King Kong out today!

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Well all of you across the pond will be lucky enough to see it today, but here in the UK we have to wait til tomorrow. Let us know what you think of it. I haven't looked forward to a film this much for a long time.

[Monarch]

Well I've not seen it and probably wont until its rentable, but if Jackson's direction of LOTR is anything to go by, then Kong will be awesome :)

[master of the puppets]

OMFG BEST MOVIE EVER YOU HAVE TO SEE IT

or so the commercials say, i have yet to see it

[Geoffrey S]

Not certain about this. Some bits look real good, some sequences I've seen have awful acting; hopefully Peter Jackson can get this just right, unlike RotK which did feel rushed. Could be very good, could be the most over-hyped film ever.

[Alexanderofmacedon]

master, the commercials really said "OMFG" ? Some one could sue...

I really don't know about King Kong. It doesn't appeal to me too much. Especially the paying part of watching the movie. It'll probably be a very good King Kong version because of Jackson, but I don't know... I'll see it when it's out on DVD probably...in a few years...

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Well I saw it last night. Nice to be in the bussines ay I was impressed to say the least. King Kong was my favorite movie as a kid. We had a show called the million dollar movie and they would show the same movies twice a day for a week. Id watch Kong twice a day everday for a week Well enough of that. The scenery and shots of old NY are incredible, The most startling feature however is the facial expressions and most of all Kongs eyes. You really feel for this big gorillia. I was disapponited in only a few things. Some of my favorite scenes werent in there like the fight with the Ptsaurous (sp) (flying dino)and the snake like thingy. Also no trampling the natives or attacking the train on the L in NYC. Most of all there was no trace of the original stirring and signature soundtrack . But over all I have to give this movie an A plus. Yes I cried at the end just like i did when I was kid watching it for the first time. A truly remarkable and worthy remake.

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Actually mate you're wrong about Max Steiner's score - they do play parts of it when Kong is in the theater and when he's rampaging through New York (so I've heard from many sources anyway).

Does the spider sequence live up to the hype?

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Actually mate you're wrong about Max Steiner's score - they do play parts of it when Kong is in the theater and when he's rampaging through New York (so I've heard from many sources anyway).

Yes in the theatre it started up for maybe 30 seconds . I started to think hurray at last. But its when he climbs the Empire State building in the original where it reaches its peak and there was none of it there and was barely recognizable in the theatre or rampaging through the streets. It was familiar in those instances but culd have been done much better.

Does the spider sequence live up to the hype?

Well the spiders dont do much but the other insects are trully disgusting. Yes its one of the best parts of the movie.

[Lemur]

Must ... find ... babysitter ... must ... see ... big ape ...

(This is the kind of film that, well, even if it sucks it's gonna be fun. Anybody know a good babysitter in southeastern Wisconsin?)

[Crazed Rabbit]

I've got some relatives in the Milwaukee area.

Crazed Rabbit

[Beirut]

I saw some clips on TV and I thought Kong looked too small. They say he's 25' tall. Gah! Shouldn't Kong be about 50' tall?

[doc_bean]

I thought kong looked pretty fake in the TV adverts, however, in the same advert in the cinema he looked pretty convincing. I'm not too interested in the movie though, I know how it's going to end already !

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Just got back. Absolutely fantastic - funny, dramatic, exciting and incredibly moving. I don't mind saying I was in tears by the end. I can't think of anything I didn't like. Frankly if you're not moved by this you're stone dead! Lived up to my expectations and more.

[Taurus]

Original movie was really cool and the re-make of that was pretty crap.

Going to see the newest one tommorow hopefully.

[Craterus]

I'll be seeing it tomorrow too. It'll be the first version of Kong that I see the entire way through. Can't say I've really been looking forward to it though.

[Steppe Merc]

Man oh man. I just saw King Kong, and it was incredible. Best Movie of the Year. Man, I ended up hating Jack Black, and hoping that Kong would somehow win. I got a bit teary eyed when he fell... The only other time that happened was in Lord of the Rings.

