King Kong (2005 film)
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| King Kong | |
|---|---|
| Image:King Kong (2005).jpg Theatrical Poster For King Kong | |
| Directed by | Peter Jackson |
| Produced by | Jan Blenkin Carolynne Cunningham Fran Walsh Peter Jackson |
| Written by | Story: Merian C. Cooper Edgar Wallace Screenplay: Peter Jackson Fran Walsh Philippa Boyens |
| Starring | Naomi Watts Jack Black Adrien Brody Thomas Kretschmann Colin Hanks Jamie Bell Andy Serkis |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Cinematography | Andrew Lesnie |
| Editing by | Jamie Selkirk |
| Distributed by | USA Theatrical and Worldwide DVD / Video Universal Pictures Non-USA Theatrical United International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 14, 2005 |
| Running time | Theatrical: 187 min. Extended Edition: 192 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $207,000,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
King Kong is the three-time 2006 Academy Award-winning remake of the original 1933 King Kong film about a fictional giant ape called Kong. It was directed by Peter Jackson, produced by Jackson and Fran Walsh, written by Jackson, Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and its cast included Naomi Watts in the role of Ann Darrow, Jack Black as Carl Denham, Adrien Brody as Jack Driscoll and through performance capture Andy Serkis as Kong.
In 1933, Great Depression-era New York City, actress Ann Darrow has just lost her job at the local theater and is faced with dancing at the local burlesque show to survive. Meanwhile, film director Carl Denham faces the cancellation of his latest movie because of his unorthodox methods and approach to filmmaking. After Carl recruits Ann to replace his leading lady, who joins the film because of the presence of her favorite writer Jack Driscoll, they set sail to evade the police and journey to a remote Indian Ocean island known as Skull Island to find the legendary creature known as Kong.
The film's budget climbed from an initial $150 million US to a record-breaking $207 million. With a huge marketing campaign and many commercial tie-ins, the December 14, 2005 release was all-encompassing for the movie market, and was seriously challenged only by its other major competitor, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The film made a modest opening of $50.1 million, and significantly underperformed expectations at the box office. Nonetheless, Kong turned out to be very profitable as ticket and DVD sales combined, the film earned well over $600 million,<ref> King Kong. BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.</ref> becoming the fourth-highest grossing movie in Universal Pictures history.
It received positive reviews, with some considering it one of the all-round best movies of 2005, though it has been criticized for its excessive length at three hours and eight minutes. It won Academy Awards for visual effects, sound mixing, and sound editing.
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[edit] Plot
Carl Denham is a documentary filmmaker who seems to possess no moral boundaries, and whose penchant for "safari films" does not go over well with his studio bosses who prefer to see him turn in a romance film for a change. When he discovers that they would rather sell his films off as stock footage than fund his latest movie, Denham steals the film and quickly organizes to leave for his next shoot immediately. Still in need of a leading lady, along the way he meets Ann Darrow, an unemployed vaudeville actress whose theatre was recently closed down due to lack of money. He convinces Ann to join him in his latest movie endeavour and boards a tramp steamer with her.
Jack Driscoll — a hapless playwright who has written part of the screenplay - is tricked by Denham into joining the journey in order to finish the story. The ship leaves just in time for Denham to escape the police, who have been sent by Denham's angry studio bosses, and sets off on a voyage to what Ann and Jack believe to be Singapore. Along the way, Denham reveals they're actually heading for Skull Island, a place unknown to the outside world that Denham believes will make for some spectacular footage for his production. Although Captain Englehorn and the first mate, Ben Hayes, voice concerns and skepticism about their destination, they set out to find the island anyway. Meanwhile Ann, a fan of Jack's plays, begins to fall in love with the playwright. Eventually, Jack tells her that he's writing a stage comedy for her, and ends up kissing her.
News that Denham is wanted for arrest puts an end to the search for the island, but the ship then stumbles into the island's location and becomes trapped on a big rock. As the steamer's crew try to fix the ship, Denham, Ann, Jack and the film crew go ashore, where they are ambushed by a mob of angry natives. Denham's sound-recordist Mike and one other crewman are killed, but Denham, Jack and the rest of the landing party are rescued by Captain Englehorn and his crew. They return to the ship and make preparations to leave, but a native slips on board and captures Ann, killing a crewman in the process. Ann is soon held captive, tied up, and strapped to the superior posts of a thin wooden drawbridge that juts across to the other side of a massive wall which separates the natives from the rest of the island. The ship's crew arm themselves and attempt a rescue mission, but are too late as Carl watches Ann get taken away by a giant ape.
