King Kong

Rating:
Summary: Klassic Kong
Review: Though still not available on DVD, I'm hoping it will arrive before the new Peter Jackson movie is released. 2005 could easily be the year of Kong and the classic original should come out.
I'm predicting a boxed set that would include some archival footage, documentaries, etc. Depending upon which company has the rights (WB?), they may include Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young, much the way Universal released the original Dracula, et al movies to DVD this year.
However it happens, the original King Kong is still by far the best. I saw it originally on TV in the 1950's, and to this day I still feel a sense of wonder when I watch it.
Long live the King!

Rating:
Summary: "The Eighth Wonder of the World"
Review: More than 70 years since its initial release, "King Kong" (1933) remains the monster epic by which all other genre films are measured. Often remade yet never surpassed, it represents a one-of-a-kind landmark in cinema history -- with remarkable visual effects by Willis O'Brien. Accept no substitutes!

Rating:
Summary: The Original Cinematic Simian, the One and Only King Kong
Review: He came from an uncharted island,he carried a blonde in his hand and climbed up the Empire State Building in one of the most legendary films of all time, KING KONG. One of the greatest movie animals in Hollywood history. The thrilling story about Carl Denham, a jungle film director who discovers Ann Darrow,a beautiful blonde who he decides to put in his new movie. An Expedition to Skull Island, Which is home to natives, dinosaurs still existing after 65 million years and it is the home of the most incredible creature on the face of the earth and the world's largest primate, a 50 foot tall gorilla called Kong, who carries Ann in his hand, she was the beauty who charmed the beast. Kong is soon captured and taken to the Big Apple, where he breaks out and reaks havoc upon the city and carries Ann up the Empire State Building. After 71 years, this masterpiece is still thrilling,exciting,frightning. terrific Entertainment to this day. A Film so legendary it spawned a quick sequel "SON OF KONG" a thrilling 1976 remake,a Universal Studios ride and Kong also opened the door for other ape movies like Mighty Joe Young and Planet of the Apes,Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is currently bringing the mighty ape back on the screen. If you have never seen this immortal thriller, it's been legend for 71 years and it's timeless,honor the Queen of Scream after her death with the film that made her and her primate blind date legend. Let the Roar,the thrills,the horror,the love and KONGfrontation of the Eighth Wonder of the World, KING KONG.

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Summary: Fay Wray was a big part of the big success of "King Kong"
Review: In "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" they ask the musical question, "Whatever happened to Fay Wray?" Tonight we know the answer since the actress passed away at the age of 96 and of course every single notice of her death mentions the role that made her immortal as the beauty loved by the beast in the 1933 classic "King Kong." Wray had been noticed in a few films before that, such as Stroheim's "The Wedding March" (1928), "Thunderbolt" (1929), "Doctor X" (1932), and "The Vampire Bat" (1933). Then came her rendezvous with the biggest leading man in history and Fay Wray made her claim to the honor of being the greatest screamer in movie history.

Fay Wray is remembered not just because she played opposite King Kong but also because as Ann Darrow she was both sexy and vulnerable. Plus she had the big ape's lung capacity beat six ways to Sunday. Granted, the special effects by Willis O'Brien are enough to make this a classic film, the cinematic forefather of "Jaws," "Jurassic Park" and other celluloid monster movies that involve something other than an actor in makeup. But every time you want to reduce "King Kong" to pure technical achievement, you hear Fay Wray screaming her head off.

The story was pretty much a cliché the moment it was set down on paper. Movie director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) has heard the legend of Kong and hires a ship to find Skull Island. Ann Darrow is starving and destitute, but photogenic and he hires her to be the beauty part of the equation in the film he has planned. Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot), the first mate of the tub they are traveling on takes an interest in the young girl's safety, and she responds with guarded affection. Then they get to the island and he discovers that he is indeed involved in a love triangle, but the third party is not Denham, but a giant ape.

One thing you have to give directors Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack credit for in this film is that they give Kong a big build up and then they deliver. On the way to the island Denham was making a film test with Ann and had her scream. Then she sees Kong for the first time and takes it to a whole new level. At that point the film becomes a series of action sequences as Kong takes the girl into the jungle, Driscoll leads a rescue party after her only to have Kong follow them back to the native village (the look of terror on Wray's face as she runs for her life through the jungle is equally memorable), which Kong proceeds to destroy before being captured. Then there is the final act of the drama as King Kong, the 8th Wonder of the World is put on display in New York City, only to break free, once again capture Ann, and take her to top of the Empire State Building (whose lights will be dimmed tomorrow night in Wray's honor).

