| | | HD-DVD, The Look and Sound of Perfect.
Features: DVD, Theatrical Version, Dolby, Digital Audio, Dolby Digital (5.1), English, Spanish, French
Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) brings his sweeping cinematic vision to King Kong. Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody star in this spectacular film filled with heart-pounding action, terrifying creatures and groundbreaking special effects unlike anything you've seen before! Get ready for breathtaking action in this thrilling epic adventure about a legendary gorilla captured on a treacherous island and brought to civilization, where he faces the ultimate fight for survival.
"...a triumph, the kind of romantic action spectacle that makes the big screen silver and provides box-office gold." Dan Jolin, Empire
"What a movie! This is how the medium seduced us originally." Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
"One of the wonders of the holiday season." Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
"...the most pulse-pounding and heart-stirring romantic adventure since "Titanic."" Lou Lumenick, New York Post
"...three solid hours of breathless, enchanting entertainment." Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide
"...the jaw-dropping, eye-popping, heart-stopping movie epic we've been waiting for all year." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"...[a] rousing, exciting cinematic adventure!" Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood
Editor's Note
IN THEATRES: DECEMBER 15, 2005From Peter Jackson (THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE MOTION PICTURE TRILOGY), this classic thriller about a giant ape that terrorizes New York City gets a high-tech remake promising plenty of awesome special effects. Naomi Watts, Adrian Brody, and Jack Black are in the starring lineup.
| Features | Audio: English, French, Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Surround Sound | | Dubbed: French, Spanish | | Interactive Menus | | Picture In Picture: Access Interactive Bonus Features, Including Cast Interviews & Behind-The-Scenes Footage, Throughout The Film, All Without Interruption To The Movie Experience | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | The Art Galleries: Explore The Fascinating Production Of This Unforgettable Film Through Conceptual Artist Renderings | | This Is An HD-DVD Made For HD-DVD Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture & Sound |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Universal |
| Release Date: 11/14/2006 |
| Running Time: 188 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2005 | | Catalog ID: 30029 | | UPC: 00025193002921 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew | Adrien Brody | | Colin Hanks | | Jack Black | | Naomi Watts | | Andrew Lesnie - Cinematographer | | Edgar Wallace - Based On Story By | | Fran Walsh, et. al. - Producer | | James Newton Howard - Original Music By | | Jamie Selkirk - Editor | | Joe Bleakley - Art Director | | Merian C. Cooper - Based On Story By | | Peter Jackson - Director | | Peter Jackson, et. al. - Screenplay | | Simon Bright - Art Director |
| Awards |
Winner (2006) | | | British Academy Awards, Joe Letteri, et. al., Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects | |
Nominee (2006) | | | British Academy Awards, Grant Major, Best Production Design | | | British Academy Awards, Hammond Peek, et. al., Best Sound | | | Golden Globe, Peter Jackson, Best Director - Motion Picture | | | Golden Globe, James Newton Howard, Best Original Score - Motion Picture | | | MTV Award, King Kong, Best Fight | | | MTV Award, King Kong, Best Movie | |
Winner (2006) | | | Oscar, Christopher Boyes, et. al., Best Achievement in Sound Mixing | | | Oscar, Mike Hopkins, Ethan Van der Ryn, Best Achievement in Sound Editing | | | Oscar, Joe Letteri, et. al., Best Achievement in Visual Effects | |
Nominee (2006) | | | Oscar, Grant Major, et. al., Best Achievement in Art Direction |
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
"Jackson worked fresh magic at his Weta studios in his native New Zealand, where he had Kong do battle with prehistoric predators on Skull Island..." 09/08/2005 p.122Entertainment Weekly
"[T]he movie seals Jackson's reputation: He's the most gifted big-picture artist working today....What resonates is the story, which is a very human tale of compassion, greed, loss, bravery, creativity, foolishness, and love." -- Grade: A 10/16/2005 p.58-59 New York Times
"[Jackson] succeeds through a combination of modesty and reckless glee, topping himself at every turn and reveling in his own showmanship." 12/14/2005 p.E1 USA Today
"Jackson is a visionary filmmaker who is not only a technical wizard but also a master storyteller." 12/13/2005 p.1D Los Angeles Times
"[A] witty comment on the darkness at the heart of adventure stories, a bazillion-dollar spectacle that reserves the right to question the morality of spectacles, and, mostly, a tender love story about a melancholy girl and her tragically misunderstood monkey." 12/12/2005 p.E1 Entertainment Weekly
Included in Entertainment Weekly's Top Ten Films Of The Year -- "[I]t has a marvelous fairy-tale kinetic grandeur....KING KONG attains a primal-pop romantic glory..." 12/30/2005 p.114 Sight and Sound
"Once in the lost world, Jackson reproduces the breathless pacing of the 1933 film, tipping from one huge set-piece to the next..." 02/01/2006 p.66-67 Uncut
4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's made with love, care, and tremendous intelligence?.This is still a moving love story at heart..." 05/01/2006 p.150 Widescreen Review
"[The] picture does a great job of creating the period of the storytelling....The fantastic mix is energetic and invigorating." 06/01/2006 p.68 ReelViews 9 of 10
Despite three prominent human actors, the star of the movie, as one might expect from the title, is the giant primate. Kong has gone from being an 18-inch high clay puppet to a man in a monkey suit to a beautifully rendered CGI creature. His range of motion and ability to react believably have improved with each incarnation. This Kong uses an amazing range of facial expressions and, when you look into his eyes, you can't believe he isn't real. Andy Serkis, who helped Jackson by "playing" Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, lends his motion capture skills to Kong, and the results are so stunning that one is tempted to believe that Jackson went to a South Pacific Island and found a 25-foot high ape. Kong shows nearly every emotion across the spectrum: puzzlement, rage, amusement, bemusement, possessiveness, tenderness, and affection. And Kong does some things that couldn't have been accomplished using any other special effects technique. Try orchestrating the T-Rex battle another way. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
The movie more or less faithfully follows the outlines of the original film, but this fundamental adjustment in the relationship between the beauty and the beast gives it heart, a quality the earlier film was lacking. Yes, Kong in 1933 cares for his captive, but she doesn't care so much for him. Kong was always misunderstood, but in the 2005 film, there is someone who knows it....The result is a surprisingly involving and rather beautiful movie -- one that will appeal strongly to the primary action audience, and also cross over to people who have no plans to see "King Kong" but will change their minds the more they hear. I think the film even has a message, and it isn't that beauty killed the beast. It's that we feel threatened by beauty, especially when it overwhelms us, and we pay a terrible price when we try to deny its essential nature and turn it into a product, or a target. This is one of the year's best films. - Roger Ebert
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