The crew discover that the ape, named "Kong" by the natives, lives in a massive jungle where prehistoric creatures have been protected and hidden for millions of years. After some discussion, the captain allows Denham and Jack to take 15 armed crewman led by Hayes to go look for her. Denham attempts to take advantage of the search, and brings along all his camera gear, remaining film crew, and even the actor. As they trek through the jungle, the group comes across a Ceratopsian dinosaur. Panicking, they start firing at it and it rampages, violently attacking the crew. During the chaos, Hayes is able to kill it with a few shots from a Tommy gun.
As they continue through the jungle, the group stops to rest. Carl, Bruce and the camera assistant, Herb go to film some scenes and they run into a pack of Brontosaurus dinosaurs. A pack of Venatosaurus causes the Brontosaurus to start running, and the crew is caught in the middle of the rampage. Four crewmen and Herb are killed in the rampage.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to keep Kong from possibly killing her, Ann desperately resorts to trying to entertain Kong by dancing and doing tricks, which actually succeeds in amusing Kong. But when Ann stops and defies him, Kong becomes angry and throws a tantrum, but fails to intimidate her. Kong then strangely leaves, so Ann takes the opportunity to escape.
Elsewhere, Bruce Baxter and two other crewmen abandon the search for Ann, fearing being trapped on the island. The remaining men build two rafts and use them to move down a river. While on the river, large scorpion-like animals crawl onto the rafts. The crew fends them off easily. Moments later, a giant serpent monster attacks them, immediately destroying Jack's raft. When it corners Jack and Preston, who has Carl's camera, Carl grabs a gun and stops the monster from killing them by distracting it with bullets. With Carl's help, Jack and Preston manage to swim back to shore, with the camera intact. Three crewmen are killed in the attack.
Later, as they are using a giant log to cross a deep chasm, Hayes goes into a cave to check if it's clear and is killed by Kong in a surprise attack. Kong then drops the log (with everyone on it) into the chasm, with the fall killing three men, including Lumpy the cook's friend Choy. When the survivors land, they fall unconscious.
Trying to find her way back, Ann runs into two scavenging Foetodons. Just before one comes close to killing her, a huge Vastatosaurus rex emerges and kills it, and then chases after Ann. She narrowly escapes the dinosaur, but is cornered next to another one. Kong then returns and engages the two V-rexes — and then a third one that emerges — in a massive battle, with Ann thrown along all throughout, but saved by Kong from being killed. Eventually, Kong kills all three of the V-rexes. During the battle, Ann realizes that Kong is her only chance of surviving the island, and voluntarily lets Kong carry her with him afterwards. Kong returns to his lair atop a cliffside, where Ann observes him taking in a tranquil sunset. She goes into Kong's hand and soon falls asleep.
When Jack wakes up in the chasm, he finds him and the other survivors trapped with giant invertebrates, including bloodworm-like Carnictis (Vile Meat-Weasel), weta-like Weta-Rexes, Arachno-Claws (that look like a cross between a spider and a scorpion) and other large insects. Jack holds the bugs off for a moment with a flare and wakes up the unconscious Carl and Jimmy. Soon after, the flare goes out and the bugs attack the survivors. Lumpy, trying to save the body of Choy from becoming worm food, is eaten by the Carnictis. Carl, enraged by the destruction of his camera, grabs a wooden stick and fights off the bugs. Jimmy is able to save Jack by picking off the bugs on him with the only remaining gun. The remaining three crewmen are killed, and only Carl, Jack and Jimmy remain. Right before the bugs attack, the survivors are rescued by Bruce Baxter and his rescue party. When they reach the top of the cliff, Jack continues his determined search for Ann, whilst Denham, Jimmy, Bruce and Englehorn go back to the village, with Denham planning to capture Kong.
