King Kong [SteelBook] [4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Blu-ray] [Only @ Best Buy] [2005]

Let's start with a truth. I'm not the one for an unbiased opinion on Jackson's King Kong. I LOVE this film. One of the top 10 of films in my lifetime (I'm 47 for reference). I adored this film in the theaters. When it released as a Deluxe Extended 3-Disc Edition DVD, I gobbled it up and was STUNNED at just how much the studio forced PJ to cut. Certainly, the runtime was long enough, even after the cuts, and it wasn't the quantity of the edits, it was the sheer quality of what was pulled out. Mind you, had they left in these excellent scenes, almost all based around action, and made those edits elsewhere, say from narrative, it FEELS like we would have been left with largely a 3hour movie trailer of fights. Still, much like his Lord of the Rings films given the uncut treatment, when it comes down to it, it's almost unfathomable studios demand PJ make ANY cuts, as they invariably remove action scenes and still leave us with lengthy movies that should come with built-in intermission breaks. Removing dinosaur stampedes, raptor attacks, and Piranhadon fights is shameful and should cost people jobs that make such decisions. After moving to blu ray, they released a KK disc that featured both the theatrical and extended editions, but was missing the ENORMOUS amount of extras that came in that 3-disc DVD set. (It has somewhere in the vicinity of 15 various bonus features). So, I grabbed that. Then came the Ultimate Edition blu ray, which had both film versions and restored the majority of the 15 bonus features from DVD, and I grabbed THAT. So, of course, after I upgraded to 4K and saw the low asking price of this- $16- for one of my all-time faves, I couldn't NOT add that version to my collection, now could I? Now, this appears to be the "definitive (almost) definitive" edition. It's still the Ultimate Edition as far as extras, (I *BELIEVE* it's missing 2 or 3 small bonus features from the ancient 3disc DVD version, hence why I kept that set,) while upgrading the film to 4K. (Note: like with the regular UE blu ray of Kong, many of the featurettes are NOT upgraded, and remain in their standard definition format!) Is it worth it? As I said, I'm biased. BUT, still, at more than 1/2 off the price of newer 4K titles, I believe yes... yes, it is. Kong is gorgeous in 4K, with many scenes not this jaw-dropping since I saw it in the theater. However this transfer was handled should be THE standard for older, pre-4K films moving to the new format. My 4K library is still growing, but this was one of my favorites as it rolled along. I simply cannot find a reason NOT to double, triple, or, like in my instance, quadruple dip on this film if you have 4K.

REGARDING: "KING KONG" (2005) version: I already owned this movie on the 3-DVD disc set, plus the separate 2-disc dvd box set of THE MAKING OF, as well as "king Kong" (1976) DVD (which I have to admit is my favorite due to that was my generation which I grew up with, AND was at Twin Towers and saw Kong's body in summer 1976, AND recently bought -and now own- the foreign BLURAY of that), and own the 1933 original on DVD, BUT!, did not own this bluray of the 2005 Peter Jackson version, only the DVD. For a BEST price ("cheap" price, which Best Buy always has, hence "BEST BUY"), for $8 dollars, decided to purchase this. GLAD I DID! The sound is FANTASTIC! Wish it was in 7.1 sound, but 5.1 does the job! You can hear the airplanes buzzing around behind you, the roars and the fighting of the animals in the jungle all around you! AND the picture is great! Colorful, sharp, which BLU-RAY is. "BEST" is buying blurays as blurays have the BEST sound and the BEST picture! I recommend buying this movie on bluray at BEST BUY! (*Some of the extras from the dvd have not been ported over onto the bluray, but it has the extended version along with the theatrical version, plus a commentary on the long version, and few other extras. BUT should not deter you from buying this bluray). Glad I bought the bluray....at BEST BUY! BUY IT! You'll be glad you did. (*of course the original 1933 is considered the best one overall, but cannot beat color and sound of the 2005 one!) This one is GOOD. So, do not go pounding your chest to decide whether to buy or not, go climb up a building to get to BEST BUY and BUY this! You'll feel like a KING! RRRRUN to BEST BUY!