[Craterus]

Man oh man. I just saw King Kong, and it was incredible. Best Movie of the Year. Man, I ended up hating Jack Black, and hoping that Kong would somehow win. I got a bit teary eyed when he fell... The only other time that happened was in Lord of the Rings.

Much the same.

It was very moving.

[Steppe Merc]

Yeah, Peter Jackson is the only director that can make me cry.

[GFX707]

Another remake.

More ropey CGI.

Woo.

[Steppe Merc]

I wondered when the insulters would come. I'm outa here before I get myself in trouble.

[GFX707]

I wondered when the insulters would come. I'm outa here before I get myself in trouble.

Sorry, it's just my opinion!

Not wanting to start a flame war.

[Aurelian]

I saw Kong last night.

I give it three ratings: a 10, a 7, and a 4. The first part of the movie, up until the first dinosaur shows up, was a 10. Very engaging. Great characterization. Jack Black was in good form. Scary natives.

The rest of the time on Skull Island gets a 7 or 8. Still fun, but Peter Jackson has a tendency to smash right through my "suspension of disbelief" with his action scenes. The insects were disgusting. I did like the Tyrannosaurus fight. Poor blondie took a beating from Kong that Wonder Woman might not have survived (especially when he was knuckle-running while holding her).

The final section of the movie only gets a 3 or 4 from me. 1930's New York was really well-done throughout the movie. Other than that, the slower pacing and emotional bit between gorilla and blondie didn't really work for me.

Overall, it was enjoyable enough, but there were a few times during the movie when I wished I had a fast-forward button.

[Mikeus Caesar]

Just came back from seeing it half an hour ago, and my opinion is....

OMFG BEST MOVIE EVAR!!!

I may exagurate (sp?) a bit, but it was one hell of a good movie. Especially the giant bugs. Nasty things.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

One very creepy bit in the canyon of the bugs when one guy is climbing up the canyon walls, only for some gigantic claw to shoot out and snatch him. Yikes! Jack Black was very good as the evil uncaring director i though. When in this hideous 'valley of the bugs', there are dead people everywhere and giant bugs trying to kill his friends, and all he cares about is the fact his film has been ruined. You really come to hate his character by the end.

[Puzz3D]

King Kong is a poorly made movie. Bloated beyond belief with sub-plots that go unresolved, developed characters that disappear from the movie, and plot holes that you can drive a truck through. What happened to the menacing natives or the ship's captain? Where is the coast guard to go after the freighter that makes a "fast" getaway. Where did Denim get the map? How did 8 men get Kong onto the freighter? How did the native get Ann off the ship with no one noticing? Doesn't she know how to scream?

King Kong himself is remarkably rendered and animated very well by Andy Serkis, but some of the other animation is poorly done. The brontosaurus stampede is very fake looking, Ann Darrow looks like a toy doll in the long shot of Kong as he runs through the jungle and Skull Island looks like Mordor. The New York skyline is well done, but the street scenes look like a cartoon where nothing ever gets dirty especially the yellow taxi cabs.

Peter Jackson has changed all the main characters. Carl Denim is now an unscupulous movie producer who is wanted by the police. Jack Driscol is a nerdy script writer instead of a strong and handsome member of the ship's crew. Ann Darrow has become an animal rights activist. King Kong is a lovable teddy bear compared to what he was in the 1933 movie, and Ann Darrow was terrified of him. Jackson substitutes closeups for dramatic moments I guess so we have time to figure out what the character is thinking. Naomi Watts must have 50 closeups. She does very well acting to the blue screen, and I hope this movie doesn't ruin her career.

The laws of physics are thrown out the window. T-Rex's hanging from apparently tensile steel vines. Kong getting bitten on the arm by them multiple times with no effect. Ann uninjured when Kong fights 3 T-Rex dinosaurs without putting her down. Men falling 300 feet and getting up uninjured to fight bugs. Jack and Ann gliding down to the ground holding onto a bat's leg. They run through the jungle, I kid you not, for 5 seconds and are back at the wall. Why aren't Ann Darrow's feet ripped to shreds running through the jungle barefoot? A kid who has never shot a gun shooting bugs off of Jack with a tommy gun that's jumping all over and Jack doesn't get hit at all. The captain and his men somehow finding them at the last second before the bugs get them and miraculously shooting all the bugs from way up above the valley floor. Ann Ripped from her bindings by Kong without her hands being ripped off. Her clothes never get dirty. Kong sliding around on thin ice in New York without falling through. The freighter bashed up against rocks by very rough seas and the hull broken but somehow it's all fixed in no time. Skull Island shrouded in impenetrable fog, but once they get onto the island the fog is gone. Jack uninjured when Kong flips the car he is driving 30 feet in the air.