Eventually, Jack finds Ann, and they escape while Kong is busy defending himself from an attack by giant bat-like creatures called Terapusmordax. Kong catches up to them at the wall, but Denham and the crew members from The Venture are waiting and attempt to capture Kong with a giant net, against Ann's pleas. When Kong sees Ann being taken away by Jack, he breaks free of the net and goes on a rampage, killing many of the crewmen. They run to the lifeboats, but Kong reaches them before they can leave, destroying one of them. Englehorn fires a harpoon into his knee and prepares to kill him, when at the last minute, Denham successfully subdues Kong by smashing a bottle of chloroform across his face. He announces his plans to display Kong as, "The Eighth Wonder of the World" when they get back to New York.
Months later in New York City, Ann is an anonymous chorus line dancer (after refusing large sums to appear on stage with Kong), while the lovelorn Jack watches a comedy he wrote whose lead role was meant for her. Denham puts the subdued and shackled Kong on display on a Broadway stage in front of a large audience. However, angered by the flashes from the cameras and the fake "Ann", Kong destroys the chains and starts rampaging in the theatre. When he sees Jack, he attempts to kill him but he runs outside. Kong destroys the building and runs amok in Times Square searching for Ann. Whenever he sees a blonde woman, he picks her up, only to throw her away when he realizes that it isn't her. He then starts attacking a trolley.
When Jack sees the trolley being destroyed, he takes a cab and makes Kong see him. A hectic chase through the streets ensues, which ends with Kong almost killing Jack before Ann approaches Kong, calming him down. Abandoning Jack and carrying Ann with him, Kong wanders through the city, eventually into Central Park, where he slides around with her on a lake of ice, in a brief moment of happiness. Moments later, they are ambushed by the Army, who attack Kong with machine gun fire and artillery rounds.
Looking for a place to escape from the Army, Kong goes to the Empire State Building, which he proceeds to climb, with one hand, holding Ann gently in the other. Kong and Ann take in the sunrise at the bottom of the spire of the building, until six biplanes (Curtis Helldivers<ref>Gray, Simon (December 2005). Beauty and the Beast. American Cinematographer. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.)</ref>) appear and attack Kong. Ann tries to stay with him, but Kong puts her down, climbing to the very top of the skyscraper as the planes attack. Ann tries to climb higher to save him, waving and yelling at the biplanes to stop. Kong manages to destroy three of the planes, but is gunned down after tiring out. Mortally wounded, Kong eventually succumbs to his injuries as Ann cries, and falls to his death. Jack rushes to comfort Ann as she stands grief-stricken. As he and the crowds view Kong's broken body, Carl Denham recites the story's signature quote, "It wasn't the airplanes, it was Beauty killed the Beast."
[edit] Production
Peter Jackson was a nine year old in the New Zealand town of Pukerua Bay when he first saw the 1933 version of King Kong. He was in tears in front of the TV when Kong slipped off the Empire State Building.<ref>Fischer, Paul (December 5th, 2005). Interview: Peter Jackson "King Kong". Dark Horizons. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> At age 12 he tried to recreate the film using his parents' super-8 camera and a model of Kong made of wire and rubber with his mother's fur coat for the hair, but eventually gave up on the project. In 1996, he developed a version that was in pre-production for 6-7 months, but the studio cancelled it.<ref>Utichi, Joe (2005). Interview with Peter Jackson - King Kong. Film Focus. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> This is most likely because of the release of Mighty Joe Young and Godzilla the same year. He then began work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy.<ref>Stratton, David (December 13th, 2005). Peter Jackson Interview. ABC (Australia). Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> No casting was ever done, but he had hoped to get either George Clooney or Robert DeNiro.<ref>Peter Jackson FAQ (Interview). The Bastards have landed (1998). Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> With its overwhelming box office and critical success, his desire to make King Kong was realized, and he was paid $20 million USD to direct this film, the highest salary Hollywood ever paid a director.<ref>Thompson, Anne (June 16th, 2006). Studios learning that A-list isn't everything. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref>
