By By Andrew Benjamin

Few films have the strong characters and memorable plots needed to stand the test of time. King Kong is one of the few that does. More than 70 years after hitting the big screen, Merian C. Coop’s and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s classic finally received the two disc DVD treatment it deserves.

Adventurous film director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) is searching for a leading lady to star in an upcoming film that he says will be the “greatest picture in the world, something that nobody’s ever seen or heard of.” He finds this girl in the beautiful, blonde haired Ann Darrow (Fay Wray). Denham charters a ship to Skull Island, where the natives worship a mysterious god named Kong. Darrow is captured by the natives and is given as a sacrifice to Kong. What ensues is a story filled with adventure, thrills and romance.

What makes Kong a memorable film is that it has something for everyone. It’s an adventure story that incorporates romance, action and special effects. The story is tight and fast paced, but not so fast that it goes a mile a minute. While the characters don’t have the complexity of a Eugene O’Neill play, they are still enjoyable. The characters are not one-dimensional, yet not so complex to make the audience want to dissect them.

When it comes to the film’s acting, the underrated actress Fay Wray is the golden example of a “damsel in distress.” Bruce Cabot as the heroic, macho ship mate Jack Driscoll couldn’t be any better as Wray’s love interest. His masculine performance is the prime example of the romantic male hero. There can’t be enough words to praise Robert Armstrong’s performance as filmmaker Carl Denham. Armstrong is perfect as the over the top showman whose character was purportedly based on co-director and producer Merian Cooper.

The real star of the film is the stop motion animation puppet King Kong. For a puppet, he displays amazing emotion and feeling. Special effects artist Willis O’Brien brings such a realistic performance with Kong that it honestly makes some actors working now look like hams.

For a film that has been around for over 70 years and has been censored numerous times, it is great to see this classic film look the best it has looked in a long time. It is by no means perfect, but whoever restored the film clearly tried their best. The film is presented in black & white and in its original standard full frame Academy Ratio of 1.37:1 and has been restored from an original 35mm print. Some scenes are absolutely clean as whistle, while those with many special effects have some specks here and there, but nothing that will distract the viewer.

One of the most memorable aspects about Kong is the film’s score and sound. The sound here is presented in a restored English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. Hearing Max Steiner’s majestic score with those violins, trumpets, drums and other instruments brings joy to one’s ears. Everything from Kong’s roar to Fay Wray’s ear piercing shrieks and screams is heard crisp and clear. There also optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

The special features, though a bit on the meager side, are still treasure troves for Kong fans. On the first disc, which includes the full length feature film, is an audio commentary by visual effects artists Ray Harryhausen and Ken Ralston, co-director Merian C. Cooper and actress Fay Wray. Since Cooper and Wray are both dead, their segments are spliced in from past interviews.

On disc two, we get two documentaries: I’m Kong: The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper and RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, Eighth Wonder of the World. The first one is a fascinating look at producer, director and larger-than-life figure Merian C. Cooper. Produced by Turner Classic Movies and narrated by Alec Baldwin, it details Cooper’s childhood, his love of aviation, and his life during his production of King Kong. Thought it would’ve been nice to see what happened in his life when he stopped making films, this doesn’t detract from the documentary. The second documentary is more disappointing. It is divided into seven parts, and some parts drag.

The most impressive special feature is a recreation of the infamous lost “spider pit sequence.” For those unfamiliar with the sequence, when Kong first premiered, it included a scene where a bunch of sailors fall into a pit, and are eaten alive by gigantic creatures. This scene was later cut out for pacing purposes, and is believed to be lost. Film director Peter Jackson and his crew filmed what the scene may have looked like, through drawings and writings about the sequence. This special feature is without a doubt worth the price alone, as we will probably never get to see the actual sequence.

Thanks to the technology of DVDs, the classic of cinema that played a key role in American culture can live on.

Final Grade: A