King Kong [Blu-ray]

Peter Jackson has followed up his wonderful "Lord of the Rings" trilogy with an astounding remake of of King Kong that will leave you spellbound.Jack Black stars as Carl Denham, a movie producer who is going to make a movie aboard a ship. However, he secretly wants to find the uncharted Skull Island. Unfortunately for Carl, his leading lady has disappeared, leaving his movie venture up in the air. Naomi Watts stars as Ann Darrow, a struggling vaudeville actress who has just lost her most recent job due to the closing of the club where she was working. By chance, Carl and Ann meet, and Carl offers the job of his leading lady role to her. Ann accepts, and soon the members of the movie crew, including script writer Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) are on the S.S Venture bound for Singapore; or at least that was the plan.Filming starts on Carl's movie, but while on board , the ship's captain receives a message that there is a warrant for Carl's arrest. He is to change his course and head for Rangoon. However, the ship encounters a dense fog bank and it slams into the rocky coast of an island. Skull Island.Carl, Ann, Jack, and the others set off to explore the island. Soon, they run across some blood-thirsty natives who succeed in killing several members of the party. The ship's captain comes to the resuce in the nick of time, and everyone heads back to the S.S. Venture to prepare to set sail once high tide frees them from the rocks. But, the natives manage to board the ship undetected and kidnap Ann.Ann is bound and tied to a wooden rack and offered as a sacrifice to an amazing and mythical creature; a huge gorilla called King Kong. Kong scoops up Ann in his huge hand and bounds away. The others aboard the S.S. Venture soon realize that Ann is missing and head back to the island to rescue her. But, Ann soon realizes that Kong doesn't intend to harm her. In fact, she begins to like him as well. But the determined crewmembers are intent on getting Ann back no matter what the cost.Fierce fighting breaks out on the island as Kong fights against crewmembers and creatures alike, including three T-Rexs who try to kill Ann. The fight sequence between Kong and the dinosaurs is one of the best sequences of the entire film. Jack, having had his movie camera smashed to bits during one of the chases, comes up with another idea. He wants to capture Kong and bring him back to the mainland and make a fortune on admission fees. With the help of the remaining members of the Venture's crew, they manage to sedate the mighty Kong and bring him back to New York City.Soon, Jack is standing before a packed auditorium with the curtain drawn. The curtain goes up, and there is Kong, shackled with heavy iron chains. Kong is still sedated, so at first he doesn't do too much. But when he realizes that the girl brought onstage is not Ann, he goes beserk, rips off his chains, and goes on a rampage through the streets of New York. Meanwhile, at a nearby club, Ann hears the commotion in the streets. She sees one of Jack's promotional flyers blow by her window, and she immediately knows what's happening. She walks out into the night to find Kong.Once together, Ann and Kong somehow end up on an ice skating pond, with Kong laughing and playing on the ice. However, this carefree moment is short-lived, as the New York National Guard finds them and begins shooting artillery at Kong. Scooping Ann up in his hand, Kong heads for higher ground, namely, the top of the Empire State Building. Kong, seeming to know what his ultimate fate will be, scales the building until he reaches the top, all the while carefully carrying Ann in his hand like a newborn. Once on top and having suffered numerous hits from the guns of airplanes buzzing around them, Kong and Ann share a final, tender moment.This is a tremendous film, and it deserves much more than five stars. The special effects are simply out of this world. The scenes on top of the Empire State Building are the best in the movie, with Kong swatting planes out of the sky like mosquitos. But beyond the special effects, the story is very good, and touching as well. The relationship between Kong and Ann is very moving, and you can see how much Kong cares for her by the way he protects her from danger throughout the movie. The final scene on top of the Empire State Building is probably the most moving scene in the film. Kong, resigned to his fate, makes sure right up until the very end, that Ann is safe.I give this movie my highest recommendation. The special effects will blow you away, but what will keep you watching is the touching and genuine relationship between a beautiful woman and a large but caring gorilla. Enjoy.

This is the best $12.89 you will spend for a great movie with excellent audio and video. Your speakers will work over time throughout the movie.

I saw this in the movie theater back in 2005. This was around the same time I was beginning to watch older movies that weren't the Wizard of Oz or the Sound of Music. I remember liking the 1933 film, and being in awe by the special effects for the 1930s. When I saw the trailer for this remake, I was excited.This movie is an example of a remake done right.With love and care for the source material, while adding some new elements into the story. I highly recommend watching the Extended Cut version, while it is a tad longer, there are scenes included that were from the 1933 film, like the swamp and first dinosaur scene. There are also some great special features as well, Peter Jackson mentions he owns some original King Kong props that were placed as Easter eggs within the 2005 film. The original 1933 film is the reason why Peter Jackson became a filmmaker.Naomi Watts is a perfect Ann Darrow for this remake, not only does she look similar to Fay Wray, this version is more empathic toward Kong as the movie progresses; however she has to work for that by using her abilities as a vaudevillian actress to fight for her life. Jack Black's take on an Orson Welles type for Carl Denham is interesting, and he showcases his dramatic chops in a few scenes. Adrian Brody as Jack Driscoll, now a playwright instead of the first mate, is also an interesting take on the character.Andy Serkis plays the dual roles of both Kong and the ship's cook, Lumpy; this movie and Gollum from Lord of the Rings showcase his acting abilities phenomenally. He has mastered showing emotion and thoughts through the eyes of his characters.Everyone at Weta Workshop and Digital deserve recognition for the hard work they put into the movie, from the miniatures used for certain scenes, to digital special effects work for background scenes, the dinosaurs and Kong himself. Working on Lord of the Rings and this film, they have definitely earned their go-to status for digital effects in future films like James Cameron's Avatar, the Marvel and DC comics movies, the reboot Planet of the Apes trilogy, and so much more.If you have your schedule cleared for a day or weekend, definitely watch this movie as a back-to-back with the original film.

4K version is great. I wanted the extended version, and it doesn't disappoint. However, I'm giving 4 stars because the digital version is theatrical. I bought it for the digital as well as disc. Wish digital was extended version.