KING KONG (1933): Like a zillion other people out there, this movie made quite an impression upon me when I first saw it (6 years old at the time?) and it still holds up well after 72 years after it was first released. At 100 minutes, including the restored footage of Kong eating and stomping some native villagers, this movie is FAST. Although it is not until 40 minutes when Anne Darrow is abducted by the Skull Island inhabitants and taken off by Kong, from then on it's non-stop action. Kong carries Anne through the jungle, the men from the ship go after her. They go through a swamp, where they are attacked by a brontosaurus, then most of the men are thrown off that chasm spanning log. Right after, Kong fights the T-Rex to death, then takes Anne up to his lair in Skull Mountain, where he fights a snake-like amphibious creature, then a Pteranodon. Anne gets away-and he follows her to the native's village, breaking through the massive door in the huge wall, and killing many natives before he's knocked unconcious by Carl Denham's gas bombs.Then, it's off to the Big Apple-and we know what happens there... I actually like some aspects of the 1976 remake better, such as the more established relationships between the woman and the guy-and also the interaction/bond between Jessica Lange and Kong. It's simply more emotional-and she doesn't want Kong to die at the end. Yet, Kong is much more 'lifelike' and conveys more emotion as the animated armature Willis O'Brien brought to life than as Rick Baker in a gorilla suit.With Peter Jackson's 200 million dollar remake opening on Dec 14, 2005, hopefully best aspects of both prior versions will be preserved-and perhaps improved. After all, this is Peter Jackson. Besides, they're keeping in all the dinosaurs.
KING KONG (1933): Like a zillion other people out there, this movie made quite an impression upon me when I first saw it (6 years old at the time?) and it still holds up well after 72 years after it was first released. At 100 minutes, including the restored footage of Kong eating and stomping some native villagers, this movie is FAST. Although it is not until 40 minutes when Anne Darrow is abducted by the Skull Island inhabitants and taken off by Kong, from then on it's non-stop action. Kong carries Anne through the jungle, the men from the ship go after her. They go through a swamp, where they are attacked by a brontosaurus, then most of the men are thrown off that chasm spanning log. Right after, Kong fights the T-Rex to death, then takes Anne up to his lair in Skull Mountain, where he fights a snake-like amphibious creature, then a Pteranodon. Anne gets away-and he follows her to the native's village, breaking through the massive door in the huge wall, and killing many natives before he's knocked unconcious by Carl Denham's gas bombs.Then, it's off to the Big Apple-and we know what happens there... I actually like some aspects of the 1976 remake better, such as the more established relationships between the woman and the guy-and also the interaction/bond between Jessica Lange and Kong. It's simply more emotional-and she doesn't want Kong to die at the end. Yet, Kong is much more 'lifelike' and conveys more emotion as the animated armature Willis O'Brien brought to life than as Rick Baker in a gorilla suit.With Peter Jackson's 200 million dollar remake opening on Dec 14, 2005, hopefully best aspects of both prior versions will be preserved-and perhaps improved. After all, this is Peter Jackson. Besides, they're keeping in all the dinosaurs.
