What The Critics Say

"Through the magic of computer images Depression-era New York has been amazingly re-created both at the beginning and end of the film. On the island a whole range of prehistoric creatures have been created to endanger the lives of all present. .... at the core of the film is a fabulous performance from Naomi Watts and from King Kong himself." Margaret Pomeranz ABC AT THE MOVIES "This is Naomi Watts' and Kong's movie and together they create magic onscreen." Rebecca Murray ABOUT.COM "The sight of the mighty ape taking futile swipes at bullet-spitting biplanes from the top of the Empire State Building remains one of the most awe-inspiring and utterly sad images in movie history." Jon Niccum LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD "Most great movies are lucky to have a handful of moments to remember; King Kong has at least two dozen." Lou Lumenick, NEW YORK POST "The popcorn movie of the millennium, setting a new standard for special effects wizardry." Jamie Gillies APOLLO GUIDE "I love this film because it just seemed to me, it was almost like watching a David Lean movie. I mean, it's as if Peter Jackson has taken up the mantle where David Lean left off. Because this is so meticulously made. There's such scope. There’s such vision here. And such attention to detail. It's just a beautiful film" David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES "Jackson was again driven by a vision that no one else could see until he put it on the screen, and the result is as close as effects-driven spectacle will likely ever get to personal storytelling." Duane Dudek MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL "Peter Jackson's King Kong is the most thrilling, soulful monster picture ever made. At last, it can be said without irony -- I laughed, I cried." Jami Bernard NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

