Ray Charles Video:

		List Price: $26.98		Label: Turner Home Ent Salesrank: 32948 Released: November 22, 2005
		Our Price: $13.73
		Used Price: $3.99
		MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Documentaries
Other
Theatrical Trailer

Description of King Kong (Two-Disc Special Edition):
"Now you see it. You're amazed. You can't believe it. Your eyes open wider. It's horrible, but you can't look away. There's no chance for you. No escape. You're helpless, helpless. There's just one chance, if you can scream. Throw your arms across your eyes and scream, scream for your life!" And scream Fay Wray does most famously in this monster classic, one of the greatest adventure films of all time, which even in an era of computer-generated wizardry remains a marvel of stop-motion animation. Robert Armstrong stars as famed adventurer Carl Denham, who is leading a "crazy voyage" to a mysterious, uncharted island to photograph "something monstrous ... neither beast nor man." Also aboard is waif Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and Bruce Cabot as big lug John Driscoll, the ship's first mate. King Kong's first half-hour is steady going, with engagingly corny dialogue ("Some big, hard-boiled egg gets a look at a pretty face and bang, he cracks up and goes sappy") and ominous portent that sets the stage for the horror to come. Once our heroes reach Skull Island, the movie comes to roaring, chest-thumping, T. rex-slamming, snake-throttling, pterodactyl-tearing, native-stomping life. King Kong was ranked by the American Film Institute as among the 50 best films of the 20th century. Kong making his last stand atop the Empire State Building is one of the movies' most indelible and iconic images. --Donald Liebenson

DVD features
Not surprisingly, the eighth wonder of the world’s DVD treatment is nothing short of spectacular. The newly restored, digitally mastered print of the 1933 version of King Kong is sharp, well balanced, and given that this film is seventy years old, has very few scratches or blemishes. The restoration is nothing short of amazing. What may frustrate some is the audio. Though crystal clear, it is still in 2.0 Mono. The soundtrack on Kong is such an integral part of the film you really wished they could have pulled it out to at least 2.0 Surround; but this is a minor criticism. The bulk of the commentary track is by visual effects veterans Ray Harryhausen and Ken Ralston joyfully discussing the special effects of the film and discussing why King Kong is such a favorite and important film to the community of visual effects artists. Spliced between their commentaries are colorful and humorous anecdotes from director from Merian C. Cooper and Fay Wray. The two documentaries on disc two run over three and half hours long. I Am Kong! The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper is an engaging documentary on the renegade, Hemingway-like director. It is fascinating to learn that Cooper was every bit the adventurer that the fictional director Carl Denham in King Kong was in the film. RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, Eighth Wonder of the World is a two and a half hour documentary broken into 7 parts: "The Origins of King Kong," "Willis O'Brien and Creation," "Cameras Roll on Kong," "The Eighth Wonder," "A Milestone in Visual Effects," "Passion, Sound and Fury," "The Mystery of the Lost Spider Pit Sequence," and "King Kong's Legacy." Also included is complete footage of the legendary "The Lost Spider Pit Sequence." Presenting the segments are various film historians and filmmakers including Rudy Behlmer, Cooper biographer Mark Cotta Vaz, the Chiodo Brothers (of Team America: World Police special effects fame), and directors John Landis and Peter Jackson. Here you will learn everything you would ever want to know about the making and importance of King Kong, including that the producer/director team of Cooper and Schoedsack played the pilots who shoot Kong off the Empire State Building. The highly anticipated, long-awaited release of King Kong will meet most viewers' expectations, and exceed everyone's else. --Rob Bracco

King Kong (Two-Disc Special Edition) Reviews:
King Kong (1933)
2009-12-23 - The original King Kong is one of the all-time masterpieces of cinema. It would be on my list of the best 5 movies of all time. It took special effects into a whole new galaxy in 1933 and raised the bar for all subsequent movies. Many of the special effect concepts in the movie have been copied over and over by less original and less creative film makers. The black and white format fits the tone of the movie well. It would not have the same impact in color. The acting is good, and Fay Wray's performance is exceptional. I like to see this movie about every two years. All subsequent versions of King Kong were disastrous insults to the original version. It brings a tear to my eye when I see Gone With the Wind and watch that big timber gate from Kong's Island burned to the ground to mimic Atlanta burning in the Civil War. That gate should have been left standing forever. It was the cinematic counterpart of a national monument.

