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What a blast that was!

Sure it's three hours but it went by quickly!

I'm not good with reviews so I'll keep it short. I loved the dinosaurs, I loved Kong, I love the Ann-Kong relationship. Anything I didn't really like I got use to it. Jackson put in many lovely homages to the original. Great island sites, greaty action, a good chunk of humor, plenty of drama and tragedy.

At long last we finally have another genuinely great Kong movie!

I still like the original more but this movie does some things better.

The eighteth wonder of the world!

I thought the movie was pretty good. I agree, the 3 hours went by pretty fast. Good acting, especially by Naomi Watts (she didn't seem like your run-of-the-mill Hollywood bimbo, here).

Some of the effects were stunning.

But all in all, the movie ain't the 8th Wonder of the World. The noisy action on Skull Island got tiring after awhile (as with the last 45 minutes of the movie).

One element of the movie that they skipped over that would've been interesting to see: getting Kong on the boat. How did he fit on that barge?

I wasn't saying the movie alone was the 8th wonder, like saying that.

However if you watch several of the crappier Kong movies through out the week then this would feel like the 8th wonder.

It think it's excellent or at least very good.

It's definately a very good movie. Some of the humor was annoying, some of it was more subtle and witty.

But after things got going on Skull Island, the action never let up. The last 100 minutes of the movie was action packed.

On the downside, that native village looked too much like Mordor.

Anyone worried about this being a long movie, it's the fastest 3 hours you'll spend in a movie theatre.

Oh yeah I thought the natives were pretty realistic. I mean they looked dirty! No hair dryers or make at that island that's for sure. Too bad we didn't see Kong rampage their villiage. Actually I don't think they had a villiage just rocks and caves to hide in.

The on thing I was worried about Alan, with the whole three hour thing is this: Bathroom breaks. Thankfully I had no problems there.

Yeah Dave, I dug it too! Speaking of homages, did you catch the bit about Fay and Cooper in the Taxi? How about the Sumatran Rat Monkey gag? I really, really love this flick...definitely for geeks like me!!

*spoilers perhaps*

Deej, taxi part? I'm not sure. I do remember Dernham and his assistant mentioning that RKO with Cooper had already gotten an actriz that Dernham had wanted. I was surprised that my brother laughed at that since I didn't think he knew the name of the company that made the original.

Yes I caught the rat monkey and I pointed that out to my brother and we both laughed.

Very good movie overall.

Parts of it could have been excised or trimmed, particularly in the first segement in New York and the voyage.

The one thing totally bungled was the natives.  They were more like the zombies in 28 Days Later than the natives from the original Kong.  I see what Jackson was going for with them but I didn't like it at all.  Like someone above said, it was too much like Mordor and the Orcs.

Skull Island and its monsters are, simply, first rate.  Except for the bats, I could have done without them.

NOTE:  There is a sequence where some characters fall into a canyon and encounter giant worms and insects that may be too intense for young or sensitive children, like that one poor kid in the theater I was in.  But, that's why the movie is rated PG-13, I suppose.

Kong's rampage through New York is mostly good, except for the car chase.  (Yo, Driscoll, try leading him AWAY from the crowds, ya schmuck.)

POSSIBLE SPOILER below


















When Kong sat down near the top of the Empire State Building to watch the sunrise, I realized that he knew he was going to die.  I cried.

Interesting that the movie hasn't been making a killing at the box office as many people predicted.

It may never be a box office blockbuster, but who cares?  Long term affection from loyal and new fans define a movie's greatness.

Great film.  I think because of it's running time many people may be put off initially. That King Kong, whilst popular, isn't exactly spine-tingling famous, is also perhaps a problem.

Though methinks once the ball gets rolling via word of mouth, many more people will go see it.


Anyway, I really enjoyed it.  I posted before, but that got deleted, so I'll just go again!

Definitely a quicker three hours than Return of the King.

Special Effects, whilst not perfect, were pretty darn good for the most part.  Kong looked great, and the way his face looked when changing emotions was great too.

Um, some slight spoilers:

Sure, there was perhaps one too many monster-moments, but I for one appreciated them, as it really built up the excitement.  [the bats, whilst a little over the top, provided a good way for Ann and Jack to get the hell down a huge mountain in a short amount of time, thus avoiding all the bad creepy-crawlies in the jungle, and occupied Kong long enough to give them a good lead]

I still can hear the gasps and people squirming in the cinemas for the bug scenes, and whilst I can't be sure, I could swear that I heard someone gag.

And it was pretty sad: one of our group also cried twice in the film, and I can understand why.  

Overall, a fantastic film.  I enjoyed it thoroughly, and whilst some characters were a bit odd [Andy Serkis as a wierd chef was funny but also kind of silly really] overall everyone did a good job.

Go see it, if not for the fact that it has a giant monkey in it, and he beats on a heap of different monsters/objects.  

*slight spoiler*

A question concerning one of the creatures in the pit. Can any one tell what those odd worm/leech like creatures were? They had long suckers with sharp teeths and they ate the cook who was fighting them off the dead body of his friend Charlie with a machete.

Or were these made up?

I kind of liked the bats but I miss the pterandon even though I felt sorry for the original since it was so outclassed by Kong. Not much of a fair fight but that was one more dino to the mix.

I just thought those bugs were leeches.  And I must say that scene was fantastic!

Actually, I think they were supposed to be big worms.  Not sure what kind they were based on but that "mouth" and teeth formation is shared by a number of carnivorous worms.

I tried to find some pictures on GIS and, just let me tell you, NEVER look up "worm mouth", "worm head", and especially not "worm face".

I have to admit....I was thinking the same thing....how DID they fit him on that barge?  

