King Kong DVD status?
 

I remember that about a year or more ago there was a 2 disc DVD in the works, anybody know where this is at?

It's already out! restored director's cut no less!

http://www.dvdcompare.org.uk/compari...e.php?fid=2930

For those of us that are not "region-free", we have to wait until 2004.

How do you get a "restored director's cut" of a film where the director has been dead for several decades?

Just curious.

Odd, none of those say they are a 2 disc release, like robert_d asked.

And even for those who are region free, I'd wait. The UK disc I have is pretty poor quality, especially compared to what we're bound to get eventually from Warner.

You just have to reinstate scenes that the director originally intended to be in the film. Much like how we're slowing putting back the pieces of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis", despite the fact that he's long been dead.

Anyhow, for those who care....here is what Amazon.co.uk has to say about the extra footage:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...399866-1993408

"Although a little light on extras, this is happily the Director's Cut, restoring scenes that were censored after the film's original 1933 run, including Kong peeling off Fay Wray's clothes like a banana, and our hirsute hero using unfortunate natives as dental floss."

EDIT:

Also, the 2-Disc set that was originally mentioned is being worked on by Warner right now. The Bits reported a while back that Warner had planned to release it this year, but they wanted to take their time and make it right. It will be out for sure in 2004.

This whole "director's cut" stuff with KONG is old news. The additional footage was restored 10 years ago, for the film's 60th anniversary. This is the version that's been in circulation since then, and which was included on the last American VHS release.

A friend of mine has the R2 disc and it's acceptable, but I'm holding out for the Warner 2-disc SE coming next year. It was delayed because they had to do additional restoration on the source material, but it will also be uncut and will feature a ton of bonus material.

Given the recent examples of Warner's CITIZEN KANE, CASABLANCA, SINGIN IN THE RAIN and ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD discs, the 2004 KONG SE figures to be worth the wait.

It'll probably be worth the wait, given the quality of Warner's other 2-disc SE's.

I think the film is also supposed to be a Lowry Digital Images project for DVD, so that's worth looking forward to.

I was about the post the same thing. Actually, it is even older news than that. Criterion released this 'director's cut' on laserdisc back in 1984. And, contrary to the video jackets for the 60th Edition that claim it is a 'brand new, digitially restored blahblah' -- it's identical print used on the Criterion, with a noticable drop in quality for the inserted scenes.

I assume that the upcoming Warner DVD will blow all past releases out of the water.

:lol: I was wondering the same thing.

Any indication if the commentary by the film historian on the laserdisc(his name escapes me, but Ebert raves about it) would make the DVD? And has anyone heard any definitive news as to a release on this? Would it make it out by summer 2004? I just saw it for the first time, and while flawed, this is the definition of movie magic.

I would think they would release this to coincide with the new Kong movie by Peter Jackason sometime in 2005 I believe.

maybe the folks at Warner Home Video are trying to track down the footage of the legendary 'lost' spider scene ;)

That spider scene is gone for good.

Is Fay Wray being interviewed or something for it? Man, if she could do a mini commentary, that would be great.

I thought I had read somewhere that a German Film company had found production stills of this scene, or is that just my imagination?

BOO! I certainly hope not! This movie can stand on its own without any help.

It would be, but it might take some convincing. She told me once that if Roan Group had asked her to participate in a commentary when they were preparing The Most Dangerous Game for laserdisc, she would have declined.

I've been hearing 2005 for a DVD, too. But won't we be happy if it comes earlier?

I'd really love to hear some offical word about when this new Warner DVD of King Kong is going to be coming out.

On Halloween, I watched my some 15-year-old VHS copy of it. I haven't seen this movie since I was a teenager and still found it fantastic.

I remember some years ago reading an essay saying that King Kong was an allegory about slavery. While that does make some sense, it's hard for me to seriously contemplate given how offensive that premis is.

That's a new one on me. I've never heard anything relating to that before. I always thought that Carl Denham's statement about "Beauty & the Beast" at the end pretty much summed up that "King Kong" was based on the "Beauty & the Beast" story.

>>I remember some years ago reading an essay saying that King Kong was an allegory about slavery.<<

That's one of approximately a billion (give or take a few) intererpretations that have been read into the movie over the years. Many critics have read all sorts of things into the film, based on "symbolism" and "subtext." Some of these may actually be valid, although I don't think Cooper & Schoedsack's intent was to make some sort of political statement about anything.

My uncle is a Kong aficiado (?) and has a book that has those scene stills. Supposedly, for 1933, that spider scene was too horrific and made the movie stop dead, due to the shock value.
Maybe WB will be kind enough to include some featurette that helps fill in the blanks.

I was talking to someone and they said that some of the lost footage featured a dinosaur on the other side of the ravine & that was one of the reasons the men didn't back off the log. Any truth to this?

RE: the spider scene, I read tha Willis used the concept in THE BLACK SCORPION for the train scene, so if you want to see what it was like, check it out.

Here's a pic of it.

http://home.columbus.rr.com/caligula...der%5b1%5d.jpg

http://home.columbus.rr.com/caligula...sp1%5b1%5d.jpg

Is the book "The Making of King Kong" by Orville Goldner & George E Turner? If so, I own that book too.