The film's budget climbed from an initial $150 million US to a record-breaking $207 million,<ref>King Kong 'goes $32m over budget'. BBC (October 28th, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> making it the most-expensive film ever made in terms of current money spent and the sixth-most expensive film adjusted for inflation. Universal Studios only agreed to such an outlay after seeing a screening of the unfinished film, to which executives responded enthusiastically. The production budget was approximately $187 million and, in addition, it is estimated that marketing and promotion costs were about $20 million. Production had difficulties, such as Peter Jackson's decision to change composers from Howard Shore to James Newton Howard seven weeks before the film opened.<ref>Jackson drops King Kong composer. BBC (October 18th, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> Also, the film was originally set to be 135 minutes, but soon grew to 200, prompting Universal executives to fly to New Zealand to view a rough cut, but they liked it so their concerns were addressed.<ref>Colley, Ed (December 8th, 2005). Jackson: King Kong is why I'm here. The Evening Standard. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> Other challenges include the rewriting of the script between 1996 and 2005, adding more character development to the 1933 story and acting as though the 1976 version never existed.<ref>Peter Jackson, filmmaker. The Hollywood Reporter (February 24th, 2004). Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> The process began with a nine minute animatic created by Peter Jackson and shown to the writing team, causing Philippa Boyens to cry. Peter Jackson decided early on that he did not want Kong to act human, and so they studied hours of gorilla footage.<ref>Epstein, Daniel Robert (2005). Philippa Boyens Interview. Kong UGO. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> Originally, the script began with a prologue of World War I that was later cut.<ref name="Kong">Stax (April 8th, 2003). The Stax Report: Script Review of King Kong. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref>
Peter Jackson has stated that the script significantly changed between the 1996 and 2005 drafts. In Jackson's original 1996 draft of the script, Ann was the daughter of famed English archaeologist Lord Linwood Darrow exploring ancient ruins in Sumatra.<ref name="Kong">Stax (April 8th, 2003). The Stax Report: Script Review of King Kong. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> They would come into conflict with Denham during his filming, and they would uncover a hidden Kong statue and the map of Skull Island. This would indicate that the island natives were a cult religion that once thrived on the mainland of Asia, and all trace of the cult was wiped out, except for the few on the island. Instead of a playwright, Jack was the first mate and an ex-First World War fighter pilot still struggling with the loss of his best friend, who was killed in battle.<ref name="Kong">Stax (April 8th, 2003). The Stax Report: Script Review of King Kong. IGN. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> Herb the camera-man was the only supporting character in the original draft who made it to the final version. Another difference was that Ann was actually caught in the Tyrannosaurus's jaws in the Kong/3 T-Rexes fight. According to the draft, Ann was wedged in the mouth and slashed by the teeth; after the fight, Kong got her out but by some reason Ann got a fever, which she recovered from. (It didn't say how Ann got it, but it was almost unmistakably an infection in one of her cuts). Jackson's first rough draft was described as a "tongue-in-cheek comedic film with elements of Raiders of the Lost Ark and other films," according to Jackson himself. Originally, he wanted a comical "monkey-farce" to be released, but he credits Universal for pulling the plug, as he was able to rework things into what ended up on screen.
For the character of Kong, Andy Serkis, who modelled its movement, went to the London Zoo to watch the gorillas, but was unsatisfied. He ended up going to Rwanda to observe mountain gorillas in the wild, with a company called Rainbow Tours. Possibly as a result of this, Kong acts and moves very much like a real gorilla.<ref>Fischer, Paul (December 5th, 2005). Interview: Andy Serkis "King Kong". Dark Horizons. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref>
Apart from Kong, Skull Island is also inhabited by dinosaurs and other large fauna. However, though they may look similar, they are not the familiar species. Inspired by the works of Dougal Dixon, the designers have imagined what 65 million years or more of isolated evolution would have done to the dinosaurs. Naturally, the creatures are presented as more scientifically accurate than those portrayed in the 1933 version. The names of these and hundreds of other beasts are found in the book The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island. Here are the creatures seen in the film:
- Vastatosaurus-Rex, which greatly resembles its relative, the T-Rex, is seen in the famous "Kong vs. T-rex" scene in the film. This creature is on-screen for about 20 minutes.
- Foetadon is the reptile-like creature which chases Ann into a rotting log. Moments later, the Foetadon is grabbed by a Vastatosaurus-Rex, pulled from the log, and eaten.
[edit] Deleted scenes
There are many deleted scenes known to exist in King Kong.
^ indicates confirmed to be in Extended Edition.
- Herb the camera-assistant (who has an artificial leg) tells Bruce Baxter how he lost his leg on an earlier film shoot with Denham. This scene would explain Herb's waddling run and being unable to climb, later in the film.
- Choy tries to throw Denham's camera off the ship when the crew are trying to lighten the Venture off the rocks. On the log bridge later on, a cursing Lumpy kicks the camera away from Denham.