The Inside Story Sometimes a film is so good, so defining, so wonderous that it seems a waste of time reviewing it. Such is the case with Peter Jackson's latest film "King Kong". There are many superlatives I could use to describe the impact, the quality, the cast and the SPX treatment used in the film, but it all seems pointless. "King Kong" is a film that just about everyone on the planet will want to see for there has been so much hype surrounding its release. Everyone has been waiting with bated breathe to see what Peter Jackson could do with the subject. The result is absolutely breath-taking. The giant Ape has been around on the screen for over seven decades now. The first version was way back in 1933, starred Fay Wray [Ann Darrow], Robert Armstrong [Carl Denham], Bruce Cabot [John 'Jack' Driscoll], Frank Reicher [Captain Englehorn] and was written & directed by Merian C Cooper and Edgar Wallace ["The Four Feathers"]. The next version hit the screens in 1976, starred Jessica Lange [Dwan], Jeff Bridges [Jack Prescott], Charles Grodin [Fred Wilson], John Randolph [Captain Ross] and was directed by John Guillermin ["The Towering Inferno" & "Death on the Nile"]. In 1986 John Guillermin directed a sequel "King Kong Lives". Unfortunately, while Kong himself was actually pretty good, everything else about the film was bad. It would take something or someone very special to re-invent a "King Kong" for the 21st century. It would take a 9 year olds boys dream to bring to fruition the re-birth of this classic tale. But before Kong would rise again there would be other projects for the little boy who has grown up to be one of the most highly acclaimed and successful Director's of our time. "I first saw King Kong when I was about eight or nine-years-old on TV in New Zealand," Peter Jackson says. "And it made such an impact on me, such a huge impression, that it was the moment in time when I had decided I wanted to be a filmmaker. I thought, 'I want to make movies. I want to be able to make movies just like King Kong.' It had that profound an effect on me." It was so profound that Jackson started his film project at the age of twelve. Jackson revealled, "his mother donated an old stole, which provided the gorilla’s fur; the garment was cut apart and used to cover a padded wire-frame body, and voilà—a stop-motion Kong figurine. The top of the Empire State Building was a painted cardboard model and the New York City skyline was provided via a painted bedsheet." Jackson never finished the project but the memory of "King Kong" stayed embedded in his psyche. Pushing ahead with a career in film Jackson wrote, produced, edited and appeared in his, first two films "The Valley"[1976] and "Bad Taste" [1987]. By the way, Jackson has made a habit of appearing in his films mostly uncredited. "Braindead" [1992] showcased more of the New Zealander's talents but it was the 1994 film "Heavenly Creatures" [which starred a young, nineteen year old girl by the name of Kate Winslet] that grabbed everyones attention, not only at the cinema but when it came Oscar ® time and the film was nominated in the category for Best Screenplay. In 1996 Jackson again entertained resurrecting "King Kong" but the studio's already had other feature creatures, "Mighty Joe Young" and "Godzilla" in mind. Jackson freely admits he was heartbroken when Universal put the project on hold. He needn't have worried. A bigger fish would come his way. "The Lord Of The Rings" would show the world that Peter Jackson was no ordinary mortal when it came to making 'big-time', big budget films and big money earners. In a world first, he undertook shooting the whole three films simultaneously in 274 days with the project taking a total of 16 months all up. Now Jackson could pursue "King Kong". There's no doubting the fact that "King Kong" will be a huge success and is probably the biggest and best adventure film to hit the big screen. The reason why goes back to making "The Lord Of The Rings" Trilogy. "One of the lessons that we learned with The Lord of the Rings movies was the more fantastical your story, the more you should try to ground it in the reality of the world," says Jackson. "We set King Kong in the 1930s, but we’re making it a very realistic 1930s. We wanted to make it feel very grounded, and the adventure on Skull Island is very gritty. It’s a story of survival. It’s a story of relationships and love and empathizing for this huge beast," he explained. "But it’s told in a very down-to-earth, realistic way. I think because something has fantasy elements in it doesn’t mean that you have to approach it with a fantastical style as a filmmaker. I think it’s much more interesting to approach fantasy through the door of reality and make it as real as you possibly can. That gives it the veneer of the real world, which makes the fantasy all the more extraordinary. We had definitely learned some lessons doing Lord of the Rings that we didn’t know in 1996, and we applied those lessons to doing a complete revision of the screenplay." Man & Ape One face you won't see in "King Kong" is that of actor Andy Serkis, the man behind the last of the great Apes. "We cast Andy Serkis as Kong, which in itself may seem strange," explains director Peter Jackson, "but I really wanted a human actor to be making the decisions that a performer would normally make if they were playing the role. I wanted somebody who I could talk to on-set who was Kong. I wanted somebody to be on-set for Naomi to perform with. I didn’t want to get into a situation where, because Kong was a digital character, he was basically invisible. I wanted to make him visible. I wanted to make him tangible. I wanted to be able to discuss the role with an actor. And I ultimately wanted an actor to perform the part of Kong. And so all those things were possible by casting Andy." Serkis, who had done such a sterling job with the Gollum character in Jackson's "The Lord Of the Rings", quickly realized that if he was to be in any way a part of the making of Kong [the 25 foot, 8000 pound Gorilla], he'd need to study the real thing. And study them he did, and that proved to be quite an adventure in itself. His first port of call was Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent where he observed a group of 70 Gorillas. Next he went to London Zoo in Regents Park where he says "he befriended one of the keepers who allowed him to get close to the four gorillas housed in the zoo. Over the course of a few months, I’d go in every two or thee days and spend time with them and feed them. And I formed a relationship with one of the females, named Zaire. When my wife came to visit with me, Zaire didn’t like it one bit. She grabbed a water bottle and threw it at my wife." From London, Serkis travelled to Rwanda to observe the Mountain Gorillas. It was in Rwanda that "he gained invaluable, firsthand insight into the animal’s vocalizations, behavioral patterns and hierarchy, and methods of non-verbal communication." Studying the Rwanda group taught Serkis that Gorilla behaviour is likened to human behaviour. Why? "when you talk about studying gorillas, it’s like saying 'studying human beings' because there are individual, idiosyncratic differences," Serkis said. "You will have a very moody gorilla, a very loving gorilla, a very uptight gorilla, a very relaxed gorilla. And so, apart from learning stock gorilla behavior in terms of physicality and things like that, I was able to begin to make individual character choices." Cast & Crew Bytes "KING KONG" stars .......
2002 ShoWest Female Star of Tomorrow Award winner Naomi Watts ["Strange Planet", "Mulholland Dr", "Le Divorce", "21 Grams" and "The Ring" & The Ring Two"]; Jack Black ["Cradle Will Rock", "Evil Woman", "Shallow Hal", "Orange County" and "The School of Rock"]; Academy Award ® winner Adrien Brody ["The Thin Red Line", "The Pianist", "The Village" and "The Jacket"]; Thomas Kretschmann ["Blade II", "The Pianist", "U-Boat" and "Resident Evil: Apocalypse"]; Colin Hanks ["That Thing You Do!", "Get Over It", "Orange County" and "Standing Still"]; Jamie Bell ["Billy Elliot", "Deathwatch", "Nicholas Nickleby" and "The Chumscrubber"]; Kyle Chandler ["Pure Country", "The Color of Evening", "Mulholland Falls" and "Angel's Dance"] and Andy Serkis ["Shiner", "Deathwatch", "The Lord of the Rings I, II & III" and "Suddenly 30 "] as King Kong & Lumpy the Cook.
"KING KONG" was .......
directed by Academy Award ® winner Peter Jackson ["Meet The Feebles", "Braindead", "Heavenly Creatures" and "The Frighteners"]; original story by Merian C Cooper and Edgar Wallace; set decoration by Dan Hennah ["White Water Summer", "The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior ", "The Frighteners" and "The Lord of the Rings I, II & III"]; costume design by Terry Ryan ["Sirens", "Muriel's Wedding", "Chopper" and "The Hard Word"]; production design by Academy Award ® winner Grant Major ["An Angel at My Table", "Heavenly Creatures", "Aberration" and "Whale Rider"]; edited by Academy Award ® winner Jamie Selkirk ["A Woman of Good Character", "Meet the Feebles", "The Frighteners" and "The Lord of the Rings III"]; cinematography by Academy Award ® & 1997 ACS Gold Award winner Andrew Lesnie ["Doing Time for Patsy Cline", "Babe: Pig in the City", "Love's Brother" and "The Lord of the Rings I, II & III"]; original music by six-time Academy Award ® nominee & 28 times ASCAP Award winner James Newton Howard ["The Village", "Collateral", "Miss Congeniality 2", "The Interpreter" and "Batman Begins"]. What It's All About Carl Denham is determined to finish his film no matter what. When studio bosses threaten to pull the plug on his funding, Denham takes his unfinished film and go in search of a leading lady. Time is of the essence. With the studio bosses on his tail and the S.S. Venture due to sail that evening it appears he may be out of luck. Then he meets out of work vaudeville actress Ann Darrow. She too is down on her luck and, desperately hungry has stolen an apple from a fruit stall. When the owner confronts her, Denham steps in and pays him. He offers her a meal and reveals his plans to film in the exotic location of Singapore. When Denham spins the storyline [which he says is written by her favourite playwright Jack Driscoll] to her, Darrow accepts. With everyone on board the S.S Venture, Captain Englehorn sets sail. Then Denham reveals their real destination. The mysterious, uncharted Skull Island. The Verdict While it does take its time setting the story up, once the ship arrives at the mysterious uncharted Skull Island "King Kong" really does hot up. There's no doubt many will see this film as being the greatest adventure story to hit the screen and they'd be right. "King Kong" will be long remember for many reasons, His battle with T-Rex will enthrall, excite and have fans on the edge of their seats. But most of all "King Kong" will be remembered for those poignant, last scenes, featuring the Empire State Building. In a word, "King Kong" is 'magnificent'. Naomi Watts gives a scintillating peformance. Jack Black has finally come of age. All deserve the highest accolades. But much more credit and kudos must be given to Peter Jackson, the SFX team and in particular to the man who is King Kong, Andy Serkis. King Kong has Oscar winner written all over it. Do not miss seeing this on the biggest screen possible. * * * * 1/2 stars." The Cast

