Kong: Skull Island (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)

I've always been enchanted by the King Kong character. I've enjoyed all the movies that featured the big ol' ape. I discovered and fell in love with Jessica Lange in 1976 when her version played on a super-giant screen at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island before the theater was converted from a plush and decadent movie house to a Broadway-like stage theater. That viewing experience, when I was 13, was my first introduction to King Kong. Then I saw the original 1930s version with Fay Wray. I was a kid, so I laughed at the stop-motion photography that made Kong move all jerky, and I laughed at the actors as they pretended to walk in front of a rear projection screen and shoot their rifles at previously shot montages of prehistorical animals. But then I grew up and I was amazed and learned to appreciate what the filmmakers had accomplished using such rudimentary tools and techniques. Using only the limited methods they had at their disposal, they used brilliant ingenuity to tell a fascinating story. I'm sure the filmmakers were thinking at the time they were making the movie that they either had a huge hit on their hands or an enormous bomb -- a laughable stinker that could end their careers. But some brave soul at RKO said it was worth the risk and gave the go ahead. And despite the glaring lack of sophisticated effects we see when holding them up to today's standards, audiences in the '30s understood, inherently, the limitations in film making. The novelty, the magic, the unimaginable lit up the screen and audiences were astounded. And because the story of Ann Darrow was always central to the film (and the effects were relegated to the back seat), audiences were spellbound. And just beneath the narrative, there was a subtle lesson to be learned; a moral lesson or, as I see it, an indictment against a certain faction of society and its culture. I see the film serving as a metaphor for the cruelty and greed that had already infested the motion-picture industry by the early 1930s. Similarly, the 1976 version was a not-so-subtle indictment against the oil industry's cruel posture of putting corporate profits over nature and the sanctity of life. Director Peter Jackson's version with Jack Black, I felt, was a remake of the Fay Wray version. It screamed "Made in Hollywood" in every frame. Some of the fun of seeing Kong slipped away knowing that the creature was merely an image created on a computer, as opposed to a stop-motion animated puppet or a man in an ape suit, where hundreds of people had to use their creative imaginations in order to fool audiences into embracing the illusion that "Kong" was huge and real. I called using C.G.I. a form of cheating. Although it's in rough shape, the 15" poseable puppet and its steel frame used in the original "King Kong" still exists. It's a real and tangible object. Rick Baker still has at least one copy of the ape suit he created and performed in for the '76 version. He created at least five hydraulically maneuvered over-the-head masks (each with a different expression). Surely, he still has those -- even if the original rubber has rotted away and only the steel skull, plastic hoses, cords and air bladders still exist. At least the parts are real and not part of an algorithm typed into a computer animation program, where the computer does most of the math to bring an animation to life. You can't hold an algorithm in your hand or place it in a museum for posterity. But even I got over my resentment of C.G.I. It's a different kind of art, but at least now I see the artistry in it. And given my fondness of Kong, that is the reason I decided to give "Kong: Skull Island" a shot. As a straight-up action-adventure film, it's a cool roller-coaster ride with lots of thrills and frights. Just about everything, except the actors, is done with C.G.I., but the images are so realistic, you wouldn't know nothing on the screen actually exists. The acting is top-notch. The creatures are genuinely creepy, and there are a lot of them -- all huge and deadly. There's a military aspect to the film, so there are lots of bombs and helicopters. Kong is twice as tall in this film than his predecessors and he's all animal imbued with the intellect of a primitive beast motivated solely by instinct. But among the crew of military and scientific men who stumble upon Kong on Skull Island, there is a photographer and she's a girl -- a woman, actually -- and a lovely one at that. You know how Kong loves the ladies. Traditionally, Kong always lets his guard down because he can't help himself when he sees a beautiful girl. He shows his soft side and that's always when the men swoop in and kill him. Well, traditions are made to be broken. This Kong is too much of an animal to give a muddy girl a bath. His instincts won't allow him to let his guard down. After all, he has himself and a whole island to protect. Protect the island from what, you say? Well, the answer to that question is the very reason a creature like Kong exists. You need to see the movie to find out why Kong needs to watch over the island and why he gets so mad at the new militaristic interlopers with their bombs and flying machines. The fact that this movie was released in 3-D shouldn't concern viewers who are able to identify a 3-D movie without actually seeing it in 3-D. I watched the film in 2-D first and didn't notice anything that made me say, "Obviously, this is meant to be watched in 3-D." However, when I finally did watch it in 3-D, it was a really cool viewing experience. Universal Movie Studios created a subsidiary of itself called Universal Dark. "Kong: Skull Island" was set to launch the new studio's lineup of most, if not all, of the Classic Universal Monster Movies from yesteryear. Monsters and horror villains from other studios are on Universal Dark's slate as well. At the end of "Kong: Skull Island," there's a brief reference made to a couple of gentlemen whose names happen to be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Presumably, that old classic will be "re-imagined" and released next.

It was a decent action movie mixed with little sci-fi. Or fantasy? Not sure what it falls into but if you like monster movies, it's okay.

6-20-17 Way long for story with characters too many and battle scenes too frequent. I'm off my feet and feed here but I was able to watch the whole thing. Will watch again when I feel chipper. Though I chide, it's a great big film with tons of delivery. 6-30-17 Whoa what a diff being healthy makes. Was hurting for first viewing -- shudda waited to enjoy the first time viewing under better conditions. Anyway, it's a good lesson, turns out, because the film is greatly improved....go figure. A lesson in my psychology. The film has all the stuff I love, so I just can't help but tell everyone to see it despite knowing the audience for this is demographically limited. If you like anything of the ilk of this film, you'll love this film. Many levels of impact -- quite a few of them are oddly, as if, embedded in the film for reasons unknown -- for instance, the spirituality in the midst of monsters, the heroes tossed ignominiously, actually, lethally, and the humor earning its place. It all fit together. I'll watch a 3rd time in no time at all.....should give it a rest for a few weeks at least. But I'll have to hold off the desires starting tomorrow. 7-23-17 3rd viewing proved how even the non-monster scenes had depth afoot and detailed. I could gripe now with my familiarity with this piece, but not about that which is firstly seen the first viewing...that stuff still comes to the fore but there's definitely psychic distance now. Yet still I got riled up a couple times. Next viewing should be at least as long as I waited for this one, but double that time would be better of course.

If you are expecting a five-star movie that you might need to reevaluate what makes a movie good. This movie however was fun, stupid, but fun. If you go into it expecting a serious movie then you might want to get some counseling. Good special effects. Worth seeing.

BOTTOM LINE: A brand new adventure for the Skull Island Kid. The first completely new cinematic outing for Kong since Toho gave us 1967's wild & woolly KING KONG ESCAPES; (I don't count KING KONG LIVES, which is a direct, albeit decade-belated, sequel to the '76 remake - plus it just sucks. LOL). A talented cast heads to the mythic, mist-shrouded South Seas island and encounters exactly what we would hope for: a buttload of crazy-ass monsters and the young Prince Kong, in all his furry fury. A slick, satisfying addition to Legendary's ever-expanding MonsterVerse. I really enjoyed the hell out of this movie; far, far more than I ever expected. So just hobble your high horses and unleash your inner child... you'll have a blast. 5 STARS THOUGHTS: I honestly didn't know what to think (or expect) when I first learned they were going to do another Kong film... and an all-new story to boot! It was cool that they were actually going to try something new but it was scary, too. It could easily have been a fiasco of the highest order, but it had major backing from Warner Bros. and over at producing studio Legendary Pictures, diehard comic & monster geek CEO Thomas Tull was squarely in the driver’s seat… so I went in with hopes high and fingers crossed. What I got was a wild ride that kept me on the edge of my seat, eyes agog, rooting for its scrappy simian star. Sure, K:SI is by no means a perfect picture; the human characters are kinda flat and not very well developed, there are script inconsistencies, plot contrivances, leaps in logic and whatnot but cryin' out loud this is constructed like all those great Saturday afternoon matinee adventures designed to entertain kids (and kids at heart), not some dry stuffy drama like Chariots of Fire! So shut up all you stuffed shirt whiners!! ;-) The CGI is pretty good and really helps sell the Lost World look of the film. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (who!?) comes from out of nowhere and hits a home run that goes screaming over the bleachers and right out of the park for this kid at heart. He peppers the film with some terrific iconic shots of both Kong and his island friends & enemies and stylishly sets up some of the most frenzied fights in giant monster movie history. He does this without getting too full of himself; wisely pulling his camera back, moving slowly and only when needed, to let our eager eyes fully drink in the lush scenery and gape slack-jawed at the brutal beastly battles. And while the editing is paced a little faster than I’d personally prefer, at least Vogt-Roberts & his cinematographer avoid assaulting our eyes and/or inducing nausea by resorting to the super close-up, hyperfast-edited, Michael Bay-styled action garbage that is so commonplace in these kinds of blockbuster F/X-heavy films nowadays. The final battle with the giant Skull Crawler features a fantastic tracking shot that slowly follows Kong in a sweeping 360 degree circle, but at such a leisurely pace that you hardly even notice that the camera is moving; giving us a bird’s eye view of the pulse-pounding action without drawing attention to itself. Very slick & satisfying. Kong’s design is a blend of the classic '33 look, with some slight updates; an iconic cinematic creature who is most definitely a movie MONSTER… NOT just a great big whimsical Gorilla (I'm looking at YOU, ice-skating Peter Jackson Kong. Meh.) The monstrous animals of Skull Island are also a real treat. Loved those Princess Mononoke-inspired Water Buffalos. The spider was nasty and scary, while the huge walking stick was surprisingly lovable and cute. Even the Skull Crawlers were a nice tip of the hat to the bipedal lizardy thing that threatened Jack Driscoll in the '33 original movie. Cool. The actors here are all quite good, with Shea Wigham being a stand-out. Samuel L. Jackson does his typical macho badass shtick, (which I'm really getting rather tired of, to be perfectly honest). John Goodman is sadly underused but does the most with his small-ish part. The always good, always off balance John C. Reilly pretty much steals the whole show in his role as the WWII pilot who crashlands on the island during the opening scene, acting as our (and the Vietnam-era soldiers') guide to Skull Island; amusingly laying down the Rules of Survival for both us & them. And for the record resolution of his character's arc during the end credits sequence was something I wasn't expecting, and the emotional power of it brings tears to my eyes, every single time I watch it. Seriously. It's a sweet, touching sequence yet is essentially a brief throwaway piece. But those few bittersweet minutes give the film a surprising resonance, and cements Reilly's character as the de facto heart of the film (along with junior Kong himself, of course). And for heaven's sake, be sure to stick around through the end credits! ;-) THE BLU-RAY: As one would expect from a new motion picture from a major studio, this hi-def release looks & sounds fantastic. The video portion of the hi-def transfer is crisp, clear & clean, with no junk (pixelation, edge enhancement, artifacting, or any kind of dirt or debris whatsoever) to ruin things. The audio portion is equally strong, with an even, fully immersing soundmix. A decent amount of bonus content adds fun & flavor to the movie. (Although it's no where near enough for a hardcore moviephile & giant monster fan like myself. LOL) All-in-all, KONG: SKULL ISLAND is highly recommended for movie goers in general and doubly so for monster movie lovers & Kong fans. I can't wait to see him duke it out with Godzilla in 2020!

Great movie

"Kong: Skull Island" is a 2017 American science fiction monster film produced by Legendary Pictures, based on the screenplay cowritten by Max Borenstein, Dan Gilroy, and Derek Connolly from an original story created by John Gatins, with visual effects by Jeff White. It is the second film in the MonsterVerse franchise. The MonsterVerse is an original cinematic universe introducing an entirely unique mythopoeia (myth-making narrative), created in 2014 and owned by Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, presenting reinvented mythoi in an overarching metanarrative that establishes a prototypical canon, chronology, and continuum. As such, "Kong: Skull Island" is not a derivative work. Filming took place in the northern portion of Vietnam, including Tràng An, Vân Long, and Tam Cốc (Ninh Bình Province), Hạ Long Bay (Quảng Ninh Province), and the entrance of the Tú Làn Caves System (Tân Hoá, Trung Hoá Village, Minh Hoá District, Quảng Bình Province). Filming also took place on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, in Honolulu's Chinatown and the Kualoa Ranch and Waikane Valley (Ohulehule Forest Conservancy), and on Australia's Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The film featured the largest version of Kong to date, measuring approximately 100 feet tall, and the task of building a bigger, better Kong fell to a team of animators and effects artists from Industrial Light and Magic and other studios, led by veteran visual effects supervisors Stephen Rosenbaum and Jeff White, who integrated visual effects, by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of live-action footage, and CGI elements to create realistic imagery called VFX. Starring Tom Hiddleston as James Conrad, an ex-British Special Air Service Captain tracker-hunter who served in the Vietnam War with the Australian Special Air Service Regiment; Samuel L. Jackson as Preston Packard, United States Army Lieutenant Colonel and Sky Devils helicopter squadron leader assigned to be the expedition's military escort; John Goodman as William "Bill" Randa, an Assistant Professor in Cryptozoology and senior official in the Monarch military-science research coalition, and commander of the expedition; Brie Larson as Mason Weaver, an investigative photojournalist; Jing Tian as San Lin, Monarch biologist; Toby Kebbell as Jack Chapman, United States Army major and Sea Stallion helicopter pilot who is Packard's right-hand man; John Ortiz as Victor Nieves, a senior official from the Landsat Satellite Imagery organization providing location-finding satellite equipment and expertise to the expedition; Corey Hawkins as Dr. Houston Brooks, Yale University graduate geologist, recruited into Monarch for his thesis on the Hollow Earth Theory and groundbreaking theories on seismology, as an assistant to senior operative Bill Randa; Jason Mitchell as Glenn Mills, a Sky Devils warrant officer helicopter pilot, and close friend of Cole; Shea Whigham as Earl Cole, the seasoned Captain of the Sky Devils; Thomas Mann as Reg Slivko, a Sky Devils warrant officer; John C. Reilly as Hank Marlow, U.S. Army Air Forces lieutenant of the 45th Pursuit Squadron stranded on Skull Island for nearly 29 years since World War II; and Robert Taylor as captain of the "Athena", the ship that carries our adventurers to Skull Island. The film's story begins in 1973, with representatives from Monarch, a covert Japanese-American quasi military scientific research coalition formed to hunt and study "Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms" (MUTOs), and Landsat, a classified peerless satellite imaging contractor, planning an exploratory expedition to Skull Island after Landsat satellites discover primeval creatures; recruiting in the planning process, under the pretext of geologic research, the Sky Devils, a 1st Aviation Brigade, 3rd Assault Helicopter military squadron, as an escort headed by U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard to lead the expedition with tracker and former British Special Air Service Captain James Conrad, and the investigative photojournalist Mason Weaver to document the expedition. On reaching Skull Island, we discover an evolution of prehistoric superspecies threatening the survival of our explorers. The "MonsterVerse" of "Kong: Skull Island" includes the most wonderfully terrifying prehistoric creatures: Skull Crawlers, a massive, ancient reptilian two-legged amphibian species, monsters that live in the huge caverns beneath the surface of the Earth; the largest of the Skullcrawler is the "Skull Devil." Sker Buffalo, a massive amphibious, docile water buffalo-like creature with gigantic horns. Mother Longlegs, an all-female species of gargantuan spider with legs resembling bamboo shoots that inhabit the Bamboo Forest section of Skull Island where the slender bamboo trees form the perfect camouflage for the spider's roughly 20 foot long legs, at the end of which are razor sharp spikes for impaling its victims, and using its mucus-like tendrils to pull its victims upwards towards its two scorpion-like pincers at the front of its thorax. Mire Squid, a roughly 100-foot-long hybrid of giant octopus and squid akin to a Kraken that hunts from beneath the surface of the water, creating a whirlpool that sucks its prey into its open mouth at the center of the swirl. Psychovultures, a bat-like predator with wingspans of 5 to 9 feet, inducing its