The 8th Wonder of the World
2009-12-23 - It is not a stretch to say that every imaginative film since KING KONG owes everything to this breakthrough film. Not in the least. This is the first film of this type to have a huge impact -- not just with movie goers of the time but future generations -- in inspiring countless generations. An incredible retelling of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST with it's poetic last lines, "It was beauty that killed the beast." It -- despite progression by leaps and bounds in special visual effects -- remains a monumental achievement, one that Willis O'Brien would never achieve again. Yet he did inspire so many generations of young people who saw the incredible wonder and dream of doing it themselves: Ray Harryhausen, Jim Danforth, David Allen, Jim Apeaperle (?), Roger Dickens, Ken Ralston, Doug Trumbill and too many others to name. With stop motion O'Brien was able to give Kong life and emotion. If you love fantastic films this has to be a cornerstone of any library. Remastered to probably better than viewers saw it on the silver screen of the time and with insighful commentary by Harryhausen and Ralston, you have to love this movie. It has been loving remastered for future generations. Peter Jackson launched a HUGE remake that has some true moments but nothing can ever exceed the original. Kong battling a T-Rex is still exciting.

The original. The best.
2009-11-05 - The original King Kong (1933) is very impressive considering it came out in 1933. This is a black and white movie with very impressive special effects. It stars Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, and scream queen Fay Wray as Kong's female obsession. This movie has it all - a giant ape, a good looking damsel in distress, a lost isle with dinosaurs and native inhabitants, and New York City.

I like the 1976 remake, but nothing beats the original. Haven't seen the 2005 Peter Jackson remake. Some of the things I noticed about the 1933 movie is that Tyrannosaurus Rex walks completely upright. This is the old school way of thinking. In recent decades it has been suggested that T Rex probably walked hunched over, with its back pretty much parallel to the ground. This shows how old this movie is, but at the same time it's fascinating to see this. At times Kong appears two dimensional, but this is completely acceptable because this was 1933 technology. Kong fights and kills several dinosaurs, including T Rex, a raptor, and a serpent-like creature. The battle between Kong and T Rex is epic and goes on for quite some time. You'll also see a Stegosaurus, although Kong does not battle it. When Kong is brought to New York City, he escapes captivity and goes on a rampage. The finale to the movie where Kong climbs to the top of the Empire State Building and battles biplanes that are shooting at him is classic.

Compared to Jessica Lange in the 1976 version, Fay Wray is pretty much terrified of Kong for the whole movie, whereas Jessica Lange warmed up to him quite a bit.

Special features of this DVD include audio commentary by Ray Harryhausen and Ken Ralston (visual effects) and interpolated interview excerpts of producer and director Merian C. Cooper and Fay Wray. This movie has been restored and digitally mastered for a clear picture and sound.

If you want to watch a classic monster/horror movie that is still well respected three quarters of a century after its release, then see the original King Kong. I first saw it on TV when I was probably five years old and I still think its great. So will you.

"Why'd you think I brought all those gas bombs?"
2009-10-07 - To be perfectly honest, I always have mixed reactions about all three King Kong films: the original 1933 version, the 1976 remake, and the 2005 remake. I love 2005's special effects and the perfected image of the giant ape, but having it set in '33 again didn't make it all very special. I found Grodin's performance in 1976 very over-the-top, but the chemistry between girl and ape really improved. Now with 1933, it's also a mixed bag. Yes, it's am absolute classic and it brought an entire galaxy of upcoming monster movies. Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot gave terrific performances. The music is authentically primitive. The special effects are still spectacular and revolutionary, even if they do look very outdated in our modern time. But why did I give this movie four stars instead of five? Well, it's because, since it was still a very early time, King Kong and Ann Darrow are both very . . . two-dimensional. Here, Kong is just a monstrous ape, and we see him only as a plain antagonist. At least 1976 and 2005 gave him a slightly better personality: he's a beast who finds himself someone that he has fully cherished for the first time. Ann Darrow does nothing but scream whenever she's with Kong, and since it was way back in 1933, she's really a typical damsel in distress, and she finds nothing fascinating about Kong.

