Official Synopsis:
The King Kong Deluxe Extended Edition is an all-new, action-packed DVD experience! Director Peter Jackson has added more than 13 minutes of never-before-seen footage, including the heart-stopping excitement of a charging Ceratops, the adrenaline rush of a Skull Island underwater creature's attack and so much more. Plus, this Deluxe Extended Edition is loaded with hours of brand-new special features, including a riveting commentary, behind-the -scenes featurettes, an outtake and gag reel, along with over 38 minutes of thrilling deleted scenes!
Our Take:
This is such a terrific DVD set that I know I should come up with something austere to say here, but all I can really think is, "Did this movie really need to be 13 minutes longer?" I'm sure to some Peter Jackson/King Kong fans, that's blasphemy, but the running time of the movie is part of what kept me from loving it like I wanted to in the first place. I'm a huge fan of the original King Kong, and I enjoyed Jackson's remake, but that first hour killed me. I know it's a common criticism, but it REALLY took too long to get to Skull Island.
Luckily, the 13 minutes of footage added back in are impressive CGI and action sequences, so there's nothing that really makes the film feel that much longer. The producers wisely chose to keep the remaining 38 minutes of deleted footage as an extra feature, and not reincorporate them back into the film. It's odd, because when Jackson made the Lord of the Rings films run almost four hours in their extended cuts, I loved them; the thought of a four-hour King Kong frightens me a bit.
This isn't just an extended edition of the film, however. This three-disc set includes all the extra features people expected to find on the original two-disc release.
* Introduction (2 minutes) - Peter Jackson says hello.
* Re-Creating the Eighth Wonder: The Making of King Kong (3 hours, 6 minutes) A whoppingly huge documentary that covers pretty much every single aspect of making the film.
* Deleted Scenes (38 minutes) - A huge collection of excised material. They can be watched with optional introductions by Jackson.
* Feature Commentary with Peter Jackson - The Kiwi (joined by Phillippa Boyen) talks about making the film, and is, as always, both entertaining and informative.
* The Eighth Blunder of the World (19 minutes) - The must-see outtake and gag reel.
* The Lost Production Diary (8 minutes) - A less-than-serious production diary.
* King Kong Homage (9 minutes) - A tribute to the original film.
* A Night in Vaudeville (12 minutes) - A look at the film’s recreation of a lost art.
* Pre-Viz Animatics - Four rough-CGI sequences.
* The Present (9 minutes) - An Original Short Film Made by the Cast of King Kong.
* WETA Collectibles (6 minutes) - A commercial/featurette about the high-end WETA models and sculpture merchandise from the film.
* The Video Galleries (40 minutes) - Hundreds of pieces of conceptual King Kong artwork.
* Scripts - The 2005 and 1996 Scripts for King Kong, on the DVD-ROM portion of disc two.
While I'll never love this or any other King Kong film as much as the original, you won't find a better version of this film on DVD. If you love the big monkey, he doesn't come any bigger than the King Kong: Deluxe Extended Edition.
RECOMMENDED (But mostly for Peter Jackson fans)!
Overall Picture:
Movie: B
DVD: A+
- Mike Spring
Editor
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