aggression by eating a poisonous form of pufferfish found on Skull Island. Spore Mantis, an enormous 50-foot stick insect deceptively camouflaged as a fallen redwood tree; the four-legged, tree-like shell houses a parasite with spiked teeth that captures its prey with the slug-like symbiotic parasite that lives inside its trunk, encasing its prey in sap within its body during the digestive process, and then excrete the outer shell of the body in a state that appears perfectly preserved, without its innards. Leafwing, a blue-blooded bird, a species of the Psychovulture, with a wingspan of 3-5 feet and long, razor-like beaks. Sirenjaw, a giant crocodile with trees and plant life growing from its body that quickly and ferociously consume anything that ventures into its space. Death Jackals, as agile as a leopard with the bite of a great white shark. Magma Turtles, born in volcanoes, with lava pumping through their veins, and shells of molten magma, literally “a walking volcano”. Vinstranglers, a carnivorous plant with hanging vinelike tendrils that capture and pull the prey into their stomach to be slowly digested alive. Swamp Locust, having a perfectly circular mouth with rows of razor-sharp teeth, its legs sticking out of the water to resemble trees, to lure, capture, and consume their prey. The "Kong: Skull Island" story is strikingly suspenseful, frightening, and gripping. Samuel Jackson and Kong should both receive Academy Awards; their performances are mesmerizing. Samuel Jackson is scarier than the Skullcrawlers. Awesome! To get a better understanding of the Monarch organization you should watch the "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" as a prelude to the MonsterVerse. The MonsterVerse is an American multimedia franchise and shared universe featuring Godzilla, Kong and other sister characters owned and created by Tōhō Co., Ltd., that began in 2014, produced by Legendary Pictures, which consists of five films and two television series. CHRONOLOGICAL TIMELINE BASED ON YEAR WITHIN THE MONSTERVERSE 1952 Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters past timeline 1973 Kong: Skull Island 2014 Godzilla 2015 Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters modern timeline 2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters 2024 Godzilla vs. Kong 2027 Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" is a television series prequel in the MonsterVerse franchise, streaming in ten forty-to-fifty-minute episodes. The series is set a year after the G-Day attack in 2014’s Godzilla. Flashback sequences track the formation of Monarch from its beginning in 1952 when William 'Bill' Randa, Keiko Miura, and Colonel Leland 'Lee' Lafayette Shaw III all meet one another; and continues into 1954 when the trio and US military forces first encounter Godzilla; through 1955, when Monarch battles against being decommissioned and Randa pioneers the 'Hollow Earth' theory; and 1959, when Keiko falls into a Hollow Earth portal and is assumed to be dead for years.

This review is for the 4K UHD version of 'Kong Skull Island' released in July, 2017. As usual for big budget movies, there are lots of reviews here so I won't go into great depth about the plot but will give my observations. I'm giving the movie 3 stars overall but it has some distinct positives and negatives. It seem like every category of this movie was either 1 star or 5 stars. I'll elaborate a bit more below. LOTS OF SPOILERS AHEAD PROS: The music was terrific. They got that right. Many classic rock and roll songs from the Vietnam era were used and it seemed to go well with military action. Obviously Apocalypse Now was used as inspiration for the entrance to Skull Island and the first encounter with Kong. Special effects were awesomely good. Every time I watch something like this I end up thinking of all the possibilities. It just frustrates me that Hollywood can do such amazing stuff and can't do the same with the scripts. Anyway there isn't anything that didn't look good from a technical standpoint. I didn't necessarily like all the design choices but that's just preference nor does it take away from how good the movie looked. There were many creatures on skull island. This diversity of monsters added a lot to the movie. Every few minutes there is a new wonder to see. The extra's seem to indicate that there were others planned or perhaps they were just preliminary designs that were rejected? I didn't listen to the commentaries yet so this could have been addressed. I liked that just about all the creatures on Skull island are real creatures (of course, not the skull crawlers), obviously much larger! I also liked the fact that Kong was the true King and dispatched his enemies easily. This gave a realistic fell to it that you don't often see. Usually, the good guy(creature) looks like he is going to lose and miraculously turns it around at the end. This gets tedious when you see it in every movie. In this case Kong just kicks butt and is never in any real trouble. Makes you wonder how his family was killed by the skull crawler when they are dispatched of so easily, especially in light of the fact that Kong is not nearly full grown yet. At the end of the credits, we get a teaser for the next Godzilla movie! I know there are a lot of people that hate the end of credit stuff but I happen to like it. I just wish the credits weren't so long. It's OK when you watch on a disc