At long last, the landmark film that truly launched a thousand cinema careers arrives on DVD, and KING KONG finally comes home to fans who have followed this piece of film history their entire lives. 

And what a homecoming it is: whichever of the three DVD sets you buy, you'll enjoy a stunningly crisp restored film worthy of the Eighth Wonder of the World — far superior to any previously released VHS editions.  Hats off to Warner Brothers for finally delivering a KONG video presentation as close to the original 1933 experience as possible, then adding a treasure trove of extra documentaries and souvenirs plus two more KONG-inspired films to complete the collectible tin boxed set.

We'll start with the heart of the collection, the fully restored 1933 version of KING KONG:

Fans old and new will delight in the clarity of the DVD's restored image quality, likely an experience few if any KONG devotees have ever enjoyed in their lifetimes unless they're old enough to have seen it in 1933.  The film source for this DVD was mastered from an excellently preserved nitrate print of KONG found in England, which not only retained the censored scenes brutally cut omitted in later U.S. re-releases, but in condition already far superior to the time-worn, scratched and degraded dub prints used in previous video transfers.

The remaining restoration effort throughout the new KONG boasts deep, balanced contrasts in gray tones, saturated black shadows and controlled highlights which reveal image details and visual depth not seen before.  This excellent mastering job offers stunning dimension to the Gustav Doré-inspired jungle island backgrounds, add extra mystery and menace to nighttime Manhattan, and deliver Kong at his most powerful and ferocious.

But perhaps more importantly, such contrast enhancements and image restoration correct and optimize the numerous, groundbreaking special effects sequences, especially those involving the combination of stop-motion animation and rear-projection of live action characters.  No longer must fans endure the washed-out, flickering frames of such scenes which betray the creative genius as Kong captures and defends Ann Darrow, or Jack Driscoll surviving the jungle chasm battle.

These restored images aren't just some nerdy bonus for special effects fanatics — well, they don't serve only that purpose.  This restoration also erase decades of neglect, ruthless editing and patchwork printing which has always badly dated KONG to modern eyes.  In this new crisp and vibrant edition, fans old and new no longer need fight against the scratches, splices and film grain which long spoiled KONG's grandeur and beauty as originally filmed.  Presented in "glorious black-and-white" as intended, the DVD also restores the wonder and magic of the film, wiping away 70 years of flaws and allowing us to see KONG at its best and its most entrancing.  From the vine-laced jungles of Skull Island to the towering heights of New York, this new presentation of KING KONG literally shows why this magnificent film creation has dazzled the eyes and imaginations of fans for decades, and now will continue to gather a new generation of fans who look at KONG with awe.

Fans of score composer Max Steiner will delight in this restoration from the opening seconds, as Disc 1 offers viewers a restored Overture to the film, highlighting memorable passages from Steiner's groundbreaking KONG soundtrack.  This track is accompanied by an Overture title card in the style of the opening credits, a wonderful touch saluting the glory days of cinema palaces where moviegoing was very much a theatrical experience.  This preamble suite deftly sets the tone and mood for the film-to-come, and puts modern audiences with short attention spans in the suitable period frame of mind to experience KONG as it was meant to be seen and enjoyed.

The pace and musical score rise dramatically with the opening credits which must look great on a large screen, even with the boxy 1:33 to 1 aspect ratio.  Much like CITIZEN KANE, the sheer boldness of the music coupled with gigantically scaled credit titles anticipate the titanic beasts and towering action scenes to follow — a nice feat of yesteryear showmanship — which make historic documents like KONG all the more valuable.

Steiner's brilliant score establishes the mysterious, adventurous spirit of KONG as the Venture crew arrive at Skull Island, as distant drum beats echo across the waves from the village at the foot of the massive prehistoric wall. From this point onward, the combination of Steiner's score and Murray Spivak's innovative sound design is truly a match made in cinematic heaven.  Given the limited sound effects technology of RKO Studios in the Depression era, and '30s Hollywood in general, the skillful, imaginative blending of a full music score and sound effects track provided greater impact for both audio assets.

Composer Max Steiner's compositions for KONG are widely considered one of the first true, complete film scores in our modern sense of the term.  While some of the passages tied step-for-step with the screen action may seem outdated in style today, such a thorough wedding of orchestra to image was nearly unprecedented in 1933 — certainly so on the scale Steiner created in KONG.  For proof, look at any popular film from the early thirties, such as Universal's DRACULA or FRANKENSTEIN classics: these films contain long sequences of action with no scoring at all, which often makes films of the era sound and feel flat to modern eyes and ears.  Studios also cribbed other music cues from existing classical symphonic works, with little to no original compositions backing the film, not even as opening credit sequences.

Contrast this with the lush, romantic and suspenseful score created entirely for KONG, featuring fully developed and interpolated themes for the main characters — especially Ann and Kong — and you'll see why Steiner's landmark score truly paved the way for future film composition and composers like Bernard Herrmann and John Williams.  Like PSYCHO or STAR WARS, there are themes and passages of Steiner's music that stand alone, and have stood the test of time, evoking memories and images distinctly, exclusively of KONG.

