King Kong Extended Cut

[Evil Hobbit]

Universal has announced a new deluxe extended edition of the Peter Jackson directed King Kong which stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. The three-disc package will be available to own from the 14th November this year, and should set you back around $34.98. A limited edition giftset will also be available from the 14th - and this should retail at around $79.98. We're not sure what this will include yet, although it's a safe bet that it will be a statue of some kind! As for added footage - you can expect an additional 13 minutes, and 230 new visual effects shots. In addition you can expect a commentary from Peter Jackson, around 40 minutes of deleted scenes, and a gag reel.

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source: dvdactive

[TheBaxter]

does this movie really need to be any longer? personally i'd prefer to see them cut footage, specifically the stuff with jimmy the sailor boy.

[King Psyz]

and wait three more years and they'll release another edition... peter jackson is the worst of the double, strike that, tripple dipping Struggling Background Artists.

[Evil Hobbit]

Jep cut out the damn Jimmy but I realy hope they got Kong battle the big Snake in this version. Remember seeing some artwork of that a while ago. Would be cool. I just hope all diaries are included in this set.

[RockyDennis]

The movie was a one shot deal for me. I saw it once, it was pretty good and I've never had the desire to see it again. The story just doesn't have the depth to warrent multiple viewings or extended cuts or all new commentary.

[The Vicar]

I'm with Baxter & Psyz on both their points.
I like my Kong just fine the way he is.

[Fried Gold]

I was gonna say pretty much the same as Rocky Dennis. I haven't had the slightest inclination to watch it again since.

[silentbobafett]

WHat a load of rubbish!

Kong was AWESOME!!!

Now sure, sure I get the whole LOTR Jackson backlash! Damn, someone really can't make FOUR fucking awesome, spellbinding, real cinema spectacle films in a row!

Well he did!

Some of the shot sin this film. The bit with Kong and Watts sliding on the ice is just pure cinematic beauty.

Jackosn is atrue cinematic visonary and I look forward to seeing every single frame of everysingle film he does.

Oh and that Thinly Veiled Rascism, although kinda funny; is a load of bollocks! I can only hope you did that as needless joke - cos I really can't believe anyones gonna look into KOng that much...

Oh btw, did I mentin I like Jackson and Kong?

[DennisMM]

Jackson can make amazing films other than LOTR. In fact, he has made a better film than any of those; it's called Heavenly Creatures.

[brendonconnelly]

I agree, DenisMM. All the hype around LOTR was starting to bug me. It wasn't Tolkien Jackson had to live up to, it was himself - and Heavenly Creatures. Still his best film, it probably always will be.

[King Psyz]

I like his films, I don't like his aftermarket marketing as it were. Make one DVD edition, that's all we need. Make the one right version the first time and don't continue to rake people over the coals.

I learned my lesson with the first LOTR DVD, as soon as I open the package I get a big FUCK YOU in the form of "OH this isn't the REAL DVD of LOTR, this is just the filler until this Christmas when you can buy the real version..." And then you buy that version, and they release one with the statues, and then they release one with all the goodies but stripped down a few years later... For fuck's sake Peter, like you don't have enough money?

[MasterWhedon]

I'll save my money and buy the Production Diaries instead. Ultimately, I'm more interested in owning the making of Kong than I am the actual movie.

I really, really respect Peter Jackson's work, but the story of Kong is clunkily structured and leaves me a little cold--ALL incarnations.

[silentbobafett]

Well I've been a fan of Jackons well before LOTR.
Bad Taste is just incredible (I own the hologram cover SE of that where the guy has the ONE RING on his finger, gracking stuff! It also has the BEEB documentary on Jackson. With the end line: One can only imagine where Peter Jackson will go now!)

Meet the Feebles then Braindead muthafucker!

Braindead is my fave Jackson splatter fest. But I feel you can't beat Bad Taste for the very thing it is!

Heavenly Creatures is excellent, you're right. The end is so haunting!

I've got Forgotten Silver but never watched it. I have both versions of the Frightners, but haven't gotten roudn to the actually watching the extended cut.

