King Kong trailer - tonite

Cafe Society
1

Didn’t see a thread on this (only checked the first three pages)…

Anyone sorta/kinda/really psyched to see this? Actually, I’m not psyched, more just interested, mainly because it’s Peter Jackson and I want to see how the trailer turns out.

This is, apparently, the biggest “trailer release” ever - it’s playing on every single NBC-owned channel/station (cable, etc) at, I believe, 7:58 tonite (EST).

It should be online as well, I think at volkswagen.com (and maybe kongisking.net).

Anyway, those interested or those who see it…what do ya think?

(On a side note, anyone even remotely interested in how films are made should check out the kongisking.net site. It has dozens of production snippets - each about 5 minutes long - from the set of King Kong. Really, really cool stuff.)

2

Correction: It’s on at 8:59

Stations: The two-minute, 30-second trailer will appear on at the same time on NBC, SCI FI Channel, USA Network, Bravo, MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo, Mun2 and Universal HD, the company announced. The trailer will be offered in high definition on NBC and Universal HD.

3

Thanks for the heads up. I too am looking forward to it - and only because Peter Jackson is involved.

4

Older thread here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=321968

If you want to see Kong: http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/view/15938
or how about this: http://boards.kongisking.net/perl/gforum.cgi?post=56065
(spoilers, obviously)

IIRC it will be on the volkswagon site at :45

Brian

5

Yeah, just saw a promotional heads-up on Bravo. (Meaning that I saw an advertisement for an advertisement.)

6

He looks a little short for the 8th wonder of the world.

7

…short, but cool. Very cool.

8

It looked surprisingly good and surprisingly true to the spirit of the original, or at least what I remember of the original.

9

Saw it. Not bad – it is close to the original. But the CGI effects lack the realism that Willis O’Brian achieved. They have the typical CGI faults – especially the uneven motion that people seem to think is realistic these days.

10

I thought it looked pretty good, but surprisingly I found the first half more effective than the secone part. Especially coming from WETA, in the (admittedly) very short scenes the “animal” CGI didn’t seem all that impressive.

Well, opinions vary, but if you freeze-frame Kong is probably close to 24 feet tall.

A 24-foot tall primate, I would think, would be pretty wondrous.

11

I liked that it was set in the 30’s. I can’t believe that I am going to say this, as I have never liked the guy, but Jack Black looked like he might do a decent job in this.

I agree with others that the CGI was not as good as I expected. I was thinking they would be Gollum good and was kind of “meh.”

Pretty decent, though, and did it’s job as a trailer - it makes me want to go see it. I wonder if it will be going up against The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe in December.

12

Remember there is 20+ weeks of post production to go, and effects may be refined by then.

Brian

13

According to an article in today’s USA Today, Kong is 25 feet tall and between 120 and 150 years old. His most noticable physical feature is a snaggletooth caused by a blow to the jaw in a battle years ago.

14

Yeah, thought about that. Also in the back of my mind was wondering if Jackson would have the special effects be less than perfect in some kind of homage to the original.

15

Here are some screen shots we took from our High Definition recording. We tried to get more “action” shots but none of them came out, they had lines through them.
WARNING, THERE ARE SPOILERS OF KONG HIMSELF, for those who haven’t seen it.

King Kong trailer captures (from High Definition)

(Yes, I love Adrien Brody, why do you ask?)

Is it December yet?

16

I want a giant spider at the bottom of the ravine. Such a critter was filmed for the original, but it was so graphic( for the time, anyway) that test audiences freaked out.

17

The trailer’s now available online (Quicktime format).

If there’s one thing I’ve learned to trust Peter Jackson with, it’s casting. :slight_smile: I’m sure Black will be great- it helps that Jackson also works brilliantly with his actors (unlike a certain other big name director… cough cough).

The special effects are a little off on the dinosaurs, which have that distinct CGI “flappiness” of the musculature, but Kong himself looks great, I think. As someone who only vaguely remembers the original, I’m very excited about this new version.

18

I thought the cinematography was absolutely amazing.

And, there ain’t nothing wrong with looking at Adrien Brody for two hours. :slight_smile:

19

Looks pretty good so far. Granted, it may be flat despite the excellant graphics, but it’s impossible to tell until the movie comes out.

20

Probably PJ’s greatest achievment in LOTR was that he never allowed the CGI to overwhelm the story and the characters. The most memorable moments from those movies are not the gee whiz special effects but dramatic moments and lines. Theoden touching his sword to the swords of those about to ride into battle.
Sam saying “I can’t carry it for you but I can carry you.”
Aragorn saying “My friends, you bow to no one.”

This gives me faith that Jackson can make a Kong movie that really works as a story instead of just two hours of a CGI monkey.

I already like that he left the setting in the 30’s and didn’t try to modernize it.

I liked the trailer. It looks like they’re going for a more realistic ape look for kong as opposed to the slightly anthropomorphized look from past movies.