King Kong (1976) (Collector's Edition)

[Robopredinator]

I know. That and Back to the Future were my favorite rides ever. Everything down to even the wait in the subway station was just awesome. I really wish I could recapture that feeling again. Unfortunately, the ride was taken down because Kong kept breaking down.

[fred25_Ca]

Same with Jaws! I loved Kong too (and was heartbroken when they closed it) but nothing prepared me to how devastated i'd be once they closed that one down. Imo, the greatest ride of all time. The book about it is pretty great too btw, lots of great info about the ride but also about Universal studios and the Kong ride too. A great read.

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by Robopredinator

Woke up and saw the news and preordered while still in bed. I was excited that my order is for the Blu Ray + poster but after reading the fine print being limited to the first 500, how likely am I to actually get the poster?

Pre-order posters tend to last for a few weeks if the film is highly-anticipated, more so if not. I've gotten posters from SF titles that have been out for months past the release date.

[LexInHD]

Missing out on Jaws and T2 at Uni Florida are two of my biggest regrets, next to missing out on Star Trek: The Experience.

[infiniteCR]

I remember watching this one on the transatlantic 747 flights in the early eighties. It and Splash always seemed to make the ticket around then. Looking forward to a revisit.

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

Shout never use the original poster for their slip when they have new artwork, not gonna happen.

They did for Night Of The Creeps (at least the big bundle that came with the Tom Atkins figure). They included an extra slip with one of the key theatrical poster designs.

[Nullos Master]

Originally Posted by Spider-Fan

I am a US customer, and I couldn't buy it today when I tried. When it is on Amazon or something, it will prob ship to you.

Thanks for your reply; I hope that at some point it will be available to buy it at amazon.com

although, I have been able to create an account (with shipping to FRANCE) on Shout Factory web site, I can not validate my pre-order :
because web site says about this title : Please Note: Only ships to US & Canada.
Available: May 11th 2021.

[Surge92]

Originally Posted by The80s

KKL is a dogsh*t movie and a horrendous followup to KK76. But....if Shout decides to release it....... I'll probably pick it up just for the hell of it.


As awful as it is it's not nearly as bad as Kong Skull Island. So there's that.

Lol. My parents actually took me to see King Kong Lives in the theater. I remember the movie, but I don’t remember if I liked it or not. I guess I must have. But yeah, I didn't care for Kong: Skull Island either.

[The80s]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

Shout never use the original poster for their slip when they have new artwork, not gonna happen. I really wish they did, imo, this is one of the greatest poster of all time but shout will be shout.

I suppose you're right. So hopefully the original artwork will be reversible on the case. I like having the original artwork on the case and then the new art on the slip (so I can see them both when I pull the movie out).

That's how I have it set up with my other Shout BDs. I'm gonna be bummed out if the original artwork isn't included at all.

So I've preordered this. Means I'll get the poster. I can't wait to get it framed!

[The80s]

Originally Posted by LexInHD

Missing out on Jaws and T2 at Uni Florida are two of my biggest regrets, next to missing out on Star Trek: The Experience.

Ugh, Universal just keeps making their parks worse and worse. They replace all the awesome classic attractions with crap.

Kongfrontation
JAWS The Ride
Back To The Future The Ride
Twister
Backdraft
E.T. (Luckily is still in Orlando)
The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera
Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies
Earthquake
T2:3D
Beetlejuice Graveyard Revue


And they replaced it all with total crap. Fast & Furious ride. Jimmy Fallon. Minions. The Mummy is pretty good, I just wish they didn't have to replace one of the classics in order to bring it in.

[Jedihunter]

Not to be overly negative but this release doesn't excite me or make me want to pre-order it in the slightest. First off, the film has been available on Region A for years now and is easily accessible to those wanting to import from Japan. And I bring that up as I don't see all that they can really do to make this worthy of the collector's edition title this release is given.

First off it's most certainly going to use the really crap studio canal transfer as pretty much all their announcements along with this film have it mentioned that they will be getting a new transfer. Whereas this film won't be for some reason? And sure that transfer may not be the worst. But it's well over a decade old and was so soft and possibly DNR'd. I feel like with how long fans have been waiting for a release they don't have to import this film should be given better treatment.

Secondly the main selling point is the extended cut in my opinon. As it will be nice to finally see that version of the film. Though again I'm worried as to what elements will they be able to get for that version? Will they be SD insert shots or will they be sourced from an HD scan?

