion.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

Just a comment about that "other site". You all know my stance on screenshots, but one poster there was absolutely correct, you could almost guess what all the regulars there were going to say before the thread even started. I do have to say that looking at those pics there might be a small edge one way or the other, but in motion I felt the BD looked slightly better TO ME on my specific system which is currently still 720p. Hoping to rectify that soon tho!

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

Keep in mind that all of the production diaries were shot on DV to begin with so they would either have to be encoded on disc as SD Mpeg2 or upscale to 1080p.

Also, looking at the mentioned screen shot I do have to wonder why the colors are so much different on the BD than they were on the HD-DVD.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

Seeing as I already have the production diaries, the original and the extended cut DVDs, I pretty much have all the extras anyway. So I'm just gonna get the BD for the HD transfer of both cuts and call it a day.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

There are five Best Buys in the western Los Angeles area near me, and all are out of this BD as of 4PM today. No idea if they did or didn't anticipate stock properly, or did not get a shipment, but they're all out.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

A purchase for me, no questions. Loved the film and am looking very forward to this on Blu.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

Hate that U-Control thing. What's worse is that "you can't" control when to watch the special feature. You have to watch the whole movie instead of having a menu to select.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

My Best Buy (in Albany, NY) didn't have a single one in stock at 7pm tonight. Apparently, they only got three in today...which were all gone. None at the nearby FYE either.

Another poster in this week's RoundUp said they were in their local BB @ 10:30 this morning and two were on the shelf.

This title was prominently featured in their flyer this week and is being hyped by Amazon as their "release of the week."

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

The same Best Buy that the Mike above me was out of the title by 1PM yesterday.

I wonder if Best Buy is cutting down on ordering catalog titles because of too much inventory on other titles.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

Carlos: the Best Buys in Ventura County ran out too. They did have an empty space on the BluRay wall--but I noted that it was only about a 3" empty space, so I don't think they cleared very MUCH space for Kong! Weird thinking behind that merchandising oversight--Kong's a big guy!

Wayne--they're probably under-ordering everything because the economy sucks and they do indeed have too many SD's sitting around. I notice more and more--week after week--that people are switching to BR. You can see it. I went to Fry's last week...they have about 4 aisles of SD and 1 aisle of BR. All the customers at that moment in time were shopping for Blu.

I also notice of late that SD's are starting to get VERY, VERY cheap!! Yesterday Best Buy was offering a two-pack of the first Underworld movies--$12.99. The BluRays of those two cost about $24.99 each. Quite the bargain for an SD but confusing and weirdly tempting if you want everything in BR from now on. I saw an even bigger bargain at Target--they had a cheapy Matrix Trilogy set (all three films) for $9.99. Lord have mercy, now that's cheap! BUT the BluRay boxed set still costs about $100!!

These bargain-basement prices for SD make me think that SD is hurting and they're offering everything at fire-sale prices. But that may delay the success of BR if everyone is buying cheapy SD's instead of the better and much more expensive versions.

Anyway, we now return you to King Kong, already in progress--

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

I don't know if I'd trust that guy, he's a crackpot.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

That whole gang over there is sketchy!

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

Oh f- it. I just ordered it from Amazon with 2 day shipping because I had other things I wanted to buy from Amazon. Should be here by Friday. Best Buy's website now lists King Kong BD as backordered, so it looks like BB as a whole understocked the title and I'm not going to play the waiting game.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

What a shitty release, no stores in my area have this at all. Are we 100% sure it was actually released yesterday?

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

Now I'm wishing I had ordered it from amazon. I was thisclose to doing so.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

I have it.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

Sam,

Universal really disappointed and surprised me with this release. Although I do not own the HD-DVD version, I do have the 2-disc theatrical DVD, 3-disc extended cut DVD, and the "King Kong Diaries" DVD set, all housed in a 8-disc case (using the cover from the 3-disc).

With BD replication costs still high, I am forgiving when a studio provides the bonus material on DVDs rather than Blu-ray, much like what Warner did with "Blade Runner" and Uni has done on recent BD releases like "Hellboy II" and "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor."

Most of what appears to be missing on this BD release can be found on the Special Features discs from the 2-disc and 3-disc sets, as well as the video diaries set that was released when the movie was released theatrically. So, this could have been a 5-disc set, and all they would have had to do was author the BD and relabel the existing 4 DVDs of supplemental material from the prior releases.

This is a shame, as I have been telling people that Universal seems to know Blu-ray better than any other studio.

Re: HTF BluRay Review: King Kong (2005) - Recommended (with a caveat!)

At this point, it appears they do not.

I ordered it off Amazon, it'll be here tomorrow. F'n Universal!