There is no erotic element. There is no suspense. The pacing is terrible. The script is awful. The killing is all antiseptic. Ann Darrow wears only a silk dress in wintertime New York with snow on the ground, and climbs to the top of the Empire State building that way. How did Jack Driscoll get up there when the ladder was shot away? Jack Black's delivery of the final line "beauty killed the beast" is poor. How do you reconcile than with the fact that she was doing everything she could to save Kong?

Even the 10 year old boy I went to the movie with felt manipulated by the sappy sentimentality, and the movie didn't impress him.

[Duke Dick]

Yeah; great review mate. Who did you copy it off?

I loved the film. Some people can't look past small discrepancies to see the quality this film has.

Un-Frontroomish language - Beirut

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Puzz mate don't you think your judging the film abit? I think your looking for faults that are not really there. Skull island looks nothing like Mordor and who really cares about the laws of physics and inaccurate things on that level, its a fantasy film with a 25 foot gorilla fighting dinosaurs, insane red eyed natives (who i thought were great but prayed they would get trampled on. In fact that is only grip that the natives didn't get blitzed by Kong and also taking the swamp scenes out) and sailors getting onvolved in in a Bronto stampede.

The men who survived the fall into the insect pit held on to the log, none of the guys who fell directly off it survived. The spider pit sequence that was cut out of the 33 version saw men fall off a log with some 50-60 foot drop then apparently fighting with insects till eaten and ripped apart. That is wrong as well as they couldn't have survived that sought of drop but would you judge that in the same way?

I'm not trying to be harsh on the 33 classic but that has its faults as well, the story, the acting but i still love it like i loved Jackson's film. Its just abit of escapism dude and i think your just being harsh on it.

[Puzz3D]

Puzz mate don't you think your judging the film abit? I think your looking for faults that are not really there. Skull island looks nothing like Mordor and who really cares about the laws of physics and inaccurate things on that level, its a fantasy film with a 25 foot gorilla fighting dinosaurs, insane red eyed natives (who i thought were great but prayed they would get trampled on. In fact that is only grip that the natives didn't get blitzed by Kong and also taking the swamp scenes out) and sailors getting onvolved in in a Bronto stampede.

The film is a mess, and you know it. King Kong isn't supposed to be a 25 foot gorilla. He's supposed to be KING KONG who everyone, including Ann Darrow, is petrified of. What is sitting on the cliff or on the Emipre State building looking at the sunset all about? Do the bats come out and attack King Kong every evening or just when Ann Darrow is there?

The men who survived the fall into the insect pit held on to the log, none of the guys who fell directly off it survived. The spider pit sequence that was cut out of the 33 version saw men fall off a log with some 50-60 foot drop then apparently fighting with insects till eaten and ripped apart. That is wrong as well as they couldn't have survived that sought of drop but would you judge that in the same way?

Meriam Cooper edited out the spider sequence for good reason. The men who fall off the log in the 1933 version die when they hit the ground. The 15 minute bug fight in Peter Jackson's version is stupid, and detracts from the flow of the movie. The things on Jack Driscoll look like giant crickets, and if they were all over him supposedly trying to eat him, how come he has no bites on him?

In one place in the jungle there are small flying insects buzzing around the party and landing on them. They move a short distance away from that spot, and the flying insects are all gone. What happened to them? That spot in the jungle is off limits to bugs?

Why is there almost no blood in this picture? Well, I know why because they have to get that PG-13 rating for all the kiddies. Well the kiddie I saw the picture with thought it was silly. So, I as an adult am supposed to think it wasn't silly?

