The attention to detail and the incredible visual effects by WETA are stunning and easily make for one of the best HD-DVD releases yet.
A few scenes in the film are reference quality moments for HD-DVD. The scene where Ann entertains Kong at the top of a lush and gorgeous cliff is one scene. The fight between Kong and the three Tyrannosaur Rex dinosaurs is another. The street chase through New York City and the finale at the top of the Empire State Building are other scenes that simply need shown to let people know what is so special about the HD-DVD format. Given the bright and colorful content of the film, awesome visual effects and stunning level of detail, this is easily one of the best discs to show off the latest in home theater technology.
I had watched this film in its entirety through my Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive. I had then compared a number of scenes on my Toshiba HD-A1 unit and both times I was blown away by the visuals. The level of detail of this disc is absolutely amazing. Looking at Kong and his green surroundings is by far the best I've seen on my television through any media. There is hardly a scene when something on the screen isn't highly detailed and worth fixating on. Colors are also top-notch. The highly lit daytime scenes on Skull Island and anything in New York City are among the most colorful sequences I've yet to see. There are a number of dark sequences that show off the strong black levels and color detail. As of this review the 2.35:1 aspect ratio picture is the best I have yet to see on the format.
Sound:
"King Kong" is not just a pretty picture. It sounds pretty good too. Unfortunately, only a standard Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 multi-channel surround mix is provided. No Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. "End of Days" has one from Universal, but not this magnificent sounding film. Had the mighty Kong been given the gift of TrueHD, there would be no question that this is the absolute must-have reference title currently on the market. Fortunately, even though "King Kong" is not blessed with the best possible soundtrack, it is a highly aggressive and well defined aural experience that delivers not stop sound from every direction. "King Kong" is all about being a cinematic experience and if you crank up the volume just a bit, it will not take too long to lose any sadness that the soundtrack is simply Dolby Digital Plus.
There are numerous sequences where every speaker is pushed hard. From the rainy nighttime sequence when the ship carrying our ill-fated passengers is swept against the rocks to the final scene where Kong is being sprayed by gunfire, "King Kong" is impressive to the ears. Everything from the sound effects to James Newton Howard's score is nicely replicated and comes across crystal clear. The .1 LFE channel just bumps powerfully and perfectly accentuates the action without ever coming across as too heavy. The scene with the herbivore stampede is a prime example of nicely utilized bass. Small sounds such as breaking twigs and the metallic clank of spent ammo cartridges are brought to life and easily heard. There is as much detail to the soundtrack as there is to the image. Dialogue is clear and intelligible, even through the most dynamic sequences. Rear surrounds are very lively and imaging across all channels is exceptional. Though you may clamor for higher tech in your "King Kong" soundtrack, I hardly feel you will be disappointed with this soundtrack.
Extras:
Universal has done a wonderful job of providing the best supplements available with their films as they have been ported to HD-DVD. Unfortunately, that comes to an end with "King Kong." The supplements found on the 2-Disc edition of "King Kong" are nowhere to be found. The two small promotional bits found on the base edition of the film are also missing. In fact, there are no readily available supplements behind the U-Control functionality of the disc. I feel fairly confident that the reasoning for the omissions of value-added content is the rather long 188 minute length of the film. After all, there is only so much content you can jam onto a 30GB disc. I would much rather have the best picture and sound available with a film like this and feel that Universal will simply release an amazing package with the Extended Cut of the film when it makes its High Definition debut.
The "U-Control" feature contained in the HD-DVD release of "King Kong" is an HD-DVD only supplement. By pressing the "A Button" on the remote control, a logo pops on the screen (via a rather nice animation) and allows for one-touch access to bonus content. In the case of "King Kong," this content is either Picture-in-Picture behind-the-scenes information or Art Gallery Stills. I would prefer to see an option for these items to automatically come to the screen, as Warner Bros. did with "Batman Begins" or Universal did with "The Bourne Supremacy," but this is not the enhanced commentary as those discs contained. I found that you have roughly about five seconds after the PiP icon appears on screen to press the button to see the full pop-up vignette. This does force you to keep your full attention on the film, but ultimately, feels like a twisted version of "Whack-A-Mole!" The picture-in-picture moments were taken from Peter Jackson's video production diary. They are nice inclusions, but you will have already seen them if you purchased the Production Diary on DVD. The still frames for the art gallery are incredibly small and like little visual thumb-nails that pop up on screen. I can see where the "U-Control" functionality can do some really cool things, but with "King Kong," it feels like it needs more refinement.
Closing Thoughts:
I like "King Kong." I really do. I just don't think I love it. I'm not sure if it is the length, the romantic subplots or the over-excess of two of the film's action sequences. But, something about this film keeps it hovering at a level just below pure greatness. Maybe it is the casting of Jack Black in a role that does not fit him. Peter Jackson has created a wonderfully entertaining film that is as good as any movie visually. With the release of "King Kong" on HD-DVD, the film has surpassed pretty much everything in picture quality. I'd be hard pressed to argue that another film is as visually stunning at this point. The soundtrack is another hard-to-make argument and this is even considering the fact that Dolby TrueHD was not provided for the film. Unfortunately, "King Kong" is an HD-DVD release that is solely enjoyable just for the film and its assault on the senses. Supplements are nearly non-existent and only a tech-demo feeling exhibition of Universal's "U-Control" is tossed in to add some value added content to the film. I feel another, multi-disc release is in the works for "King Kong," but for now at least you can take comfort in this HD-DVD being perhaps the best looking and sounding title available.
