Kong Island

Starring:Brad Harris, Esmeralda Barros, Marc Lawrence, Adriana Alben, Mark Farran, Aldo Cecconi, Paolo Magalotti, Mario Donatone, Miles Mason, Gino Turini, Ursula Davis, Gianni Pulone, Emilio Messina
Director: Roberto Mauri
Studio: Retro Media
Product Type: DVD

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King Kong (HD-DVD)
Starring: Adrien Brody , Kyle Chandler , Thomas Kretschmann , Naomi Watts , and Jack Black
Director: Peter Jackson
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

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ASIN: B000ICM5VW
Release Date: 2006-11-14

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King Kong (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Adrien Brody , Kyle Chandler , Thomas Kretschmann , Naomi Watts , and Jack Black
Director: Peter Jackson
Manufacturer: Universal
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ASIN: B00005JO20
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Amazon.com

Movies don't come any bigger than Peter Jackson's King Kong, a three-hour remake of the 1933 classic that marries breathtaking visual prowess with a surprising emotional depth. Expanding on the original story of the blonde beauty and the beast who falls for her, Jackson creates a movie spectacle that matches his Lord of the Rings films and even at times evokes their fantasy world while celebrating the glory of '30s Hollywood. Naomi Watts stars as Ann Darrow, a vaudeville actress down on her luck in Depression-era New York until manic filmmaker Carl Denham (a game but miscast Jack Black) entices her with a lead role. Dazzled by the genius of screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), Ann boards the tramp steamer S.S. Venture, which she--and most of the wary crew--believes is headed for Singapore. Denham, however, is in search of the mythic Skull Island, hoping to capture its wonders on film and make a fortune. What he didn't count on were some scary natives who find that the comely Darrow looks like prime sacrifice material for a mysterious giant creature....

There's no point in rehashing the entire plot, as every movie aficionado is more than familiar with the trajectory of King Kong; the challenge facing Jackson, his screenwriters, and the phenomenal visual-effects team was to breathe new life into an old, familiar story. To that degree, they achieve what could be best called a qualified success. Though they've assembled a crackerjack supporting cast, including Thomas Kretschmann as the Venture's hard-bitten captain and young Jamie Bell as a plucky crewman, the first third of the movie is rather labored, with too much minute detail given over to sumptuous re-creations of '30s New York and the unexciting initial leg of the Venture's sea voyage. However, once the film finds its way to Skull Island (which bears more than a passing resemblance to LOTR's Mordor), Kong turns into a dazzling movie triumph, by turns terrifying and awe-inspiring. The choreography and execution of the action set pieces--including one involving Kong and a trio of Tyrannosaurus Rexes, as well as another that could be charitably described as a bug-phobic's nightmare--is nothing short of landmark filmmaking, and a certain Mr. Spielberg should watch his back, as Kong trumps most anything that has come before it.

Description

Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) brings his sweeping cinematic vision to King Kong. Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody star in this spectacular film filled with heart-pounding action, terrifying creatures and groundbreaking special effects unlike anything you've seen before! Get ready for breathtaking action in this thrilling epic adventure about a legendary gorilla captured on a treacherous island and brought to civilization, where he faces the ultimate fight for survival. Experience the movie that critics are hailing as a "rousing, exciting cinematic adventure!" (Scott Mantz, Access Hollywood)

King Kong - Extended Cut (Three-Disc Deluxe Edition)

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King Kong - Extended Cut (Three-Disc Deluxe Edition)
Starring: Peter Jackson
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000H30B2C
Release Date: 2006-11-14

Amazon.com

The extended version of Peter Jackson's King Kong adds 13 minutes to the running time--fortunately those 13 minutes include two dynamic action scenes and no material has been added to the movie's belabored set-up, which tries to give depth to these quintessentially b-movie characters with a clumsy patchwork of melodrama and in-jokes. But once movie-maker Carl Denham (Jack Black, School of Rock) and his crew finally arrive at Skull Island, the movie kicks into gear with spectacular action, technical wizardry, and genuine feeling. Though Kong seems crafted to dazzle the eye on the giant screen, the overlong structure improves when you can take an intermission at will. At home, each scene can be approached on its own terms, be it the insanely choreographed battle between Kong and three T. Rexes or the subtle and multi-layered interplay between Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive) and Kong (played, through motion-capture technology, by Andy Serkis, who previously played the similarly animated Gollum in Jackson's Lord of the Rings). The addition of a rampaging ceratops and an underwater race with what the movie's crew dubbed a "piranhadon" not only add more eye candy, but provide some valuable moments of character development. But in the end, that's frosting on the cake; when the movie's weaknesses and strengths are weighed, the emotional power of the fantastical relationship between a woman and a giant ape is a real cinematic achievement. --Bret Fetzer

