King Kong

One of the great classics of horror-adventure cinema, the special effects in co-directors Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's original 1933 King Kong (most recently remade by The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson) are still amazing to watch, thanks to the genius of Willis O'Brien, who created the 18-inch model Kong, and then painstakingly used stop-motion animation to bring him to larger-than-life. The story is almost incidental: after director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) hires actress Ann Darrow (Fay Wray), the film crew sets sail on board the Venture for a secret destination: Skull Island, where—after landing—Ann is promptly stolen by the natives, and offered up as a sacrifice to the mighty island god beast Kong. Retrieved by the ingenuity (and love) of Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot), ape and girl are showcased back in New York—but Kong escapes, captures Ann, scales the Empire State Building, and, in a moving climax, is attacked by fighter planes, falling to his death (in what appears to be a heartbroken suicide leap). Some of the scenes of Kong squashing and eating people, as well as the scene where the great ape takes a few liberties and disrobes Ann, were snipped from the original release, but are restored here. Making its first appearance on DVD, this double-disc edition boasts a solid transfer and a wealth of extras, including the new documentary RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, Eighth Wonder of the World s with director Jackson, commentary by Ray Harryhausen and Ken Ralston (with archival audio from original filmmakers Cooper and Schoedsack, co-writer Ruth Rose, and costars Wray and Armstrong), filmmaker Kevin Brownlow's feature-length documentary I'm King Kong! The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper, and more. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray Review—Oct. 12, 2010—Warner, 104 min., not rated, $34.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1933's King Kong sports a nice transfer with DTS-HD sound. Blu-ray extras include audio commentary (by visual effects veterans Ray Harryhausen and Ken Ralston, with interview excerpts of director Merian C. Cooper and star Fay Wray), the seven-part documentary “RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, The Eighth Wonder of the World” (154 min.), an “I'm King Kong! The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper” featurette (57 min.), “The Lost Spider Pit Sequence” (6 min.), test footage with commentary by Harryhausen (5 min.), a theatrical trailer, and booklet. Bottom line: a cinema classic makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]