A Fun Creature Feature with Zero Special Features (hey, that rhymed!)
Summary
I think I prefer this version of King Kong to Peter Jackson’s overlong and self-indulgent 2005 film (which I also still enjoy) as this tells the same story for the most part, but it doesn’t go on for quite as long. The 2 cuts of the film are cool, but there are no other meaningful extras which is a shame. Not really worth the upgrade.
Plot: A greedy oil executive, a passionate paleontologist, and a shipwrecked actress travel to an uncharted island. The island’s native tribe captures the woman to sacrifice her to a colossal giant ape named Kong. The crew rescues her, captures the beast for a corporate exhibition in New York, and faces a tragic escape.
Review: I’ve never hated this movie the way so many other people do; I’ve always been a big monster movie fan and this was the Kong I grew up with. Sure, he looks like a guy in a suit most of the time but so does Godzilla; that doesn’t make it any less fun and I just allow myself to get immersed in it. This version of King Kong stars Jeff Bridges (with more hair than Kong) and Jessica Lange being an absolute goddess.
It changes the story from the 1933 original, so they aren’t filming a movie but looking for oil. They still end up at Skull Island and the rest of the tale is familiar stuff. We have Bridges as the good natured Professor Jack Prescott and Lange playing the young starlet Dwan. They fall for each other, but when they get to Skull island a certain Ape takes a liking to Dwan and we all know what happens next. Rather than climbing the Empire State Building for the finale Kong now climbs the World Trade Centre and knowing everything that’s happened since then it makes the ending even more tragic.
John Barry provides the score and you can tell as it sounds like any of his Bond scores which sound the same, but I love them anyway. This isn’t one of his more memorable scores but it does the job.
Charles Grodin was so good at playing Fred Wilson, the greedy oil tycoon who wants to find fame and fortune; when he discovers this oil on Skull island is useless he decides Kong will be worth more. The King Kong movies always make me hate humans even more than I already do as greed always takes over. Even Prescott has the chance to walk away but he can’t resist the lure of success.
On the action front it’s the final half hour when things get interesting as Kong rampages his way around New York. There is lots of buildings being smashed and objects exploding and watching Wilson get what he deserves is always satisfying. I like Kong’s battle with the giant snake too even if it is a little brief.
The roar of Kong in this sounds like every creature from any 80’s cartoon of the time and it never seems to change; he never really acts or sounds like an ape and some of his facial expressions are unintentionally funny.
The 4K is nicely remastered with the theatrical cut and the Blu-ray included has the TV version. That’s it; there are literally no other special features (aside from a trailer) which is very disappointing. It does at least look and sound decent and it has subtitles. That adds to the fun actually as any time Kong roars the subtitles literally say “Aaarrrr” which is important as I wasn’t sure what he said.
Overall, King Kong is an enjoyable watch even despite its flaws; I like Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange and the carnage at the end is entertaining. The 4K looks and sounds fine but the lack of special features means this isn’t really worth the upgrade.