King Kong: Difference between revisions
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There have been three major film adaptations of the original story (along with numerous spin-offs, sequels and cross-overs):
'''1933'''
First mate Jack Driscoll, who has developed feelings for Ann, leads the ship's crew on an expedition through the island's interior, where Kong has taken her. Along the way, nearly the entire crew is killed by the prehistoric creatures and other dangers. Meanwhile, Kong defends Ann from attack from a T Rex and shakes the remainder of the crew off a log into a deep crevasse. Jack evades death and continues after Kong, finally reaching the beast's lair in the island's mountain peak. There, while Kong battles a huge pteranodon, Jack and Ann escape and return to the native village. Kong pursues them, intent on retrieving Ann. He crashes through the hundred-foot gate that protects the village, but Denham subdues the monster with gas bombs.
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Followed later that year by ''Son of Kong''.
'''1976'''
This film differs from the 1933 version in another, very important aspect: the relationship between Kong and "his" girl. Fay Wray's Ann was treated as nothing more than a [[Damsel in Distress|kidnapping victim]], a prize for Kong. Dwan, on the other hand, is given several extended scenes--on the island, on the ship back to America, and in New York--actually forming a bizarre sort of bond with the big guy. And when Kong climbs to the top of the (then newly constructed) World Trade Center towers and is attacked by the military, Dwan is right there, trying to be a human shield for him. But to no avail...
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[[Sequelitis|A sequel]], ''King Kong Lives'', followed... [[Sequel Gap|ten years later]].
'''2005'''
Jackson's film diverges from the original by providing more of Denham's and Ann's respective back stories. Further, "Jack Driscoll" is changed from the ship's first mate to a playwright, and a narcissistic Hollywood actor is added for comic relief. The natives are ''much'' more brutal than past portrayals. And, as with the 1976 film, a good deal of attention is paid to the unusual "romance" between the girl and the primate, which is strong enough that Ann would rather stay on the island with him than see him captured; and later she refuses to participate in his exhibition in America. She does, though, show up in time to halt his rampage through the city, and from there... well, [[It Was His Sled|you know how this one ends]].
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* [[Hollywood Evolution]]: Evolutionary biology and ecosystems don't work that way. Creatures trapped on an island tend to select for smaller size, not larger<ref> [[wikipedia:Island gigantism|island gigantism]] is a thing that only happens on larger islands, not tiny ones like Skull Island</ref> – and yet if you read the natural history of Skull Island or watch the relevant documentary on the DVD, that's exactly the opposite of how the film makers designed the animals. Also, with that many apex predators in such a tiny area (the vastatosaurs, the raptors, not to mention the various giant arthropods), the island would've been devoid of life in no time as the ecosystem fell apart. It is implied in the film (and explicitly said in the "Natural History" tie-in book) that the island used to be much larger and was sinking into the sea/breaking apart. Still, for animals that large, the break-up would have to have been of a very large land mass and would have had to only been happening for a very short period of time, geologically speaking, which makes it something of a [[Voodoo Shark]].
* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: Right after the [[Everybody's Dead, Dave]] scene, the men are attacked by massive, oversized insects. As one man is covered in giant bugs, another fires a Thompson submachine gun ''full-auto'' at him from only a few feet away and manages to hit nothing but bugs.
* [[Last of His Kind]]: It is implied that Kong is the last giant ape on Skull Island: the most telling evidence is a shot of him entering his cave and walking past multiple skeletons of giant gorillas. This loneliness, along with the hostility of Skull Island's environment, accounts for both his ferocity and his need for company, which Ann Darrow supplies
:Furthermore, as stated in the background materials, Skull Island's entire ecosystem is dying because the island is submerging due to geological activity. Those ''V. rex'' that Kong killed, for instance, may just have been the last three members of their entire species.
* [[Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds]]: Not whole ''worlds'', but Carl Denham's tendency to unintentionally destroy the things he loves is [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]].
* [["Mister Sandman" Sequence]]
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