King Kong (1933)

[Jeff]

From Davis DVD:

 The grandaddy of all fantasy films, Warner Home Video will release the classic 1933 King Kong on November 22nd. Featuring a newly restored and digitally mastered transfer from the rare nitrate film elements, the big ape will be available as a two-disc special edition packed with extras. Among other things, look for an audio commentary with effects masters Ray Harryhausen and Ken Ralston, "RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World" (a two-hour, seven-part documentary created by Peter Jackson), a feature-length documentary on 'Kong' creator Merian C. Cooper and a trailer gallery. The two-disc set will retail for $26.99.
 
A more lavish Collector's Edition box set will be available as well and will come packaged in a collectible tin with a 20-page reproduction of the original 1993 souvenir program, original poster art postcards and a mail-in offer for a vintage theatrical poster. Retail for this set is $39.98. Warner also will release a four-disc collector' set featuring the two-disc King Kong along with The Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young. Retail for this is $39.92.

[lord_clyde]

This is great news! Especially for fat film geeks and monkey lovers!

[Matt]

Jackson working on DVD for original 'King Kong'

By Thomas K. Arnold, Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Director Peter Jackson, at work on his own remake of "King Kong," is helping produce bonus materials for the DVD debut of the 1933 original.

Jackson is working on a new documentary, "RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World," a two-hour, seven-part feature included in the two-disc "King Kong" set, which Warner Home Video will release on Nov. 22.

"Fans of this film are going to go crazy; we've got everything but the kitchen sink on here," said George Feltenstein, the studio's senior vp of classic catalog.

One part of the documentary focuses on the mysterious "spider pit" sequence deleted from the film before its theatrical premiere in New York and Los Angeles.

"For years, there has always been speculation, does this footage exist, so we have a piece that actually explains what it was and we do a recreation of it," Feltenstein said. "For fans of the film, that's a big, important thing."

In true Warner fashion, "King Kong" -- which has never before been available on DVD -- will arrive in stores in two configurations: a two-disc special edition and a two-disc collector's edition packaged in a collectable tin and including a 20-page reproduction of the original souvenir program, postcard reproductions of the original one sheets, and a mail-in offer for a reproduction of a vintage 27-by-41-inch movie poster.

"The real one is worth about $25,000," Feltenstein said. "These are all reproductions, but they're still nice to have."

Warner also will release a four-disc collector's set featuring the two-disc "King Kong" special edition along with "The Son of Kong" and "Mighty Joe Young."

Feltenstein said the DVD of "King Kong" was two years in the making and the fact that the DVD is arriving right before Jackson's remake opens in theaters on Dec. 14 via Universal Pictures is "actually a coincidence."

In addition to the seven-part documentary, the "King Kong" DVD set includes such extras as a documentary on "Kong" director (and creator) Merian C. Cooper, a trailer gallery of Cooper's other films, and a commentary from stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen, actress Terry Moore ("Mighty Joe Young") and special effects master Ken Ralston ("Star Wars").

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

[kevyip1]

That great audio commentary on the Criterion LD should've been included.

[dx23]

According to a member over at DVDTalk who took the information from movies unlimited, Mighty Joe Young and Son of Kong are going to be sold individually also with a retail price of $19.95.

Here is the link that also shows the cover art to all films and editions with their respective retail prices.

[Narshty]

That great audio commentary on the Criterion LD should've been included.

Criterion almost certainly gypped that idea. From what I've heard, Warner tried to get the John Sturges track for Bad Day at Black Rock but Criterion are asking several times what the industry standard is for licensing commentaries.

[exte]

What's the standard industry rate for licensing commentaries then?

[Narshty]

A low four-figure sum, by and large.

[Cinesimilitude]

why not just have someone re read what was said by the people on the original commentary? you cant copywrite there actual observations, just the recording would be copywrite.

[oldsheperd]

I imagine the person reading the commentary would have to use, quote and he/she said all that stuff. It wouldn't sound right.

