King Kong Blu-ray (Japanese Import - Region A) - Classic Monster Movie for Home Theater & Film Collector's Edition

I first saw this movie when I was very young. I thought it was very good at the time, and I still think it is very good. Therefore it always puzzles me why so many people hate this movie and bash it in reviews so much. After some long, hard thinking, it finally dawned on me, the reason why so many people bash this movie is because fans of the first King Kong are intimidated by it. They're intimidated because they know this one is better than the original. Deep down they know that Kong '76 outshines the silly, childish Kong '33 in every way, and think they can minimize it by going to every site they can think of and bashing it.Some say that Kong was too humanlike in Kong '76...that in itself is a contradiction, especially coming from one of these self-proclaimed "Kong '33 purists". The original King Kong, though silly and infantile, was supposed to be about not just a giant ape, but an ape with human qualities and characteristics. Let's face it, claymation is cool in a silly, childish manner(Lipton commercials?), but it's impossible to ever be taken seriously. It's really hard to personify a big lump of clay with fur glued to it, so needless to say having Rick Baker, a REAL actor play Kong in '76 was a giant step in the right direction, despite these all these infantile "guy in a monkey suit" jokes posted by these kids on the internet.Another reason why people don't like this movie is because it didn't have all the dinosaur fight scenes like the original. What a silly, childish reason not to like a movie. Perhaps some older people who grew up watching Kong '33 and enjoyed it because of some boyish childhood fantasies they had about seeing dinosaurs fight each other feel that they were denied in some way. This movie was about Kong, and his interaction with human beings when taken from the wild and placed into a civilized environment. If you want to see dinosaurs, go watch Jurassic Park. King Kong is an adult movie.As for the other elements of the movie, Kong '76 picks up everywhere that Kong '33 falls short. To start, it has the very thing that Kong '33 is missing...emotion. Intense emotion. While Kong '33 was a childish movie about big dinosaurs fighting each other, Kong '76 is a tragedy about man's relationship with nature, and the perpetual rape of the environment. There are also many other subtle themes, such as the idea that society is an evil machine that destroys anything that it doesn't understand, and how greed destroys people and their relationships. I could almost go on all day about all the themes in Kong '76.The music is probably the highlight of the movie. John Barry of Bond fame delivers probably the second best score of his musical career(though personally I can't decide whether his score for On Her Majesty's Secret Service or A View to a Kill is his best :) ). Not only does the opening theme set a very dark, moody, suspenseful feel for the movie, but the score for the scenes between Kong and Dwan manage to convey happiness with a hint of sadness at the same time. Perfect for the movie.Possibly the best thing about the movie is its mood. The sets are very dark and atmospheric...the entire movie has a dark feel to it. The scenes on Skull Island are beautiful and breathtaking, and it really makes one wonder if a beautiful non-industrialized place like this may actually exist somewhere on earth...at least for a minute.Lastly...this movie has one more thing that the original was lacking...in a word, power. Kong's introduction in this movie. Power. Pure power. Kong's introduction in the original was rather silly, as you could instantly tell it was a big clay model and looked almost nothing like a real ape. This time around you seem Kong's face, with REAL facial expression, coming from a REAL actor. Pure genius.Would I say this movie is perfect, absolutely not. Some of the dialogue isn't great, and there's a few plot holes...for the life of me I can't understand why Dwan insists that she and Jack stop at a bar and do shots while their beloved primate friend is about to get shot to hell by flamethrowers and machine guns...other than that, the plot flows along pretty smoothly, with ample transition from the time that the Petrox ship first lands on Skull Island until when they bring Kong to New York.The acting is of course subjective, depending on what you consider acting. I believe the film's 3 main stars, Charles Grodin, Jeff Bridges, and Jessica Lange all gave sincere performances, to say the least. Many critics say Lange was a bit of a bimbo, but towards the end of the movie she starts to show more emotion and it is believable that she cares for Kong and almost pities him in a way. Charles Grodin, who usually plays the serious guy in the comical movie, actually pulled off a great(though a bit cheesy at times) performance in this one. He really does convince you that he is a greedy corporate industrialist, and almost has a Bond-villain-like quality about him. Jeff Bridges also comes across well as the scientist/environmental conservationist, though his character is heavily conflicted and throughout the movie the viewer is not quite clear where he stands on Kong's treatment.Most people don't have any idea how heavily edited this movie is. They removed an entire HOUR of footage from it. The actual running time of this version is around 2:15, whereas there is an extended version that ran on television many years ago with a total running time of about 3:17. If you're lucky enough, you might be able to find a bootleg copy of it circulating on the internet or at one of those science fiction conventions(there has been no official DVD release of the extended version). So of course, if you wish to truly see this movie at its finest, I strongly suggest you seek out the extended version, as it contains many pivotal scenes that are vital to the plot and seem to have been taken out for no good reason.That being said, this DVD release is thoroughly disappointing, as it does not contain any of the deleted scenes, thus it's not any different than the previous DVD release of Kong '76 that only came out a couple years ago. Sadly, this "release" is obviously just an attempt to cash in quick on the current Peter Jackson King Kong hype, as well as the simultaneous DVD releases of the other Kong movies(Kong '33, Son of Kong, King Kong vs. Godzilla, King Kong Escapes...).All in all, I think that this movie(as well as the sequel, King Kong Lives) is a vastly underrated masterpiece. Don't believe what your three friends tell you, see the movie for yourself and judge it. Keep in mind alot of people just bash this movie just because other people bash this movie, and essentially just take the bash that the last person wrote and re-word it(which is often the case when you see large groups of internet reviews together such as here on amazon.com). See this movie for yourself and give it a fair shake, you will find overall it is enjoyable.