Naomi Watts Jack Black Adrien Brody Thomas Kretschmann Andy Serkis Jamie Bell Kyle Chandler Lobo Chan Evan Parke Colin Hanks John Sumner Craig Hall Pip Mushin Ray Woolf Jarl Benzon T.M. Bishop Jason Whyte Jed Brophy Todd Rippon Greg Smith Troy O'Kane Crawford Thomson David Dengelo Stephen Hall Richard Kavanagh Louis Sutherland Sandro Kopp

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Ann Darrow Carl Denham Jack Driscoll Captain Englehorn King Kong Jimmy Bruce Baxter Choy Hayes Preston Herb Mike Zelman Helmsman New Yorker VIP Key Venture Crew Key Venture Crew Key Venture Crew Venture Crew Venture Crew Venture Crew Venture Crew Venture Crew Venture Crew Venture Crew New Yorker

The Crew Directed by Peter Jackson Screenplay by Fran Walsh/Philippa Boyens/Peter Jackson Story by Merian C Cooper and Edgar Wallace Produced by Jan Blenkin/Carolynne Cunningham/Peter Jackson/Fran Walsh Original Music by James Newton Howard Additional Music & Ambient Music by Mel Wesson Cinematography by Andrew Lesnie Film Editing by Jamie Selkirk Casting by Victoria Burrows/Daniel Hubbard/John Hubbard/Liz Mullane Production Design by Grant Major Art Direction by Simon Bright & Dan Hennah Set Decoration by Dan Hennah Costume Design by Terry Ryan Run Time 188 minutes Rated M Copyright ©2005 - 2005 Universal Pictures - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2005 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved