King Kong (ripped me out of my time)

Alien Enigma · May 9, 2006

I wasted 4 hours of my time tonight! I watched King Kong (the new one.) It took them almost 4 hours to tell the story, that I could've told in an hour. That's 4 hours I'll never get back.

Jeff

www.freewebs.com/jefferysmiller

Maryn · May 9, 2006

That'll teach you to read reviews first, eh? Although I liked the ice part.

Jcomp · May 9, 2006

Still haven't seen it. Want to see it. Heard decent things about it from friends. I was hyped to see it in the months before release. But I'm not watching three & a half hours of a giant gorilla battling dinosaurs, falling in love with a skinny Hollywood chick, and getting shot off of a skyscraper. I hate to judge a flick without even seeing it, and I love movies, but come on now Peter, you know you could've trimmed this bad boy to something reasonable...

Shadow_Ferret · May 9, 2006

Sorry. I loved that movie and thought it could have even been longer and I would have enjoyed it. At no time did I ever feel like it was dragging or that they could have cut something. I saw it at the theater and I've rented and I plan on buying it. I love that version. They finally took their time and developed the story between Kong and Anne so that when he died it was more a tragedy than just a monster movie.

A. Hamilton · May 9, 2006

they could have cut many of the jungle scenes. one scene of stompeding super-humoungous creatures attacking the humans was enough. overall though, this one is my favorite version yet.

A. Hamilton · May 9, 2006

Shadow_Ferret said:
They finally took their time and developed the story between Kong and Anne so that when he died it was more a tragedy than just a monster movie.

the love story there was phenomenal.

bluejester12 · May 9, 2006

P.H.Delarran said:
they could have cut many of the jungle scenes. one scene of stompeding super-humoungous creatures attacking the humans was enough. overall though, this one is my favorite version yet.

And the subplot of the sailor reading Heart of Darkness.

I cant watch it again becasue Naomi's front teeth are so big. That may sound mean, but it bugged me when I was watching it.

dpaterso · May 9, 2006

I cant watch it again becasue Naomi's front teeth are so big.

Diet Coke exits via nostrils at considerable velocity.

I haven't seen the film yet. I wrote a Kong short story years ago (long, long before Jackson announced his intentions) and I'm hoping I discover he plagiarized my material, but I want to wait for maximum worldwide DVD revenue to accrue first.

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies.
Stop reading this and get some writing done instead.

Shadow_Ferret · May 9, 2006

bluejester12 said:
I cant watch it again becasue Naomi's front teeth are so big. That may sound mean, but it bugged me when I was watching it.

Guess I completely missed her teeth. What was I looking at? :Shrug:

trumancoyote · May 9, 2006

What's-his-face's nose -- now there was some damn good characterization.

Actually, I really enjoyed King Kong; I shouldn't say that about what's-his-face's monstrous honker.

rekirts · May 9, 2006

I would have enjoyed it more if they'd cut some of the dinosaur fight scenes. *yawn* I liked how they had fun with some of over-the-top stereotypes like the craggy sailor who was always making predictions of doom.

Saw it in the theatre and expect to watch it again on DVD sometime.

Bravo · May 9, 2006

one of the greatest films of the 2000's.

you dont have a heart if you hated it.

Joe Unidos · May 9, 2006

Bravo said:
one of the greatest films of the 2000's.

you dont have a heart if you hated it.

I wish I could figure out what it is you see in that bloated mess, man. I really do. I admire your enthusiasm, even if I strongly disagree with your perspective.

Shadow_Ferret · May 9, 2006

Here's what I saw in it. From my blog:

Over the weekend I finally saw Peter Jackson’s version of King Kong. Took my 10-year-old to see it. I’ve been promising him that we’d go see it since before Christmas.

To say I was wowed would be an understatement. I was hesitant about seeing it because it clocked in at over 3 hours, but my fears were unfounded. That movie could have gone on for another hour or more and it wouldn’t have seemed long enough.

First off, I am a huge fan of the original. I think it was an epic achievement, one that must have absolutely floored audiences back in 1933 with its stop-motion and split screen special effects. And it was a charming story of the beast being charmed by beauty, to borrow their phrase. However, it never fully explored the whole “beauty and the beast” theme, never really gave us a sense of the true tragedy, the emotions between Ann Darrow and King Kong.

In fact, all Fay Wray did was scream and mime facial horror.

In this latest version, Peter Jackson had the time to look in-depth into the bond between Ann Darrow and King Kong. He had time to flesh out Kong’s personality. He had the time to give us a back-story on Ann as a vaudevillian down on her luck, whereas in the original she was just down.

Naomi Watts has a range of emotion Fay Wray never imagined. She is an extremely talented actress and made us believe that not only was Kong real but that she truly cared for the big ape.

CGI has finally arrived. Kong looked real. Not only did he have truly ape-like mannerisms (unlike the original which was simply a caricature of a scary gorilla), but every detail, every pore, every hair, everything about him was realistic.

Homage to the original was paid in full many times. In the original they are chased by a brontosaur (or Apatosaurus if you must) in this version they are chased by a herd (in what might also be a bow to Jurassic Park and the bird-dinosaur flocking scene). The scene onboard ship that is rehearsed between Ann and Bruce Baxter is a copy of a scene from the original. The native costumes worn on stage at the New York unveiling of Kong are the same as used in the original.

Peter Jackson didn’t simply make a remake of Kong he made a loving tribute to the original. And for me, it was well worth the wait.

Bravo · May 9, 2006

Joe Unidos said:
I wish I could figure out what it is you see in that bloated mess, man. I really do. I admire your enthusiasm, even if I strongly disagree with your perspective.

the weird thing is i came in wanting to dislike it.

i thought it was just going to be this overhyped mess, w/ it's crazy runtime.

But I bought it. I bought the entire platonic love story, the chemistry somehow worked, and i think that's amazing.

and when Kong was going after to save her, but was really charging into a trap?

tragic.

and dont even get me started on the NYC scenes.

on the brink of tears when he finally fell.

i cant talk about this anymore right now.

ill be back later. the screen is just really blurry.

must be allergies.

rtilryarms · May 9, 2006

To be fair, you only lost 3 hours since you acknowledge the story should take 1 hour.

Blackheart · May 9, 2006

Nothing beats half assed budgeted independant features co produced by new york catholics, dutch amish and english mobsters about a down on his luck loser searching the bottom of a toilet for his hash pipe

AOD23 · May 9, 2006

Personally, I thought the movie was really good. It was one of the extremely rare movies that I've seen which I was able to feel for the characters involved, 'specially Kong, dunno why, but whenever he was in a jam or some such I felt really sad for him. 'specially when he gets killed at the end, I ALMOST started to tear up, didn't though.

I gotta say though, before I saw it, I was a big sceptic of it. Figured it wouldn't be worth even paying the money to rent it, because I knew the story already from the original film, but boy was I wrong.

trumancoyote · May 9, 2006

Bravo said:
But I bought it. I bought the entire platonic love story,

Do you think it was platonic?

Bravo · May 9, 2006

trumancoyote said:
Do you think it was platonic?

good point.

maybe he was sexually attracted to her, but im not sure i can say the same thing for the girl. it seemed like she could just empathize with him.

trumancoyote · May 9, 2006

Well, if we're talkin' real platonic love, then restraint comes into play -- and I think that's key. So in that case, I think you're right.

There was a bit of physicality to their relationship, however, that although not really sexual, could have been were King Kong not an ape. More than anything, theirs seemed like an affection both of a father-daughter and mother-son variety... but in Zach's Freudian mind, those always have fleeting tones of sexuality.

dpaterso · May 9, 2006

Oh, so they don't do the horizontal shuffle, shame. You'd think she would have taken advantage of his toes at least. Women, pffft.

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies.
Stop reading this and get some writing done instead.

louisgodwin · May 9, 2006

It was a really good movie, but it dragged in some places. The scene where they're all in that valley with all the bugs, spiders and worms coming out of the rocks after them was in desperate need of editing. I couldn't believe how long this movie was. I fell asleep sometime during the whole "Kong in New York" rampage. I finished it the next day, though. If I ever watch it again, I'm just gonna skip through all the unnecessary scenes.

triceretops · May 9, 2006

I was prepared to tear this thing apart from a paleontological perspective. I mean, I was gunning for it. Didn't see it at the movie--only DVD.

It did what it set out to do. It did entertain, and it grows on you, labroishly so, but did not fail my suspense factor. The scene where Kong's cliff-top cave, comes across as meloncholy when you see all the skeletal remains of his family. He's the last one left--he's scared and battered, but still the ole' patriarch. Kong was cast fine.

Jack Black was not cast right, in my opinion. Can't put my finger on it, just didn't come off as nutso and the original character IMO. Sorry.

I liked it.

Tri

Alien Enigma · May 9, 2006

Alright, I'll admit it. I'm depressed now. Kong is dead. He didn't deserve to be brought back to America from his home. I'm depressed. The Kong's are all dead now. Dangit! I'm distraught over this.

King Kong (ripped me out of my time)

Baaa!

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