So yes, I have mixed feelings for all three Kong films. I do like them all for very specific reasons, but I don't consider any of them as a favorite of mine.

One `monster' of a classic...
2009-09-24 - I guaranty you that when `King Kong' was released way back in 1933 that no one, and I mean NO ONE, even entertained the notion that it would turn into a classic to redefine classics. Sure, they probably thought it would rake in the big money and that the special effects (which are quite unbelievable even today) would be the start of something wonderful, but to become a cinematic staple; I highly doubt that idea was even considered. But, regardless of their initial thoughts, `King Kong' has become as legendary as the title character, and for good reason.

Now, I will let you know this right off the bat; I have seen both this film and Peter Jackson's 2005 remake and I firmly believe that Jackson's film is superior. Know that, because, while I am going to praise this '33 classic I am also going to try and point out the reasons why Jackson's is the better film.

Please, devoted fans, don't click the `unhelpful' button just yet.

Most everyone knows the premise of `King Kong', but here is a quick rundown. Carl Denham is a movie director who wants to give the public something they've never seen, and so he gets a large crew to travel to a distant island no white man has ever seen (well, except the one that gave him the map) to film a moving picture with the mythical beast known as Kong. When they arrive his leading starlet, Ann Darrow, is taken hostage by the natives and offered to Kong, who falls in love with her.

What this '33 version does extremely well is take the standard `movie monster' formula and perfect it, with state of the art effects that are still mind blowing today. Don't get me wrong, there is no way that these effects can technically hold a candle to those of today, but they are still impressive. I couldn't believe that these came out of 1933, they are truly remarkable. Most of the older films suffered from the lack of reality in their special effects, but nothing is taken away from this film at all. The action sequences are all superb, and there are a lot of them; each one as exciting as the last and completely engrossing. The acting is also quite good for a film of this nature. One has to remember that you have to understand the genre before you can critique a film. Monster movies are made much differently than dramas or comedies or epics and so you have to judge accordingly. For a monster film, the acting is spot on. Fay Wray is totally believable as the wide eyed damsel in distress and Robert Armstrong is fabulous as the greedy in-over-his-head director; and macho man Bruce Cabot makes good use of his character to create a hunky (and even realistic) hero.

So, for a monster film this one is top, top notch.

But, and here is that dreaded `but', this is just that; a monster film. Now, I admit to having seen Jackson's film first (how did THAT happen?) and so I was expecting something else from this version, but regardless of what I was expecting or what I saw first I feel my opinion would still be the same. What is so glorious about Jackson's reinterpretation is that he takes the genre and adds so much warmth and depth. Devoted fans of the original have attacked the '05 film rabidly, but I feel that is unfair.

IT IS POSSIBLE TO ENJOY BOTH FILMS PEOPLE!

Yes, Jackson's film is three hours long but what he does with those three hours is phenomenal. I don't understand the complaints about the beginning, for Jackson actually establishes these characters as real people and makes us like or dislike them depending on their depictions. We get to know who they are, which helps us to follow their storylines later in the film; and his reinterpretations of Skull Island are impeccable (those graphics are TO DIE FOR), and the pacing is flawless, that final Empire State Building scene is flawless (and one of the best scenes in cinema this decade) and the fact that he actually gets a deep rooted emotional response from the audience based on the love blossoming from a woman and an oversized monkey is just remarkable.

So, I don't want to review Jackson's film (I'll do that later) but I just wanted to point out that they are two separate films. In the 30's you just didn't make relatable monster films. The point for `King Kong' was not to reach out emotions but to excite and thrill us, and it did just that, but as Jackson (and many other modern filmmakers) has proven, today you don't have to make a conventional anything anymore. It is possible to blur the lines between genres and offer us something that excites all of our senses, giving us something funny, scary, moving and all around engaging without slacking in your delivery.

Yes, the original `King Kong' is a classic, and deservedly so; but Jackson's `Kong' is a much more complete `film' in every sense of the word.

And `YAY ME' on review #1,000!!!