[oldsheperd]

CopyRIGHT I believe is the correct term. CopyRiGHTED is the proper verb.

[kevyip1]

That great audio commentary on the Criterion LD should've been included.

Criterion almost certainly gypped that idea. From what I've heard, Warner tried to get the John Sturges track for Bad Day at Black Rock but Criterion are asking several times what the industry standard is for licensing commentaries.

MGM bought the Raging Bull commentary, and Miramax, New Line, Anchor Bay also bought commentaries from Criterion. Warner is supposedly the current kick-ass DVD maker so I was hoping it would do the same.

[Narshty]

From what I understand, Scorsese asked Criterion as a favour to ensure the commentary would be on the Raging Bull release. As for Miramax/Disney, New Line and Anchor Bay, Criterion already has licensing agreements with all of those companies.

[devlinnn]

Feltenstein said the DVD of "King Kong" was two years in the making and the fact that the DVD is arriving right before Jackson's remake opens in theaters on Dec. 14 via Universal Pictures is "actually a coincidence."

Don't think Feltenstein is a pants man, but if so, they are indeed on fire.

[Cinesimilitude]

Kong Cover art is online...

The King Kong: Two-Disc Special Edition (SRP $26.99) will include the 104-minute restored and remastered B&W film on video in its original full frame, with Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio and English, French and Spanish subtitles. Extras will include audio commentary (by Ray Harryhausen and Ken Ralston, with Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack, Ruth Rose, Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong), the 2005 I'm Kong: The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper documentary, a gallery of trailers for other films by director Merian C. Cooper, the new RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, Eighth Wonder of the World documentary by Peter Jackson (featuring the following featurettes: The Origins of King Kong, Willis O'Brien and Creation, Cameras Roll on Kong, The Eighth Wonder, A Milestone in Visual Effects, Passion, Sound and Fury, The Mystery of the Lost Spider Pit Sequence and King Kong's Legacy) and Creation test footage (with commentary by Ray Harryhausen).

The King Kong: Two-Disc Collector's Edition (SRP $39.98) will include all of the above in limited tin packaging that also features a 20-page reproduction of the original 1933 souvenir program, King Kong original one-sheet reproduction postcards and a mail-in offer for a reproduction of a vintage theatrical poster.

The King Kong Four-Disc Collector's Set (SRP $39.92) will include the King Kong: Two-Disc Special Edition along with The Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young. It will NOT include the extras in the Collector's Edition tin.

Fortunately, The Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young will also be available separately (as will The Last Days of Pompeii, also by Kong directors Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack) for an SRP of $19.97 each.

The Son of Kong will include the 70-minute restored B&W film on video in the original full frame, with Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio and English, French and Spanish subtitles. Extras will include the theatrical trailer.

Mighty Joe Young will include the 94-minute restored B&W film on video in its original full frame, with Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio and English, French and Spanish subtitles. Extras will include audio commentary (by Ray Harryhausen, Ken Ralston and Terry Moore), 2 new featurettes (Ray Harryhausen and The Chioda Brothers and Ray Harryhausen and Mighty Joe Young) and the film's theatrical trailer.

[DrewReiber]

Gaaaah! So I'm left having to make one of two choices...

A) I buy the nifty 5 disc box set so I can get everything nice and neat.

B) I buy the 2-disc collector's edition tin for the reproduction goodies and then I have to buy the other three films seperately? Where's the fun in that?

Damn you Warner and your over-achieving! You'll be the end of me!!!

[Ashirg]

A) I buy the nifty 5 disc box set so I can get everything nice and neat.

Oooh, there's also a 5 disc boxset coming???

[Cinesimilitude]

the boxset is only 4, i think he typo'd. 2 discs for kong, 1 for son of kong, 1 for mighty joe young, but no reproduction extras.

I myself am going for the tin.

[DrewReiber]

the boxset is only 4, i think he typo'd. 2 discs for kong, 1 for son of kong, 1 for mighty joe young, but no reproduction extras.

