King Kong

[ElvisFan]

How in the name of god can you make a fight between a dinosaur and a 50 odd foot ape believable ? Mabye i'm not clynically insane like some but i don't think i'd ever believe that that sort of fight could ever plausably happen.

It is as easy to make it believable as it is to make it unbelievable. You make it believable by studying the movements of similar animals and input those to the computer.

If you want to ruin it and make it unbelievable then you make apes move like thundercats and dinosaurs move like linford christie.

 

[Spud21]

Who cares? we all know its not real, its just ... *gasp* ... Entertainment. For me, it was a great Christmas outing and popcorn rollercoaster ride of a movie, whats so wrong with that?



And you assume we do? I still say, you are missing the point of a movie like this, its not to try be the next Barry Norman, or look cool condeming a new film, it was about fun ... anyone remember fun?




Not me, did you think it might have one? I went to have fun, was that wrong?



You are too harsh on the original 30's King Kong ... I watched it the other night after seeing Jackson's remake and was in awe of what that old movie must have looked like to our Grandparents or Parents?

I expected a fun time watching Peter Jackson's 2005 King Kong, and that's exactly what I got.

To put things in perspective, many people here seem to adore the Star War movies (and I'm not against them) But, your argument "How in the name of god can you make a fight between a dinosaur and a 50 odd foot ape believable ?" could be used against those movies too.

At the end of the day, Films/Movies are just about enjoying yourself, please don't assume because someone enjoyed King Kong 2005 ... they are less able to aprreciate something more complicated as well.

Right so you have just sat there agreeing with the entire sentiment of my post. Well done

That was the point, King Kong was never meant to be anything other than a fun film, 3 hours of entertainment. I couldn't care less if King Kong moves unlike a normal gorilla, because he's a made up character he's not real so can move in any way that people want. it's like complaning that legolas clearly does not move like a normal elf would in LOTR,

 

[HangTime]

This film has gotten rave reviews, but I've gotta say, I was rather unawed by it. I'm really struggling to think of a more average film which has received so much hype. Here are a few of the reasons I do not consider it a great film (although it is the best film I've seen in 2006 ):

-Overlong. I reckon this could have been compressed into 2.5hrs; quite a few people actually walked out of the cinema. I don't have anything against long films, btw, for instance Casino and Magnolia are of similar length, but don't suffer for it.
-Vomit-inducing ending. Seriously, I was almost physically wretching when after the sadness of Kong falling, you get the typical hollywood style hero&heroine reunion to ensure that it ends on a happy note and that the US Box Office laps it up. Ughhhhhh.
-Poor scaling in the CG chase sequences (dinosaur bit). It just seemed well off, people running between the legs of things that size, without getting outpaced, or trampled or anything most of the time. Jurassic Park did this sort of thing better, over 10 years ago.
-Range of monsters which appear out of nowhere for no apparent reason.
-Very poor continuity in places. Examples would be in the chases across new york, at one point you see him driving down an alleyway, and theres a person in a white coat crossing the exit. The camera then cuts to the intersection/exit of the alley, only this time they are suddenly wearing a black(dark at least) coat and scurring out of the way of the car. Then how about the fact that this chase is happening in the evening, doesn't really last all that long, and then all of a sudden it's broad daylight when Kong falls down.
-Poor characterisation for a film of this length. Aside from Jack Black and that woman, we learn next to nothing about the backgrounds of the people on the ship. It's difficult to care about people who get killed when most of them are pretty 2 dimensional.
-Maybe I wasn't paying attention or fell asleep or something, but it seemed to me as though the native tribe on the island just vanished for no apparent reason. I know there was a raiding party sent back laden with guns etc, but if there was any kind of fight seeing them all get killed I can't remember it.
-Repetitive. When you think about it, what really happened on the island apart from a bunch of chases/fights?. I think there were opportunities missed for some quieter moments of reflection, something to build up the rapport between the characters and the viewer.
-By the end I just wanted it to be over, I was in fact rooting for the army who were trying to take Kong down (he was mashing so many civives after all). I think it's hard to relate to Kong because he isn't human and doesn't really speak, so there's not that bond and tinge of sadness you sometimes feel when a character in a film dies.

 

[SiD the Turtle]

^ Well that sums it up better than I did three pages ago Totally agree.

 

[eagled]

^ lol at those that are pulling King Kong apart

You went to see a movie about a large ape which fell in love with a blonde gal and then got killed as a result, then disect the movie with the same critique passion as though you'd seen Shawshank Redemption for the first time

 

[jamesrw]

A very good film but far too long, by at least an hour.

It dragged on so much at the end

 

[Colin_da_Killer]

Just watched it and I must say it's the most disapointed movie I have seen in 2005, all the hype is nonsense, I would have enjoyed my time more pushing splinters underneath my nails!

