King Kong Extended Edition: Nov. 14th (1 Viewer)

[Kevin Grey]

Just like the LOTR films, Kong is being referred to as an "extended" cut, vice Director's cut. That said, PJ was definitely under the gun in getting Kong ready for a December release so I'm not sure he was completely happy with the final product.

 

[Ray H]

DVD Times has artwork up.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=62203

 

[Bryan Beckman]

DVDActive states that the extended version will be 13 minutes longer, with 230 new visual effects shots, Peter Jackson commentary, 40 minutes of deleted scenes, gag reel, etc. It's a tad underwhelming, considering the amount of extra footage for each of the LOTR EEs. And there probably won't be as many character moments as I had hoped for. But maybe it'll have DTS. And I LOVE that cover art.

EDIT: Check out the frame grab from the deleted swamp scene on the right of Kong. Nice little nod to the fans who wondered where that scene went.

 

[Dan Hitchman]

King Kong was more of an exercise in director self indulgence than being a movie. The bronto stampede is just such an example. He gives more time to that (more dinos, we need more dinos!!) than establishing a credible relationship between Anne and Jack.

Many times the CGI is as fake looking as the stop motion animation in the 1933 version. However, I still like the original because it was a trailblazer in special effects. Except for some amazing shots of Kong, this film takes CGI animation back 10 years (and digital doubles still look a heck of a lot like... digital doubles!), not forward! The only redeeming quality of the computer effects are the recreated 1933 New York City 3D vistas!

I actually liked the guy in the gorilla suit in the remake of Mighty Joe Young MORE than the CGI in King Kong! Rick Baker (and I believe Stan Winston also helped out a bit) really outdid himself with that animatronic suit! As if he was trying to make good for that fairly horrid 1976 Kong costume he built and wore.

A most disappointing remake. I'll see the extended cut once out of curiosity, but I doubt I'll be buying this on DVD or HD.

Dan

 

[Cory S.]

13 minutes of footage added back in? That's not entirely bad. I thought PJ would go all out and extended to the rumored 40 more minutes but I may be able to handle an additional 13 minutes. The 40 minutes of deleted scenes does intrique....

I might have to rethink my stance on not buying this set.

 

[Andy Sheets]

More scenes of hapless humans getting chomped by Skull Island critters makes me happy. I'm glad I waited on this

 

[Eric Peterson]

I'm interested in the 230 new effects. Hopefully one of these is fixing the horrible effects in the bronto-chase. If they fix that I'm definitely interested. I had to turn my head in the theater during that chase because the effects were so bad.

 

[Michael Harris]

Speaking of shorter versions, I saw the airline version of "King Kong" and I hate to admit it, it worked. For example, we are introduced to Ann when she is standing in front of the burlesque theater deciding to go in. Then we see her steal the apple. Pretty easy to see that she was down on her luck. The Spider Pit sequence was also cut. The flow of the film was pretty good. I wonder if Jackson supervised that cut.

 

[TomWoodward]

Here are the full specs for you. Unfortunately no DTS which is a bit of a bummer! As for the limited edition set - it will include 'A beautifully crafted King Kong figurine, created exclusively for the package by the Oscar®-winning artists at Weta Workshop and Weta Digital'

DISC 1

"KING KONG" part 1
DELETED SCENES - 16 Deleted Scenes
FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER PETER JACKSON AND CO-WRITER/PRODUCER PHILIPPA BOYENS

DISC 2

"KING KONG" part 2
THE EIGHTH BLUNDER OF THE WORLD
"THE PRESENT"
A NIGHT IN VAUDEVILLE
KING KONG HOMAGE
WETA COLLECTABLES
Trailers
FEATURE COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER PETER JACKSON AND CO-WRITER/PRODUCER PHILIPPA BOYENS