King Kong (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

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King Kong (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Starring: Adrien Brody , Kyle Chandler , Thomas Kretschmann , Naomi Watts , and Jack Black
Director: Peter Jackson
Manufacturer: Universal
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000E97Y6K
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Amazon.com

Description

Experience King Kong as never before in this exclusive 2-Disc Special Edition! See the larger-than-life film, plus, watch three-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson take you behind the scenes of this epic adventure. Thrilling, in-depth featurettes reveal the genius behind the creation of this timeless story.

Average customer rating:

King Kong (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Adrien Brody , Kyle Chandler , Thomas Kretschmann , Naomi Watts , and Jack Black
Director: Peter Jackson
Manufacturer: Universal
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000E97Y6A
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Rating Based on Five Minutes.......2006-10-22

But those five minutes told me all I need to know. First, the movie opened with a jeep driving along a beach or a desert or something. First sign of trouble: rather than spend real money having the name of the company painted on the door of the jeep, a piece of cardboard under the windshield says EAST AFRICA TRADING COMPANY. So we know we are in Africa and not in...say...Italy. A gunfight ensues. Most of the casualties drop without so much as a spot of blood (more economy). Cut to a gratuitous underwear scene.

This movie was part of the 50 Sci Fi Movie Collection, which has a lot of stuff better than this but this isn't THAT bad. I will probably watch the whole thing.

Just awful..........2006-04-04

The never ending quest to see every camp, trashy movie made in the twenty or so years before I was born led me to 'Kong Island' recently. It's not a trip any sane man should want to take. No Kong, and no island either. Seems to be a European (Italian? Greek?) film overdubbed for release Stateside. The plot runs something like this...diamond smuggler gets double crossed by his partner during a robbery...the partner becomes a mad scientist in the jungle (Kenya is it? I can't remember) implanting mind control devices in gorillas...gorillas kidnap diamond smuggler's girlfriend at which point he enters the jungle to retrieve her and avenge the double cross. Along the way he meets a jungle girl called the Sacred Monkey who talks to gorillas. Stuff happens. My description is more entertaining than the film itself and just saved you about 85 minutes of your life. The 'gorilla brain surgery' footage touted on the box is just some guy cutting a rubber ape mask open on the side and red paint squirting out. Watch "Night of the Bloody Apes"...at least they show real open heart surgery in graphic detail, possibly on some homeless Mexican derelict so the director could include it in the film! Just kidding about the last part. Although the skeletons in "Return of the Living Dead" were actually from an Indian skeleton farm. I digress. Haven't watched the 'European' version with the jungle girl running naked at the end. According to reviewers below, it's nothing to write home to your mother about. Bottom line here is that this is for sadists only, and wouldn't a nice lashing from a hot blonde dominatrix be more fun?
Bizarre but true fact: I own two copies of this celluloid waste, one coming unknowingly in a set of 50 public domain Sci-Fi flicks released by Tree Line.

Derivative, Yet Tauntingly Boring.......2006-03-04

Every single word of the title of this film is perfectly accurate with the exceptions of "Kong" and "Island." "Kong Island" is, in fact, quite a blundering misnomer. There are normal size zombie-gorillas with brain implants, but no Kong, and as far as I can tell no island either, as it takes place in Africa.

The plot is utterly wretched, and generally revolves around a mad scientist and his plans for world domination via the medium of zombie gorillas (no prizes for guessing how he dies), versus a musclebound bore of an actor who is helping search for "The Sacred Monkey" while on a personal vendetta. I am not going to reveal the amazing secret of the Sacred Monkey, but will say that it made me groan audibly when we got to that part of the film.

The film has about 5.3 gazillion subplots going on at any given time, and as amazing as that sounds, none of them are interesting, and few of them actually lead anywhere. At no time do they lead within striking distance of a coherent storyline.