- The film crew are on the shore, where Denham films another scene with Ann and tells her to scream. Kong's roar is then heard for the first time, as if responding from hearing her. Part of this scene was included in the trailer of the film.
- The party is attacked by a Ferrucutus, which tosses a few crew members around before being shot in the face. Although incapacitated, it is still alive (or at least dying), as indicated by its still moving tail.^ (Which is itself a reference to an almost identical Stegosaurus attack in the original movie)
- The rescue party build a couple of rafts to cross the swamp, and are attacked by a Piranhadon. Denham tries to use a Tommy gun to shoot at the creature. Jack is thrown off the raft and is threatened by the creature, but is able to escape and hide in the roots of a tree. Several of the group are caught and eaten by the creature.^
- Panicking, Lumpy shoots blindly into the forest when he hears a rustling noise. Initially, it is implied that he shot Ann Darrow by accident, but it turns out to be a giant, flightless bird.^
- Extended bug pit sequence.^
- Kong tramples over one of the army trucks.^
- Ann struggles against 2 armed soldiers restraining her after the army has begun to attack, and before Kong grabs her to scale to the highest building.
- It is shown how Kong was transported to New York on the Venture (this scene was featured at a convention in which Peter Jackson specially created a five-minute montage of outtakes from the film).
- Two armed soldiers shoot at Kong. (This is probably in the scene where the soldiers restrain Ann, and Kong steps on the army commander who yells "Fire")
- Kong reacts as if threatened by a statue that resembles him.
Some scenes took place in the film's novelization that might exist as deleted scenes.
- After the conversation with Hayes, Lumpy the cook and Jimmy, Denham privately confides later on to Driscoll that the map came from the Norwegian captain. Denham also reveals hearing of an ancient legend of "Kong", but declares that it had nothing to do with his interest in Skull Island.
- The rescue party encounters two Ligocristus dinosaurs, and shoots them both.
- Kong, with Ann, is attacked by a pair of either Venatosaurs or juvenile V-rexes. Afterward, Kong eats the kills.
- Ann encounters a giant spider in a cave.
[edit] Release
The marketing campaign for King Kong started in full swing on June 28, 2005, when the teaser trailer made its debut, first online at the official Volkswagen website at 8:45 p.m. EST, then 8:55 p.m. EST across media outlets owned by NBC Universal (the parent of Universal Studios), including NBC, Bravo!, CNBC and MSNBC. That trailer appeared in theatres attached to War of the Worlds, which opened on 29 June.<ref name="Konga">Wloszczyna, Susan (June 26th, 2005). 'King Kong' goes digital. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> In a unique co-promotion, New York State held a special King Kong lottery game in which tickets were sold for a one time drawing to be held on December 5, 2005 offered a grand prize of $50 million and several second prizes of $1 million.<ref>King Kong Is On The Loose At The Empire State Building. New York Lottery (2005). Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref>
Jackson also regularly published a series of 'Production Diaries', which chronicled the making of the film. The diaries started shortly after the DVD release of The Return of the King as a way to give Jackson's The Lord of the Rings fans a glimpse of his next project. These diaries are edited into broadband-friendly installments of three or four minutes each. They consist of features that would normally be seen in a making-of documentary: a tour of the set, a roving camera introducing key players behind the scene, a peek inside the sound booth during last-minute dubbing, or Andy Serkis doing his ape movements in a motion capture studio.<ref>Abel, Glenn (December 19th, 2005). King Kong: Peter Jackson's Production Diaries. Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> The production diaries were released on DVD on December 13, 2005, one day before the U.S. release of the film. This was one of the first occasions in which material that would normally be considered supplementary to the DVD release of a film, was not only released separately, but done so in a prestige format; the Production Diaries came packaged in a box with a set of prints and a replica 1930s-era clipboard. It is also the first time such material was published prior to the release of the film.
A novelization of the movie and a prequel entitled The Island of the Skull was also written. A multi-platform video game entitled Peter Jackson's King Kong was released, which featured an alternate ending. There was a hardback book entitled The World of Kong, featuring artwork from Weta Workshop to describe the fictional beastiary in the film.
