King kong laserdisc commentary on the book

Willis obrien, who created and supervised the films unsurpassed special effects. The audio commentaries on laserdiscs were typically encoded on secondary analog tracks. This is why certain older videodisc players, which predate the digital audio standard, are only able to play back analogue tracks with audio commentary. It has the distinction of being the first commentary ever published with a home video, opening with the lines, hello ladies and gentlemen, im ronald haver, and im here to do something that we feel is rather unique. Well, okay, two wonderful movies that really do deserve the classic label.

King kong 1933 film wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. The first ever audio commentary was featured on the criterion collection release of the original king kong movie, on laserdisc in december 1984. King kong s reputation in some circles as a racist and sexist commentary abound today. Laserdisc database view topic laserdisc commentaries. King kong was also, somewhat controversially, colorized in the late 1980s for television. The movie itself does not say when as on the commentary track of the lion king laserdisc and dvd releases, the filmmakers stated that they. I did once hear havers singin in the rain commentary on the alternate audio channel during a tcm broadcast instead of the audio descriptive track they now use.

King kong in theaters tcm primetime host ben mankiewicz will offer insight and commentary on one of this influential film starring fay wray, robert armstrong, and bruce cabot, as well as the. Some people believe a rumor going around that a 25 ft ape roams the island. The unbearable sadness of the audio commentary track. It was a whole monsters series by thorne where he summarized the film, talked about how it was made, talked about its legacy. Ronald haver january 14, 1939 may 18, 1993 was a film historian, preservationist and. King kong 1933 image laserdisc audio commentary with film historian paul mandell.

On 1st december 1984, the criterion collection released king kong 1933 on the laserdisc format, with the worlds first audio commentary then called a lecture track provided by film historian. Generally thought of as a monster movie not difficult to understand when your title character is a 50foottall gorilla with a habit of killing people who get in his way, king kong is actually an oldfashioned adventure story on the grand scale, complete with fearless hunters in search of uncharted islands, angry natives appeasing their god, damsels in distress, and a dashing hero on hand to save said damsel. Feb, 2017 king kong had firsts both in front of, and behind, the camera. Jul 03, 2017 on 1st december 1984, the criterion collection released king kong 1933 on the laserdisc format, with the worlds first audio commentary then called a lecture track provided by film historian.

Unemployed manhattanite ann darrow says yes to a guy with a great line no funny. When searching for laserdisc movies for sale, check the full listing or the picture of the laserdisc sleeve to see what type of special features come with the movie. It was the first film to be released in both of new york citys largest theaters and sell out four days straight, the first film to ever see a rerelease and the first to ever have a commentary track on laserdisc. Cooper and several of the other principles and has a lot of great stories about the film.

Exclusively endorsed by the estate of the creator of king kong, merian c. See king kong in theaters for the first time in nearly 65. King kong is captured on a remote island and taken to new york, where he escapes and climbs the empire state building. King kong is the exact opposite of the drearilyplotted proposed film creation detailed on one of the lengthy featurettes on this new disc. A new godzilla box set includes alternate versions of the american version of the original movie, godzilla, king of the monsters or two different versions of king kong vs. Long live the king october 27, 2019 this wednesday, october 30th, join us for a very special screening of the original classic 1931 king kong at the rooftop cinema club in hollywood. What other famous commentary tracks didnt make it dvd.

Nov 22, 2005 warners twodisc special edition of king kong is worth the buildup, as the picture looks better than ever before and the second disc contains upwards of three hours of quality extras including a genuine surprise from new zealand. Their dramatic experiences as documentary filmmakers. King kong 1933 criterion commentary original trilogy. The laserdisc technology offers us this opportunity and we feel its rather. According to jeff rovins 19931994 edition of the laserdisc film guide, the criterion edition of king kong was made from a source cobbled together from various prints to get the best overall image available at the time but there isnt a shot in these editions that can touch the turner disc, which was made from a recently discovered 35mm. Andy serkis, who provided the body movements for gollum in peter jacksons lord of the rings pictures, performed similar duties on king kong, studying gorillas so he could mimic their actions, which were then used as the basis for the specialeffects crews digital animation of the great ape. The commentary is slow and literary in a way that film commentary never is anymore, and its never been rereleased. The glue used to bind laserdiscs is breaking down, but they cant disappear.

With its only significant shortfall being a noticeably weaker commentary track compared to earlier versions on laserdisc, this king kong is an easy choice to make for fans of special effects and fantasy. Different from the ron haver track on the criterion ld. Laserdiscs are dyingheres why that matters electric. I dont have many laserdiscs with audio commentaries which was a nice feature to me many laserdisc moonsago. Infinity 1996 laserdisc audio commentary with directorstar matthew broderick and writer patricia broderick. The wall, all cowritten by joe devito and brad strickland. Sep 16, 2017 in 1985, image entertainment released king kong 1933 on the laserdisc format, with an audio commentary provided by film historian and soundtrack producer paul mandell. As a fan of the original 1933 film version of king kong, i bought this edition of the book because i liked the cover. An exploration king kong is on many lists of the top 100 films of alltime, including time, rotten tomatoes, american film institute and others. Obrien, murray spivack, max steiner my own commentary track to the original 1933 classic king kong. King kong is a work of geniusactually three geniuses. For king kongs 1985 release on laserdisc via the criterion collection, film historian ronald haver recorded whats considered the firstever commentary track for a home video release.