I'm not trying to be harsh on the 33 classic but that has its faults as well, the story, the acting but i still love it like i loved Jackson's film. Its just abit of escapism dude and i think your just being harsh on it.

It's a poorly made film, and it alters the original story by having Kong follow Ann Darrow because she was nice to him. In Peter Jackson's movie Kong is such a sad and lonely creature that getting killed was putting him out of his misery. I felt more sympathy for the Kong in the 1933 version.

You're right this is a fantasy movie. I rate this a fantasy on the level of The Never Ending Story. Peter Jackson might as well have given Kong wings so that he could fly away from the airplanes with Ann Darrow on his shoulder and they could live happily everafter on Skull Island.

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

The film is a mess, and you know it

Do I? Well no i don't think its a mess. I think you are being really hard on it. I think you have watched the wrong film because it doesn't sound like the one i watched.

I think the film is trying to show Kong not as a monster but an animal who can feel pain both emotionally and physically. I don't know if the bats would attack Kong without Ann Darrow but the scars on his body suggest he has been in countless battles with the creatures of Skull Island. But then again christ its only a movie how the hell would i know!

Did you just go into the cinema wanting to hate this film? Its sounds like you did. If you feel more sadness for Kong of 33 version well thats up to you but i find the death of Kong in jackson's version as deeply saddening and it broke my heart watching his demise. If he is such a monster in the 33 version why are people are moved by his death? I know the 33 version is sad but the way Kong has been created on the screen by jackson and WETA is truely awe inspiring.

Meriam Cooper edited out the spider sequence for good reason. The men who fall off the log in the 1933 version die when they hit the ground

Cooper actually took the spider sequence out because it scared audiences and after the film the crowd talked more of the giant spiders tearing apart sailors than Kong himself

You're right this is a fantasy movie. I rate this a fantasy on the level of The Never Ending Story. Peter Jackson might as well have given Kong wings so that he could fly away from the airplanes with Ann Darrow on his shoulder and they could live happily everafter on Skull Island.

Mate what are you on about? Ok the film is altered in parts but not all. I really don't think you watched this film with an open mind and just let your love of the 33 version cloud your judgement. I love both versions and despite the praise the new film has got it will never over shadow the 33 classic and with Jackson loving that film to death i'm sure that wasn't his intention.

I'm not going to get in an arguement about it with you but you seem not even willing to like it mate.

[Puzz3D]

Do I? Well no i don't think its a mess. I think you are being really hard on it. I think you have watched the wrong film because it doesn't sound like the one i watched.

I watched the same film you watched. That's a great gift you have to be able to dismiss the obvious problems in this film, and focus in on what's good about it. I do that as well when I watch films, but this one just overwhelmed my capacity to overlook things.

I think the film is trying to show Kong not as a monster but an animal who can feel pain both emotionally and physically.

That's what's wrong. He's just Kong the gorilla in this picture. He's not KING KONG. Jackson could have imbued his Kong with this emotional aspect without beating the audience over the head with it. If he were a good director, he would have just hinted at it and let the viewer find that quality in Kong if the viewer was looking for it.

I don't know if the bats would attack Kong without Ann Darrow but the scars on his body suggest he has been in countless battles with the creatures of Skull Island.

The bats have to attack Kong so that Jack Driscoll and Ann Darrow can escape because Kong has seen Driscoll. The sequence is backwards. Instead of Jack taking advantage of a diversion to escape with Ann, the diversion has to occur to save Jack. If Kong startled the bats by going after Jack, why do they attack Kong instead of flying away? This mechanism of something happening just in the nick of time to save the main characters occurs at two other places in the film when the captain shows up at the last possible moment before they are killed.

Did you just go into the cinema wanting to hate this film? Its sounds like you did.

No. I went wanting to like it. I can't remember disliking a film that I went to the theater to see this much in the last 10 years. Part of the problem is I took some people with me. I was disappointed that this picture was just another standard CGI action extravaganza with some sappy sentimentality, but also embarassed that I had taken people to see it. None of the people that came with me really liked the picture.

