Filmed in New Zealand, Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake of King Kong is set during the Great Depression and follows struggling filmmaker Carl Denham (Jack Black) as he discovers the mysterious Skull Island aboard the SS Venture, accompanied by vaudeville actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and playwright Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody).
When they arrive at the fog-shrouded island, they are attacked by hostile natives who kidnap Ann and sacrifice her to their god, a 25-foot gorilla named Kong.
Jack leads a rescue party into the prehistoric jungle, where they encounter many threats, including dinosaurs, giant insects, and leeches.
Meanwhile, Ann survives by entertaining Kong with her vaudeville skills and begins to empathise with the lonely creature after he saves her from three Vastatosaurus rex.
Jack eventually rescues Ann from Kong’s lair, but a vengeful Denham – having lost his film equipment – decides to capture Kong for profit instead.
The crew subdues the ape using chloroform and transports him back to New York City.
In New York, Denham puts “Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World” on display in a Broadway theatre, but – agitated by the flashing cameras and the absence of Ann (who has refused to participate) – Kong breaks his chains and rampages through Manhattan.
Kong eventually reunites with Ann in Central Park but is pursued by the military. Seeking safety, he carries her to the top of the Empire State Building and, after a desperate battle against biplanes, a mortally wounded Kong shares a final moment with Ann before falling to his death.
Surveying the fallen beast, Denham utters the film’s iconic final line: “It wasn’t the aeroplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast”.
Largely praised as a respectful, high-tech update of the 1933 original, the film won 3 Oscars for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.
Critics were overwhelmingly impressed by the state-of-the-art special effects, particularly Andy Serkis’s motion-capture performance as Kong.
It’s clear that Jackson not only had immense love for the original King Kong, but he also had something to say and a unique way to say it.
At $207 million, this was the most expensive film up to that point, surpassing Titanic(1997) and Spider-Man 2 (2004), which each cost $200 million.
It cost more than 300 times as much as the original 1933 version of King Kong, which cost $672,254. The record was broken by X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), which cost $210 million.
Ann Darrow
Naomi Watts Carl Denham
Jack Black Jack Driscoll
Adrien Brody Captain Englehorn
Thomas Kretschmann Preston
Colin Hanks Kong/Lumpy
Andy Serkis Hayes
Evan Parke Jimmy
Jamie Bell Choy
Lobo Chan Herb
John Sumner Mike
Craig Hall Bruce Baxter
Kyle Chandler Manny
William Johnson Harry
Mark Hadlow Maude
Geraldine Brophy Taps
David Dennis Weston
David Pittu Zelman
Pip Mushin
When they arrive at the fog-shrouded island, they are attacked by hostile natives who kidnap Ann and sacrifice her to their god, a 25-foot gorilla named Kong.
Jack eventually rescues Ann from Kong’s lair, but a vengeful Denham – having lost his film equipment – decides to capture Kong for profit instead.
Surveying the fallen beast, Denham utters the film’s iconic final line: “It wasn’t the aeroplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast”.