My first instinct upon seeing the "King Kong: Ultimate Edition" was pretty sour. I already own it twice, and if it wasn't for the low price point of $10, I wouldn't have purchased it for the one "major" addition that may or may not be your tipping point, as well. The Ultraviolet copy. For $10, to get one of the better movies available in past 25 years, it was worth it to have access whenever I travel. But, what is the Ultimate Edition? Before blu ray became the go-to, King Kong was released in a special edition on DVD. 3 discs, both theatrical and Director's Cut, and 10+ hours of extras. Once blu ray came along with higher definition, Kong was released again, this time with both cuts in the better format, but very lite on the extras. The Ultimate Edition brings the blu ray versions of the film together with the extras provided from the DVD, along with the UV copy. (Please note, the extras are NOT upgraded in Ultimate Edition). Essentially, the choice on this varies greatly based on how much you love this film, whether you own a prior version and which one, and whether you want it in UV. But, at $10, there's no real gouging going on here to avoid this version based on your personal collection. If this had been released at any other price point, I couldn't recommend it. As is, it may finalize 2005's journey of Kong for my own library. (Until 4K lol).

Terrific 4K presentation. The street scenes at the beginning were eye opening in terms of video perfection, and needless to say the audio was great. This is actually a rather sad movie in some ways. A love story, for sure, but also a demonstration of lost love or impossible love, or love stolen. At least the man and woman were together at the end. Let's hope the merger lasted. One also has to wonder just what Karl had to face in terms of legal issues later on. I can only speculate about what a sequel would be like: the perils of bringing an oversized animal into the USA and the legal ramifications. Anyway, the acting was superb, and, well, it is hard to imagine a more beautiful female face than what we had with Naomi Watts. Note that I did not check out any of the "extras," but I am sure they are informative. Later, maybe.

this is probably the best remake along side war of the worlds and the departed. naomi watts is great as ann(but she wouldve died from kong draggin her around like that). jack black does a surprisingly good job as carl denham. and one of my all time favorites, adrien brody does good as the hero, jack driscoll. all the rest of the cast does just fine. but adrien brody shouldve came before jack black in the cast, though. peter jackson of course is gonna do a great jod telling the depth of the story and of course the special effects. the music is one of the main highlights here, though. its all great and really sets the tone for every scene. the second disc is great and tells you a lot from directing the trailer to sound mixing. every is there to like-the relationships, the special effects and the dramatic ending. king kong goes about 7 or 8 minutes over 3 hours. some people may think the begining drags on and it does but that didnt bother me at all. the run time is perfect here just so you get to know the characters. and so what if it takes an hour to get to the island. but when they do get there, its pure adrenaline all the way to the end with some of the most exciting chases and fight scenes in cinema history. so overall, king kong is a reinvinted masterpiece.

King Kong (Ultimate Edition) 4K is spectacular in every way. The UHD is so much clearer, richer and sharper than the Blu-ray that I feel like I'm watching the movie for the first time. The DTS:X soundtrack is deep and immersive, without sacrificing any detail. Trying to tell the various forest sounds apart is as much fun as being caught up in the thunderous bass in the action scenes. The voluminous supplements are also of the highest quality. The pre-production, production and post-production diaries truly involve the audience in the movie-making process. Be warned, however, that the movie is long. Even the shorter theatrical cut, which I prefer to the extended cut, is over three hours. Even so, with the terrific acting and mesmerizing action sequences, I never feel bored.

I know it has a less than stellar reputation, but aside from the dinosaur stampede scene, this film is actually very good. My main squeeze Naomi Watts is great and gorgeous as ever. Actually, I fell in love with her in this film. Andy Sirkis (Gollum) returns as King Kong himself in Oscar Worthy form, as well as the bad [bleep] chef. Despite the heat they got for casting Jack Black to play the director character, I actually loved him in this role. What really makes this movie great though is the gritty, violent action. I’m not an action film buff per se. I value a good story, but it was done to perfection. The other stand out aspect of this film is juxtaposing the violence against the urgent desire to capture King Kong for his own self interest, despite the cost in lives; for character development sake. I absolutely love this film.

Very enjoyable retelling of the King Kong story set in the same time period as the original. Exciting non-stop thrills once Kong shows up on Skull Island. I felt that Adrien Brody and Jack Black were both miscast but Naomi Watts is outstanding in the Fay Wray role. A bit of judicious editing would've helped, The film could easily lose 15 minutes. The opening is a bit slow and the ending runs long but the middle segment on Skull Island is darn near perfect except for the overwrought presentation of the natives. Superb action scenes and special effects. Also, I'm at a loss why one of the deleted scenes included as a bonus was cut . It's exciting and fits into the movie much better than many unecessary scenes that were left in. But I guess that's just my opinion and I'm not Peter Jackson. Overall, an exciting must see.