at home but in the theater, the wait is boring. CONS: I'm not really sure why Hollywood can never seem to write a decent script for action movies. Why do they feel like every character has to be a cliche' or be completely illogical. Worst of all, the behavior of the characters in this movie is almost as bad as in most horror movies. It's not as if they couldn't use the same action scenes if the characters behaved in a more believable way. If I were to point out all the illogical stuff I'd pretty much be commenting on every scene. I get accused often of being way to picky but here we go: I doubt very much that a group of helicopters would head into a storm of the magnitude shown. Who in their right mind would OK this? There was zero visibility and hurricane force winds with an immense electrical storm and the helicopters were wide open! There was nothing pressing about going in as it was supposed to be a geological survey. It's not as if they were going to rescue people. Even if they did attempt it, I'm sure just one would head in first not the entire group. Why would the American military need to hire a British special forces guy to do tracking for them? Why would a tracker even be necessary if you had all those helicopters. The incompetence of the helicopter pilots is was too incredibly bad to be believable. I can understand one being stupid enough to fly right into Kong and get destroyed....but eleven? One of the pilots actually yells back at Conrad, after he tells him to pull away, "I don't take orders from you." Then promptly flies into Kong so they too can enjoy the thrill of going down in a helicopter. It's not as if Kong has radioactive breath like Godzilla, all they had to do was either go above him or to the side of them and yet none were capable. Go figure. There were too many characters and not enough time to 'flesh them out.' Kong is the star and it's understandable that many of the characters will not have much depth. But this cast of characters was just flat out boring and would have been better served to just use a few and give them more depth. Most of the characters just weren't necessary Samuel L. Jackson's character was just plain stupid. I'm not going to bother wasting time and going into detail here. Let's just say everything he said or did in the movie was flat out stupid and unbelievable. John C. Reilly's character sure didn't seem like he was stranded for 29 years. It looked like he just got done with a cruise in the Caribbean. I remember reading about how the real life person that 'Robinson Crusoe' was based on was stranded on an island for 4 years. When he was found he could barely speak his language anymore. Kong supposedly was friendly to humans. Somehow he seems to know everybody who is out to get him and everybody that likes him. The scene with Conrad and Weaver (the photographer) was just ridiculous. Like if you were just standing near the edge of a cliff in a jungle and you see a giant ape right in front of you, you would just walk up to the edge of the cliff and pet him.....mmm....yeeaaahhhhh. Not much thought was put into feasibility. It's highly unlikely that all these giant species could exist in such a small area. Especially at the rate in which they are killed. It takes massive amounts of food to sustain creatures that large and it just wouldn't exist in such a small area. How many Gigantic Squids could there be in the water? How many fish would they have to eat? How long would it take for them to grow to size? If Kong kills a few how could they sustain their population? OK....I know I'm getting way too deep for a movie of this type. Not complaining that much about the Skull Crawlers but the design kind of sucked. They afforded no challenge to Kong.Upon my first viewing I didn't notice much of a difference in size. But then I watched again. It just wasn't as noticeable as it should have been. I didn't like their faces looking like a skull. I guess they had to have a reason for calling it skull island. Which brings us to: The island itself wasn't that great. I liked previous versions a lot better. I'm not sure why it was named 'skull island' I didn't see any part that looked like a skull. Perhaps the references to the underside being hollow? like a skull? Or perhaps the skull crawlers? The giant stick insect depicted in this movie is of no danger. They are herbivores. OK...I think I need to stop here or I'll be up all night doing this, I'm really nitpicking now. Recommendations: Despite there being so many thing's I didn't like in this movie...I still have to give it a thumbs up. It's still a lot of fun to watch despite the shortcomings. When I say shortcomings I mostly mean the characters and the poorly executed script. The story itself is not bad. It's decent enough. It's the stupidity of the characters that, to me, detracts from the movie. I realize that we are dealing with giant monsters here and there has to be some suspension of disbelief so I'll forgive the lack of feasibility about creatures that size surviving in a closed environment. Five stars for the special effects and music. One star for the execution of the script. So three stars it is overall. Seeing how good this movie looked makes me really look forward to future movies from the monsterverse. I wish they would make a movie on every giant monster ever created last century. Godzilla in 2019 should be awesome if they don't screw it up with an awful script.