If you feel more sadness for Kong of 33 version well thats up to you but i find the death of Kong in jackson's version as deeply saddening and it broke my heart watching his demise.

I felt relief for Kong in Jackson's version. I remember it clearly because I was wondering what I was going to feel at the moment he died.

If he is such a monster in the 33 version why are people are moved by his death?

That's the striking thing emotionally about that picture because there is nothing endearing about King Kong in the 1933 movie.

I know the 33 version is sad but the way Kong has been created on the screen by jackson and WETA is truely awe inspiring.

They did an excellent job rendering Kong and his movements, although, I though he moved too fast for a massive creature in some sequences.

Cooper actually took the spider sequence out because it scared audiences and after the film the crowd talked more of the giant spiders tearing apart sailors than Kong himself.

That's right. He took it out because it detracted from the focus and flow of the picture just as it does in Jackson's version. The guys who fall off the log don't make it in the 1933 version. Jack Driscoll makes it because he didn't fall since he made it to the other side. He's then separated from the Carl Denim who made it back to the opposite side. Driscoll has no choice but to go on and Denim to go back. In Jackson's version, Driscoll is at the botton of the ravine and climbs up on Kong's side while everyone else including the courageous captain declines to go with him. They don't even give him a gun.

Mate what are you on about?

I'm on about the fact that you said the laws of physics and inaccuracies don't apply because this is a fantasy. So, where do you draw the line? A flying Kong would be ok? Everytime physics is violated or inaccuracies show up this picture is hurt by it because it's supposed to be grounded in the physical world we live in despite the fact that King Kong is implausable. King Kong is supposed to be the only implausable thing in the picture so that you can maintain a suspension of disbelief. You can't maintain a suspension of disbelief once they get to Skull Island in Jackson's picture. You have to treat it as a complete fantasy.

Ok the film is altered in parts but not all. I really don't think you watched this film with an open mind and just let your love of the 33 version cloud your judgement. I love both versions and despite the praise the new film has got it will never over shadow the 33 classic and with Jackson loving that film to death i'm sure that wasn't his intention.

I watch films with all the films I've ever seen in mind. This one doesn't even come up to the level of Jurassic Park for thrills. Part of the problem is that he's remaking the original so you know what's going to happen, but that doesn't expalin the ho-hum attitute to the picture of the 10 year old boy who was with us who had never seen the original. I don't know why Jackson tried to stick close to the original story since he tampered so much with all the main characters including Kong. I think he would have done better with an original story if he could think of one worth filming. Jackson isn't showing his love for the original picture by tampering with the character's motivations. He's even added an extra main character who mocks a scene in the original film.

Emotionally the film is confusing. From whom is Jack Driscoll trying to save Ann Darrow? From Kong who is her protector? From herself? From commiting suicide? From accidental death? How come Jack and Ann can only be together after Kong dies? Is she in love with Kong as you would love a pet or as a human? Is she mad at Jack because he wouldn't let her save Kong at the wall?

I'm not going to get in an arguement about it with you but you seem not even willing to like it mate.

I just posted what I thought of the picture. Then someone called me a fag, and you started disagreeing with me.

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

I didn't call you a fag dude and whats wrong with saying i disagree with you? Am I suppose to agree even if i think your totally wrong and picking at a film which might have some bad points but with the good far outweighing the bad?

That's a great gift you have to be able to dismiss the obvious problems in this film, and focus in on what's good about it

I think you have a great gift in finding problems that are not even there and going on about physics that the majority of people probably doesn't care about. As I was watching Kong fight the V Rex i didn't once stop and say "Oh that wasn't right, how could those vines hold his weight?" because I was being very entertained by the movie. I personally go to the cinema for a bit of escapism not to make notes on apparent bad points and moan about it later. Call me old fashioned.

No. I went wanting to like it. I can't remember disliking a film that I went to the theater to see this much in the last 10 years.

Then mate you obviously haven't some of crap i've watched

None of the people that came with me really liked the picture.

But i'm sure alot of other people watching it did

If he were a good director

Let me guess, you hated Lord of the Rings right? Are you judging him on his past film work and taken the dislike into the cinema with you?