Meanwhile, back in the 21st century, audiences can easily take for granted the Dolby Surround Sound evolution of digital audio effects, courtesy of the magicians at Skywalker Sound or WETA. But creating an original sound effects track for monstrous fantasy characters never before seen on movie screens was an immensely tall order to fill in 1933.  Enter Murray Spivak and his radio-inspired imagination of the mind and ear... in effect, the perfect technician for the job.  Thanks to the film's digital restoration, every Kong roar, Tyrannosaur growl and biplane machine gun thrills modern ears like never before, and pays long overdue credit by clarifying and remastering Spivak's groundbreaking sound design to its original and fullest potential. 

Indeed, this restoration of KONG offers one of the best, cleanest 1930s mono soundtracks I've ever heard on DVD.  So involving is the drama and the sound accompanying image that one doesn't even miss the spatial benefits of modern stereo and surround mixes.  As with the poor image quality of previous KONG prints offered for home video, the soundtrack too always suffered from static, hiss, sloppy editing and imbalance.  Now we hear KONG as clear and deep in range as we are meant to see it, revealing the subtleties and complexities of Spivak's sound design previously impossible to enjoy.  From the deep bass thuds of Kong beating his chest or throwing a T-Rex over his shoulder, to the piercing shriek of Ann Darrow's terror at the sight of her simian kidnapper, the DVD audio goes a long way to restoring KING KONG's glory as both a historic film document and as a thrilling adventure tale loved by fans for generations. 

All of these technical enhancements only support and underscore KONG's greatest strength: original, innovative storytelling which takes audiences on a grand, thrilling adventure to meet one of the most sympathetic, identifiable characters in cinema.  Brilliant blending of stop-motion animation with live action performances means absolutely nothing without drama and emotion beating in the heart of a hero — amazingly enough, KONG's protagonist was and is a character of utter fantasy.  How does one inspire audiences to wonder at, fear and eventually shed a tear for an 18-inch tall puppet?

Employ the talents of Willis O'Brien, groundbreaking pioneer of animation who invented numerous special effects techniques and processes still used by 21st century filmmakers.   But O'Brien's greatest strength was investing personality and emotion into his stop-motion characters — not only recreating the illusion of life, but dramatizing emotion and feeling through those creatures to which audiences could relate.  This particular, ingenious talent made Willis O' Brien a grandfather of modern special effects, and made Kong the terrifying and tragic character that has endured and thrived through cinema history long after the technical magic that created him has been surpassed.

At its center, KONG is a tragic fable of Beauty and the Beast, a classic love triangle full of heart and heartbreak . . . all of which would immediately fall flat if audiences couldn't identify with the title star.  We feel Kong's impulse to protect and save Ann from predators.  We empathize with his tenderness and infatuation for her, and we suffer his betrayal at the hands of his reckless captors who tore him out of his own world to meet his final, tragic fate in ours.

Kong is a monster movie where the true monsters are the fearful villagers, not the rampaging creature.  Of course Kong has his moments of brutal violence and vengeance, but again they arise out of basic human emotions which have the audience pulling for him, not recoiling from him.  Like many such tales in literature, KONG dramatizes a love that can never requited for a lonely hero who began his tragic fall the moment he set eyes on the one he could never possess.  Kong opens his vulnerable heart only to have it broken, and chooses a fate that means his death in order to finally put meaning in his life.

Pretty heady stuff for what could have been a technically impressive creature feature with no other aim beyond being an escapist spectacle.  But KONG began as and became so much more due to its troika of creators, Cooper, Schoedsack and O'Brien, who individually and collectively endeavored to place drama and human interest above sheer, fleeting thrills.  Cooper and Schoedsack built a career upon documenting all forms of life in nature, capturing on celluloid wildlife in its most raw and powerful intensity, then forming scenes to involve the audience in their wild adventures, not sit as mere spectators of them.

With KONG, Cooper and Schoedsack took a giant leap of dramatic faith, applying their true-life adventurous style of filmmaking to a fantasy story.  Shot on locations mapped only by imagination, dispatching their heroes to an island alive with incredible beasts, Cooper, Schoedsack and O'Brien created a thundering fable of heightened reality, designed on a scale which no nature documentary could achieve, but grounded in a foundation of cinematic techniques and style which made fantasy seem believable.  And like the larger-than-life hero of the film, when the fable of Kong achieves its climactic heights and comes back down to earth, the dramatic finale is as true as it is heartbreaking.  Any member of the audience can directly relate to falling in love, and taking a fall for love — and watching this classic film achievement, audiences of all generations never seem to tire of falling for, and with, KING KONG.

Now let's take a look a the wealth of bonus material included in this 4-disc collector's edition of KONG . . .