This is absolutely brilliant. Pleasantly surprised with this movie. I know it is meant to kick off a monster movie franchise along with Godzilla, great visuals, good action, good story, good movies. Waiting Godzilla vs Kong

First off I am a King Kong fan. 1933 was great for its time and is today a great movie. 1976 with Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges. Jeff Bridges I was never a big fan. I did not like this movie, it is ok fun. 1986 was to me the worst King Kong movie ever, King Kong Lives. Really bad funny stupid. King Kong 2005 at least 3 hours was really good I enjoyed the movie very much. I am not a fan of Jack black stupid movies but he was good in this movie different movie for him as well as The Holiday he was really good in as well. Well, back to Kong Skull Island what a great movie I don't like saying I love the movie but that's how there 5 stars says. The movie has great actors, Like Tom Hiddleston Brie Larson Beautiful, John Stephen Goodman, John Christopher Reilly and Samuel L. Jackson who I think is a great actor but I am so tied of the same old actor he comes across and its like he is in every other movie, but is ok in this movie. This movie starts with World War II and the war ends and some soldier don't go home they end up going to Skull Island with scientist and other specialist to find cures or what ever they can find to help man kind, the army boys start bombing the Island to take measurement of the Island. Kong shows up and all hell breaks out. There are different creatures and big on this Island and the crew will find out on their journey. I am not going to tell the complete story of this movie but will say it is not like 1933 movie nor 1976 nor 1986 nor 2005. I think this Kong is different in every way and this Kong to me because of todays special affects makes this the all time King Kong movie to me. I still would have liked to see a movie with just Kong on the Island and natives and how he lives day to day in this harsh environment and how he battles the creatures to survive. I would have liked to see Kong in the next movie of Kong just what I just said but there will be a Godzilla movie then Godzilla vs Kong I hope Kong wins I seen the movies many years ago and I am for Kong to win and more movies with him doing battle. I like to say the 1933 movie was great and this movie also would put as great as well. Good movie.

Muy interesante y espectacular película sobre un monstruoso clásico del cine universal que, a mi parecer, aporta una faceta nueva al archiconocido relato del solitario coloso. Los medios actuales proporcionan acción y espectacularidad desde el primer momento a una historia que se renueva brillantemente y que culmina con un final asombroso, elegido con inteligencia y no con la brutal destrucción de la bestia de leyenda. Color y audio, óptimos.Recomendada para pasar un rato muy entretenido. Qué más se puede decir.

"Kong: Skull Island" lief ab dem 19.03.2017 weltweit an und ist der produktionshistorisch zweite sowie handlungschronologisch erste Film aus dem neugeschaffenen "Monsterverse", das mit "Godzilla" aus dem Jahr 2014 etabliert wurde und dem 2021 mit "Godzilla vs. Kong" der vierte Film dieses fiktiven Universums zulaufen soll. Das "Monsterverse" verbindet dabei die Riesenkreaturen westlicher wie ostasiatischer Kulturen, darunter Godzilla und eben King Kong, die als sogenannte "Titanen" die Erde vor Urzeiten beherrschten, nun wiedererwachen und die Vorherrschaft der Menschheit beenden könnten. Weitere entweder bereits bekannte oder aber neue Monster nehmen in den jeweiligen Filmen die Rolle der Antagonisten ein. Hinsichtlich der Gesamtkonzeption gab Regisseur Jordan Vogt-Roberts Animes wie "Prinzessin Mononoke" als Referenz an, wo Riesenkreaturen als Götter ihres jeweiligen Großraumes dargestellt werden. Bei einem Budget von rd. 190 Mio. US-Dollar spielte der großteils in Vietnam gedrehte Film rd. 567 Mio. US-Dollar ein und ist damit die bisher erfolgreichste Verfilmung zur King-Kong-Thematik. Die Handlung verwendet altbekannte Motive, kombiniert sie jedoch mit zahlreichen Elementen, die in US-amerikanischen Filmen dieser Art bis 2014 fremd waren: Auf der Suche nach Riesenkreaturen, die eine Gefahr für den menschliche Vorherrschaft auf der Erde sein könnten, begibt sich ein Forscherteam unter Militärschutz mit einer Journalistin sowie einem Fährtensucher und Ex-Elitesoldaten auf eine gerade erst entdeckte Insel in der Südsee, trifft dort auf zahlreiche Riesenkreaturen und findet nicht nur die befürchteten Feindspezies, sondern auch einen im Zweiten Weltkrieg abgestürzten US-Piloten, der für das Verlassen der Insel entscheidend wird. Im Gegensatz zu früheren US-Filmen dieses Genres sind die Menschen diesmal nicht die überlegenen Invasoren und Jäger, sondern werden angesichts übermächtiger Riesenkreaturen rasch selbst zu Gejagten und kehren am Ende nicht mehr vollzählig und nur dank riesenhafter Unterstützung in die Zivilisation zurück. Insofern ähnelt "Kong: Skull Island" sehr den japanischen Godzilla-Filmen, in denen den Riesen mit konventionellen Waffen nicht beizukommen war, und bildet zugleich den Auftakt der Geschichte des "Monsterverse", die globale Verwicklungen bzw. Gefährdungen darstellt. Dabei setzt "Kong: Skull Island" die Stärken sowohl von "Godzilla" als auch "Godzilla II - King of Monsters" fort und vermeidet deren teilweise eklatante Schwächen. Dramaturgisch ist "Kong: Skull Island" in einen Anfang, einen Mittelteil und einen Schluss untergliedert, wobei Anfang und Mittelteil durch einen Ortswechsel voneinander abgegrenzt sind, während Mittelteil und Schluss ineinander übergehen. Der Anfang beinhaltet die Einführung der Hauptfiguren mit einem Zeitsprung sowie die Zusammenführung des größten Teils der Beteiligten zur Forschungsmission auf die von einem permanenten Sturmsystem umgebene Insel. Der Mittelteil ist sehr eng untergliedert und zeigt das Fortkommen der in einzelne Fraktionen aufgespaltenen Expedition, die sich nach einem ebenso eindrucksvollen wie gefahrvollen Tag wiederbegegnen. Gelungen ist hier der Gegensatz des jeweiligen Vorgehens: Behutsames Vortasten auf der einen, ein rücksichtsloses Vorrücken auf der anderen Seite, im Zuge dessen zahlreiche Vertreter der lokalen Fauna getötet werden, wenngleich dies oft in Notwehr geschieht. Auch das Finale ist fein untergliedert, wobei das erstmalige Treffen eines des Spitzenprädatoren den Beginn dieses Übergangs zum Finale markiert, der mit dem Erscheinen des Alphaprädators der Insel endet. Das Finale schildert hocheindrucksvoll den Kampf zwischen Kong und seinem ebenso riesigen Gegner, um dann mit einer Heimkehr nach rd. 28 Jahren auszuklingen. Für sich gesehen ist bereits dieses Ende sehr zufriedenstellend, jedoch sollten die Zuschauer dringendst bis zum Ende des Abspanns warten. Die Handlung ist kausal gut durchkonstruiert. Vor allem Anderen steht die Bedrohung durch Riesenkreaturen, deren Natur bis zur Ankunft auf der Insel und dem ersten Treffen mit Kong unklar bleibt. Abseits des Riesenaffen, der hier wahrlich riesig und viel größer ist als in allen Vorläufern mit Ausnahme von "Kingu Kongu tai Gojira" von 1962, existieren zahlreiche weitere Spezies, von denen die meisten mit den mitgeführten Kalibern nicht ernsthaft verletzt oder gar getötet werden können. Zur unmittelbaren Bedrohung kommt die unzureichende Orientierung der einzelnen Gruppen, die über kein Kartenmaterial verfügen und sich nur mit Leuchtpistolen gegenseitig orten können. Die Riesenkreaturen, Sümpfe, Gasgruben und das feucht-heiße Tropenklima formen fürwahr ein äußerst gefährliches Ambiente, auf das die Beteiligten sehr unterschiedlich, aber glaubhaft reagieren. Die gut konstruierte Handlung wird durch ebenso gut konstruierte und Figuren flankiert. Sicher finden sich keine tiefgehenden Charakterstudien, aber starke und glaubwürdige Darstellungen, die in diesem Filmgenre vergleichsweise sehr selten sind. Es beginnt mit der Kombination von Wissenschaftlern und Militärs, wobei die Forscher auf bewaffneten Schutz angewiesen sind. Auf Seiten der Zivilisten gibt es mit einer Fotojournalistin und einem ehemaligen, als Fährtensucher dienenden SAS-Agenten bereits ein kontrastreiches Figurenpaar, das zusammen mit den Wissenschaftlern wiederum in starkem Kontrast zu den Soldaten steht. Diese werden von einem Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant-Colonel) angeführt, der zugleich die stärkste Figur ist. Von Samuel Jackson vortrefflich verkörpert, wirkt Oberstleutnant Packard sehr zerrissen: Einerseits ist er aufrichtig und ernst um das Wohl seiner Männer besorgt, jedoch der Soldatenpflicht für sein Land zu sehr erlegen, wodurch er den verlorenen Krieg in Vietnam nach dem Kontakt mit Kong auf diese Insel verlegt und ihn nun hier gewissermaßen nachträglich zu gewinnen versucht. Dabei setzt er die gleichen grausamen Methoden ein wie die US-Army zuvor in Vietnam. Seine weitere Entwicklung trägt zentral zur Eskalation der Konfliktsituation bei, da er sein Ziel trotz des Kontaktes mit immer gefährlicheren Kreaturen weiterverfolgt und schließlich einen Großteil seines Trupps auf der Suche nach einem seiner Männer, vor allem aber schweren Waffen an einen der großen Räuber verliert, der mit den vorhandenen Mitteln nicht getötet werden kann. Oberstleutnant Packard scheint dabei immer mehr in Richtung eines Kapitän Ahab zu mutieren, der bis zum Ende seinem Ersatzziel - dem Riesenaffen - nachstellt und wie seinerzeit der verbitterte, unerbittliche Kapitän von seinem tierischen Widersacher getötet wird. Hier gelang es den Machern, eine erhebliche Dramatik einzuflechten, die noch durch den Umstand gesteigert wird, dass seine Männer ihm gerade wegen seiner fürsorglichen Art beinahe bis zum Schluss folgen und erst angesichts einer wahrhaft riesigen Bedrohung von ihm abfallen: Ein an sich ehrenwerter, respekteinflößender Mann, der leider nicht wie Captain Picard in "Star Trek - Der erste Kontakt" rechtzeitig zur Vernunft kommt, sondern seiner Verbitterung erliegt. Genau deshalb ging mir Packards sein Schicksal deutlich näher als das des rachsüchtigen Kapitäns Ahab, der von Anfang an ein wenig ehrenwertes Ziel rücksichtslos und unter Vereinnahmung bzw. Verheizung seiner Mannschaft verfolgte. Insgesamt muss den Drehbuchschreibern eine sehr gute Leistung bescheinigt werden, da sie eine wohlkonstruierte, spannende Geschichte mit einer ebenso guten Figurenzeichnung verbunden haben. Alle Sprechrollen sind soweit entwickelt, dass man sich als Zuschauer um sie sorgt. Eine