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King Kong (2005)
Runtime: 3 hrs 20 mins
Theatrical Release: Dec 14, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $218,051,260
Synopsis: It is 1933, and vaudeville actress Ann Darrow (Oscar® nominee for 21 Grams, NAOMI WATTS) has found herself—like so many other New Yorkers during the Great Depression—without the means to earn a living. Unwilling to compromise and allow herself to sink into a career in burlesque, she... It is 1933, and vaudeville actress Ann Darrow (Oscar® nominee for 21 Grams, NAOMI WATTS) has found herself—like so many other New Yorkers during the Great Depression—without the means to earn a living. Unwilling to compromise and allow herself to sink into a career in burlesque, she considers her limited options while aimlessly wandering the streets of Manhattan. When her hunger drives her to unsuccessfully try to steal an apple from a fruit vendor's stall, she is rescued—literally— by filmmaker and multiple hyphenate Carl Denham (JACK BLACK of The School of Rock). It seems that the entrepreneur-raconteur-adventurer is no stranger to theft, having that day lifted the only existing print of his most recent and unfinished film from under his studio executives' noses when they threatened to pull his completion funds. Carl has until the end of the day to get his crew onboard the Singapore-bound tramp steamer, the S.S. Venture, in hopes of completing his travelogue/action film. With that, the showman is certain he will finally achieve the personal greatness he knows awaits him around the corner…and although the crew believe that corner to be Singapore, Denham actually hopes to find and capture on film the mysterious place of legend: Skull Island. Unfortunately for Carl, his headlining actress has pulled out of his project, but his search for a size-four leading lady (the costumes have all been made) has, fatefully, led him to Ann. The struggling actress is reluctant to sign on with Denham, until she learns that the up-and-coming, socially relevant playwright Jack Driscoll (Oscar® winner for The Pianist, ADRIEN BRODY) is penning the screenplay—the fees his friend Carl pays for potboiling adventure are a welcome supplement to Driscoll's nominal income from his stage plays. With his newly discovered star and coerced screenwriter reluctantly onboard, Denham's "moving picture ship" heads out of New York Harbor…and toward a destiny that none aboard could possibly foresee. Joining Watts, Black and Brody is an accomplished ensemble cast from around the globe. German star THOMAS KRETSCHMANN (U-571) portrays Captain Englehorn, commander of the Venture, who allows Denham and his ever-increasing bribes to persuade him to endanger the lives of his crew by searching for Skull Island. COLIN HANKS (Orange County) is Preston, Denham's put-upon assistant and unwitting moral compass, who attempts to keep his boss in check and the production from spiraling out of control. Young actor JAMIE BELL (Billy Elliot) plays Jimmy, the youngest crew member, whose experiences onboard the Venture prove more fantastical than any old salt's seafaring yarn. EVAN PARKE lends his talents to the role of first mate Hayes, keeping a watchful eye on young Jimmy and serving as Englehorn's conscience. KYLE CHANDLER takes on the character of Bruce Baxter, a "B"-movie-level leading man cast opposite Ann Darrow in Denham's adventure movie. ANDY SERKIS (who performed the role of the CGI character Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) provides both on-set performance reference and motion-capture performance for the "Eighth Wonder of the World"…the title character of King Kong; he also appears onscreen as the eccentric sailor in charge of the Venture's galley, Lumpy the Cook. To create the widely diverging worlds of two disparate settings—the urban jungle of 1930s Manhattan and the primordial environs of Skull Island, home to a lost race and a myriad of formidable, not-extinct creatures—Peter Jackson gathers an unparalleled team of film artisans, the majority with whom he enjoys longstanding collaborative relationships. These include: director of photography ANDREW LESNIE, who received the Academy Award® for his cinematography in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; production designer GRANT MAJOR, Oscar® winner for the third in the trilogy, The Return of the King; and film editor JAMIE SELKIRK, who likewise collected an Academy Award® for his artistry on the final installment of Jackson's epic. Visual effects are again accomplished by New Zealand-based companies Weta Digital Ltd., under the direction of Oscar® winner JOE LETTERI (The Return of the King), and Weta Workshop Ltd., under the direction of Oscar® winner RICHARD TAYLOR (The Return of the King). The film is scored by six-time Academy Award® nominee JAMES NEWTON HOWARD (Batman Begins). --© Universal Pictures [More]