I myself am going for the tin.

Oh, I see, it is 4. I got the press release info confused when they mentioned The Last Days of Pompeii. Nevermind.

[Kristoffer4]

The tin for me! =D>
And maybe I will get the other films when they are cheaper.

[Cinesimilitude]

I hope the reproduction poster is an actual reprint that's not doctored to contain info about the dvd or anything, if it is i will posterboard it for my basement.

[Kristoffer4]

the tin inside:

[hearthesilence]

I still have the old VHS box set with the small piece of film encased in lucite and the VHS box that roars when you press it (occasionally scared the dogs). It probably would've been overkill to throw those in, but they're fun novelties, regardless.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

I don't know if anyone's stumbled across this but over at Digital Bits they have an interview with some WB folks about restoring Kong and the upcoming DVD: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/ ... 02505.html

Also, here's an interesting passage about one of the extras:

Soon thereafter, when Peter Jackson had arrived in Los Angeles to attend the Academy Awards in 2004 (and take home his Best Director statuette among others), he learned we were preparing the original Kong for DVD, and asked to meet with us. We knew he was one of the world's foremost Kong experts. When we met he expressed his interest in working with his talented crew to recreate the infamous "missing spider pit sequence" that was cut from Kong before its original theatrical release. So among the many enhanced content special features on our new Kong DVD, there's a fascinating piece on how Mr. Jackson and his crew went about this. They recreated many of the original models used in the stop-motion animation in the sequence, but Mr. Jackson has in his own KONG collection, one of the actual original models from that portion of the film. The model was much too old and delicate to be used in this re-creation sequence, but they needed to know how this puppet worked inside, so they could build a new one that worked and looked like the original. They took in the vintage original model to a hospital and had it x-rayed. This whole process was documented for the DVD while these talented artisans were filming this little re-creation of a missing two and a half minute sequence. It's really quite fascinating.

RH: This is starting to sound like Forgotten Silver, certainly one of the finest mockumentaries ever created.

GF: Yeah, it's really amazing. I underscore this - we do not support cutting this into the motion picture because it was not part of the release, and it is not the missing footage. It's very, very clear that this man who loved King Kong so much so that it's his favorite film, and it made him want to be a filmmaker. He and his colleagues really got together as a labor of love to try to re-create this. And fortunately the script, photographs, and surviving sketches and storyboards gave them enough to go on to make it really close to what they think it really was. And they're very clear about that. But the icing was that they matched the grain structure and the look and the grey scale of the surrounding footage so that it really looks authentic. And I have not seen King Kong umpteen times like most people have. I've seen it once or twice and was basically waiting around for something beautiful like what Ned and his company have done. So I wasn't familiar enough to know where the old footage stopped and the new footage that Jackson shot cut in. They present the footage with bookends.

[zedz]

That news about the spider sequence is a bit of a relief. The same story appeared in the local paper this morning as follows (with shriek-inducing distortions in bold):

Peter Jackson has been re-creating a lost scene from the original 1933 King Kong while working on his $292 million remake.

The result – a six-minute scene in which a dinosaur chases men on to a log, then Kong throws them into a pit where they are attacked by giant spiders and crabs – will appear in a restored version of the 1933 film to be released on DVD in three weeks.

The scene was filmed in 1933, but cut because director Merian Cooper thought it slowed the film's pace.

Other than two pre-production sketches and one photograph, no remnant of the legendary "missing spider pit sequence" has ever been found.

Jackson, who cites the original film as the reason he became a film-maker, decided to reshoot the missing sequence.

He hired Hollywood director and screenwriter Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) – and veteran make-up and special-effects whiz Rick Baker, who played Kong in the 1976 remake, to help. Jackson directed and edited the six minutes and it has been inserted into the original film with careful weaving of music, visual effects and the right black-and-white film grain, so it appears as it was shot in 1933.