Not to worry. It was my VHS copy. I have The Kingom on DVD. Man, what a great ghost story! The last shot of the last scene literally had me on the edge of my chair with my jaw hanging open. I couldn’t wait to get The Kingom II. It was tough since it’s out of print (as was the first one on DVD), but I found a Japanese release. I usually have the DVD set to display the time remaining. I was watching The Kingdom II and watching the time tick away. Jumpin’ Jesus on a raft, I wish it had continued! But the damned counter doesn’t do negative numbers. The movie was over. The Kingom III was supposed to be released in 2000, but AFAIK it hasn’t even been filmed yet. Oh, how I want to see more!
I read that von Trier was going to make KIII, but got involved with The Idiots instead. The cliffhanger at the end of KII drove me nuts! Agh! What happens next?
I got The Kingdom and The Kingdom II on DVD from Scarecrow Video in Seattle (phone order). That was about a year ago, so I’ve no idea if they still have any. They weren’t cheap. For some reason Japanese DVDs tend to be a bit pricey. I think KII was $150. Bt it could have been $150 total for both series. I don’t remember.
Amazon.com has The Kingdom on two VHS tapes for $8.99. (Damn! I paid $50 for the tapes I gave away – from Amazon!) Anyway, it looks as if they’re blowing out their remaining stock of this incredible series. Get 'em before they’re gone!
The fact that the Kingdom ended so soon made me very, very sad. The end of Twin Peaks was a similar heartbreak, but the second season had been so loopy that it sort of alleviated my sense of despair.
The swedish doctor character was such a hoot!
Oh, The Kingdom. Ever since my boyfriend discovered this series several years ago it’s gone the rounds with all of our friends and acquaintences. Unfortunately, none of us have yet seen The Kingdom II. I’ve been holding out hope that with Lars von Trier’s growing popularity that the second volume would eventually become as readily available as the first. Even Hollywood Video stocks it. Scarecrow Video had a petition on their website a year or so ago, pushing to have The Kingdom II rereleased. I’m not sure whatever came of that, but they do still have some copies of the Japanese release left here.
If you post any more spoilers, give me a good electro-shock warning first. I nearly cerealed my keyboard in my bumbling attempts to scroll past that spoiler as soon as I realized what it was.
Puh-lease tell me how to get my hands on part II for a reasonable price (reasonable being under $60). The Kingdom is my Citizen Kane, my Godfather, and my Gone With the Wind all rolled into one.