6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Carl Denham, the showman who brought Kong to New York, returns to Skull Island in search of a rumored treasure. He finds diamonds, all right. And something even more remarkable - Kong's son, a spunky 12-footer with a winning personality and his dad's awesome strength.
Starring: Robert Armstrong (I), Helen Mack, Frank Reicher, John Marston, Victor Wong (I)Adventure | Insignificant |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
English SDH, French, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Screenwriter David Koepp has said that the most frequent complaint about his script for Jurassic Park is: "It took too long to get to the island!" The same could be said of Ruth Rose's screenplay for The Son of Kong, a sequel that RKO Pictures rushed into production for a Christmas release just nine months after the success of its now-iconic 1933 King Kong. Rose, who was part of Kong's original writing team, knew from the outset that she couldn't possibly top the original film's famous set pieces, especially given the time constraints and a budget that was half of what the studio spent on Kong. So she wrote comical adventures instead. Even the serious moments were meant to be played tongue-in-cheek, and both the cast and producer/director Ernest B. Schoedsack seemed to understand that. (Co-producer/director Merian C. Cooper reportedly lost interest after he learned about the lower budget.) Even the titular character joins in the clowning. Son of Kong was only modestly successful, and it isn't well-regarded. Still, even though Warner is including it in its Special Effects Collection, the film is best enjoyed for the lengthy prologue during which the characters "take too long to get to the island", because Ms. Rose wrote some inspired dialogue for them to deliver, especially the failed impresario played by Robert Armstrong, who reportedly preferred the sequel to the original, because he found the character more interesting after he'd crashed and burned.
The Son of Kong was shot by the same team of cinematographers that photographed King Kong: Eddie Linden, J.O. Taylor and Vernon Walker. Like much of the RKO library now owned by Warner, the source elements were not well preserved by RKO, and significant restoration effort was required by Warner's Motion Picture Imaging facility to bring this new 2k scan up to what Warner considers acceptable standards for Blu-ray. As with any other effects-laden film from this era, Son of Kong is loaded with shots featuring multiple layers of optical superimposition, a process which unavoidably degrades the image. As the film switches back and forth between scenes with and without opticals, the level of detail shifts noticeably. Blu-ray's superior resolution accentuates the difference, but that difference is part of the original film. Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is a fine representation of Son of Kong. Judged by the shots without any kind of effects, the black-and-white image is sharp and detailed without the kind of electronic trickery that was often used to overcome the limitations of the DVD format (notably artificial sharpening and contrast boosting). Blacks are solid, variations of gray are well-delineated, and the grain pattern appears natural. Effects shots vary in quality, depending on which "layer" was the last to be superimposed. These kind of variations remained the bane of effects films until the advent of digital compositing in the 1990s, some sixty years after Son of Kong. Consistent with Warner's recent abandonment of low bitrates, Son of Kong has been mastered with average rate of 32.84 Mbps, and the compression has been carefully done so that no digital artifacts are added to the existing analog byproducts of the optical effects.
The Son of Kong's original mono track has been encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA mono. Within the limitations of the source material, it sounds quite good. Dialogue and effects are clearly delivered, as is the score by legendary film composer Max Steiner (Casablanca). There are no pops, clicks or other distortion, and hiss is minimal, but the dynamic range is limited, which is only to be expected from a recording of this vintage.
Other than a trailer (480i; 1.37:1; 1:47), the disc has no extras. Warner's 2005 DVD was similarly featureless.
If the original King Kong had not already been released on Blu-ray, it would probably make a more suitable candidate for inclusion in the Special Effects Collection than this sequel, because those effects are iconic. Still, there is room for Son of Kong, and MPI's presentation is impressive. Recommended.
1949
1953
1976
Ray Harryhausen Signature Collection
1963
1957
Warner Archive Collection
1933
Limited Edition to 3000 | SOLD OUT
1973
1977
1989
1981
1958
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1961
1976
1974
Limited Edition to 3000
1960
1966
1961
1956
Screamers / L'isola degli uomini pesce / Something Waits in the Dark
1979
2009