And it really bugs me when people don't like a film because of the hype, or the amount of people who like a film!

Are you a film fan or what, man!

If you like the film then don't been an ass and dislike it cos everyone does! It just means its a fucking ace film!

Its like Titanic, the amount of people I knew who loved that film, then after it went ballistic they were all like "nah that s a pile of shit ain't it!"


Enjoy the hype (if you can)

If you like a film don't change your mind with something that ISN'T the film...

I'm all up for changing minds on repeat viewings... but because everyone loves it? Be glad you in a generation that gets something like that!

[brendonconnelly]

I don't know why people would hold PJ responsible for the double, triple, quadruple dipping disc releases.

New Line are the culprits with all those Rings films, for example.

If people want a film, then multiple versions will be flogged. Blame the studios and DVD labels.

[Brit Pop]

I remember in the theatrical trailer for Kong - you see the search party on a raft in the middle of the swamp being pursued by a large underwater dino (probably similar to the 1933 bit.

This bit never made it into the final cut so I'm looking forward to that.

Of course - if he makes it too long I can just stop watching after Skull Island (as usual!)

[Chairman Kaga]

I'm hoping the 13 minutes includes the raft sequence. I'll pick this up because I waited intentionally for the extended version.

[DerLanghaarige]

I'm not sure if I will buy it for 13 Minutes. Yes, I love King Kong. It was #2 in my personal 2005 Top 10. but when I buy another version of a film, that I already got, I expect at least 30 more minutes.

[MasterWhedon]

I really enjoyed Kong upon my first viewing, but as I started to look back on it, I found myself disliking more and more elements of it. It's not because of the hype, not because I knew the whole story going in and not because I'm some mindless fool who follows the tides of fan backlash.

I saw Kong twice in theaters and found myself completely underwhelmed upon that second viewing. Once the surprise factor was gone, I started seeing Kong as the overlong, unweildly film it is, with too many narrative dead ends and indulgences.

The spectacle is great. The movie is not. Or rather, it's not nearly as great as it could've been.

What the film desperately needed was to lose 30 mins or so and gain a little focus. As it is now, it feels like King Kong with Jackson pausing every now and then for a drum solo. I don't think any of those problems will be solved by ADDING MORE to the film.

[DennisMM]

I didn't like Kong because it was a good half-hour too long. Also, the Jimmy subplot effectively went nowhere and wasn't involving in spite of Jackson's furious attempts to make us care about Jimmy. Jack Black never convinced me he was anyone but Jack Black. Brody was all right. I did like Naomi Watts and her interactions with Kong. Some of the action sequences, though meant to honor the '33 version, were over the top and overlong -- the giant weta sequence most notably.

Jackson is a talented filmmaker, but I don't think Kong is a very good film. I laughed through much of LOTR: FOTR but greatly enjoyed TT and liked ROTK. I am not a Jackson hater.

[Chairman Kaga]

I'm wondering if any of the 13 minutes ties up if Jimmy lived or died.

[unikrunk]

I'm wondering if any of the 13 minutes ties up if Jimmy lived or died.

Unfortunately, no.

It is a 12 minute static shot of Kong's 'lipstick' out, in all it's glory. The last minute is a shot of Pete Jackson licking it.

/well, that's what I heard.

[DerLanghaarige]

After watching it two or three times, I can truly say: King Kong is not too long!

Jackie Brown is too long.
28 Days Later is too long.
Inside Man is too long.
Cabin Fever is too long.
Jurassic Park is too long.

King Kong? Not too long.
Negative is just that they forget all the other characters, when they come back to New York.

[MasterWhedon]

Jurassic Park is too long.

King Kong? Not too long.

Jurassic Park is actually a fair comparison, but I completely disagree with you on it. The first JP is lean and mean, propelled by a monster of a plot that, while pausing to show the scenery, never loses its thrust.

Kong is much slower. It meanders. It becomes a different film midway through. Again, I think these are problems with the Kong story more than Jackson's version, but he expands a 100 minute film into 180, and most of that is just indulgence. If you're a Kong afficionado, then I guess it'd be your thing. If not... I don't know.