[edit] Reception
With a take of $9.7 million box office on its opening day, King Kong failed to live up to its pre-release hype, and did not meet expectations of Universal Studios executives. Some media outlets considered the film to be a flop after its weak opening weekend, as at that point it wasn't on pace to make back its 207 million dollar budget..<ref>'King Kong' Bombing Big Time at Box Office. foxnews.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.</ref> It had an opening weekend of $50.1 million - good for most movies, but short of the inflated expectations caused by the movie's enormous budget and marketing campaign. In its opening weekend, it earned over $15 million less than its only serious competition, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, had earned during its opening weekend one week earlier.
As of May 11, 2006, the film has grossed $218.1 million in the United States (putting it in the top five grossing films of 2005 domestically<ref>2005 Domestic Grosses. boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.</ref>) and approximately an additional $331.1 million outside North America, leading to a worldwide total of $549.2 million. It is a general rule of thumb that a big-budget movie must earn at least twice its production budget to make money, and King Kong exceeded that by grossing almost $550 million worldwide. Other factors affect a film's profitability besides box office sales, though, such as the DVD sales. Kong, as of April 3rd, sold more than 7.2 million DVDs, generating over $100 million in the largest six-day performance in Universal Studios history.<ref>'King Kong' DVD scares up $100 mln 1st-week sales. Reuters (April 3rd, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> And as of June 25, 2006 In addition, King Kong has generated $38 million from DVD rental gross. [citation needed] Universal will earn a certain amount of revenue from home television rights, advertising tie-ins (such as Burger King's King Kong-themed commercials), and other sources; however, they will pay a certain amount of gross and net revenues to producers and members of the cast and crew.
Thus, despite the film's inauspicious start at the box office, Kong turned out to be very profitable. Ticket and DVD sales combined, the film earned well over $700 million,<ref> King Kong. BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.</ref> becoming the fourth-highest grossing movie in Universal Pictures history. Its release on home video and DVD was also a great success.<ref> 'King Kong' DVD Sets Sales Record. Breitbart.com (2006-04-04). Retrieved on 2006-10-12.</ref>
[edit] Critical reaction
King Kong received a favourable critical response, garnering an 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.<ref>King Kong (2005). rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.</ref> The most common criticisms of the film were due to excessive length, over-use of slow motion, and several moments where the audience was aware of CGI effects. Positive critical reviews regarded it as one of the few good epics and all-round best movies of 2005. Roger Ebert gave the movie four stars, and listed it as the 8th best film of 2005.<ref>Ebert, Roger (December 18th, 2005). Ebert's Best 10 Movies of 2005. rogerebert.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.</ref> Similarly, King Kong has been included in many critics' Top Ten of 2005 lists.<ref>The 2005 Top Ten's. Awards Watch. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.</ref> The film received four Academy Award nominations for Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, and Art Direction, winning all but the last.<ref>Oscars 2006: The nominees. BBC News. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.</ref> Some criticized the film for retaining racist stereotypes present in the original film, though it was not suggested that Jackson had done this intentionally.<ref>McKenzie, Kwame (December 183th, 2005). Big black and bad stereotyping. Times Online. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.</ref>
[edit] Possible future
Peter Jackson has expressed his desire to remaster the film in 3-D at some point in the future.<ref>Film director 'sees future in 3D'. BBC (April 25th, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-06-13.</ref> Though this has been officially disclaimed as a potential project by Universal Studios, both Shrek and Terminator 2: Judgment Day had short 3-D versions made for the Studio as theme park attractions. Jackson was also seen shooting with a 3-D camera at times during the shoot of King Kong.<ref>McLean, Robyn (November 12th, 2005). King Kong movie may go 3D. The Dominion Post. Retrieved on 2006-06-13.</ref> The film is more than 90% CGI mastered, so converting the scene to 3-D is largely a software exercise, with some creative work required for the closer shots of actors. All the face shots of Kong can be "3D-ised" from the original animation files. It is estimated that the conversion would cost about 10 million dollars, due to the great length of the movie (3 hours 8 minutes).[citation needed]
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Jack Black | Carl Denham |
| Naomi Watts | Ann Darrow |
| Adrien Brody | Jack Driscoll |
| Thomas Kretschmann | Captain Englehorn |
| Evan Parke | Ben Hayes |
| Andy Serkis | Lumpy the cook & King Kong (motion capture and voice) <ref name="Konga">Wloszczyna, Susan (June 26th, 2005). 'King Kong' goes digital. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref> |
| Colin Hanks | Preston |
| Jamie Bell | Jimmy |
| Lobo Chan | Choy |
| Kyle Chandler | Bruce Baxter |
| John Sumner | Herb the camera man |
| Pip Mushin | Zelman |
| Ric Herbert | Poehler (Sleazy Man) |
| Jim Knobeloch | Farragher (Thuggish Man) |