Overall, I loved this movie.  I loved the original, hated the 70's (76?) remake, but was really looking forward to this one.  I wasn't disappointed.  

I have to also admit, I liked Jack Black in this.  Most of the time, I can take him or leave him, but he was excellent as a slimy, money grubbing, gotta get his at any cost, movie man.  

Yeah, Carl Denham was a great character.  I liked how [*minor spoilers ahead*]



When everyone was mourning the loss of their friends, Carl is looking sadly at his broken camera.  Funny little sad moment there.

I loved how when each one of his friends died, he'd say "he didn't die for NOTHING!  we'll donate all proceeds to his wife and kids...yadda yadda"  well, maybe didn't LOVE it...but found that it fit nicely into my "damn, he's scum" thought line.

In regards to how they shipped Kong, I remember they had a few overhead shots of the ship, with a BIG EMPTY space. Some people in my theater loudly mused "That spot ain't going to stay empty long..."

What was the Sumatran Rat Monkey ref? I missed it!

(Was it the bats? I noticed they bore a family resemblence...)

akiratubo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> POSSIBLE SPOILER below
>

>
>
>
>
>
>
> When Kong sat down near the top of the Empire
> State Building to watch the sunrise, I realized
> that he knew he was going to die.  I cried.


That reminds me of this Penny Arcade comic...
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/12/05

I saw this on Saturday and I really enjoyed it (one of the few movies from 2005 that I liked).

Genetic,

The scene where one of the crew is showing Jack Driscoll his quarters, down in the containment part of the ship, there is a box labeled:

"Sumarian Rat Monkey"

You really really really really have to pay attention in the scene to see it.

I haven't been to the movie yet (probably going Friday), but  we got a package from my daughter in Japan and she sent me this cool little Kong standing on the top of the Empire State building.

trek_geezer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I haven't been to the movie yet (probably going
> Friday), but  we got a package from my daughter in
> Japan and she sent me this cool little Kong
> standing on the top of the Empire State building.
>
> --------------------------------
>
>


Now that's a cool pressie!  What's she doing over in Japan?  I've always wanted to go to Tokyo and that general area.

"Now that's a cool pressie! What's she doing over in Japan?"

Duh...isn't it obvious? She's combating Godzilla of course!

odinn7 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Now that's a cool pressie! What's she doing over
> in Japan?"
>
> Duh...isn't it obvious? She's combating Godzilla
> of course!
>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> - - - - - - - - -
>
> You're not the Devil...You're practice.


I hope the hazard pay is really good.  Insuring all those tanks must be a pain in the ass.

akiratubo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > POSSIBLE SPOILER below
>
> When Kong sat down near the top of the Empire
> State Building to watch the sunrise, I realized
> that he knew he was going to die.  I cried.


I'm glad to know I'm not the only one.  And its not like I didn't know what was going to happen to him, but I cried anyway.

Fantastic movie.  Peter Jackson is God.

My daughter has been in Japan attending Komazawa University on an exchange program. She went over at the end of March and will be coming home in January.

You'll be happy to know Dean that her best friend there is an Aussie lass named Sarah. She also has a friend named Alistar from Australia. Among her group are several Chinese girls, a couple of French folks, and a Korean guy named Dong Ha (whose name my wife always mispronounces).

Knowing  Jessica she is going to miss them badly when she leaves. She has been taking Japanese since high school (she is a Junior in college now), and this was a great opportunity for her and something she will remember forever.

Wow, that is indeed an incredible experience!  One of my friends is considering joining a work program and going over to Japan to teach English, which apparently pays fairly well, but I guess we'll wait and see.

My daughter was teaching English to employees of Honda for extra cash. They pay about $30 an hour for English teachers.

 In fact there are individuals who will take you to dinner and pay you to have a conversations with them just so they can pick up on conversational English.

Certainly you would need to use the F word quite a bit in these conversations...ya know, so they get to know it.

"It may never be a box office blockbuster, but who cares?"

Obviously,  those who funded the $207 million to produce it do. And those in the entertainment media that hyped it.

Australians speak English?

I never knew that......


;)

Re:  How did they get him back to New York on the boat --
My thought is that this is why there were so many lingering shots of the large, flat area of the foredeck of the Venture (the boat) as they were departing.  Anyone else remember those shots?  The next step would be Peter Jackson in the editing room going:  "Oh, crap, those scenes of strapping Kong onto the boat & etc. are just too long -- Lose them!".

* * *
The bug scenes, as many of you already know, were a sort of homage to the lost Willis O'Brian footage of what happens to the guys who get flipped off the log in the original.  
For decades, Forrest J. Ackerman & Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine have claimed that the lost footage still exists out there somewhere, and various people have come forth to claim they've actually seen it on the Big Screen in The Philppines, & etc.
On the new boxed deluxe edition of the original Kong, there's a long sequence with Peter Jackson & the New Zealand boys trying to recreate how this lost footage may have looked in 1933.  It really is a treat, but we'll never know how close they came . . . or will we?
peter johnson/denny crane

In none of the various versions of King Kong do they show how they got him on the boat. In the '76 version they do show him in cargo hold aboard an oil tanker.

The flat area on the Venture was evidently the cargo bay where all those cages were stored. I want to know how they kept him quiet for the ride back, you know on steamship it would have to take a few weeks. I know they had the chloroform, but that would probably have done some kind of permanent damage to him. Oh well, it's easier to ignore these things because it really wouldn't add anything to the story.

From what I read about the lost spider pit scene in the original it was only shown once. Cooper edited it out because he felt it  broke the flow of the film  and none of the principle characters were in the sequence.

I thought having the New York sequence take place in winter was a pretty inspired idea.