[Chairman Kaga]

I'm wondering if any of the 13 minutes ties up if Jimmy lived or died.

Unfortunately, no.

It is a 12 minute static shot of Kong's 'lipstick' out, in all it's glory. The last minute is a shot of Pete Jackson licking it.

/well, that's what I heard.

I just want a definite answer as to if he died or not.

[The Vicar]

The last time Jimmy is seen ( in the water, as Jack Black tries to sedate Kong ), he looked like he was going to make it.
Unconscious?
Maybe.
Dead?
I don't believe so.
And if his plot line isn't tied up in the extended footage or deleted scenes, then sod off, New Line.

[Fried Gold]

Deleted scenes
- Kong accidentally breaking Ann's ribs
- The crew realise it may be difficult to get Kong on the boat
- A semi-conscious Jimmy is told to swim home to make space for Kong
- Kong eating several New Yorkers
- Ann falls to her death due to improper climbing shoes
- Eighteen extra passes made by the fighter planes
- Alternative "Well we finally made a monkey out of him" Denham ending
- Kong meat BBQ cook off

[The Vicar]

If Kong landed in Brooklyn, they'd have had him on the barbeque in a New York Minute.
Tastes just like chicken, Havoc says.....

( of course, he says Kirk does too...)

[Evil Hobbit]

Braindead is my fave Jackson splatter fest. But I feel you can't beat Bad Taste for the very thing it is!

Exactly. We need a frikkin ultimate Braindead kick ass for the lord edition right here right now!

[raasnio]

Braindead is my fave Jackson splatter fest. But I feel you can't beat Bad Taste for the very thing it is!

Exactly. We need a frikkin ultimate Braindead kick ass for the lord edition right here right now!

Hell yeah!

I'll admit that I'll not hesitate for one second in picking up this new King Kong release. I knew it was coming and I still purchased the 2-Disc set.

I've enjoyed everything Jackson has released save for one film. I don't care for Bad Taste at all. I don't get why anyone likes it. Other than that I think he's done a hell of a job on every film since then.

[dimnix]

I cant wait to see this. Mainly for the raft sequence. And I'm really curious as to which scenes they've added in. There are two in particular I would love to see in the film - one is just a really cool creature moment, and the other is one of the most beautiful anne/kong scenes I saw artwork for (I was shocked it wasnt in the film).

And yeah - the movie is really long. Some scenes go on a bit too long. Jimmy is a bit pointless. So it's flawed.

But whats good, is great. I love the film. And as for it's length - it's alot to take in in a single viewing. Especially with this added footage, it's more of a film to watch over a couple of nights. The films structure actually works really well in that way - the film is like it's own miny trilogy.

Theres the opening in new york and the sailing to skull island (which builds up tension, and has a big climax with the actual arrival and stranding on the rocks).

The second part is obviously skull island, which has huge sequences and a great emotional climax of kong being caught.

The third part, new york. Starts off fun and showy, ends with the most emotional scenes in the film (and again, has some great action).

Sure the film is long but it's a big story.

[dimnix]

and also - that dvd cover is fucking awesome.

[ZombieZoneSolutions]

WTF?! PJ made an Extended Cut of this?! Are you serious?! Wow, thats
just... wow...

Said it before, say it again, what KING LONG needs is a TRUNCATED
EDITION. Not every concept needs an EPIC LENGTH. Some 90 minute
ideas should stay that way. Theres a pretty cool movie hiding within the
copious folds of studly PJ psychically transferred from his own body to
this film, and with a bare minimum of the following cuts, it will be a good
movie instead of a tedious and infuriating one...

For starters:

- Lose the hour long embrassingly bad CG dino race
- Lose the hour long homage to Centipede
- Lose the 3 hour long boat ride (especially S----K----U----L----L zzzzzzzz)
- Lose Jimmy and Morpheous (Yes, I read Heart of Darkness in high
school too PJ! Thanks for sharing!)

These cuts alone whould bring the film down to about 2 hours, 20
minutes. Even that is way too frikkin long, but at least people won't be
walking out or falling asleep like they were that sad, boring, tedious day
I went to see it...

