HTF Review: King Kong (2005). Very highly recommended - Page 4

Bingo!

Is there suppose to be a booklet with the 2-disc set?

Well, you know how some people are.

It was VERY well publicized that the only extras were going to be on the 2-disc version, and that an extended director's cut was very likely around the holiday season with a completely new set of extras.

Also, as mentioned, this is not something new that began with KK. Wasn't Master & Commander, over a year ago, the beginning of this trend? Since then there've been many titles that have gone this route.

I'd imagine it was also a major wish of the large rental chains so they didn't need to order special cases and keep track of all the extra discs.

Clayton--I didn't notice that glitch either. Perhaps you just have a bad copy. If it's not too late, you might exchange it.

The only oddities I've seen are a couple of frames on the Venture that didn't seem to be color graded correctly (it's almost like the lights dim for a second).

Well, I can assure you that you are not the only one. However, I find the general lack of reaction you are getting to this issue, as well as the general lack of outcry over the watermarking even more disturbing.

It seems to me that the studios will continue to make the DVD experience more like the current theatrical movie experience (forced ad wise) until those of us who thought we'd found a safe-haven in home theater will have to look elsewhere again.

Edited to add:

Part of me thinks this dumbing-down of DVD is being done, in part, to make Blu-Ray and HD-DVD even more appealing to the early adopter. I wouldn't classify myself as an early adopter though, certainly more so than most of the people I know. However, even this perceived, on my part, 'dumbing-down' won't make me adopt an HD home theater format until the format war is resolved.

And only time will tell when the EXACT same things starts happening to those formats as well.

I too was a little peeved at the psuedo-advert on the main page...just like I was back when Hulk had some ads for softdrink and junk.

But as long as they're not forced ads, I'll not complain too much.

Has this been mentioned?



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4874888.stm

Also I didn't know that it beat Narnia in 2 places!

I'm sorry, but how can one claim that dvd is being "dumbed down" when we are dealing with a referrance example like King Kong?

I mean come on now, it's not as if Universal purposfully botched-up the film transfer itself.

If the ads bother you, that's understandable, they do suck and I don't like them anymore than you guys do, but it's hardly worth getting too bent out of shape about IMO and it certaintly isn't going to prompt me to run into the arms of Blu-Ray until i'm good and ready.

People are losing focus of what's important here, we have this incredible film in stellar dvd quality, in it's OAR and sports a great audio mix, who cares about anything else?

As far as i'm concerned, as long as the studios continue to give us presentations of their films like the one we got for King Kong, I couldn't care less about ads, forced or otherwise.

Honestly, where are your priorities, folks? Mine reside with the film presentations themselves, but that's just me, i'm crazy like that.

Box-Office Blockbuster King Kong Roars on DVD

Mega Hit Amasses a King-Sized $100 Million in Consumer Spending
The Largest First Six-Day Sell-Through on DVD
in Universal Studios History

Film Continues its Record-Breaking Success as Universal Pictures’
Fourth-Highest Grossing Film of All Time


Universal City, California, April 3, 2006 –King Kong ascended to extraordinary heights in its first six days in release, selling more than 6.5 million DVDs, the largest six-day performance in Universal Studios history. Fans snatched the blockbuster adventure film off shelves, generating $100 million in consumer spending for the Universal Studios Home Entertainment release.

The spectacular first-week DVD sales continue King Kong's astonishing commercial success as the studio’s fourth-highest grossing film in the studio’s 94-year history. To date, the film has amassed approximately $550 million in ticket sales worldwide, following on the heels of Jurassic Park, E.T. and The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

"Hands down, Peter Jackson’s King Kong ranks as one of Universal's biggest and most successful cinematic triumphs of all time," said Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home Entertainment. "Home entertainment consumers recognize the singular-event status of this spectacular breakthrough motion picture which has been further bolstered by the film’s stunning technical achievements including its Oscar® win for best visual effects."

The latest larger-than-life spectacle from visionary filmmaker Peter Jackson (the Lord of the Rings trilogy), King Kong enthralled audiences and critics alike, garnering three Oscars® at the 2006 Academy Awards® and appearing on countless "Best Movies of the Year" lists.

Both the original theatrical version and the Special Collectors Edition two-disc set of the King Kong DVD boast collectible package artwork specially created by WETA Digital Ltd., the production company behind the film's impressive Oscar®-winning visual effects. The DVD release of King Kong was supported by unparalleled cross-promotional opportunities with an array of prominent partners including Papa John's Pizza, Glad, Hostess, Orville Redenbacher's® Gourmet® Microwave Popcorn, Kellogg's, Nestle, Toshiba, Chase and Kodak EasyShare.

King Kong recounts the eternal tale of beauty and the beast, with a script by three-time Academy Award® winner Jackson and his longtime collaborators and fellow Oscar® winners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Oscar® nominee Naomi Watts (21 Grams), Jack Black (School of Rock), Oscar® winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist), Colin Hanks (Orange County) and Andy Serkis (the Lord of the Rings trilogy) headline this must-see spectacular, with a cast of mind-boggling, mythical creatures and an arsenal of spectacular visual innovations backing them up.

