The mixed audience reaction to "King Kong"

[tongodeon]

Comments

[opadit]

Also, giant monkey fighting three tyrannasaurus rexes. And the giant spider scene and Kong falling from the Empire State Building scene that were planned but didn't make it into the 1993 original. And and and. This film is one of the most loving homages to a previous work of art that I've ever been invited to share. Jackson didn't miss a trick. When Naomi Watts let out Anne Darrow's huge scream upon first seeing Kong, I was rolling on the floor laughing at how perfect it was, in pitch and volume and duration. Carl Denham is asked why he can't get Fay Wray for his picture? He answers, "She's working on a film for RKO." The lights on Broadway, the Hooverville, the fur on Kong, the dinosaurs stampeding through the gorge . . . aw, man. The film is stunning and one of the most entertaining movies ever made.

[tongodeon]

Oddly, "And and and." is the other major complaint. See above comment. "The dinosaur stampede and bug attack didn't do anything to advance the plot, the movie shoulda been 90 minutes max."

Look at '33 Kong next to any film before Kong. Comparatively it's an overwhelming visual effects assault. Peter put all those shots in the movie for the same reason that Cooper and Schoedsack put all those shots in the original: to overwhelm you with a spectacle like you've never seen before. I think it worked: if an overwhelming spectacle isn't what you want, don't see either Kong.

[tongodeon]

The superfluousness of the dino stampede isn't a quote from anyone specifically, although it's a point that's been raised by many of my friends.

[matrygg]

I saw the 33 Kong on AMC, but had to run an errand halfway through. I did come back in time for the end, and the AMC version had the falling scene (you see it from a distance) put back it. I think it was mentioned the spider was filmed and put in again as well.