I will never forget the kid sitting in front of me whimpering, lightly
sobbing, asking his father, "Wheres King Kong, daddy? Where is
he?" (this was somewhere around the 90 minute mark when he still
hasn't showed up) EXACTLY! Where is King Kong PJ? Where is he? Oh!
There he is! Hiding behind your ego on Hubris Island!

Well, since this movie tanked, maybe PJ will return to making good
films. Heavenly Creatures was his best, and I hope he realizes that
EPIC LENGTH needs EPIC CONCEPTS -- LOTR was long, sure, but it
needed to be (and it was brilliant; just nigh perfect). KING LONG was a
massive bloated turd, however. I hope PJ wakes up and realizes this.
He has too much talent there to blow it on a wildly outsized self-
importance...

[RogueScribner]

Kong showed up a little over an hour into the film, not 90 minutes.

[ZombieZoneSolutions]

Oh, it was only a little over an hour? Tell that to the weeping child... and
the people walking out of the theatre.

[Peven]

dude, you thought Star Wars:ROTS was the best movie of last yr. that pretty much kills your credibility in the "film critic" dept.

[Peven]

seriously, i amnot dusputing the truth to that little crying kid story of yours, but i know i took my kids, and they all loved it, even the 8 and 9 yr old, and the only time they cried was when Kong died. the movie had done a good enough job to get them that emotionally invested, and not bored. so, while it didn't "do it" for you or that whiny little kid, there were others who thought it was well worth the admission price, worth more than watching some crybaby childkiller yell "nooooooooooooo!" to close out a film.

[Chairman Kaga]

- Lose the hour long embrassingly bad CG dino race

Yet again 8 minutes of film.

- Lose the hour long homage to Centipede

A 4 minute sequence (now you are up to 12 minutes)

- Lose the 3 hour long boat ride (especially S----K----U----L----L zzzzzzzz)

Not even 1 hour.

- Lose Jimmy and Morpheous (Yes, I read Heart of Darkness in high
school too PJ! Thanks for sharing!)

Fine by me since it lacked any resolution on if Jimmy died or not though I doubt their scenes combined equals 15 minutes of footage.

[raasnio]

seriously, i amnot dusputing the truth to that little crying kid story of yours, but i know i took my kids, and they all loved it, even the 8 and 9 yr old, and the only time they cried was when Kong died. the movie had done a good enough job to get them that emotionally invested, and not bored. so, while it didn't "do it" for you or that whiny little kid, there were others who thought it was well worth the admission price, worth more than watching some crybaby childkiller yell "nooooooooooooo!" to close out a film.

The one thing I can say about King Kong (2005), that I can't say about any other film in the last 15 years or so, is that it thrilled me in a way that I haven't felt since I was just a kid watching Star Wars or Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. It took me on a thrill ride, I guess you could say. It truly felt epic to me.

[Leckomaniac]

I loved this movie. I saw it a few times in the theatres and I loved it each time.

Like many have said...it wasn't without its flaws. The Jimmy/Mr. Hayes story line, the S-K-U-L-L part, and the hazy editing when the natives attacked...but honestly that is such a small part of a LARGE movie that it didn't hinder my experience at all.

All of the Skull Island stuff was amazing...and then once they get to NY it becomes a truely gorgeous film. The scene on the ice...the Empire State Building...just beautiful stuff.

I didn't buy the first DVD because I knew an EE would be released eventually. Can't wait to buy this.

[inevitability]

I liked this movie a lot. I think the beginning its a little slow. But once they get to Skull Island its just great stuff!! The battles and that hell that brokes loose in there its just crazy IMO. King Kong versus the 3... things (haha) was just neat!! For me the whole scene in Skull Island paid for the admition ticket alone.

But as you say, for me it was one of those movies that you walk out of teather saying "OMG The action rocked!! I want to see those fights again!!! OMG that was just savage and fun!!!" but I never went back, and when we did rent the DVD I didnt see the full movie. So, I guess it was a firt-time impact on me.