The Special Collector's Edition DVD features an exclusive glimpse of the creation of King Kong's two unique worlds -- Skull Island, a land forgotten by time, where the actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and the giant, savage ape known as King Kong forge their tragic bond, and 1930's New York City, a different, but not less perilous, kind of jungle. Other extras include almost three hours of exclusive behind the scenes footage with director Jackson, as he finalizes every aspect of post production on this groundbreaking film. The single disc version is available at $29.98 SRP and the two-disc Special Edition is priced at $30.98 SRP

Universal Studios Home Entertainment is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is a part of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% owned by Vivendi Universal.

In this connotation, I think 'dumbed-down' can mean a number of things. I don't think there is a documented definition of the term for HT purposes that says it only pertains to audio and video quality. Dumbed-down means over-simplified, which really does not apply well to either of our uses when you get right down to it.


Oh, no? Did you miss the watermarking memo?

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...75#post2972475

Quick question...has else anyone noticed a handful of pops on the 5.1 track? They're subtle, since it's a busy soundtrack, but the most prominent one I caught was at about 2:37:58 in the right channel, which is during a quieter scene. Are these on the master, or did I get a bad disc?

No complaints about the picture, though...utterly gorgeous! Even the above-mentioned watermark was hidden well enough that I didn't see it two out of three times.

Over-simplification? Is that what all the fuss is about? Whew! For a second there I thought that all of the studios were completely ignoring quality and dropping OAR's, not counting Sony of course...the bastards.

Still not seeing the big deal, here.

As for that watermark, I never spotted it until it was brought up here in the forum.

In my opinion, it doesn't matter whether most people don't notice it or not...it shouldn't be there.

Just what does that watermark mean, anyway?

just a heads up for anyone who hasn't bought this yet, but Universal is expected to announce this will be an early HD DVD release for May.
I didn't really care for the film, although i was a Kong fanatic as a kid- however this would be something i would purchase in HD solely for several undeniably spectacular set pieces.

in fact, i think this could be HD DVDs first killer ap (unless its dvd sales have already slaked most of the thirst)

I know some people are excited about the HD dvd.. I use progressive scan and the picture is just fine.. I don;t know if everyone uses progressive? it does make a major difference.

JACOB

Yeah but not as much difference as hundreds of more lines of resolution will make. And I'm not one of those "I stopped buying SD DVDs five years ago!" HD-obsessed type of guys either.

I had gotten a samsung upconversion DVD player to 1080i.. had problems with the player.. the cheaper one did a better job.. notice a little differnce..

have to try a better dvd player for that.

JACOB

Anybody have a chance to check up on the audio issues I encountered a few posts back?

The score has pops in the recording, you can hear it on the soundtrack to. But if anyone would like to test out the scene I was refering to when Kong bursts through the gate on the island, I would be very grateful, cuz I think I might have a deffective copy or something... It's just when the giant theme plays for him, it sounds like it slows down and there's a digital glitch/pop sound in the front 2 channels.

Hi Clayton, I took a look at the scene in question, and while I do hear a slight bit of intonation warble in the music, I didn't hear any glitches to speak of. If it jumps right out on your copy, perhaps it is a bad one.

Pretty sharp that you caught the pops on the soundtrack CD as well, although I think those were the result of the extremely compressed schedule they had for producing the album. In the past I've noticed such glitches on score CDs that I knew had an extremely fast turn-around time, probably because there wasn't adequate time to proof the master. In the instance of 'Kong,' I don't think they're on the original tracks, though, because none of the pops on the album are audible in the final mix of the movie. The handful I noticed on my disc are in different spots.

Regarding that, thanks for double-checking your copy, Sam. I also checked out a friend's copy the other day, and noticed pops in the same spots. We both have the single-disc edition, while you're review indicates you've got the two-discer. Just a shot in the dark, but maybe they were manufactured in different plants. We all know that Universal's quality-control has a reputation for being...uh...variable.

Looking forwards to this version, of “King Kong” and after seeing both the 1933 original and 1976, remake set in around a modern world, however the origins of “Peter Jackson’s” is keeping with the tradition of the 1933 realise, except stop-motion animation as come a long way since “Willis H. O’Brien’s” “King Kong.”

Welcome to the forum!


There was no stop-motion in PJ's King Kong.

Stop motion animation's progress halted as soon as guy's like Phil Tippet witnessed the awesome power of CGI, to quote Phil after he saw the T-Rex CGI test footage during the production of Jurassic Park..."Holy shit. This is it, we're gonna be in big trouble now."

Thank you very much there John’ pleasure to be hear, a little busy at the moment with an (Upper centre) relocation issue in the home cinema, I’ll be around a lot more later.

Again, thanks for the warm welcome.

Couldn't one argue that cgi is an extension of stop-motion? In traditional stop-motion a model is physically built, and them animated by making tiny incremental moves of the model and photographing the model after each move.

In cgi, a model is built (a virtual model in the computer) and the animator than moves that model incrementally and the image photographed or captured after each move.

Since the model is virtual, it can be more complex, making cgi capable of far more complex and subtle images. Also, cgi can animate such things as hair by having the computer do that work. Of couse, Kong was animated mostly by motion capture which is another diversion from traditional stop-mostion. The dinos were probably animated by a cgi animator moving the virutal models incrementally.

If you sat Ray Harryhausen down in front of a computer with a virtual model of a dinosaur, teach him how to use the software, I think he'd find it very similar to what he did in his prime.

CGI is, of course, a great leap forward in the sophistication of stop-motion animation.