Genre: Action/Adventure
Starring: Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, Jack Black, Colin Hanks, Kyle Chandler
Screenwriter: Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh
Story: Merian C. Cooper, Edgar Wallace
Producer: Ernest B. Schoedsack, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson
Composer: James Newton Howard
DVD Info
Release:
Nov 14, 2006
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- 3-Disc Snap Case With Slip Sleeve
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English
- Subtitles - English (SDH), Spanish, French - Optional
- Disc 1: KING KONG PART 1
Additional Release Material:
- Deleted Scenes - 16 Deleted Scenes
- Feature Commentary - Peter Jackson - Producer/Director/Writer; Philippa Boyens - Co-Writer/Producer
- Disc 2: KING KONG PART 2
Additional Release Material:
- Feature Commentary - Feature Commentary - Peter Jackson - Producer/Director/Writer; Philippa Boyens - Co-Writer/Producer
- Featurette - 1. THE EIGHTH BLUNDER OF THE WORLD
- 2. THE PRESENT
- 3. A NIGHT IN VAUDEVILLE
- 4. KING KONG HOMAGE
- Trailers
- WETA Collectables
- Disc 3: THE KING KONG ARCHIVES
- INTRODUCTION BY PETER JACKSON
- Featurette - 1. THE ORIGINS OF KING KONG
- 2. PRE-PRODUCTION PART 1: THE RETURN OF KONG
- 3. PRE-PRODUCTION PART 2: COUNTDOWN TO FILMING
- 4. THE VENTURE JOURNEY
- 5. RETURN TO SKULL ISLAND
- 6. NEW YORK, NEW ZEALAND
- 7. BRINGING KONG TO LIFE PART 1: DESIGN AND RESEARCH
- 8. BRINGING KONG TO LIFE PART 2: PERFORMANCE AND ANIMATION
- 9. THE 1996 KING KONG VIDEO GALLERY
- 10. THE VENTURE VIDEO GALLERY
- 11. SKULL ISLAND VIDEO GALLERY
- 12. NEW YORK VIDEO GALLERY
- 13. KONG VIDEO GALLERY
- 14. ARRIVAL AT SKULL ISLAND PRE-VIZ ANIMATIC
- 15. BRONTO STAMPEDE PRE-VIZ ANIMATIC
- 16. T-REX FIGHT PRE-VIZ ANIMATIC
- 17. KONG'S CAPTURE PRE-VIZ ANIMATIC
- 18. EMPIRE STATE BUILDING BATTLE PRE-VIZ ANIMATIC
- 19. ANN DISARMS KONG MOTION-CAPTURE/ANIMATION COMPARISON
- 20. KONG'S CAPTURE MOTION-CAPTURE/ANIMATION COMPARISON
- 21. KONG IN NEW YORK MOTION-CAPTURE/ANIMATION COMPARISON
- 22. DVD CREDITS
DVD-ROM:
- 1996 AND 2005 SCRIPTS
Reviews
The impact of Peter Jackson's King Kong is as massive as the gigantic gorilla itself, a spectacle to marvel at, but most importantly, a story with which we can connect emotionally.
Overlong by half, hedonistically animated and decadently self-indulgent King Kong is beastly to be sure, but there is little beauty here.
I wish Jackson would shake off his addiction to gigantism, his apparent need to punch everything up three times as much as it needs to be.
funny, frightening, romantic, nostalgic, moving and grimly fatalistic, it races along, like its central character, with a speed and grace that utterly belies its great size.
A phenomenal popcorn movie that eclipses the original in several respects, but inevitably owes a huge debt to the powerful imagery and innovation of the 1930s landmark.
This lackluster cure for insomnia might have been more palatable without so many distracting digressions and pared down to a manageable ninety minutes or so. Zzzz... Zzzz... Zzzz...
Naomi Watts distinguishes herself in a luminous, star-making turn as Ann -- warm, funny, charismatic, and far more than you'd expect from the damsel in distress.
Jackson puts his passion for epics to good use and creates film magic
the movie is a good cautionary example of what happens when its maker is too close to the material, who can't see the forest for the trees, the story for the ape.
Remake que supera en muchas cosas al original y que demuestra el talento y la magia para contar historias de uno de los genios contemporáneos del cine.
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