| David Pittu | Charles Weston |
| Ray Woolf | Helmsman |
| Chris A. Romero | Jeff |
[edit] Cinematic and literary allusions
Jamie Bell's character is repeatedly shown reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, a novel about a journey into a primitive land. Jack Black and critics have noted Carl Denham's similarity to Orson Welles.<ref name="Black">Spelling, Ian (December, 2005). Interview:Peter Jackson proves with King Kong that the director, not the beast, is the true eighth wonder of the world. Sci Fi.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.</ref> When Jack Driscoll is searching for a place to sleep in the animal storage hold, a box behind him reads 'Sumatran Rat Monkey — Beware the bite!' - a reference to the creature that causes mayhem in Peter Jackson's film Braindead (1992)<ref name="References">Wloszczyna, Susan (December 15th, 2005). 'King Kong' abounds with fun facts for fanboys. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.</ref> (in that film, the rat monkey is described as only being found on Skull Island).
[edit] References to other versions of King Kong
Fay Wray, the original Ann Darrow, was asked by Peter Jackson to do a brief cameo and say the film's signature line, "It was beauty killed the beast." At first she flatly refused, but then seemed to consider the possibility, but passed away soon after.<ref name="Black">Spelling, Ian (December, 2005). Interview:Peter Jackson proves with King Kong that the director, not the beast, is the true eighth wonder of the world. Sci Fi.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.</ref> The line went back to the character of Carl Denham (played by Jack Black).
Forbes Magazine asked a small sample of scientists who would win in a battle between King Kong and a Tyrannosaurus rex. The consensus named Kong as the probable victor.<ref>Ewalt David M. (December 9th, 2005). King Kong Vs. T. Rex. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.</ref>
An ad for Universal Pictures is visible while Kong is tearing up Times Square; in actuality, an ad for Columbia Pictures was in the same spot in the 1933 film, but the studio asked for a large amount of money for its use, so effects artists replaced it.<ref name="References">Wloszczyna, Susan (December 15th, 2005). 'King Kong' abounds with fun facts for fanboys. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.</ref>
When Denham is considering who to play the part before meeting Ann, he suggests "Fay," but his assistant Preston replies, "She's doing a picture with RKO." Music from the 1933 original comes on, and Denham mutters, "Cooper, huh? I might have known." Fay Wray starred in the 1933 film, which was directed by Merian C. Cooper and released by RKO.<ref name="References">Wloszczyna, Susan (December 15th, 2005). 'King Kong' abounds with fun facts for fanboys. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.</ref>
The 2005 remake, in a different way, also quotes the fake "Arabian proverb" about "beauty and the beast" that Merian C. Cooper made up in his 1933 film.<ref name="References">Wloszczyna, Susan (December 15th, 2005). 'King Kong' abounds with fun facts for fanboys. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.</ref>
Kong's New York stage appearance looks very much like a re-enactment of the sacrifice scene of the 1933 film, including the posts the 'beauty' is tied to and the nearly identical performance and costumes of the dancers. In addition, the music played by the orchestra during that scene is identical in both films (as well as the main theme of the original film.)<ref name="References">Wloszczyna, Susan (December 15th, 2005). 'King Kong' abounds with fun facts for fanboys. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.</ref>
The battle between Kong and the final V-rex is almost move-for-move like the last half of the fight between Kong and the T-rex in the original 1933 film, right down to Kong playing with the dinosaur's broken jaw and then standing, beating his chest and roaring victoriously.<ref name="References">Wloszczyna, Susan (December 15th, 2005). 'King Kong' abounds with fun facts for fanboys. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.</ref>
After the crew captures Kong on the beach, Denham speaks the line: '"The whole world will pay to see this! We're millionaires, boys! I'll share it with all of you. In a few months, his name will be up in lights on Broadway! KONG, THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD!"' The same line is in the original 'Kong.'<ref name="References">Wloszczyna, Susan (December 15th, 2005). 'King Kong' abounds with fun facts for fanboys. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.</ref>
In the finale atop the Empire State Building, Peter Jackson has a small role as one of the pilots who shoots down Kong. This is a reference to the original, in which Merian C. Cooper has a similar cameo as a pilot. Ernest B. Schoedsack also appeared with Cooper as his rear-gunner. In Jackson's film, Rick Baker, who played Kong (in a rubber suit) in the 1976 remake, also does a cameo with the biplanes.<ref name="References">Wloszczyna, Susan (December 15th, 2005). 'King Kong' abounds with fun facts for fanboys. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-06-21.</ref>
[edit] Soundtrack
The musical score for King Kong was composed by James Newton Howard. Originally Howard Shore, who worked for Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings, was to compose the score for the film, and recorded several completed cues before he was removed from the project by Jackson. Howard joined the project with literally weeks to score and record more than two hours of music. Shore still makes a cameo appearance as the ill-fated conductor in the theatre from which Kong escapes.
