King Kong

Released in 1933, King Kong, The Eighth Wonder of the World is the epitome of classic Hollywood magic. This movie has everything: action, adventure, romance, and a 35 foot tall gorilla with a fondness for blondes. The movie clocks in at 1:40 and is a true rollercoaster ride of a film, starting in New York Harbor which is the slow first climb and by the time you reach Skull Island and that first steep drop, the story doesn't let you catch your breath until the epic conclusion atop the newly completed Empire State Building.The brainchild of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, this film has been copied (most famously by the Toho Studios classic Godzilla) and remade countless times but nothing can compare to the original.The star of the show is Kong Himself, deftly brought to life by the master of stop motion animation Willis O'Brien (mentor to the great Ray Harryhausen). Without Willis O'Brien the movie never could have been made.If you have never seen the original 1933 classic, put it on your MUST SEE list and watch it soon, you won't regret it!!

The still pictures of Fay Wray are from the special feature, "Camera's Roll on King Kong the Eighth Wonder of the World." Wray was indeed the beauty counter parting the beast. The pencil art work displayed in the special features segments is way cool also. The special features are vast and detailed, thus making this Blue-Ray Disc of 1933s "King Kong" a real gem to own. There's an interview with Fay Wray decades after "King Kong" was released and so much more.Interviews with modern day film technicians praised the technical team of King Kong and said many of their basic techniques are still used to this day. The details of the 18 inch model of King King and stop motion photography are explained perfectly. I merely touched the tip of ice burg about the special features on this Blue-Ray Disc. Simply stated, the special features alone make this version of "King Kong" worth having."King Kong" was way ahead of it's time, and not just for the special effects. Early in this flick, Fay Wray struts her fabulous frame in a transparent top with no bra, a big no-no for main stream movies that was rigidly enforced by 1935, so 1933s "King Kong" is a true Pre-Code Hollywood film for ignoring the boundaries of sexuality and violence on the the movie screen upon its time.Screenplay writers James Creelman and Ruth Rose transformed Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper's story into a cinematic masterpiece that cemented the ground work for solid story telling and captivating special effects. Fay Wray as Ann Darrow wanted Cary Grant as her leading man and said Bruce Cabot wasn't her ideal choice, but regardless, this 1933 flick contains realistic romance and the idea that only love can kill the beast.Robert Armstrong portrays a successful, yet controversial film maker, Carl Denham who cast's Ann Darrow as the female love interest for his next motion picture. Denham, Darrow and his entire film crew sail the vast seas to Skull Island, an uncharted island where the mighty Kong dwells. Kong's soul is caressed with love be the mere sight of Darrow (Wray) and when she's taken away from mighty beast, Kong roams the streets of New York with vengeance and a quest for sheer serenity. While on Skull Island, Kong combats dinosaurs and other giant beasts from millions of years ago. Bravo to Willis O' Brien, the technician who inspires the likes of today's special effects gurus.This 2022 restoration is fantastic. The sound is crisp and works very well on today's sound systems and the picture quality is amazing. The Overture before the credits is more than four minutes long before the opening credits even begin. Simple use the fast skip button on your DVD player once, and the opening credits roll, press fast skip once more, and the movie begins in its entirety.