The whole movie must have about 5 a4 pages at the most for the "script" ! I mean there must have been atleast 10 minute gaps between some words....


To round it off, what a horrible movie!

 

[SiD the Turtle]

^ lol at those that are pulling King Kong apart

You went to see a movie about a large ape which fell in love with a blonde gal and then got killed as a result, then disect the movie with the same critique passion as though you'd seen Shawshank Redemption for the first time

This movie was not meant to be in the league of say Shawshank, but 'large ape' movie or not, it sucked.

 

[TommoUK]

Wow.

Rarely have I left the cinema feeling the kind of buzz I had after seeing King Kong this evening. The action was incredible, leaving me with my mouth hanging wide open during a large part of the film.

In my opinion the film is more enjoyable than Jackson's LotR films. Even though it's three hours long, the pacing is excellent - I didn't feel it dragged at all, and unlike Return of the King, only had one ending - and I could understand and connect to Kong and his plight. The CGI is a bit gratuitous, but being so state of the art I could barely tell what was real and not, indistinguishable in most scenes. The sucking worms looked frighteningly realistic, for instance (not a film for the squeemish).

Some characters, like the other crew members, weren't developed very far. This didn't detract from the film though, as the key characters Kong and Ann were well developed, along with their 'relationship'. I felt genuine sympathy for Kong, especially upon his capture and later his demise. Andy Serkis and Naomi Watts (hubba hubba) both acted their characters skillfully, with Jack Black and Adrien Brody putting in good performances too. That said, I think the character playing the leading part in Carl Denham's film was a bit underdeveloped.

The structure was fairly simple with an hour of exposition and two hours of action, the film doesn't revolutionise anything or break down any barriers. However, it is comparable to the original Jurassic Park in it's release in terms of how majestic it is. An outstanding film with some stunning effects and a swift pace. Maybe not perfect, but close enough to warrant 5 stars from me.

A film I'd happily see again. An excellent start to the new year.

 

[Arcade Fire]

Who cares? we all know its not real, its just ... *gasp* ... Entertainment. For me, it was a great Christmas outing and popcorn rollercoaster ride of a movie, whats so wrong with that?

...

To put things in perspective, many people here seem to adore the Star War movies (and I'm not against them) But, your argument "How in the name of god can you make a fight between a dinosaur and a 50 odd foot ape believable ?" could be used against those movies too.

At the end of the day, Films/Movies are just about enjoying yourself, please don't assume because someone enjoyed King Kong 2005 ... they are less able to aprreciate something more complicated as well.

You've utterly, utterly missed the point of Spud's post. He was agreeing with you!

 

[HangTime]

^ lol at those that are pulling King Kong apart

You went to see a movie about a large ape which fell in love with a blonde gal and then got killed as a result, then disect the movie with the same critique passion as though you'd seen Shawshank Redemption for the first time

So does this mean that only certain types of movie should be open to critique? I have seen plenty of action films with far-fetched plots, many of which stand up to my analysis a lot better than KK. Things like continuity are a fundamental part of filmmaking, when something is poorly edited it makes it hard to get into a film. I'm not talking just about the autopsy after the film ends, these are things I noticed while it was taking place.

It wasn't the worst film I've ever seen, but as I said in the very first sentance I wrote, it's the hype which it has received which made me go to see it in the first place, and what motivates me to 'disect' it. If people are allowed to fill column inches with praise, why shouldn't those underwhelmed by the film also be given the opportunity to air their views?

 

[TriedandTested]

Saw it a couple of nights ago. Really enjoyed every minute. Naomi Watts and Jack Black were both fantastic. I didnt realise that Naomi Watts was actually born about 10 minutes down the road from me..which is pretty weird/inspiring (to know that she 'made' it).

Couldn't have asked for more from it really. Entertaining, funny, exciting...and kong during his battles to protect Ann was just brilliant.

Might go see it again, and will certainly be buying the DVD.

4/5.

 

[Hambut_Bulge]

Saw it last night. Really fun film. One or two slightly dodgy CGI moments I thought (quality not believability) that given the budget were a little disappointing. Loved the ice skating. Thought it made the ending even more of a wrench.

One thing though was conspicuous by its absence. Where was the famous "Scream Ann! Scream for your life!" scene? It was in the trailer...

 

[Mr Bulbous]

Looking back with my rose tinted glass's off, I'll concur the movie is a bit too long, at my local Cinema we witnessed a 15 min intermission ... An intermission fer chrisakes I hate that, even with my arthritis I was able to sit the duration, the intermission just made it longer.

Maybe on DVD, Jackson can lose the bug scene? that was just silly, but apart from that, really enjoyed it, large pepsi's, large popcorns and the big screen, I really enjoy the Cinema ... More so than my home Cinema set up that "technically" IMHO, looks and sounds better.

 

[TriedandTested]

Saw it again today, just as entertaining the second time round!