I think the T-Rex attack sequence in "Jurassic Park" is one of the greatest in any monster movie ever made, and I have argued that in addition to the special effects and the masterful cutting of the scene, the sound of the T-Rex is an integral part of what makes the scene work so well. Tonight I am going to make the same argument for Kong's first appearance in "King Kong." After all, we are talking about mixing stop motion animation with a giant mechanical head, but such "primitive" special effects are forgiven because Fay Wray's screams convince you it is really happening. She was not remembered just because she was the girl in "King Kong" (quick, name the actresses who had the female lead roles in "Dracula" and "Frankenstein"). She was remembered because she was an integral part of the film's success (To save you the trouble of looking up the previous trivia point: Helen Chandler and Mae Clarke).

You might have heard that Peter Jackson, as his next project after "The Lord of the Rings," is doing a remake of King Kong for 2005. The cast has Jack Black as Carl Denham, Adrien Brody as Jack Discoll, Andy Serkis as both King Kong and Lumpy the Cook (?), and Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow. Watts is a fine actress, but can she scream like Fay Wray? I don't think so. But then Jessica Lange was not exactly a great screamer and her career turned out okay.

Final Notes: This is the "restored" version of the film, but it still does not include the legendary scene when four crewmen who are shaken off the log by Kong fall into a ravine where they are eaten alive by giant spiders. When first previewed the scene stopped the movie cold and Cooper pulled it from the film. The scenes that were cut in the late 1930s and not restored until the 1970s were (a) where Kong pulls Ann's clothes off; (b) the shots of the Apatosaurus (nee Brontosaurus) biting the sailors; (c) Kong eating natives when he breaks through the gate; (d) Kong stepping on a native; (e) Kong biting a New Yorker after escaping from the theater; and (f) Kong grabbing the wrong woman from the hotel and throwing her to her death. It would be nice if they could find the spider sequence or any of the other bits we know were cut by Cooper before the film was released, but it is probably never going to happen.


Rating:
Summary: King Kong (1933)
Review: The story is simple yet entertains throughout, from the discovery of the primitive tribe of Skull Island that worships Kong, to the kidnapping of beautiful Faye Wray, to the many perils faced by the men who are pursuing the great ape through the jungle, and finally to Kong's destructive rampage through New York City. The final scenes atop the empire state building are awesome with the city spread out below and the camera taking the point-of-view of the biplanes zooming towards the giant ape. Truly astounding special effects for such an old movie.

Rating:
Summary: Classic
Review: I typically don't like old movies but King Kong truly is a classic movie. What amazes me about the movie more than anything is the political overtones about racial prejudice, the environment, and the empathy it builds for the misunderstood Kong. I like the original better than the remakes.

Rating:
Summary: What really happened to the 2nd Avenue el!
Review: Interpretations--psychological, anthropological, social, evolutionary, racial--abound about 1933's KING KONG. "King Kong is about our inner animal of rage", "King Kong is a critique of man in modern urban times", "King Kong is about technology killing our true nature..." Ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

PUH-LEASE! KING KONG is simply a great story, perfectly directed, with the best animation techniques for its time. While the acting (by humans) is admittedly the weakest link in this film, it has so much else going for it, like suspense, horror, pathos, love, and tragedy. King Kong, the animal, is complex and there are different emotions we experience about him. We don't like him when he gobbles up people or smashes the 2nd Avenue el (an incredible scene!). We admire him for trying to save Fay Wray from the flashbulbs. And we feel incredibly sad when he's killed. Why? I think it's because we see him as a human, at least of having human qualities. But to extend that to some deeper, intellectual level is pointless. It's just an amazing film.

Last comment: The film also has some humor. As a New Yorker, I love the dialogue between the two women at the theater, waiting to see King Kong.

Girl one: "Hey, what's this show about, anyway?"
Girl two: "I don't know. Some big gorilla."
Girl one: (after a clod accidentally steps on her toe): "Aw. Ain't we got enough of them in New Yawk?"

I can't get enough of this classic film.