The Commentary Track is on the 2006 1-disc DVD issue of the original 1933 "King Kong". The commentary was recorded while Peter Jackson's 2005 remake was in production, and the remake is mentioned a couple of times. Commentators are Ken Ralston and Ray Harryhausen. Ralston was one of the founders of Industrial Light & Magic and has won 5 Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects. Ray Harryhausen is the father of stop motion animation. He calls Willis O'Brien, the "Chief Technician" of "King Kong", the grandfather of stop motion.The two introduce themselves at the beginning of the commentary, with Harryhausen saying "We're both in love with the same picture, 'King Kong'!" Ray, born in 1920, saw "King Kong" in 1933 at the fabled Grauman's Chinese Theater. O'Brien (O.B. as he and Ken call him) was his mentor. There are also a few places in the commentary track with inserts from archival interviews with Merian C. Cooper, director and co-producer, and Fay Wray, who, of course, played Ann Darrow, the beauty to Kong's beast.At one point, Merian says that the last line in the film was one he'd had in mind for many years: "It was beauty killed the beast". And, in case you're wondering, he made up the "Old Arabian Proverb" at the beginning of the movie.Both Ken and Ray are very complimentary to Max Steiner's great score. Harry: "I can't stress [enough] how important music was to this film." Ken: "I remember hearing this, and it may be wrong, but technically, they had less ability to do a lot of levels of sound effects, and ... nuances like that. So for Steiner, he was adding a lot more musically to this. [Music] that took the place of what would now be the sound effects realm basically burying the music. This is like an opera piece, where you've got great music and visuals going through the whole piece." Harry: "And each character has their own leit motif ... It's just marvelous."I couldn't agree more. For example, it is a masterwork how Steiner's music builds the tension as the kidnapped Ann is kneeling in front of the giant gate, and then it opens and she is dragged through to the columns where she is tied. Then the music STOPS. The gong is struck. Then the music starts low, again, as you hear growling, then trees crashing, and then....But it's not just the music. I love the expert scene composition. When Kong beats his way through the giant gates, you see him from below, the torches lighting him up with his eyes blazing, while silhouettes of terrified villagers run towards you on your level. Great stuff!Ken reminds us: "When this was released, this was their 'Jurassic Park'. When this came out, Kong blew everyone out of the theater, totally took them by surprise .... It raised the bar on visual effects." Merien adds: "Willis O'Brien was a technical genius. In this picture, we had to invent 11 new processes [for visual effects]. This was the first time that rear projection was really ever used. There had been 2 or 3 [prior] tries at it."Then there was Ruth Rose's dialogue. As Ray says, "You notice the dialogue is so tight. There's no superfluous inferences.... [The script] takes you by the hand from the depression era to the most outrageous fantasy." This brings up the TV versions of "King Kong". You must view the fully restored movie if all you've seen is the TV version. It wasn't just the censorship of scenes like Kong or the lagoon dinosaur chomping on the crew. They cut out huge swaths of the beginning of the movie, where the stage is set, where the characters are filled out, where the mystery starts to build, of, just what the heck is Carl Denham up to?I could go on and on about favorite comments in the commentary, but you get the idea. I loved this original "King Kong" before, but watching it through the eyes of Ray Harryhausen and Ken Ralston added to my enjoyment immensely.If you're interested, you can get many CD's of Max Steiner's film work. Probably his most famous soundtrack is for 1939 "Gone With the Wind". Here's the CD of the 1933 "King Kong" King Kong: The Complete 1933 Film Score I love Peter Jackson's "King Kong" - Jack Black and Naomi Watts took iconic characters and made them their own - but I will always have a place in my heart for the original "King Kong".Happy Reader

Great movie to own on DVD amazing film from the 30's !

Nothing more needs to be said about this film. It’s a classic and I can watch it endlessly.The book edition of the Blu-ray is nice. All of the special features are good and informative and the book itself has some nice extra bits to round out the whole package.

Llego sin problemasSi viene en español latino subtitulos tambiénLa imagen restaurada en HDTítulo indispensable para cualquiera queSea un amantes del séptimo arte

Muy buena calidad de imágen, el sonido es latino neutro, y la verdad no se nota tanto como en otras películas, y la calidad se la imágen compensa.

Un excellent film top

Anche se oggi devo fare un bello sforzo per immedesimarmi con i film di quest'epoca é indubbio che questo film ha rappresentato all'inizio degli "effetti speciali" é una perla Dell epoca per cui anche se oggi appare "banale" a quel tempo era come mandare il 1 razzo in orbita con un pc con i floppy disc.. Per cui fu veramente qualcosa di incredibile, fortunatamente è ststo possibile reperirlo anche se credo non ci sianogli stessi contenuti speciali della versione a due dischi uscita anni e anni fa, però meglio di nulla..

Everyone knows the story, this review is on the Blu-ray. The disc package includes a small book which is embedded into the disc package so it's not removable. The book contains stories on the "Making of...", which includes information on the actors, special effects and of course the producer and director. This is a nice addition to the Blu-ray package.The disc itself contains a lot of extras including a 7 part Making of..., commentary with Ray Harryhausen and a documentary on Merian C. Cooper. The Blu-ray disc quality for such an old movie varies from grainy to amazingly clear. Its still far superior to the original Steel Box DVD version that was released some years back. Even though its a Blu-ray disc its still shown in its original full frame format of 1.33:1.There's no doubt about the amount of detail that is revealed with the sharpness of Blu-ray, but as mentioned, sharpness also has a tendency to considerably increase the grain in some scenes. I found the grain to be most noticeable at the beginning and in some of the jungle scenes. Those are the areas of heavy grain that I remember because with the sharpness of the video I became more absorbed in watching the details in the incredible sets and special effects that I forgot about the grain. All in all, even with some of the heavy grain here and there, watching King Kong with all this rich visible detail is like watching it for the first time. Make sure you watch the extra on how they made the jungle scene to really marvel at the inventive technical skill of these incredible special effects artist. And remember this movie was released in 1933!