I had watched this film in its entirety through my Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive. I had then compared a number of scenes on my Toshiba HD-A1 unit and both times I was blown away by the visuals. The level of detail of this disc is absolutely amazing. Looking at Kong and his green surroundings is by far the best I've seen on my television through any media. There is hardly a scene when something on the screen isn't highly detailed and worth fixating on. Colors are also top-notch. The highly lit daytime scenes on Skull Island and anything in New York City are among the most colorful sequences I've yet to see. There are a number of dark sequences that show off the strong black levels and color detail. As of this review the 2.35:1 aspect ratio picture is the best I have yet to see on the format.
Sound:
"King Kong" is not just a pretty picture. It sounds pretty good too. Unfortunately, only a standard Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 multi-channel surround mix is provided. No Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. "End of Days" has one from Universal, but not this magnificent sounding film. Had the mighty Kong been given the gift of TrueHD, there would be no question that this is the absolute must-have reference title currently on the market. Fortunately, even though "King Kong" is not blessed with the best possible soundtrack, it is a highly aggressive and well defined aural experience that delivers not stop sound from every direction. "King Kong" is all about being a cinematic experience and if you crank up the volume just a bit, it will not take too long to lose any sadness that the soundtrack is simply Dolby Digital Plus.
There are numerous sequences where every speaker is pushed hard. From the rainy nighttime sequence when the ship carrying our ill-fated passengers is swept against the rocks to the final scene where Kong is being sprayed by gunfire, "King Kong" is impressive to the ears. Everything from the sound effects to James Newton Howard's score is nicely replicated and comes across crystal clear. The .1 LFE channel just bumps powerfully and perfectly accentuates the action without ever coming across as too heavy. The scene with the herbivore stampede is a prime example of nicely utilized bass. Small sounds such as breaking twigs and the metallic clank of spent ammo cartridges are brought to life and easily heard. There is as much detail to the soundtrack as there is to the image. Dialogue is clear and intelligible, even through the most dynamic sequences. Rear surrounds are very lively and imaging across all channels is exceptional. Though you may clamor for higher tech in your "King Kong" soundtrack, I hardly feel you will be disappointed with this soundtrack.
Extras:
Universal has done a wonderful job of providing the best supplements available with their films as they have been ported to HD-DVD. Unfortunately, that comes to an end with "King Kong." The supplements found on the 2-Disc edition of "King Kong" are nowhere to be found. The two small promotional bits found on the base edition of the film are also missing. In fact, there are no readily available supplements behind the U-Control functionality of the disc. I feel fairly confident that the reasoning for the omissions of value-added content is the rather long 188 minute length of the film. After all, there is only so much content you can jam onto a 30GB disc. I would much rather have the best picture and sound available with a film like this and feel that Universal will simply release an amazing package with the Extended Cut of the film when it makes its High Definition debut.
The "U-Control" feature contained in the HD-DVD release of "King Kong" is an HD-DVD only supplement. By pressing the "A Button" on the remote control, a logo pops on the screen (via a rather nice animation) and allows for one-touch access to bonus content. In the case of "King Kong," this content is either Picture-in-Picture behind-the-scenes information or Art Gallery Stills. I would prefer to see an option for these items to automatically come to the screen, as Warner Bros. did with "Batman Begins" or Universal did with "The Bourne Supremacy," but this is not the enhanced commentary as those discs contained. I found that you have roughly about five seconds after the PiP icon appears on screen to press the button to see the full pop-up vignette. This does force you to keep your full attention on the film, but ultimately, feels like a twisted version of "Whack-A-Mole!" The picture-in-picture moments were taken from Peter Jackson's video production diary. They are nice inclusions, but you will have already seen them if you purchased the Production Diary on DVD. The still frames for the art gallery are incredibly small and like little visual thumb-nails that pop up on screen. I can see where the "U-Control" functionality can do some really cool things, but with "King Kong," it feels like it needs more refinement.
Closing Thoughts:
I like "King Kong." I really do. I just don't think I love it. I'm not sure if it is the length, the romantic subplots or the over-excess of two of the film's action sequences. But, something about this film keeps it hovering at a level just below pure greatness. Maybe it is the casting of Jack Black in a role that does not fit him. Peter Jackson has created a wonderfully entertaining film that is as good as any movie visually. With the release of "King Kong" on HD-DVD, the film has surpassed pretty much everything in picture quality. I'd be hard pressed to argue that another film is as visually stunning at this point. The soundtrack is another hard-to-make argument and this is even considering the fact that Dolby TrueHD was not provided for the film. Unfortunately, "King Kong" is an HD-DVD release that is solely enjoyable just for the film and its assault on the senses. Supplements are nearly non-existent and only a tech-demo feeling exhibition of Universal's "U-Control" is tossed in to add some value added content to the film. I feel another, multi-disc release is in the works for "King Kong," but for now at least you can take comfort in this HD-DVD being perhaps the best looking and sounding title available.
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