The other potential things this set has going for it is the extras. But I'm really curious as to what stuff they can actually make or include? As i doubt they will be able to get Jessica Lange or Jeff Bridges to talk about the film for this release. Or even Charles Grodin for that matter.
Hopefully we get radio spots and trailers.

But until we hear more, this release is a huge pass for me as I already have the Japanese bluray release of the film. It's really not worth the current asking price given how old and outdated the transfer is, in my opinion at least.

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Considering the "man in a suit" thing for Kong, and considering there had really never been a remotely convincing dinosaur costume in a movie at that point, my imagination puts a dinosaur in that version as probably looking something like the Tyrannosaurus in Land Unknown (I bet he would have been way more slow-moving and clunky than the goofy Gorosaurus in King Kong Escapes). We may have dodged a bullet. The giant snake is bad enough. It's kind of silly they even put that in, since it's so incredibly anticlimactic (he tosses it around for about 15 seconds before pulling its head apart). Oh well.

I disagree — with Rick Baker and crew working on it, I’m betting they could have come up with something waaaaaay better and much more expressive than THE LAND UNKNOWN, and better than Gorosaurus too (although I will say that Gorosaurus is one of the best suitmation dinosaurs up until that point, excellent and excellent-fitting suit for what it is), I mean look at what Rick did with the KONG face, incredible for the time it was made.

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by oubukibun

Jackson’s King Kong isn’t perfect by any mile, and the Jack Black/Colin Hanks pair is one of the primary stains (the casting in general, save a peerless Watts and an adorable but underused Bell), but as a blockbuster spectacle AND as a melodrama, it soars. The bug pit sequence from Jackson’s is spellbinding. It might actually be the highlight of the film for me, and one of the most ingenious things he’s ever conceived, at least as far as sound and image go. Also, sorry not sorry, but dinosaurs and Kong together? That shi* will never get old.

I love KONG with dinosaurs, but that dino stampede is a horrible scene, completely ridiculous with people darting in and out between dino legs and emerging completely unscathed, looks super goofy and not in a good way. The spectacle doesn’t mitigate the fatal flaws for me, I guess.

[The80s]

Originally Posted by oubukibun

Jackson’s King Kong isn’t perfect by any mile, and the Jack Black/Colin Hanks pair is one of the primary stains (the casting in general, save a peerless Watts and an adorable but underused Bell), but as a blockbuster spectacle AND as a melodrama, it soars. The bug pit sequence from Jackson’s is spellbinding. It might actually be the highlight of the film for me, and one of the most ingenious things he’s ever conceived, at least as far as sound and image go. Also, sorry not sorry, but dinosaurs and Kong together? That shi* will never get old.

The only two Kongs that have ever made me blubber like a child have been Jackson’s and Kong ‘76, and whether or not one did something first or vice versa, they both understand the simple narrative thread that makes this absolutely timeless, and that’s the relationship between the Beauty and the Beast. Every time he falls, it’s devastating, even when you know it was quite literally fait accompli.

It also helps to have gorgeous scores from John Barry and James Newton Howard, of course, haha.

For the most part I felt totally numb watching it. It's PS2-level CGI just did nothing for me. And Kong was portrayed all wrong. It was infuriating. I got way, way, WAY more out of the '76 film.

[RalphoR]

Rick Baker Monster Maker's rendition of King Kong is superb. The snake? Not so much. They should have done something else or maybe Harryhausen'd it. They spent quite a bit of time on the island yet that's the only other creature we see besides Kong?

[The80s]

Originally Posted by RalphoR

Rick Baker Monster Maker's rendition of King Kong is superb. The snake? Not so much. They should have done something else or maybe Harryhausen'd it. They spent quite a bit of time on the island yet that's the only other creature we see besides Kong?

They wasted millions of dollars on that giant mecha kong that they only ended up using in like 1 second of the movie. Imagine if they put all that wasted money back into movie, into legit effects. It would have been great.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by GaragePoet

wait for the re-release then?

I'll buy it immediately and then not even watch it for 5 years, thank you very much.

[Ray Jackson]

Better than the original.

...there I said it.

[Show spoiler]

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by starsteam

Just pre-ordered with the poster. Don't care that I dropped $35 on this, gotta have it.
Now we just need King Kong Lives.

Did you even get a look at the poster first?

...I would.

[iwanttobeabmoviestar]

Hopefully the extended cut looks better than dog soldiers lol