King Kong- '33, '76, '05?

Trimmed BY an hour or trimmed TO an hour?

A 62-minute "Kong" would be stupid short! Even the 1933 "Kong" ran over 100 minutes, and that's back when 70-minute movies weren't unusual!

 

I was big into "Kong" in 1976 - at least in terms of merch. I had the lunchbox, the notebooks, you name it - I even went as a tower with Kong on top for Halloween!

So I have lots of sentimental attachment to the movie, but the truth is that it's pretty mediocre. It's not terrible, but it's not good, either...

 

Oops! Yes, I meant trimmed by about an hour.

 

I've seen the original 1933 version and of course, I do enjoy Peter Jackson's remake despite the length. The movie could have been bad but at the end of the day, the original King Kong was what inspired Jackson to become a filmmaker - and he actually owns one of the original frame models of Kong in his personal Workshop collection too. Of course he was going to put a lot of care into his movie and while many argue that it was too long, you cannot fault the set design and the research going into creating 1933 NY not to mention the ESB. Also Andy Serkis going to Africa to research Gorillas in the Wild against Jackson's best wishes just goes to show how dedicated the guy is to his work. His performance as Kong along with Naomi Watts were the obvious highlights in the film.

Could the film have been trimmed down? Sure. Was the Extended Edition necessary? Can't really answer that one but I went and bought it anyway.

Never seen the 1976 film either btw but I've heard a great many negatives about it which has held me back from wanting to see it. I will probably get round to it though...

Also got to see the new Kong: Skull Island last week. I came out pleasantly surprised.

 

The best monster mash-up ever

 

Kong Skull Island is my second favorite after the 33 version. Jackson's version had some excellent visual eff cts and scenes but it really needed some serious editing.

 

so true Hud. I read one old review calling Steiner's score a masterful opera accompanied by pictures....Now I wouldn't go quite that far but it's just goes to show how revered Max's score is. I'll take film and score hand in hand....A must see by every generation of film fans.

 

Hi Hud..I'll second that for sure. While GKOTM was fun, Gogira is the far superior version!

 

Well it's being remade by the team that made Kong: Skull Island.

 

If the new Kong movie were included, I probably would pick it.