Did escape from ny ld commentary trackj carpenter,kurt russell ever make it over to dvd. An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or. Gerard genettes model of the paratext the printed codex or book. The criterion laserdisc preservation thread original trilogy. It is obvious the people who contributed to this set truly love this seminal offering, and this sentiment clearly flows throughout both discs. The kong one talks about son of kong, mighty joe young. Cooper, king kong of skull island opens with the denham diaries, followed by a novel in two parts. King kong 1933 with paul mandells commentary youtube. It is far superior for a film buff than the commentary presently on that commercial bluray release, so i suspect the same is true of his king kong commentary. In terms of the cohesive, crisp storyline, and vivid descriptions, king kong is better than the land time forgot. King kong 1933 with criterion commentary by ronald haver.

No spoilers here, but a lot of plot holes are filled in by the book. The long oop dvd said it had the commentary, but it totally didnt. King kong of skull island contains the long awaited expansion of joe devitos original creation, skull island. Miss ann darrow, the beautiful young lady that kong captures, bears more than a passing resemblance to marilyn monroe, and the book perfectly captures the time period. Ann darrow represents a white womans rape fantasies of being taken by a superior, wellmuscled. King kong 1933 film ultimate pop culture wiki fandom.

Godzilla so that hed be large enough to properly battle the 164 foot godzilla, and he was reduced to about 66 feet for king kong escapes, but neither of these films take place within the same continuity as each other or the original. Dvd talk ld commentary tracks not ported over to dvd. Im going to take you on a lecture tour of king kong as you watch the film. Sep 18, 1992 the even weirder kong box features something that turner home entertainment is calling an innovative commemorative embedment featuring three sequential 35 mm frames from king kong.

If read alongside arthur conan doyles the lost world and edgar rice burroughss the land that time forgot, king kong shoulders up with those classics. Even the episodic the lost world was dramatically flat, but kong adds a weird romance angle that makes everything work. Although its a novelization, this book is an accomplishment unto itself. King kong 60th anniversary boxed set so what do these lavish boxes get you. The release of the 1984 criterion collection laserdisc edition of king kong, however. Beneath king kongs cultural significance, however, is a tense and surprisingly tender story. Mar 06, 2017 and well start with the movie that gave us our first glimpse at the eighth wonder of the world. Nov 02, 2018 and the original 1933 king kong laserdisc features the first ever film commentary, which was called an audio essay at the time. Schoedsack, fay wray, robert armstrong, bruce cabot, willis h. Lovelace in 1932 at the request of his friend merian c.

Laserdisc s support for multiple audio tracks allowed for vast supplemental materials to be included on disc and made it the first available format for special edition releases. This means that several movies with commentary tracks will have exclusive tracks for the laserdisc and are not available anywhere else. King kong 1932 novelization wikizilla, the kaiju encyclopedia. Okay, ill look into it, although according to this site, the commentary does not involve keith david as kurt russell and john carpenter are only given credit for it. The criterion collection release of the film includes commentary. Hello ladies and gentlemen, im ronald haver, and i m. Disney and james bond and whoever else can try to pretend that a movie didnt feature outrageously large mermaid breasts or outright misogyny, but the laserdisc is a witness. Cooper trailer gallery play all king kong 1933 son of kong 1933 flying down to rio 1933 fort apache 1948 3 godfathers 1948 mighty joe young 1949 she wore a yellow ribbon 1949. Like always, if you liked the film, you will love the book. A novelization of the screenplay actually appeared in 1932, a year before the film, adapted by newspaper reporter and writer delos w. Ian thornes king kong book for crestwood house, published in 1977. Other perks included their capability to include second audio tracks for the addition of commentaries which has become a staple of the dvd format, and extras. One cannot help but be frightened by kongs uncontrollable fury, be saddened over the giants capture, mistreatment, and exploitation by venal showmen, or sympathize with the beasts illfated affection for the downonherluck starlet ann darrow.

Apr 19, 2019 more than king kong the movie, i grew up with king kong the movie as related in a book. His novel, nothing too original, is available now for kindle and. This information is for the laserdisc release, not a dvd release. Kong s size in later movies is also not consistent. Ronald haver king kong commentary home theater forum.

Laserdisc king kong 1933 version the criterion collection with fay wray, robert armstrong, bruce cabot, frank reicher, sam hardy, a david o. The first ever commentary track was recorded on laserdisc, for the 1984 release of king kong cinematically released in 1933. Dec 12, 2005 the result is a surprisingly involving and rather beautiful movie one that will appeal strongly to the primary action audience, and also cross over to people who have no plans to see king kong but will change their minds the more they hear. King kong by peter jackson naomi watts, jack black, adrien. I think the film even has a message, and it isnt that beauty killed the beast. Dec 11, 2005 the myths and men behind king kong merian cooper and ernest schoedsack were anthropologists who followed ancient cultures with their cameras. King kong is about a group of people and filmmakers traveling to an infamous place called skull island. Has a running commentary on the film by ronald haver is included on the second audio track and can be listened to seperately while watching the film. This is a laserdisc audio capture of ronald havers commentary for merian c. The 1933 original had a ton of writers as is pretty typical in hollywood but the last writer to work on it, the one who defined it, the one who wrote the words we ultimately hear, was a woman named ruth rose because of course she would have a cool comic book name. Cooper based on coopers thenupcoming film king kong to serve as part of the films advertising. In 1984, king kong was one of the first films to be released on laserdisc by the criterion collection, and was the very first movie to have an audio commentary track included. King kong by christopher golden and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.