USHE Announcement: King Kong Ultimate Edition (2005) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Ahab]

I saw this in theaters and thought it would never end (Peter Jackson never heard the phrase "less is more"), and now 13 hours on top of that! Has the man no mercy?

I admire his enthusiasm for the original material. His supplements for the original King Kong blu ray were quite good.
But he is probably my least favorite living director. He just drags all his stuff out. Even his action scenes are like watch molasses drip.
And what he did to The Hobbit was an abomination.

 

[Patrick H.]

What type of branching error? I popped in the disc this afternoon and had no problems going back and forth between the theatrical and extended cuts.

I don't remember exactly where, but in one of the Naomi Watts-runs-through-the-jungle sequences in the middle act there is an edit in the theatrical cut where the audio jumps abruptly. It's because a sequence from the extended cut was dropped out there, but they didn't branch it in a way that reverted the soundtrack to the theatrical version.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Now Available for Preorder

The link below will take you directly to the product on Amazon. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link.

 

[Tino]

There were two previous Bluray releases. The last one had both versions.

IMO, this film is a modern classic and the longer version even better. Almost as good as the original version.

Day one purchase

 

[RJ992]

There were two previous Bluray releases. The last one had both versions.

IMO, this film is a modern classic and the longer version even better. Almost as good as the original version.

I agree. I hear a lot of people say that the first hour is too long but I disagree. In fact, most of the call-backs to the original are in that section. The only sequence that doesn't work for me is the segment on the ice.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

There were two previous Bluray releases. The last one had both versions.

Are you sure? I only found links to reviews for the January 2009 BD with both cuts.

There was an HD-DVD version with just the theatrical cut, but I didn't see a listing for a theatrical-only BD...

 

[Bob Cashill]

There was only that one Blu-ray release, with both cuts.

 

[Tino]

Are you sure? I only found links to reviews for the January 2009 BD with both cuts.

There was an HD-DVD version with just the theatrical cut, but I didn't see a listing for a theatrical-only BD...

I stand corrected. I was confusing the HDDVD release as a blu. My apologies.

 

[Michel_Hafner]

No UHD no purchase.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I stand corrected. I was confusing the HDDVD release as a blu. My apologies.

Just don't let it happen again, bub!

 

[Ruz-El]

I guess this will go well with The Production Diaries DVD Box Set.

I think that's the big addition in the extras. I don't have my PD set handy to double check.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I guess this will go well with The Production Diaries DVD Box Set.

I just put my copy in and it appears to have the complete Production and Post-Production Diaries. When I find my DVD Diaries, I try to do a exact comparison.

Making a movie involves a lot of long hours and it has always surprised me that PJ and others took the time to make these diaries. I gather PJ has a lot of the fan boy nerd in him. I like that.

 

[questrider]

I liked this movie ... but having it star Jack Black was a big downfall for me. He is probably my second most hated actor next to Adam Sandler.

I saw this in theaters and thought it would never end (Peter Jackson never heard the phrase "less is more"), and now 13 hours on top of that! Has the man no mercy?

I feel this way about the casting of Black as well and I too feel the film is unnecessarily long. (And I've never even seen the extended edition!) However, Naomi Watts more than makes up for all of this in my book!

Since I never bought King Kong before in any format, this edition is a no brainer at this price.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I feel this way about the casting of Black as well and I too feel the film is unnecessarily long. (And I've never even seen the extended edition!) However, Naomi Watts more than makes up for all of this in my book!

Since I never bought King Kong before in any format, this edition is a no brainer at this price.

I agree the Naomi elevates this movie. As an actress she totally bought into the idea that her co-star was tall, dark, and ah...handsome. She goes from being totally threatened by Kong to being his friend. Fay Wray only had to play her relationship the Kong in one mode...screaming her head off. Not a criticism, still a favorite movie.

 

[questrider]

I agree the Naomi elevates this movie. As an actress she totally bought into the idea that her co-star was tall, dark, and ah...handsome. She goes from being totally threatened by Kong to being his friend. Fay Wray only had to play her relationship the Kong in one mode...screaming her head off. Not a criticism, still a favorite movie.

Agreed. And if you watch the three-hour The Origins of King Kong making-of on the bonus disc (which I never had until this week) it's apparent this is because in all of Watts' scenes she was acting with Andy Serkis in his Kong costume off-camera with him doing all the grunts, roars, and breathing through an amplified PA. And in turnaround, when Serkis was doing his motion-capture later he was acting with Watts because they were playing all of her scenes on a monitor so he had something to work off of and react to. This helps elevate everything between Kong and Darrow because the two actors are actually acting in the scenes together even though the end result is built entirely through a CGI effect. Whereas, yes, both Faye Wray (1933) and Jessica Lange (1976) were just acting towards thin air and conjuring Kong in their imaginations. Watching this documentary gave me a whole new appreciation for the film.

 

[Tino]

I love all three King Kongs.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I love all three King Kongs.

Are you including the one with Jessica Lange? OMG that was a stinker. It's a testament to her acting that she had a career after that.

I recently watched the Lange version on TV and I figure that watching it in the theater way back when and watching it on TV will do me for the rest of my life concerning this movie.

Yuch! Ptooyey! Yach! But YMMV.

Her name is Dwan?

 

[questrider]

I like the kitschy style of the 1976 King Kong. Also, I've always had a rule that any film with Jeff Bridges is worthwhile. So...

Bring on the Rick Baker monkey!

And, yes... her name is Dwan.

It certainly is a silly film!

 

[Tino]

Are you including the one with Jessica Lange? OMG that was a stinker. It's a testament to her acting that she had a career after that.

I recently watched the Lange version on TV and I figure that watching it in the theater way back when and watching it on TV will do me for the rest of my life concerning this movie.

Yuch! Ptooyey! Yach! But YMMV.

Her name is Dwan?

Yup. Loved it. Great score by John Barry. Great cinematography. Jeff Bridges. Dwan.

Loved every silly minute of it. [emoji13]

 

[Alan Tully]

Yup, I like all three versions & have them all on Blu-ray, & I don't think the Jackson is too long, I always look at the longer version (how could they cut out those great creature sequences?), but like everyone else, I think they could cut out the ice scene (but then it's only a minute or so long). I hope I like the new one, it looks like it could be daft but fun.