cbbfc Film File

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	King Kong
	Consumer Advice: Contains frightening elements, moderate violence and frequent peril
	Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance
	A 2005 take on a Hollywood classic - this is Peter Jackson's version of the love story between a mighty gorilla and lovely movie actress Ann Darrow.
	Director: Peter Jackson	Cast: Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody
	Release Date: 2005	Number of published Reviews: 5

Best remake ever
This truly was a remaracable film! After seeing remakes of films like Godzilla and planet of the apes we were ready for a dissapointment, and after all the 1976 version of king kong wasn't too good either, but what we got was cinematic brilliance. The story is simple. Carl denham takes a film crew to the unfortunateley named skull island were they discover a huge ape, take it home, it goes on a rampage and climbs to the top of the empire states building only to be shot down! the main difference between this and other remakes like Godzilla was that it stayed true to the story. In godzilla the design of the creature was completeley changed and an annoying love side story was added! YES IN KING KONG THERE WERE A few added charecters but that is exeptable. They recaptured the empire states building scene (greatest cinematic moment ever) really well! Sure it wasn't as ground breacking as the original back in 1933 but it was a good film! Five stars go check it out!
Review by Daniel, aged 12 on 18/10/2009

"A Huge Let-Down..."
'King Kong' is the updated version of the 1933 original (which I haven't seen). I was eager to see this version because of the special effects and storyline, but this was a huge let down. Two-thirds of the film is wasted by talking and isn't needed. What it lacked in action, it couldn't nearly make up for in special effects!
Review by jeremy ward , aged 14 on 30/04/2007

"You will be dazzled by the phenomenal special effects..."
Set in 1930s New York, a group of explorers and filmmakers travel to a secret island location on an ancient map, Skull Island. They travel in search of a legendary giant ape named Kong, which has kidnapped one of their number, the beautiful Ann Darrow. When the journey moves to the city of New York, things get out of hand very quickly... This is a fantastic remake by Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings. The running time is perhaps a little excessive, but it's definitely worth a watch. You will be dazzled by the phenomenal special effects and captivated by the story. Complete with a wonderful cast and one of the best directors of our time, King Kong is truly a masterpiece.
Review by Andrew Winward , aged 16 on 26/02/2007

'I hated this film so much I almost fell asleep...'
This film is the updated version of the 1933 film.This film is about an actress called Ann who has got a terrible job in a run down theatre with an audience of about 15. She gets a job with a director who lies to her and everybody on the cast list. He tells them they're shooting in a different country but the truth is he has came into possession of a map of a unknown map leading to Skull Island. He is also wanted from the police for stealing equipment from the film making company. After arriving at Skull Island they bump into the locals, a bunch of zombies, and ann is caught by the forty foot ape Kong. They start searching for her, but will they find her? I hated this film so much I almost fell asleep. The action is lame and predictable, the actings discgraceful, and the special effects aren't special at all. It should never have been a 12A and the actors sound like there lines have been wrote by a 5 and a half year old, and not to mention it's far to long at 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Review by Paul , aged 10 on 12/12/2006

'Kong is the greatest special effect I have ever seen on screen...'
Greedy movie director Carl Denham comes into possession of a map of an uncharted island called Skull Island and sets his heart on filming his ambitious movie project there to make it a success. Dragging along a successful writer, Jack Driscoll, and an out of work actress, Ann Darrow, the latter soon inadvertently finds herself the object of the affections of the King of the island, a giant gorilla named Kong... Peter Jackson's lifelong ambition was to remake the classic 1933 version of the story, and now, accelerated by his success with Lord of the Rings, his vision comes to the screen, and it's spectacular. Following the Peter Jackson epic- shaped hole that was left in cinemas last Christmas, King Kong is a brilliant rollercoaster of a movie, not least because of the fantastic performances. The real star of the movie is of course Kong, and he's brought to life brilliantly with a combination of special effects and former Gollum, Andy Serkis. We actually feel for this interpretation of Kong's character, and that's quite an achievement for a character that's a giant monkey. Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody lend stellar support to the simian lead, but the true revelations come from the other supporting cast. Jack Black is exemplary in a rare serious role and is a true joy to watch as the manipulative Denham, and Colin Hanks is quite underused as his hapless associate Preston. It's also good to see the human cast getting in on the truly spectacular action setpieces too. Most notable amongst these is the scene where Watts' character clings onto Kong for dear life as he takes on a bunch of T-Rexs, and the escape of Denham and Brody's Driscoll from stampeding dinosaurs. As good as King Kong is, I must admit that reviews of it as "the film of the year" are a little too positive. The film is closer to the length of the final Lord of the Rings film than the King Kong film of 1933, which lasted one hour and forty minutes. This means that the story takes a while to get going and is sometimes spread a little too thin, but when it's good, it's astounding, and I can safely say that Kong is the greatest special effect I have ever seen on screen, only adding to the realism of a great action film that does have a heart to the story.
Review by Mark , aged 15 on 12/12/2006

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