DISC 3

THE "KING KONG" ARCHIVES
INTRODUCTION BY PETER JACKSON
THE ORIGINS OF "KING KONG"
PRE-PRODUCTION PART 1: THE RETURN OF KONG
PRE-PRODUCTION PART 2: COUNTDOWN TO FILMING
THE VENTURE JOURNEY
RETURN TO SKULL ISLAND
NEW YORK, NEW ZEALAND
BRINGING KONG TO LIFE PART 1: DESIGN AND RESEARCH
BRINGING KONG TO LIFE PART 2: PERFORMANCE AND ANIMATION
THE 1996 "KING KONG" VIDEO GALLERY
THE VENTURE VIDEO GALLERY
SKULL ISLAND VIDEO GALLERY
NEW YORK VIDEO GALLERY
KONG VIDEO GALLERY
ARRIVAL AT SKULL ISLAND PRE-VIZ ANIMATIC
BRONTO STAMPEDE PRE-VIZ ANIMATIC
T-REX FIGHT PRE-VIZ ANIMATIC
KONG'S CAPTURE PRE-VIZ ANIMATIC
EMPIRE STATE BUILDING BATTLE PRE-VIZ ANIMATIC
ANN DISARMS KONG MOTION-CAPTURE/ANIMATION COMPARISON
KONG'S CAPTURE MOTION-CAPTURE/ANIMATION COMPARISON
KONG IN NEW YORK MOTION-CAPTURE/ANIMATION COMPARISON
DVD CREDITS
ROM: 1996 AND 2005 SCRIPTS
And Much More

 

[Jason_V]

I hated the theatrical version for the same reasons everyone else has mentioned. However, reading through all this, I'm mildly interested now. Maybe it'll play better on the TV screen than in the theater.

Or my expectations will be so low the movie can't go anywhere but up.

 

[Haggai]

EDIT: Tom Woodward himself already posted the full specs for us here that are up now on DVDActive. Thanks, Tom!

I haven't seen any of the Production Diaries, or the bonus material on the 2-disc theatrical release, so I'm just guessing here, but are the listings for disc 3 just a compilation of stuff that's already on those two previous releases? Or does this look like all-new-to-DVD material?

 

[Ray H]

The extras look all new to me.

I was hoping for something more than 13 minutes added to the film, but I think I'll pick this up anyway. I'm curious what's in those 13 minutes they're adding back and what's in the 40 minutes that they decided to leave out.

 

[Jefferson Morris]

Good lord. Who was your hyperbole professor?

The integration of live action actors into the bronto backgrounds was a little dodgy in spots, I'll give you that. But the animation of the dinos themselves looks just fine to me. They have weight, solidity, detailed texture. Why does everyone pile up on this scene?

--Jefferson Morris

 

[Sam Favate]

I liked the theatrical version, and have been holding out for the EE, so this is good news as far as I am concerned.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Because the integration of live action actors was dodgy. It just drew attention to the fact that it didn't look right, and was an effect. I think the other reason people attack that scene is that it's the only scene where the effects are really noticable. I have a friend in WETA, and he freely admits that the brontosaurus scene was not that good effects wise. As you say, the actual animation of the dinosaurs is as great as anything else in the film. it's just that they couldn't get the actors to look like they were in the same place.

 

[Henry Gale]

Thank you Bryan!
I loved the opening but I could really do without more shots of people who have never handled an automatic weapon before successfully shooting giant insects off their friends.

 

[Jack _Webster]

The 13 minutes bit is good news. I thought the LotR movies perfectly merited every second of the added material, but I wasn't sure about having a 4-hour version of King Kong. The length seemed pretty good in the theater. But 13 minutes isn't too much and it should be great material. I'm sold.

 

[TravisR]

Big thumbs up for only adding 13 minutes to the movie. I'm happy that PJ resisted the urge to just dump every scene back in whether it was good for the movie or not.

 

[Roy Batty]

You mean as opposed to what he did on the theatrical cut?



I wonder if he just added those 13 minutes, or if he also tinkered with the rest of the movie to tighten the pace.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

This is great news, but....

It would be nice if Universal also released this extended edition
for HD-DVD. I would really rather not purchase this title again
on standard definition.