[edit] DVD release
King Kong was released on DVD on March 28, 2006 in the United States. The three versions that came out were single disc fullscreen, single disc widescreen and a 2-Disc Widescreen Special Edition. The second disc of the Special Edition contains the remainder of almost all the KongisKing.net production diaries not contained on the Peter Jackson's Production Diaries DVD set. The only missing episode is "13 Weeks To Go" which contained footage of Howard Shore recording the original score. It is still available on the website.
All DVD versions of the movie contain at least four known instances of DVD "watermarking" that are assumed to be anti-piracy measures. In Region 1, the letters "KKDD" appear for one frame on the character Bruce Baxter's (Kyle Chandler) arm at 00:30:29 and 2:01:33. Another is seen at 1:00:05 on the arm of an islander. The fourth instance is at 01:30:05 on the bamboo stick King Kong is chewing on. Region 2 has the same instances, but the letters "KKID" are used instead.
On Tuesday, June 27, 2006, www.kongisking.net reported that Spanish DVD website Zonadvd officially confirmed the release date of an extended edition of King Kong on November 15, 2006. It was also said that three discs would be included in the set. Unseen features, including deleted scenes, commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, and so on are sure to follow (these features were previously mentioned before).<ref>Flynn, David (June 8th, 2006). Make way for the DVD on steroids. The Age. Retrieved on 2006-06-14.</ref>
Image:King Kong Extended.jpg The 3 disc Deluxe Extended Edition was released on November 14th 2006 in the U.S.A.<ref> http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/king-kong3.html </ref>, and on November 1st in Australia<ref>http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/789627</ref>. 13 minutes were put back into the film, and a further 40 minutes presented alongside the rest of the special features. The film was spread onto the first two discs with commentary by Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens, and some featurettes on Disc 2, whilst the main Special Features are on Disc 3. Another set was released, including a WETA figurine of a bullet-ridden Kong scaling the Empire State Building, roaring at the army with Ann in hand. The extended film amounts to 192 minutes in total.<ref>KongisKing.net (2006-07-20). Official Universal Press Release on the Extended Edition!. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.</ref>
[edit] Extended Edition scenes
The extended edition not only has 13 minutes of added footage reincorporated into the film, 40 minutes of deleted scenes on the DVD, but also over 120 new visual effects shots:
- The crew is attacked by a Ferrucutus.
- The crew is attacked by many Scorpio-pedes.
- The crew is attacked by a Piranhadon.
- Extended Bug Pit scene.
- Kong leaps from cliff to cliff killing crew members.
- Kong throws a stone at natives on a cliff.
- A military truck with a man insulting Kong is destroyed.
- Kong kills the man who issues the "FIRE!" command.
- Kong picks up a car and throws at another car.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website
- King Kong at Rotten Tomatoes
- King Kong at Box Office Mojo
- Kong is King.net - fansite featuring behind-the-scenes footage
- The post production diaries can be found at KongisKing.net
- Trailer(s) in HD
- Movie Review Xdafied.com.au
- The Original King Kong Script
- King Kong (2005) at the Internet Movie Database
| King Kong films |
|---|
| King Kong (1933) • The Son of Kong (1933) • King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) • King Kong Escapes (1967) • King Kong (1976) • King Kong Lives (1986) • King Kong (2005) |
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