DVD Review 2: King Kong: Peter Jackson's Production Diaries

DVD Reviews

By Patrick Luce Dec 11, 2005, 13:30 GMT

Everything about the two-disc limited edition gift set, from its box art to the conceptual art prints included, will get you excited about seeing King Kong. The movie, which is set to hit the big screen on Wednesday, Dec. 14th, stars Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, Jack Black and Andy Serkis.The production diaries episodes are taken from the KongisKing.net website and chronicle the 131 days Jackson and company spent shooting his version of the classic King Kong story. They also show what a fan of movies Jackson is, and how he embraces other movie fans through an “open door” policy. This policy gives the audience the opportunity to not only enjoy the movie, but the amount of time and work that went into bringing it to the screen. It also shows how much fun the director, his crew and the actors had making King Kong.The two discs are divided into the year and a half that Jackson spent making Kong. The fist disc covers Sept. – Dec. of 2004, and the second disc covers Jan.-April 2005. They are divided where you can watch each diary entry or you can jump to specific shooting scenes – such as Skull Island or The Venture. The set begins with an introduction from Jackson where he talks about how the idea came to him to produce the DVD set, how it was strange at first having the cameras there documenting, and how everyone (including the actors) got into making the diary entries.

Jackson and Black hide from a spying Gandalf

Each entry shows how much work was involved in every aspect of the movie – from production designing and building the sets to working with the weather and the movie’s special effects. Jackson leaves no mystery about how to make a movie untouched – including an entry devoted to the art of making fake “poop.” While interesting to see how they made special effects poop, you have to wonder the need for making it, and just how the guy in charge of poop design would list that on his work credentials.Another great addition to the set is the look at Jackson’s creation of the Kong/T-Rex fight. The sequence shows the painstaking time it took to complete the filming of the scene, and also has four minutes of the completed scene.

Jackson mimics Kong's movement

There are also several episodes where the actors and crew just cut loose and have some fun – like when the wizard Gandalf appears to take some unauthorized photos of the filming.

In addition to the two DVD disc, the gift set itself is something that fans will love. The DVD box is designed to look as if it was Carl Denham’s briefcase, and the DVD case looks as if it was Denham’s clipboard. The set also comes with a “P.J. Approved” scrapbook that includes art conception drawings, photos from the film’s shooting, and notes from Jackson about the filming of Kong. Although the set is perfect for any rabid Kong fan or any true movie geek, it may fall a little flat to the average movie audience. It is not the movie King Kong, and is basically a really long “making of” special feature. The set is designed as something that would be loved by fans of Jackson and movies, but doesn’t offer much to someone wanting to watch a movie. This doesn’t hurt the set’s enjoyment at all, but should be noted.

Watts swings from a vine in the T-Rex/Kong scene

Overall, King Kong: Peter Jackson’s Production Diaries is a great reward for anyone who has been drooling ever since the announcement that the director would remake the classic film. It gives the audience a great inside look at each step of making the film, and it really gets you excited to see Kong roar on the big screen. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves movies!King Kong: Peter Jackson’s Production Diaries is available for pre-order at Amazon for a Tuesday, Dec. 13th release. It is now available at AmazonUK. Visit the DVD’s database for more details.