King Kong (2005)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Peter Jackson

Writers (WGA):

Fran Walsh (screenplay) &
Philippa Boyens (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

14 December 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

The eighth wonder of the world.

Plot:

In 1933 New York, an overly ambitious movie producer coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to mysterious Skull Island, where they encounter Kong, a giant ape who is immediately smitten with leading lady Ann Darrow.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Jungle | 1930s | Gorilla | Actress

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 41 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 8	8:00 PM	TNT
Sun. Nov. 8	11:40 PM	TNT

Cast

Naomi Watts	...	Ann Darrow
Jack Black	...	Carl Denham
Adrien Brody	...	Jack Driscoll
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Captain Englehorn
Colin Hanks	...	Preston
Andy Serkis	...	Kong / Lumpy
Evan Parke	...	Hayes
Jamie Bell	...	Jimmy
Lobo Chan	...	Choy
John Sumner	...	Herb
Craig Hall	...	Mike
Kyle Chandler	...	Bruce Baxter
Bill Johnson	...	Manny (as William Johnson)
Mark Hadlow	...	Harry
Geraldine Brophy	...	Maude

Also Known As:

King Kong (Germany)
Kong: The Eighth Wonder of the World (International: English title) (teaser title)
Peter Jackson's King Kong (USA) (promotional title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for frightening adventure violence and some disturbing images.

Runtime:

187 min | 201 min (extended edition)

Country:

New Zealand | USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX | SDDS | DTS-ES

Certification:

Ireland:12A | Australia:M | Denmark:11 | Germany:12 | Japan:U | Norway:11 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Singapore:PG | Czech Republic:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Sweden:11 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia) | Canada:PG (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | Philippines:PG-13 | South Africa:PG (13V) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Taiwan:PG-12 | Iceland:12 | Mexico:B | Peru:PT | Hong Kong:IIA | Malaysia:U | Brazil:12 | Canada:14A (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | South Africa:PG (13V - DVD Rating) | UK:12 (video rating) | UK:12A (original rating) | Spain:13 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42322) | Finland:K-11 (2005) (re-rating on appeal) | Finland:K-11 (2006) (extended edition) | Finland:K-15 (2005) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (re-rating on appeal)

Filming Locations:

Beach Road, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand

Company:

Big Primate Pictures

Trivia:

Over 2 million feet of film were shot, equivalent to 370 hours of footage, 123 times more than the final cut.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ann slides down a muddy slope, her back is covered with very dark mud. When she gets up, her back is clean.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Manny: [practicing sneezes] That's a funny one. Isn't that funnier?

Movie Connections:

References Kingu Kongu no gyakushû (1967)

Soundtrack:

Fanfares Nos. 1, 2 and 3, The Sailors, The Aeroplane, Elevated Sequence, Jungle Dance, The Escape

A 10-star 2-hour movie screaming to get out of a 7-star 3-hour movie

Let me be the first to admit that there's nothing wrong with a long movie, nothing at all. "Titanic" was a long movie that was as exactly as long as it needed to be. "Gone with the Wind" was a really long movie that was exactly as long as it needed to be. "Dances with Wolves" was a long movie that I wish had been even longer when I saw it in the theater. But "King Kong"? Phhewww...this sucker clocks in at least 30-60 minutes longer than it needs to be. While it played, I kept inadvertently thinking to myself, "Boy, we really should be out to sea by now...they haven't reached the island yet?...man, are they EVER gonna find Ann?...jeez, when are we gonna go back to Manhattan already?..." and so on. Hand to God--I actually yawned twice during the last third of this movie. I even closed my eyes for a second before I realized, 'hey...you can't just rewind this when you wake up!'

Sure, many scenes in "King Kong" were thrilling (e.g., LOVED the T-Rex sequence) and, yes, I even teared up a little a couple of times. And I must say, Kong himself was beautifully realized--he looked and acted like a REAL gorilla (albeit a tiny bit anthropomorphized)! But I gotta tell you...I was more relieved than exhilarated when this movie ended. (If I saw one more flyover of the native village, I was gonna scream!) Peter...baby...why spend so much time developing all these extraneous secondary characters if you don't really have much closure with them by the end. For example, the ship's captain and Jimmy...once we leave Skull Island...pfffftttt...we never them again. Why all the backstory scenes about them? As with the original version, Jackson should have concentrated simply on the four main characters throughout: Kong, Ann, Driscoll and Denham. Period.

The problem is Jackson tried to make an epic out of a thriller, when these two approaches are generally exclusive to each other. The original "Kong" MOVED because it was simply a thriller and content to be so, but Jackson's remake starts and stops, and starts and stops, and starts and stops, merely frustrating the thrillseeker in us that wants to keep going every time Jackson establishes some momentum. But instead Jackson pauses to "delve" or "explore" or "elaborate" a la David Lean or something like that. One can excuse Jackson for shooting so much material for the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy--consider the rich source material . But how anyone could have taken the 100-minute original and nearly doubled it for a remake has far too much memory on his Mac. He should have saved all the extra footage (and I'm betting there's a LOT more we didn't see in the theatrical cut) for the DVD release as he did for LOTR. Mr. Jackson's first priority as a filmmaker (well, all filmmakers) is to present the most appropriate cut for THEATRICAL audiences during the film's initial exhibition in theaters. In this case, more WAS less. Much shorter movies in the past have had intermissions!

Honestly, though I certainly enjoyed "King Kong", I really have no desire to see this movie again--I just couldn't bring myself to sit through all the filler just to get to the good parts. How I wish Jackson and/or Universal would consider releasing a 2-hour DVD version. Hey, it's happened before, so what's the harm? Inside of a year there'll be 17 versions out on DVD anyway...what's one more? But having to sit through a 3-4 hour DVD version someday? I'll take a pass.

Do I recommend seeing "King Kong"? Of course. You'll probably enjoy it immensely, despite it's overlength. But if you do go, by all means lay off the Jumbo Coke until at least 90 minutes in! You'll thank me later.