King Kong

GenerationofSwine 1/10/2023 3:08:52 PM 8.4

Usually I hate remakes... but I also used to not like DC. And then the heavily bashed New 52 came around, I was talking to a friend of mine, and the Flash in New 52 wasn't his Flash. He hated it out of principal. I think that is what happened here, because the '33 film reached for the stars. The technology they had wasn't all there, and they did their absolute best with it to make the absolute best film they could. And it paid off, sometimes when you shoot for the moon you actually reach it. This King Kong suffers from the 33 film. It's not a bad movie, but it's not really stretching it's neck out there and taking chances like the first one did. And... he's shooting at a distance with a fixed 50, that's one of those Hollywood photography things that irritates the heck out of me, but you can't see the auto advance attachment as well without a telephoto can you Hollywood? You would think that people who work with cameras would take it more seriously in the movie. Anyway, it's not a bad movie. The acting is fine, the plot is fine, the Fx are dated but era fine as well.... and it's entertaining.... ... but it's grainy. Maybe it can be cleaned up in remastering, but they didn't use enough lighting and opted for film a little too fast for quality. And for someone like me, that's irritating as heck too. Photography paid my way though grad school, of I can do better, they can do better. It just isn't as monumental as the 33 film, and that it a high bar that makes it look bad in comparison. But at the end of the day it's still fun and that's what matters.

talisencrw 6/23/2021 3:57:44 PM 8.4

I had first seen the outstanding original of 'King Kong', still transcendent and captivating in its then-prescient use of special effects wizardry, then Sir Peter Jackson's recent remake, which was still extremely impressive. I had only heard horrible things about the 70's version, but I have come to admire Guillermin's films that I had watched, and look at that cast, so when I found the blu used, for a good price, I took a chance. It's definitely the runt of the litter, but is by no means a disaster. It's intriguing that they had originally wanted Joseph Sargent to direct with Peter Falk starring, and that Meryl Streep was considered for the role that eventually went to Jessica Lange. The changes they made to update Kong for the seventies were intriguing (as they wanted the script to be completely different from the Cooper/Schoedsack masterpiece), and I'm left curious, had Sir Peter Jackson chosen to make Kong a 21st-century schizoid apeman instead of doing a period piece, how that would have transpired. Even being Canadian, seeing the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center made me wistfully nostalgic. The only part of the film that was excruciating to watch was when Kong is made to perform for the American Bicentennial festivities, and at the ending, I was curious how Lange got down from the rooftop of one of the towers so fast. The answer probably lies on the cutting room floor, and the editing was probably rushed for release date, so no one must have noticed...

JPV852 6/23/2021 3:58:55 PM 8.4

A bit long but not terrible and had some adorably funny moments like seeing a man in an ape outfit tossing around a model train or hiding behind a building to avoid a helicopter. But seriously, the ape costume wasn't bad however his expressions were at times creepy, especially when looking at Dwan. Certainly one of the lesser of the Kong movies (though haven't seen King Kong Lives) but I guess watchable. **3.0/5**