During WWII in 1944, two
fighter pilots, an American and a Japanese pilot parachute onto an island in
the South Pacific. There was a
dogfight in close combat but a very large ape became involved with the battle. Bill Randa was the American pilot and
twenty-nine years later in 1973, he hires former British Special Air Service
Captain James Conrad to guide an expedition to map out Skull Island. They have a military escort by the Sky
Devils, a former Vietnam War helicopter squadron. As soon as they reach the island, they drop explosives
developed by a seismologist to begin their mapping. Conrad believes the earth is hollow and filled with beasts
predating the dinosaurs. Right
away, they encounter the same large ape from 1944.
The scenery is very
beautiful and I knew it was filmed in Vietnam when the rock formations in the
water were shown. There is not much
of a story, a LOT of repetitive fighting with monsters, repetitive fighting by
Kong and a LOT of CGI. There is
also a tribe of mute people who worship Kong as a protector-god. I’m not sure how all these name actors
were talked into appearing in this film.
Maybe there was a big paycheck waiting?? 2 1/2* (This movie is so-so)
118
min, Action directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts with Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L.
Jackson, Brie Larson, John C. Reilly, John Goodman, Corey Hawkins, John Ortiz,
Tian Jing, Toby Kebbell, Jason Mitchell, Thomas Mann.
Note: Imdb 6.7 out of 10, 76% critic 70%
audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3*, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 1184
reviews, Metacritic 62 out of 100 with 49 critics 6.7 out of 10 with 39
reviews,
Special
Note: Filmed in Quang Ninh,
Vietnam; Queensland Australia; Oahu, Hawaii and Los Angles, California. Sets were built at Kualoa Ranch, Hawaii
near the same filming locations as Jurassic World of 2015. The actors didn’t know how big Kong
would be until after production.
They asked but every time they were given conflicting answers. The actual height was 104 feet (31.6992
meters) and the biggest of the American versions. Michael Keaton was originally cast in the role played by
John C. Reilly. J.K. Simmons was
cast in the role played by Samuel L. Jackson. At the premiere in Vietnam, there was a 16-foot tall display
model of Kong. It became engulfed
in flames caused by models of small volcanoes surrounding the statue. The two-armed lizards are called
Skullcrawlers and they were modeled after lizards from King Kong of 1933. The original screenplay was set in 1917
but it was changed to the Vietnam War era like Apocalypse Now of 1979. Total gross worldwide was $566.7
million, budget was $185 million and $136 million for marketing, $450-500 million
profit needed to break even.
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