The film rates two stars: it isn't the worst thing I have ever seen, and it does have some genuinely funny moments in the camp tradition, but as a whole it has little redeeming value. Please note that some copies of this DVD have box art that has absolutely nothing at all to do with the movie contained within.

You have been warned.

What King? What Kong? What Island?.......2006-01-22

You might suspect that part of the reason a reviewer gives one star is the reviewer's embarrassment that they spent money on a movie that turns out to be so dumb that, well, you fill in the blank. This movie was originally titled "Eve, the Wild Woman," which makes far more sense than the title of the film itself. Some variations of this movie title it "King of Kong Island." For an added bit of humor, the movie makes it clear that they are in Africa. I never figured out the island connection.

Famous Italian star Brad Harris of low-budget films such as "Samson," "The Fury of Hercules," and "Operation Hong Kong," is one of three men involved in a plot to steal $300,000 in payroll money. When Albert (the late Marc Lawrence, who has been in many better known movies, such as "Foul Play" and "Marathon Man") decides that $300,000 three ways is not such a good idea, he kills his partners. Unfortunately for him, he only wounds Burt Dawson (Harris), who now has a significant grudge against Albert.

From this point forward the movie mixes too many elements and too little explanation, thus distracting from what should have been the main point of the movie, but hey, I suppose real life can be this complicated. We move to a cheesy bar scene with obligatory dancing of the 60s and we meet Ursula (Adriana Alben), who is unhappy with her relationship with Theodore (Aldo Cecconi aka Jim Clay), which later comes back to haunt everyone, and Theodore has two children, Robert Theodore) Mark Farran and Diana Theodore (Ursula Davis, who wanders around this movie in a nightie for half of it), and the kids are going on a safari and Diana is kidnapped by gorillas who have been operated on by Albert and his henchman Turk to be vicious attack gorillas in cheesy gorilla costumes and then there is Eva (Esmerelda Barros), the savage girl, who wanders around topless but her hair covers his chest most of the time; time to take a breath.

At this heart of this movie it is a mad scientist movie. The mad scientist is trying to come up with an implant that makes critters do what he wants, with the goal of making people do what he wants. How he plans to implant the world with these devices is unclear. Perhaps that detail awaits a sequel, which we can only hope will never be made. Albert, our mad scientist, is doing this nefarious work deep in the jungle of Africa. Eva, sort of a female Tarzan, wanders around being nice to the animals. She is distressed that the mad scientist has transformed the gorillas into zombies.

Ultimately, the main characters meet in a showdown that is exciting beyond belief (yawn), and the movie resolves itself unsatisfactorily, er, satisfactorily. I guess.

So, at this point you have probably realized that there is no king. There is no Kong. The movie did not describe a Kong, unless I went to get a drink at that point. There isn't even an island. The original Italian title made more sense. The gorilla costumes look like retreads from some other movie. The people wearing the costumes stood up straight and made little effort to walk like gorillas. If you have ever wanted to know how badly a movie can be, buy this one and find out. However, I recommend you not. There are plenty of other bad science fiction or horror movies that exist that are funnier, better or have some measure of schlock charm.

Bungle In The Jungle..........2005-07-21

Mercenary man, Burt (Brad "pulsating pile of muscles" Harris) is betrayed by mad scientist Albert (Marc Lawrence). This leads Burt on a quest for revenge so terrible that.... well, sort of. Anyway, Burt hooks up with some old friends in Africa and hears of their search for the "sacred monkey". Albert's henchman, Turk finds Burt dancing at a swingin' disco and tries to cut his head off. Burt fends off Turk and his men with the help of a mysterious stranger. Into the jungle we go, where many die by native attacks, as well as from Albert's army of zombified go-rillas! You see, he has implanted an electronic device in the brains of his go-rilla pals, causing them to follow his every whim! Albert plans on using the device in humans next, thereby conquering the world! Bwah-ha-ha! Only Burt can stop him, with the help of the "sacred monkey" aka: Eve the jungle gal! The stupifying climax happens in Albert's secret cave lair. KONG ISLAND's only redeeming quality is Eve herself. She is an exotic beauty who takes away some of the pain caused by the rest of this abysmal wreck! Still, I find myself enjoying it! I desperately need help...

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Island of Greed
Starring: Andy Lau , Tony Leung Ka Fai , Paulyn Sun , Annie Wu , and Kathy Kuo
Director: Michael Mak
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
ProductGroup: DVD
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