King Kong (1933) DVD Review:

Remakes are inevitable, whether you are a fan of them or not. The worst tragedy is when great films are remade, and the remake is an embarrassment to the original. If anything good comes from remakes, whether they are good themselves or not, is the release of special DVDs for the original film. With the release of Peter Jackson’s King Kong, the original 1933 film has been released in a two-disc collector’s edition, along with a collector’s tin casing. King Kong has a place in film history after it saved RKO from bankruptcy and has since become one of the most famous horror films of all time. The new DVD gives the film the treatment that a classic deserves.

When a filmmaker travels to a distant and mythical island in order to shoot his film, he finds himself in a world unlike any other. There are walls on the island, but they don’t know what the walls are holding in. When the lead actress is lost in the jungle they find themselves face to face with Kong, a giant gorilla-like monster. It is tranquilized and brought back to New York. Suddenly this creature seems like a great way to make some money and it is put up like a circus act as the eight wonder of the world. As anyone who has seen the legendary end scene knows, he is unleashed on the city and all hell breaks loose.

It’s a simple story of the beauty and the beast, but the scope of this film at the time was amazing. The effects are remarkable and it is action-packed. What is truly great is the way that we end up feeling for the beast, despite the fact that he never speaks. It is an exercise I great filmmaking, but more importantly it is a wonderful piece of film history which has been committed to a great new edition on DVD for many new audiences to enjoy.

This two disc collector’s edition is also available in a collector’s tin. Inside the tin there are five international replication marketing cards. They show the great artwork which was used for marketing the film. As well as these there is also a reproduction of the original programs given to audiences at the premiere of King Kong at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on March 24th 1933. The program is simple, with quotes and photos, but it goes well in the theme of film history.

The first disc of the set contains the film and a few special features. There is a commentary track with visual effects specialists Ray Harryhausen and ken Ralston as well as inserts from interviews with Merian C. Cooper and Fay Wray. The first disc also contains a trailer gallery of Merian C Cooper’s movies.

The second disc only has a few special features, but they are so good that it truly doesn’t leave fans wanting much more. There is a profile featurette on Merian C. Cooper and original test footage of Kong, but the greatest feature is the making of documentary. The 7-part documentary is about the making of King Kong from start to finish. It has a number of great facts that I never knew. It really is amazing what it took to make this film, and I can’t imagine that even Peter Jackson’s production diaries can compare to this.



Ryan Izay