gute Figurenzeichnung wäre ohne adäquate Darsteller unwirksam. Auch hier ist "Kong: Skull Island" hervorragend aufgestellt. Die ebenso schöne wie talentierte Brie Larson verkörpert die kühle, mutige und im Kern doch weiche Journalistin Mason Weaver ebenso glaubwürdig wie Tom Hiddleston den ehemaligen SAS-Agenten James Conrad, der für das Überleben der Expedition zentral ist. Neben ihnen steht der bereits angesprochene Samuel L. Jackson als Oberstleutnant Packard, der vom fürsorglichen, pflichtbewussten Kommandeur zu einem Abbild von Kapitän Ahab mutiert, sowie der inzwischen deutlich schlankere John Goodman als gespannt-gelassener Chef der Forscher. Sämtliche Sprechrollen werden mindestens angemessen ausgefüllt und die meisten bekommen eine Szene, in der sie sich besonders auszeichnen können. Schauspielerisch lässt "Kong: Skull Island" keine Wünsche offen. Entsprechendes gilt für die technische Umsetzung, die gerade bei Filmen dieser Art die Wirkung entscheidend mitbestimmt. Bildaufbau und Kameraführung sind sehr gut. In allen Szenen wo Übersicht zum Eindruck beiträgt, ist diese ausreichend vorhanden, während Gegenteiliges für Prozesse in schlecht einsehbaren Umgebungen gilt: Während zwischen den Gasschächten die Bedrohung von überall und jederzeit erscheinen kann, ist sie im Finale allzu deutlich und schon aus großer Distanz sichtbar. Die Spezialeffekte sind exzellent und man bemerkt den weiteren Fortschritt der Computertechnik. Dieser Kong wirkt noch besser animiert und detailliert als sein Vorgänger aus dem Jahr 2005. Entsprechendes gilt für alle anderen Kreaturen. Lediglich bei Wasserfontänen, vor allem in der Szene, in der Kong über den See den Soldaten und deren Feuerfalle zustrebt, bestehen noch gewisse Reserven. Sehr bald wird die Wirkung der Effekte nur noch durch das Budget und die Phantasie der Macher begrenzt sein. Abgerundet wird der optische Eindruck durch die Wahl sehr schöner, in sich gegensätzlicher Schauplätze: Urwald, Seen, Flüsse, Gras- und schließlich Ödlandschaften bilden für jede wichtige Sequenz eine angemessene Kulisse. Neben der optischen Größe des Filmes erscheint die Filmmusik etwas zurückgesetzt, obwohl sie stets angemessen und auch wirksam ist. Die Instrumentierung ist hochwertig und unterstützt die Rauheit oder Sanftheit der jeweiligen Sequenzen sehr gut. Insgesamt ist "Kong: Skull Island" ein exzellenter Monsterfilm, der eine interessante, gut konstruierte Geschichte mit starken Darstellern in einer vortrefflichen technischen Umsetzung zeigt. Zugleich vermeidet er die Schwächen der beiden anderen bisher veröffentlichten Filme des "Monsterverse", nämlich Übermaß und Handlungslöcher, wobei diese Schwächen inzwischen leider ein viel zu fester bzw. regulärer Bestandteil der Filmwelt Hollywoods sind. Insofern sticht "Kong: Skull Island" stark positiv aus der heutigen Filmrealität heraus und kann nicht nur jedem Genrefan, sondern auch jedem Liebhaber von Abenteuerfilmen vorbehaltlos empfohlen werden. Die Beurteilung der DVD überlasse ich dem einzelnen, für mich ist sie ausreichend. Für den Film 4,5 Sterne.

Although I think Peter Jackson's version of Kong a few years back had a lot going for it, especially in terms of scale and some of the cinematics on the island (including the dinosaurs giving Jurassic Park a run for its money), this new version is so much tighter and looks absolutely incredible on the big screen. The island is breath-taking and all of the wide screen landscapes really do look magnificent, as do all the special effects which are top notch - especially a lot of the various giant nasties Kong is up against which are also a marked improvement. Kong also looks much better I think - cinema has come a long way, but also he just seems much more realistic and has lost some of the goofy big friendly monkey aspects of his persona in the previous version, thankfully, along with the childish humour. He's a much grittier and much more impressive version. The action is great and the pacing is very good - the film never drags and each of the main human survivors trying to survive the island have just enough going for them as characters to keep your interest beyond the amazing landscapes and the spectacle of the huge creatures attacking them (and each other!). John Goodman who is partly responsible for kicking everything off is super, Brie Larson is also is very good, if underused, as an anti-war photographer who heads out with the exploration team and their army escort to document the island, Tom Hiddleston is OK as a mercenary tracker leading the good guys, though sometimes a little light and airy for such a role and Samuel Jackson is mostly OK as the colonel who heads up the army escort, but does start to feel a bit text-book colonel-turned-crazy in his performance as he becomes obsessed with destroying Kong. And John C Rielly who is found on the island having survived there for decades after crashing there during the war is superb - his character brings some great humour to the film and he carries it off effortlessly. Matching the film's setting of the early 70's is an awesome soundtrack throughout which is used really well and compliments the film nicely. Hopefully they stick with this version of Kong and revisit for a few more adventures!