I remember liking a lot the action scenes, but now that I think about it I managed to live without them.

[buster00]

Deleted scenes
- Kong accidentally breaking Ann's ribs
- The crew realise it may be difficult to get Kong on the boat
- A semi-conscious Jimmy is told to swim home to make space for Kong
- Kong eating several New Yorkers
- Ann falls to her death due to improper climbing shoes
- Eighteen extra passes made by the fighter planes
- Alternative "Well we finally made a monkey out of him" Denham ending
- Kong meat BBQ cook off

HAHAHAHA!!

I gotta see what's on the so-called "gag reel." Kong slipping and falling on the ice? Feebles characters inserted as natives on Skull Island? Burt Reynolds blowing his lines?

[ZombieZoneSolutions]

dude, you thought Star Wars:ROTS was the best movie of last yr. that pretty much kills your credibility in the "film critic" dept.

I said it was my favorite, not the best. The best would be THE NEW
WORLD. That was the good movie about culture clash, impossible
relationships, and man vs. nature. KING LONG was the unbelievably awful
one that cost 30 billion dollars to make and bombed. Ouch.

[TheBaxter]

As it is now, it feels like King Kong with Jackson pausing every now and then for a drum solo.

that about sums it up perfectly for me. i enjoyed the film, but c'mon... it's a GIANT MONKEY MOVIE!!!! it doesn't need to be 3 hours long! the LOTR movies were dense, with lots of characters and subplots, and they were truly epic in scale... those films earned their 3+ hour running times. Kong? not so much.

even so, i'll probably end up renting this one. i only saw the original once, and if i'm gonna watch it again, i may as well watch the 3 hour 15 minute version instead of the 3 hour version. anyway, at least on dvd i'll be able to spread it out over a couple nights or something.

[ZombieZoneSolutions]

As it is now, it feels like King Kong with Jackson pausing every now and then for a drum solo.

that about sums it up perfectly for me. i enjoyed the film, but c'mon... it's a GIANT MONKEY MOVIE!!!! it doesn't need to be 3 hours long! the LOTR movies were dense, with lots of characters and subplots, and they were truly epic in scale... those films earned their 3+ hour running times. Kong? not so much.

EX-FUCKIN'-ACTLY!!!

[sonnyboo]

The greatest irony of all was Peter Jackson on LOTR stating many times over that the reason he didn't relase the "extended editions" in the first place is because people don't want to see the long version until you've seen and loved the theatrical cut.

I think we already have the extended cut of KING KONG.

[The Vicar]

The battle lines have been drawn.
Is a poll needed here?

I wish New Line would release the extended cut AND a slimmer edit.
It would be quite intriguing to compare the two, and I would buy a DVD package that had all the missing bits, plus a version with a more sane running time.

[unikrunk]

seriously, i amnot dusputing the truth to that little crying kid story of yours, but i know i took my kids, and they all loved it, even the 8 and 9 yr old, and the only time they cried was when Kong died. the movie had done a good enough job to get them that emotionally invested, and not bored. so, while it didn't "do it" for you or that whiny little kid, there were others who thought it was well worth the admission price, worth more than watching some crybaby childkiller yell "nooooooooooooo!" to close out a film.

The one thing I can say about King Kong (2005), that I can't say about any other film in the last 15 years or so, is that it thrilled me in a way that I haven't felt since I was just a kid watching Star Wars or Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. It took me on a thrill ride, I guess you could say. It truly felt epic to me.

time to get laid

[RogueScribner]

KK wasn't a perfect movie, but the good far outweighed the bad. This was the first KK movie where he was truly sympathetic, IMO.

[Chairman Kaga]

KK wasn't a perfect movie, but the good far outweighed the bad. This was the first KK movie where he was truly sympathetic, IMO.

I always found him sympathetic in the original. I felt bad for Rick Baker for being in the shitty costume in the shitty Bicentennial version....that's close.

[ZombieZoneSolutions]

I always found him sympathetic in the original.

I wholeheartedly agree.

I didn't fnd PJs Kong sympathetic at all; I found him irritating.